EN0CID-Changing Identities

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:F
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Michael Lyons
Email: m.lyons@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module will give students the opportunity to explore the theme of identity across a wide range of texts. The module focuses principally on two aspect of identity, both in literature and society: changing identities and the identity of the self.

Students will be encouraged to explore these themes through seminars and workshops; this is an opportunity for students to consider how identity develops, how it is expressed, how and why it might change.

Aims:

To expose students to a wide range of texts, and teaching from colleagues across the School of Literature and Languages, in order to prepare them for the ways of thinking and learning that will be expected of them during an undergraduate degree. Supporting students as they interrogate ideas of identity and changes within identity, both in themselves and in society.

Assessable learning outcomes:

• Able to carry out research at undergraduate level, including discovering complex information and evidence and responding imaginatively to research tasks.


• Able to present information within wider contexts.


• Able to analyse material and articulate their ideas, in writing and orally.


• Able to plan their written and oral output effectively.


• Able to manage their study time productively.


• Confident in the useof the university’s VLE and other learning technologies.


• Familiar with group work and independent study techniques at university.

Additional outcomes:

• More confident in their understanding of the concept of identity and how it is defined and developed, and the factors that might play a part in this.


• Able to take the opportunity to consider their own place in the university community, their immediate study community, their home community and the wider world.


• Achieving a good understanding of identity as it is examined at undergraduate level.


• The ability to plan an assignment and reference it correctly.


• Working effectively in groups for study.


• Demonstrating knowledge of the relationships between different genres and different media.


• Grasping the learning that takes place from a wide variety of sources, with the aid various learning events, including lectures, seminars and workshops.

Outline content:

The module will work on two themes of identity (changing identity and self identity) and will use a wide variety of texts. The module is divided into two half-term blocks, with a teaching team of academics per block, who will explore sources such as novels, novellas, biography, poetry, drama, political rhetoric, journalistic pieces, films, artworks, theory and government documents. Students will also have the opportunity, if they wish, to consider how their own identities have developed and to explore texts that have had an impact on that, or that have come to represent some part of their own identity.

Global context:

This module is especially suitable for students who have been studying outside the UK and need to become familiar with the methods of teaching and learning in UK HE institutions.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The module will take students through a week-by-week programme of seminars, workshops and guided independent study tasks. Each week a preparatory lecture screencast will set out how the week’s texts cohere with the theme of Identities, and the module aims.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		5
Seminars		30
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		60
Wider reading (directed)		20
Advance preparation for classes		25
Preparation for seminars		20
Completion of formative assessment tasks		8
Essay preparation		16
Reflection		16
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	80
Set exercise	20

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

One review handout of a text chosen by the student, up to 3 pages long, including images (20%) - Week Seven, Spring Term submission

One essay of 1000 words (80%) - Week Ten, Spring Term submission

Formative assessment methods:

One formative essay of 500 words – Week 5, Spring Term submission

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

40%

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-examination in August. Coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. Otherwise it must be resubmitted in August.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 30 March 2023