EN3ENV-Environment, Ecology and Literature

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Paddy Bullard
Email: p.s.bullard@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module investigates British writing about ecology, the environment, and rural life, from the Romantic Period (c.1800) to the present day. The character of natural environments, landscapes shaped by labour, and the balance between ecology and food production: these complex themes have been crucial to British writing since the Romantic age. This module, which is run in collaboration with The MERL (Reading University’s ‘Museum of English Rural Life’), looks at literary representations of the natural world in British writing over the last two-and-a-half centuries. Students will also have the opportunity to study classic texts on the theory and science of climate change, sustainability, “the wild”, regenerative agriculture, and biodiversity. Hands-on work with The MERL’s object collections will help students to consider the meaningfulness of the connections that material culture provides with our receding rural heritage.

Aims:

This module encourages students to test their skills in literary analysis by stretching them beyond the literary sphere. First, textual representations of natural environments are studied alongside real material objects from the collections of Reading’s Museum of English Rural Life. Second, readings in the lyrical modes of ecological writing are compared with emerging theories of environmental action. This module aims to encourage students to move freely between different media and different kinds of texts in their thinking and writing.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module it is expected that students will be able to:

• demonstrate awareness of how the mainstream literature interacts with ecological theory and material culture


• make thematic comparisons and cross-reference between the set texts


• make historical comparisons between historical writings and contemporary texts, theories and cultural objects


• organize and articulate a coherent written argument, bothin coursework essays and under timed examination conditions.


• engage critically with the ideas presented in lectures, seminars, or secondary materials


• describe and analyse the distinctive features of the set texts and songs

Additional outcomes:

Students on this course will have an opportunity to develop organizational, curatorial and team-building skill through institutional work with The MERL. Oral and written communication skills will be developed, together with critical, interpretative and analytical abilities. Students will also enhance their IT competence through the use of relevant web resources and digital assessment in a critically informed manner.

Outline content:

Texts may include:

• The Wild Isles: An Anthology of British and Irish Nature Writing, ed. Patrick Barkham


• Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, ed. Glenn Adelson et al.


• John Clare, Selected Poems


• Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge


• Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford


• Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm


• Jez Butterworth, Jerusalem

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Three seminar hours weekly, which may take the form of a single 3-hour block or two blocks of 1 and 2 hours respectively, for which students are required to do preparatory reading. Students are also entitled to a half-hour tutorial on their formative written work. With the consent of the module convenor, students may also undertake a placement, through which they will learn how to apply the knowledge and skills gained in studying for this module in a professional context outside the Universit y.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	33
Tutorials	0.5
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	6.5
Wider reading (directed)	80
Preparation for seminars	24
Completion of formative assessment tasks	16
Essay preparation	32
Reflection	8
Total hours by term	200	0	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	50
Report	30
Project output other than dissertation	20

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Students will be assessed formally on an essay of 2500 words, or the equivalent placement report.

They will also be assessed on a project output, which may take one of the following (or different) forms: a curatorial project at the Museum of English Rural Life (developed in consultation with The MERL’s curators); a digital project involving (for example) ecological, geographical or documentary databases; a creative writing project on a natural-historical, environmental or ecological theme. In each case, the aims, methods and contexts of the project output (40% of project assessment and therefore 20% of the module mark) must be described and analysed in a supporting report or journal (60% of project assessment and 30% of the module mark). The report or journal should be presented in a scholarly manner, making reference to relevant contextual, methodological or theoretical literature, which should be documented in footnotes and a bibliography.

Formative assessment methods:

Students write one formative essay, of 1000 words. Feedback will also be provided on the assessed essay of 2500 words, or the equivalent placement report.

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:

A mark of at least 40% overall.

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-examination in September. Coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. Otherwise it must be resubmitted by 1 September.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: The Wild Isles: An Anthology of the Best of British and Irish Nature Writing, ed. Patrick Barkham, Paperback £20.

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