EN0CID: Changing Identities

Module code: EN0CID

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Foundation Level

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Michael Lyons, email: m.lyons@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

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 aspects 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. 

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

Module learning outcomes

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

1. Initiate, devise, compose and conclude a coursework essay and a text review handout. 
2. Demonstrate personal commitment, intercultural competence, and engagement in international public discourse  
3. Value personal, social, civic, and global perspectives, looking beyond any immediate task or question to its wider contexts. 

Module 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 to consider how their own identities have developed over time, and to explore texts that have had an impact on that, or texts that have come to represent some part of their own identity. 

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. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will take students through a week-by-week programme of lectures, seminars, workshops and guided independent study tasks. Each week a preparatory screencast will set out how the week’s texts cohere with the theme of identities, and the module aims to help produce a coherent learning experience across the module. 

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

One formative essay of 500 words. 

Reassessment

Additional costs