EN3LH: Literature and Healing

Module code: EN3LH

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Andrew Mangham, email: a.s.mangham@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: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to introduce students to the fact that narrative makes an important intervention in the worlds of wellbeing and healthcare. It explores how storytelling has always been central to healing practices – both in terms of the narrative medicine produces, but also in the way we articulate wellness and illness through stories. We will read medical and nursing memoirs, illness narratives, plague fiction, and texts discussing writing as therapy. The module provides the basis for developing a relationship with healthcare through narrative – ‘upskilling’ students with the tools they may need in a career in care, or in a role which benefits from a willingness to question how we talk about, and strive for, wellness. The module will allow students to study the art of health-giving through a specialist and unique knowledge of the literature it creates. 

Module learning outcomes

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

1. Undertake autonomous learning, enquiry and research within the discipline of English literature, applying their mastery of relevant knowledge, skills and methods
2. Initiate, devise, compose and conclude critical projects of different scales: from learning journals, presentations, reports and coursework essays, to extended essays and dissertations
3. Recognise what and how they have learnt, through self-reflection and through constructive dialogue with other people
4. Make sound judgments on complex and culturally sensitive issues, and communicate them in an appropriate and effective manner
5. Value personal, social, civic, and global perspectives, looking beyond any immediate task or question to its wider contexts

Module content

Texts to be studied may include Mary Seacole, The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole; Arthur W. Frank, The Wounded Storyteller; Rita Charon, Narrative Medicine; Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor; Terri M. Williams, Black Pain; Colleen Walsh, 14 Nurses on Life and Work during COVID, Albert Camus, The Plague. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Structured seminars of 3 hours in total, for which students are required to do preparatory reading and contribute to a weekly Learning Journal. Students are also entitled to a half-hour tutorial on their formative written work (an early draft of the Learning Journal).  

Study hours

At least 33 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.

In week 4, students will submit two sections of their learning journal (500 words) for formative assessment. 

Reassessment

Additional costs