English and Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

In the first half of this module you will focus on the novel and the development of the genre using examples from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century literature. Concentrating on works (or extracts from works) by Samuel Richardson, Charlotte Brontë, Herman Melville, James Joyce and Toni Morrison, through lectures and seminars you will explore the novel form, and ask why it became the dominant mode of literary expression over the course of these three centuries.

In the second half of the module you will study a range of poems in English from different historical periods. You will cover the ways in which language and form work in poetry and the kinds of readings which can be used when looking at poems. 

Introducing you to a range of critical approaches to understanding literature, this module will cover formalist, biographical, historicist, gender, psychological, sociological, reader-response, structuralist, postcolonial and deconstructionist models of engagement with literary texts. The aim is provide you with the tools you need to examine writing, writers, and our engagement with their works.

This module will introduce you to the practice of creative writing. It will give you an overview that includes practical challenges, approaches to plot and narrative and considerations about composition and process,. You will explore various forms of creative writing from conventional fiction to creative nonfiction, writing poetry and performing writing. The aim of this module is to help you develop a positive and disciplined approach to your writing.

In this module you will be introduced to the key theories, concepts and debates about the relationships between media forms, institutions and audiences. Some of the key themes covered in the module include representation, institutions, audiences and effects. The media forms studied will be drawn from film, broadcasting, photography, advertising, the internet and the printed press. 

Learn the basics of video production and film grammar, developing your skills as a filmmaker. Using hands-on exercises, you will learn photography, video, lighting, sound and scriptwriting.

Dive into the world of audio production and storytelling through podcasts. Enhance your voiceover skills, audio recording, sound design and web design/publishing skills.

In this module you will investigate the shifting conceptions of modernism and modernity in literature written in English between the turn of the twentieth century and 1960. You will study important exemplars of literary modernism in the larger context of twentieth century art, culture and politics. The core texts covered will differ from year to year but a typical selection will feature at least five major works from a selection of the following authors: Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, John Dos Passos, Djuna Barnes and Samuel Beckett.

On this module you will look at adaptations in the context of relevant cultural, critical, historical and technological factors. In addition, you will examine how and why certain texts are valued, and improve your abilities in research, academic writing and presenting effectively.

Building on your creative writing studies at level 4, you will have the opportunity on this module to work on writing projects and take them through the three stages of production, namely getting started, drafting and completion. A range of published creative writers will give talks throughout the module, providing further insights.

Explore the migration of form and content between different texts and media, with a focus on fiction. Underpinned by explorations of intertextuality and convergence culture, theories of adaptation, intermediality and transmedia storytelling are explored through key examples from film, literature, TV, videogames, new media, visual arts, and many other media.

On this module you will examine the changes that impact social and cultural issues as we make greater use of social and digital media technologies. You'll also have the opportunity to gain an understanding about the accompanying globalisation of media in political, financial and cultural networks.

You will begin with a structured induction process, during which you will be guided in researching the job market, understanding professional responsibilities, preparing a CV plus cover letter and undertaking a mock interview. Additionally, you’ll be guided in contacting and negotiating with a potential host organisation/employer or client to secure your industry experience.

On this module you'll explore literature by contemporary authors who focus on urban and architectural settings, themes and predicaments. You will cover these focal points in the context of contemporary debates concerning the status of the metropolis in a globalised world.

This module seeks to develop your storytelling skills, using the short story format to explore narrative, characterization, setting, and style.