Keele University Prospectus Undergraduate | 2016 | Page 96

HUMANITIES

English with Creative Writing
Overview

English with Creative Writing allows you to study
English literature and creative writing as part of
an integrated programme. You will study literature
from Shakespeare to the present day, with optional
modules in medieval literature, postcolonial literature,
American and Canadian literatures, and film.
As a student in English and Creative Writing, you are
part of a vibrant critical and creative community.
Our staff are active researchers in a wide range of
topics in literature, film and cultural theory, and
published novelists, poets and short story writers.
There are regular programmes of visiting academic
speakers, novelists and poets, open to all students.
Recent visitors have included Gwendoline Riley,
Paul Muldoon, Jackie Kay, Roger McGough, and
Carol Ann Duffy.

Course content
First year
Creative Writing begins with two first-year modules
that combine studying poetry and the short story
with learning to write poetry and short fiction. You
will take three core or optional core modules in each
semester and may choose among elective options.
Core modules:
Reading Literature introduces various aspects
of literary study, enabling you to study a range
of primary texts, but also to develop a variety
of critical skills.
Poetry Through Practice looks at the major poetic
modes (for example the love lyric and the elegy),
explores how different poets employed these modes
and encourages you to employ them in your writing.
Becoming a Critic extends the work you did on
Reading Literature in semester one, developing a
knowledge of different literary modes and historical
contexts, as well as an understanding of critical
methods and skills.
Fiction Through Practice is designed to build a
bridge between the composition and criticism
of prose fiction. It introduces different literary
modes and encourages you to develop these in
your own writing.

96

Playing Parts aims to introduce you to the critical
study and evaluation of drama and poetry through
close attention to issues of performance, voice and
style. It focuses on the development of different
styles of poetry and drama between the 17th century
and the present day.
Transatlantic Gothic: Studies in 19th Century English
and American Literatures explores the development
of one genre in two different national traditions.
Film Texts and Contexts: History & Theory
Elective modules:
Reading Film introduces you to the essential
elements of film narrative and engages you in critical
thinking on the creative and technical choices made
by filmmakers.
Electives are also available in other humanities
subjects including music, media and history,
and i n modern languages.
Second year
You will take three core or optional core modules
in each semester, and will also have a range of
elective options. Current core and optional core
modules include:
• Creative Writing: Poetry and Prose
• Lyrics and the Popular Song
• Post-War British Fiction and Poetry
• The Age of Shakespeare and Donne
• Romanticisms
• Victorian Performances
• Aspects of the Novel
• The Detective and the American City
• From Modernity to Counter-Culture:
American Literature and Social Criticism
in the 20th Century
• Medieval Literature
• The Romance of Fiction: History and Society
in 19th century American Literature
• Satire
• Revolution and Restoration: Literature of the
English Civil War

Optional core modules:

Current elective options include:

Telling Tales provides an introduction to narrative
fiction (short stories, novels and film) using examples
from the 18th to the 21st century.

• French Cinema

Starting Out: An Introduction to American Literature
surveys a wide variety of topics and periods in
American cultural history, and offers you a range
of literary and analytical skills.

• 20th Century Novels into Film

• Teenage Dreams: Youth Subcultures in Fiction,
Film and Theory