ENG31980 Jane Austen and her Peers

Academic Year 2020/2021

This is a module on women's writing in the Romantic era.
This module is NOT a lecture course--students are expected to play a significant part in class each week.

Recent research on Jane Austen has shown convincingly that her work was very much engaged with the Britain of her time, and perhaps more importantly, that she was deeply interested in the writings of her contemporaries. We will be studying the writing of Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Ann Radcliffe, and Jane Austen. Austen was far from the lone literary genius of her generation; in fact the time in which she lived saw a flowering of female talents—women carved out careers as playwrights, historians, social commentators, poets and novel-writers, in greater numbers than ever before.

This course, therefore, is NOT focused exclusively on Jane Austen. 'Jane Austen and Her Peers' will examine a number of Austen’s writings side-by-side with the works of her contemporaries. Students will engage with writers they might not previously have known of or read, and will gain a much greater understanding of the literary state of Britain at the turn of the nineteenth century. Myths about women as writers in this era will be challenged, and their use and development of the novel form will be central to our exploration of writing from this era.

Contrary to received opinion, Austen was not the most popular novelist of her day--her female and male contemporaries easily outsold her. It is instructive then, to read Austen in the context of her peers, and to read her deeply, rather than simply enjoying her work as a costume drama. Students will be expected to move beyond conventional interpretations of Austen and her contemporaries, and to show initiative, critical discernment and originality when approaching both canonical and non-canonical works. We will not be focusing on characters and character analysis. Instead we will study how writers construct the novel form, and imbue meaning into patterns, employ different kinds of voice and vocabulary, and comment through structure, not just with words. We will also examine how novelists engage with the reality of life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Students will be expected to learn about the importance of economics, the law, primogeniture, social structures, and even war. Different novel forms will be studied: the epistolary novel, the gothic novel, the romance, and early attempts at realism. Students will be expected to deconstruct the novels to focus on form, literary structures and techniques, and literary and social ideologies.

Students' engagement will be tested by quizzes, exercises in concisely reporting on secondary material, exercises on MLA citation, bibliographical exercises, and a detailed essay plan. Please note that some exercises may need to be modified in the event of online learning.

Please note that students are expected to read and engage with ALL texts on this course, including a number of lengthy novels, Romantic-era texts. and significant amounts of critical sources.

*** This is a third-year course, and will be examined as such***

PLEASE NOTE that the School of English, Drama and Film reserves the right to withdraw modules in the period up to and including the first week of the teaching trimester.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all requirements for this module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of Jane Austen’s writings, and those of her contemporaries.
2. Be able to write critically about literature of this period, including the novel form.
3. Engage productively with literary criticism and secondary sources.
4. Produce a critical essay informed by the key issues addressed in this module.
5. Move beyond preconceptions and popular myths and misunderstandings of Austen and her contemporary women writers.

Indicative Module Content:

This is a module on women's writing in the Romantic era.
This module is NOT a lecture course--students are expected to play a significant part in class each week.

Students will examine texts by Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Ann Radcliffe and Jane Austen. Students will engage with writers they might not previously have known of or read, and will gain a much greater understanding of the literary state of Britain at the turn of the nineteenth century. Myths about women as writers in this era will be challenged, and their use and development of the novel form will be central to our exploration of writing of this era. Students will be expected to develop knowledge and understanding of areas of British life during this era, including economics, legal and social issues, and even war. Students will be expected to move beyond conventional interpretations of Austen and her contemporaries, and to show initiative, critical discernment and originality when approaching both canonical and non-canonical works. Rather than focusing on characters and character analysis, students will be expected to deconstruct the novels to focus on form, literary structures and techniques, and literary and social ideologies.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

0

Seminar (or Webinar)

15

Specified Learning Activities

100

Autonomous Student Learning

100

Total

215

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
In-class discussion
Independent reading
Reports on critical sources
Bibliographical skills
Online skills-based material and associated exercises
Presentations

Please note that this information is subject to change in the event of online learning. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Worksheets measuring week-by-week contribution Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Assignment: An abstract of a scholarly article, and a detailed bibliographical exercise. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Portfolio: Will include detailed essay plan, detailed bibliography and abstracts of at least two relevant critical articles. This exercise will build on the work submitted for continuous assessment. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Essay: An end-of-term research essay building on the continuous assessments throughout the term. The essay should offer a convincing argument, supported by research. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

70


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
Repeat Within Two Trimesters
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Frances Burney, Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, and Lady Susan
Maria Edgeworth, Belinda
Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest
All texts listed above are available in the Literature Online/ProQuest Database, held by UCD Library

Priority Secondary textbook: (UCD Library)
Marina MacKay, The Cambridge Introduction to the Novel