ENG32400 Gender & Sexuality in 18th C

Academic Year 2020/2021

On this module, students will explore the profound shifts in attitudes towards gender and sexuality that occurred across the period of the long-eighteenth century, taking in contemporary debates surrounding female desire, male effeminacy, the politics of consent, the dangers of emotional excess, women's rights, and the subversive power of the erotic imagination. Called by critics 'the century of sex' the literature of the long-eighteenth century is characterised by writers whose careers cannot be separated from their performance of gender and sexuality.

Beginning with the literature of the famously permissive period of the Restoration we will then consider the savage gender satires of the Augustan era; the complicated politics of consent in early-eighteenth century amatory fiction; the equivocal eroticism of the cult of sensibility; the politically-charged vision of sexual liberation that emerged in the Romantic era and its counterpoint in the monstrous sexualities of the Gothic; and the anxieties surrounding literary representations of masculinity in the Regency period.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On this module, students will gain a deeper understanding of the literature of the long-eighteenth-century
Students will learn about the changing historically-determined constructions of gender and sexuality across the period of the long-eighteenth century
Students will engage with key concepts and debates regarding gender and sexuality from the period in both group discussions and written assignments
Students will complete a research essay that is of Level 3 standard.

Indicative Module Content:

Students will encounter a range of literature from across the long eighteenth century.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

0

Seminar (or Webinar)

20

Autonomous Student Learning

180

Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lecturer and student presentations
Peer and group work
Seminar discussion
Close textual reading 
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
Essay: 3000 word end of semester essay. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

60

Continuous Assessment: The continuous assessment on this module will include:
Presentation
Essay Proposal
as well as weekly exercises.
Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

40


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive feedback on continuous assessment assignments at various points in the semester, including an essay proposal completed ahead of submission of the end of semester essay.