FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE M.St./M.Phil. English Course Details 2012-13 This information should be read in conjunction with the M.St./M.Phil. Handbook CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE… M.St. in English Literature (by period, and English and American) 5 M.St. in English Language 7 M.Phil. in English (Medieval Studies) 9 STRAND SPECIFIC COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (A- and Hilary Term B- Courses) M.St. 650-1550/first year M.Phil. (including Michaelmas Term B-Course) 10 M.St. 1550-1700 19 M.St. 1660-1830 24 M.St. 1800-1914 30 M.St. 1900-present 32 M.St. English and American Studies 37 M.St. English Language (including Michaelmas Term B-Course) 38 B-COURSE, POST-1550 - MICHAELMAS TERM 51 Material Texts, 1550-1830 52 Material texts, 1830-Present 55 Transcription Classes 59 B-Course Hilary Term Optional Seminar - The Work Of Editing 59 C-COURSES - MICHAELMAS TERM You can select your C-Courses from any strand 650-1550 The Age of Alfred 60 Archetypes of the High Middle Ages 61 Devotional Literature 62 Older Scots Literature 69 The Language of Middle English Literature (see under Language) 1550-1700 The Life and Death of the Sonnet in the Seventeenth Century: Milton, Donne and others 69 The Sermon & Early Modern English Literary Culture 78 Renaissance Tragicomedy 79 1660-1830 Women's Poetry 1700-1830 82 Letters as Literature 84 1800-1914 William Wordsworth 87 Aestheticism and Decadence 87 2 Class and Gender in the Victorian Novel 89 Henry James in 19th and 20th Century Contexts 89 Money in Victorian Narrative 90 1900-present Cinema and Modernism 91 Composing and Revising Modernism 94 Drama, 1945-present 95 English and American Studies Modernist Poetry: Pound and Eliot 96 Philip Roth: Contexts and Impact 99 Language The Language of Middle English Literature 101 English Historical Linguistics: Theories and Models of Language Change 103 Dictionaries and Lexicography 106 World Englishes 111 3 C-COURSES - HILARY TERM You can select your C-Courses from any strand 650-1550 Old Norse Literature 114 Beowulf 114 Word and Image in Late Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: from King Canute to Edward the Confessor 114 After Chaucer 117 Literature, Dissidence and Intellectual History in Late-Medieval England 117 1550-1700 Early Modern Underworlds 119 Rewriting Lucretius: Materialism and Poetry in the Seventeenth Century 121 Authors, Miscellaneity and Lyric Poetry 122 1660-1830 Senses of Humour from Wordsworth to Eliot 124 Romanticism, Regionalism, Place 131 The Fiction of Fantasy, 1660-1785 132 Samuel Johnson 134 Romantic Life-Writing 137 1800-1914 Science, Philosophy, and Popular Fiction 1880-1910 140 Dickens 141 Romantic Classicism 141 Joseph Conrad and Nineteenth-Century Contexts 142 1900-present Life Writing 144 Late Modernist Poetry in America and Britain 146 Literature and Psychoanalysis 148 English and American Studies American Literary Studies Now (American Core Course). This is the compulsory course for the 152 MSt English and American students; it is not open to students from other strands. Language English in the Eighteenth Century 154 Sociolinguistics 158 Language and Gender 163 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE M.ST. IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (BY PERIOD, AND ENGLISH AND AMERICAN) The course consists of four components, outlined briefly below; for further detail you should consult the strand-specific descriptions. The M.St./M.Phil. Handbook will be circulated before the beginning of term and will provide further important information needed once you begin your course. A-Course: Literature, Contexts and Approaches (the core course) This will consist of 8 weeks of 2-hour classes, taught by a variety of tutors in Michaelmas Term, and attendance is compulsory. There is no formal assessment, but written work and/or oral presentations may be required. A student-led all-day conference will be held in Trinity Term (usually in the fourth week of term) at which all students will give brief papers on topics arising from their dissertation work, and will receive feedback from the course convenor. Important note: M.St. in English and American Studies The M.St. in English and American Studies is a specialist M.St. degree which provides the opportunity to focus on American literature. Students taking this course do not have their own A-Course in Michaelmas, but follow an A-Course from one of the period-based M.St. strands. Students should select the A-Course that will complement and support their research. The compulsory core course for the M.St. in English and American Studies runs in Hilary Term and counts as a C-Course. This C-Course is not open to students from other strands. In order to qualify for the M.St. you must complete the American core course in Hilary Term and the topic chosen for your dissertation must be either a combined English/ American topic or an American topic. B-Course: Research Skills The B course is very highly recommended for those intending to continue to doctoral study, whether at Oxford or elsewhere, as it provides a thorough foundation in the skills needed to undertake research. The B-Course for the 650-1550 strand is described in the ‗Strand Specific Course Descriptions‘ section of this booklet. Post 1550 and English and American strands: In Michaelmas, the B-Course is divided into two subcourses: pre- and post-1830, which are described in detail later in this booklet. Strand specific classes on manuscript transcription and palaeography are taught in Michaelmas Term; formal assessment of this element of the B-Course takes the form of class tests. This assessment is pass/fail, and while students must pass in order to proceed with the course, their score on the test will not affect their final degree result. Further details about the examination of the B-Course are provided later in this booklet and in the M.St./M.Phil. Handbook. In Hilary students take their strand‘s specific B-Course, which is described in the ‗Strand Specific Course Descriptions‘ section of this booklet. C-Course: Special Options You can select your C-Courses from any strand These will be taught as 2-hour classes in weeks 1-6 of Michaelmas and Hilary Term. Students must choose EITHER: two of these options in each term (if they are not taking the B-Course); or one of these options in each term (if they are taking the B-Course). Candidates for the M.St. and M.Phil. are asked to commit themselves before 14 September 2012 to a first, second, and third choice for their Option(s) for Michaelmas Term. It may be possible to change your Hilary Term options should your interests alter once you have embarked on the programme. 5 The Faculty reserves the right not to run a Special Options course if there are insufficient numbers enrolled or should a tutor become unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances; please bear this in mind when selecting your first, second, and third choice options. Remember that you can select your C-Courses from any strand, depending on your interests and research plans. Assessment In Michaelmas Term candidates will be required to submit an essay of 5,000-7,000 words on a topic related to a special option taken under C in that term. In Hilary Term, candidates will be required to submit 2 essays of 5,000-7,000 words, one on a topic related to one the special option taken under C in that term, and another on a topic related either to an option taken under B (in either term) or to a second special option taken under C in that term. Candidates must gain approval of the topic of their essays by writing to the Chairman of the M.St. Examiners, care of the English Faculty Graduate Office. Details on approval of topics and timing of submission for all components are found in the M.St. /M.Phil. Handbook. Candidates taking the B-Course will be required to pass a test in transcription. Please note: If you wish to change any of your options, approval must be sought from your convenor, the tutor for the course you wish to take, and your college. Requests for option changes for Hilary Term must be submitted by the end of Michaelmas Term week 4, if your request is received after this time you may be liable for a fee. Dissertation Each student will write a 10-11,000 word dissertation on a subject to be defined in consultation with the period convenor, written under the supervision of a specialist in the Faculty, and submitted for examination at the end of Trinity Term. 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE M.ST. IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE The course consists of four components, outlined briefly below; for further detail you should consult the strand-specific descriptions. The M.St./M.Phil. Handbook will be circulated before the beginning of term and will provide further information of importance once you have begun the course. A-Course: Topics in English Language: History, Structure and Use This core course, taught through 6 weekly sessions in each of Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, provides a broad context in which to place the more specific inquiries students will pursue in their chosen optional courses. There is no formal assessment, but written work and/or oral presentations may be required. A student-led all-day conference will be held in Trinity Term (usually in the second week of term) at which all students will give brief papers on topics arising from their dissertation work, and will receive feedback from the course convenor. B-Course: Research Skills The B-Course is taught in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, and is divided into two major parts: ‗Fundamentals of English‘, a class which is mainly intended for students with little or no background in formal linguistic analysis; and ‗Approaches to Research in English Language‘, a methods course from which all students are required to take a minimum of 12 classes.