Master of Arts Introduction to British Culture

The College of Nyíregyháza Institute of Linguistics and Literary Studies Department of English Language and Culture Master of Arts Introduction to British Culture Course Notes Lecture and Seminar ANO1013 Semester 1 Dr. Granville Pillar ANO1013 Introduction to British Culture Dr Granville Pillar Course Outline Course Objective The objective of this course is to provide you with an understanding of the culture and history of the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). The course will cover various aspects of this English-speaking country. Topics covered will include geography, history, politics, religion, education, cultural diversity, economy, sport and leisure, the monarchy, media and language. The course aims to give you an appreciation of British society, of the role this country played in establishing a strong colonial presence in a number of regions of the world, and how it has contributed to the modern western and global civilisation. The course is intended to prepare students for further study in English- speaking colonial civilisation. Course Structure The course comprises one 45-minute lecture and one 45-minute seminar per week over 14 weeks. The outline of topics covered is shown below: Week Lecture Topics Seminar Topics 1-2 The United Kingdom – Overview EU Referendum 3. Scotland – Overview De-United Kingdom 4. Wales – Overview Volunteering and Wellbeing 5. Northern Ireland – Overview Has Anything Really Changed in N. Ireland? 6-7. The British Monarchy and Legal System Why UK Should Abolish its Monarchy 8. British Holidays and Celebrations UK Teachers Scared of Offending Muslims 9. British Education and Economy Britain Lags behind Lithuania and Hungary 10. British Sport and Recreation Racism is Rife in English Football 11. British Media and Politics The Islamic Future for Britain 12. British Literature and Religion Why Students Should Study Literature 13. British Accents and Dialects English Too Easy for Hungarians 14. Review Oral Presentations Assessment Your assessment comprises an oral presentation for the seminar and an oral exam for the lecture. For your oral presentation, you will choose a topic related to any of the above list of Seminar Topics. Your presentation should be 10-15 minutes, and you will be required to use a variety of media to enhance your presentation, in particular, PowerPoint, with the acknowledgement of your resources on a separate slide and the end of your presentation. Notes can be used as a guide, but must not be read verbatim. Presentations shorter than 10 minutes will incur a reduction in grade. 2 ANO1013 Introduction to British Culture Dr Granville Pillar The use of a laptop computer, data projector, and video/CD facilities will be made available for your presentation. For the lecture, you will be required to take an oral exam, based on the main Lecture Topics listed above. Assessment Criteria and Grading for Oral Presentations Criteria Weighting Grading Oral skills 20 Mark Grade Delivery 10 90 – 100 5 Content 20 75 – 89 4 Relevance 10 65 – 74 3 Cohesion 10 50 – 64 2 Creativity 10 Below 50 1 Media 10 Clarity 10 Attendance Please note that in line with college policy on attendance, missing more than three seminars will result in a failure of the subject, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Reading Resources There are no set texts, but notes and excerpts from books and articles will be provided. References to other resources and internet sites will also be provided. The course notes are accessible on the web site: http://zeus.nyf.hu~granville.pillar 3 ANO1013 Introduction to British Culture Dr Granville Pillar 1. The United Kingdom: Overview Lecture Facts and Figures Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952) Prime Minister: David Cameron (2010) Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km) Population (2014 est.): 63,742,977 (growth rate: 0.54%); birth rate: 12.22/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.44/1000; life expectancy: 80.42; density per sq km: 255.6 Capital and largest city (2013 est.): London, 13,614,409 (metro. area), 9,787,426 (city proper) Other large cities: Birmingham, 2.272 million; Manchester, 2.213 million; West Yorkshire, 1.625 million; Glasgow, 1.137 million; Newcastle upon Tyne, 874,000 Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£) Languages: English, Welsh, Scots, Scottish Gaelic Ethnicity/race: White 87.2%, Black/African/Caribbean/ 3%, Asian/Asian British: Indian 2.3%, Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1.9%, mixed 2%, other 3.7% (2011 est.) Religions: Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, none 25.7%, unspecified 7.2% (2011 est.) Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.) 4 ANO1013 Introduction to British Culture Dr Granville Pillar Geography The United Kingdom, consisting of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland, is twice the size of New York State. England, in the southeast part of the British Isles, is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills; from them the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the centre of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest. To the west along the border of Wales—a land of steep hills and valleys—are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires. Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne. In the west are the Severn and Wye, which empty into the Bristol Channel and are navigable, as are the Mersey and Ribble. Government The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops; and the House of Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members. Supreme legislative power is vested in parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner. The House of Lords was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation. In Nov. 1999, hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to make the body more democratic. The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister. England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain ; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo- Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927. History Stonehenge and other examples of prehistoric culture are all that remain of the earliest inhabitants of Britain. Celtic peoples followed. Roman invasions of the 1st century B.C. brought Britain into contact with continental Europe. When the Roman legions withdrew in the 5th century A.D., Britain fell easy prey to the invading hordes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Scandinavia and the Low Countries. The invasions had little effect on the Celtic peoples of Wales and Scotland. Seven large Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established, and the original Britons were forced into Wales and Scotland. It was not until the 10th century that the country finally became united under the kings of Wessex. Following the death of Edward the Confessor (1066), a dispute about the succession arose, and William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England, defeating the Saxon king, Harold II, at the Battle of Hastings (1066). The Norman Conquest introduced Norman French law and feudalism. 5 ANO1013 Introduction to British Culture Dr Granville Pillar The Magna Carta Is Signed and a House of Commons Is Born The reign of Henry II (1154–1189), first of the Plantagenets, saw an increasing centralization of royal power at the expense of the nobles, but in 1215 King John (1199–1216) was forced to sign the Magna Carta, which awarded the people, especially the nobles, certain basic rights. Edward I (1272–1307) continued the conquest of Ireland, reduced Wales to subjection, and made some gains in Scotland. In 1314, however, English forces led by Edward II were ousted from Scotland after the Battle of Bannockburn. The late 13th and early 14th centuries saw the development of a separate House of Commons with tax-raising powers. Edward III's claim to the throne of France led to the Hundred Years' War (1338–1453) and the loss of almost all the large English territory in France. In England, the great poverty and discontent caused by the war were intensified by the Black Death, a plague that reduced the population by about one- third. The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485), a struggle for the throne between the House of York and the House of Lancaster, ended in the victory of Henry Tudor (Henry VII) at Bosworth Field (1485). The Church of England Is Established and Parliament Reigns Supreme During the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), the church in England asserted its independence from the Roman Catholic Church. Under Edward VI and Mary, the two extremes of religious fanaticism were reached, and it remained for Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I (1558–1603), to set up the Church of England on a moderate basis. In 1588, the Spanish Armada, a fleet sent out by Catholic King Philip II of Spain, was defeated by the English and destroyed during a storm.

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