Year 2 (national level 5):
Core modules:
- Language and Society (20 credits)
Explore interactions between language and the contexts in which it is embedded. Discover the relationship between language and society, gaining an understanding of how social variables such as social status, geographical location, and the social networks people belong to influence linguistic variation and change, as well as the role of language attitudes and ideologies. Acquire the skills to carry out your own small-scale piece of sociolinguistic research.
- Regional Writing: Literature (20 credits)
Build on the study of regional and working-class writers and writing from Year 1. Draw on landmark texts from the national and regional landscape, past and present. Study and analyse literary texts in the first half of the module, before moving onto workshops in the second half that encourage both critical and creative writing in response to this initial foundation. Get assessed via poster presentation and a piece of creative writing that should be submitted to an internal or external market.
- Submitting Prose and Poetry (20 credits)
Take advantage of opportunities to explore contemporary writing in both prose and poetry, as well as more experimental writing. Gain knowledge of current prose and poetry publishers, as well as the skills to submit work to markets. Develop your writing in both forms and demonstrate a strong critical awareness of your work.
- Texts and Contexts (20 credits)
Gain an introduction to the main periods of literary history from the Classical to the Victorian and the characteristic genres thereof. Examine key ideas and exemplary sub- genres across all three primary genres (poetry, prose and drama), using extracts from key writers, and learn to consider the importance of historical, social and cultural contexts, and the diverse shaping influences of these contexts. Consider the interplay between literary/historical backgrounds, literary texts, their production and reception and generic adaptations.
- The Business of Writing 2: Pitching, Funding and Placement (20 credits)
Gain an understanding of the obstacles that writers face in creating successful careers, as well as the tools and knowledge to overcome them. Develop your abilities to build a writer’s profile and to seek out opportunities available for writers such as residencies, commissions, teaching, pitches, and funding. Gain practical experience in identifying and writing pitches for funding and commissioning opportunities, contributing to your development as writers. Spend approximately 30 hours on a placement, which will enable you to bring the skills and knowledge you have developed so far in your degree into the workplace and provide you with the chance to draw on these achievements to enhance your understanding of their application beyond the university context.
Optional modules (choose one):
- Environmental Writing (20 credits)
Develop your creative communication skills while helping the Earth. Write innovative and inspired fiction, non-fiction, essays and life stories that engage with the most pressing issues of today such as the climate crisis, as you explore different styles and forms to suit the wide range of subjects that come under the banner ‘environmental writing’. Critically assess the craft of shaping stories about the relationships between people and planet. Analyse the most important new and historical works in the genre from across the globe, from America, India, and Africa as well as from the UK’s rich history in nature writing.
As well as options from across the Faculty, for example in journalism, radio or media production.
