Changing Ireland: Fictional Perspectives

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

The course will examine and evaluate the diverse literary strategies deployed by Irish novelists, and highlight the changing perspectives from which history, politics, gender and class are now being ‘read’.

Course objectives:

• To analyse, evaluate and appreciate a range of outstanding works of fiction.
• To develop an understanding of the political, historical, and cultural contexts from which they have emerged.
• To consolidate the students' sense of confidence in their own authority as readers of texts.

The course will be taught by means of seminars, to which everyone will be expected to contribute. Tasks will be assigned weekly to pairs or small groups whose findings will provide a basis for general discussion. This is intended to foster an active, participatory, independent approach to learning, developing the students' critical faculties and confidence, and consolidating and developing written and oral skills. Students will regularly receive preparatory reading material from the tutor, designed to enhance their understanding of the primary texts.   

The tutor will provide detailed feedback to each individual student on their formative piece/ or their presentation and will devote time to discussing topics of their summative essay (if that is retained). 

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

• convey through their oral and written work a sound understanding of the selected texts, demonstrating their ability to analyse and evaluate their concerns and formal qualities;
• recognise the significance of the particular cultural, political and historical contexts in which these novels have been produced;
• understand the value and limitations of some of the theoretical models that have been applied to literary texts. 

Assessment will take the form of a formative essay in week 4, which will involve a close analysis of a short section from one of the  texts. An alternative will be to offer a presentation on one of the texts, which reflects the concerns and meets the course objectives. In addition a summative essay of 1500 words will be a requirement, unless the department decides not to continue that practice.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.