ENGL2691: Evelyn Waugh

• At least one of the following modules: Introduction to Drama (ENGL 1011), Introduction to the Novel (ENGL 1061), Introduction to Poetry (ENGL 1071).

• Any other 20 credit lecture module in English.

• None.

• To study in depth a range of writing by Evelyn Waugh, exploring the cultural, religious, intellectual and historical contexts which inform this work.
• The module is designed to encourage students to analyze in detail the formal techniques of Waughs fiction and non-fiction, to appraise the force of his critique of the modern world, and to what extent he can be viewed as an experimental writer.
• In addition, by including film and television adaptations of Waughs books, most notably Brideshead Revisited, this module provides students with the opportunity to reflect critically on film adaptations of novels.

• The module will be organized in broadly chronological sequence, interspersed with screenings and discussion of film and television adaptations. When appropriate seminars will be supplemented by material from Waughs non-fiction prose writings (autobiographical, travel, essays and reviews). We will discuss Waughs early comic novels Decline and Fall (1928), Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938), devoting the latter part of the module to Brideshead Revisited (1945). Students will be expected to engage with a range of secondary materials.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will be expected to demonstrate a close knowledge of Evelyn Waughs fiction and non-fiction prose writing and to show an understanding of the cultural and intellectual contexts of his work and an engagement with the various critical approaches to his writing.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• an ability to demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts and critical approaches
• informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts
• sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• an ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary studies
• skills of effective communication and argument
• awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

Key Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyze critically
• an ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• competence in the planning and execution of essays
• a capacity for independent thought and judgment, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organization and time-management skills

• Seminars will encourage peer-group discussion and a collective, interactive responsiveness to the texts under discussion. They will also enable students to think critically and to read fiction and non-fiction with a close attention to the formal and aesthetic dimensions of literary writing.
• Seminars will encourage effective oral communication skills.
• The consultation session with the seminar leader prior to the first essay will facilitate an informed exploration of specific interests, ideas and arguments, enabling students to develop their subject-specific knowledge.
• Coursework: assessed essays will allow an opportunity for detailed, independent study and reflection, demonstrating an awareness of the ongoing critical commentary surrounding the texts under consideration thereby enriching their subject-specific knowledge.
• Written feedback provided after the first assessed essay will allow students to reflect upon the comments of examiners, stimulating reflection on how to improve the rhetorical persuasiveness and subject-specific knowledge exhibited in their second essay.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning students an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.

Before the first essay, students will have an individual consultation session in which they are entitled to show their seminar leader a list of points relevant to the essay and receive oral comment on these points. Students may also, if they wish, discuss their ideas for the second essay at this meeting.

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