Module: ENG5010-20 Voices in Conversation

Level: 5

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Faith Binckes

Module Tutor Contact Details: f.binces@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

This module will develop your close-reading and communication skills by enabling you to understand how meaning is made, as well as engage in some meaning-making of your own. It is grounded in the idea of ‘voice’, a central concept that connects diverse forms of literary and non-literary representation to our daily experience of being in the world. 

What should we consider when we speak to, with, or even for, others? How do particular voices provoke, captivate, amuse and unsettle their audiences, not to mention create space for serious contemplation and reflection? You will examine the techniques writers use, in both literary and non-literary texts, to manipulate voice. You will also explore the wider cultural, ethical and social contexts of voice through not only your reading of others’ voices but also your own verbal practice in the seminar room.

To further develop your analytical and communication skills, you will be asked to place the texts that you study in dialogue with material that speaks to you personally, providing you with an opportunity to give voice to your own passions and commitments. Finally, we ask you to take more creative ownership of the techniques that have inspired you, learning new methods for presenting your ideas, individually as well as collaboratively. Working in teams, you will shape a discussion around the issues raised by your shared interests, connecting critical analysis directly with practice. The forms of assessment place emphasis on the significance of the voice as a mode of communication, rather than simply as a method of delivery, building your ability not simply to articulate your own ideas but to respond to and incorporate the ideas of others. This will prepare you for the creation of a shared spoken-word project, which will close the circle and talk directly to the wider world.

By the end of this module you will be equipped to research and analyse a variety of literary and non-literary texts and establish connections between the cultural, social and political ideas and issues that they explore and our contemporary world. You will also be experienced in responding to and incorporating others’ ideas while confidently articulating and sharing your own

2.Outline syllabus

• Teaching time will be allocated more or less equally to the three components of the module: close study of various texts and the work of finding comparable material; development of discussion, articulation, and inclusivity; practical training and sessions devoted to assessment preparation and feedback.

• Unit 1: Listening in (Examination of set texts)

• Unit 2: Speaking up (Students’ literary and non-literary connections)

• Unit 3: Speaking out (Communicating with a different audience: group work and podcast)

3.Teaching and learning activities

Seminars

Workshops and guided discussion

Lectures

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Assessed discussions  (2000 words equivalent)  

• % Weighting: 40%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Podcast [developed collaboratively but segments created & assessed individually i.e. balance of group + individual assessment] (3000 word equivalent) 

• % Weighting: 60%