ENGL3221: U.S. Cold War Literature and Culture

• Successful completion of either ENGL2011 Theory and Practice of Literary Criticism or ENGL2021 Shakespeare.

• None.

• None.

• To introduce students to a range of U.S. cultural texts that respond to the unique historical conditions of the Cold War (1945-1991) and its aftermath
• To introduce students to the literary, theoretical and historiographic questions raised by the Cold War
• To expose students to critical concepts characteristic of the literary and cultural representation of war/conflict (e.g. the "enemy", internal dissent) and those unique to the Cold War (e.g. "containment", "mutually assured destruction").

• Surveys U.S. cultural responses (fiction, non-fiction, film, drama and poetry) to the Cold War
• Addresses topics such as: early and ongoing responses to the nuclear age; the rise of McCarthyism and domestic "containment" culture; reactions to the Rosenberg case; the various conventional wars of the period; and the aftermath of the Cold War
• Addresses major writers of the Cold War period, such as John Hersey, Sylvia Plath, Don DeLillo, and Joan Didion
• Combines close reading of individual texts with a wider investigation into the historical contexts and theoretical positions that help to shed light on those texts

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• Detailed knowledge of a selection of U.S. Cold War texts, and of the culture that produced them
• Insight into the complex relationships among textual representations, historical contexts and theoretical claims

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
• 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 analyse critically
• skills of effective communication and argument
• 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
• awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, 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
• organisation and time-management skills

• Seminars: encourage peer-group discussion, enable students to develop critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts, and skills of effective communication and presentation; promote awareness of diversity of interpretation and methodology
• Consultation session: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for seminars provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) 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.
• Coursework: tests the student's ability to argue, respond and interpret, and to demonstrate subject-specific knowledge and skills such as appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation and the close reading and analysis of texts; they also test the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions. In individual Special Topics, the essay may, where appropriate to the subject, take an alternative form, such as 'creative criticism'.
• Feedback: The written feedback that is provided after the first assessed essay allows students to reflect on examiners' comments, giving students the opportunity to improve their work for the second essay.

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