English Literature BA(Hons) - Kingston University

English Literature
BA(Hons)
single/joint honours
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
www.kingston.ac.uk/englit

English Literature BA(Hons)
single/joint honours
This intellectually rigorous and stimulating course
provides the opportunity to study a wide range
of English literature, from Chaucer to the present,
and examines the relationship of literature with
culture, politics and individual identity. You can
choose to study English Literature alongside
another subject and will have the chance to study
abroad at a partner university in your second year.
Why study English literature
at Kingston University?
• Kingston’s English department was
awarded an ‘excellent’ rating at its last
Teaching Quality Assessment.
• Student feedback consistently emphasises
the quality of our teaching and the
approachability of staff. At Kingston, we
put the student experience first among our
priorities.
• Lecturers at Kingston publish research
of national and international importance,
and this cutting-edge research informs our
teaching practice.
• Kingston has a dynamic and diverse
student body and is welcoming to both
school leavers and mature students.
• English at Kingston offers a rich
engagement with a wide range of literature
from Chaucer to the present day.
• The course combines broad-based
coverage with specialist options and
opportunities for independent study.
• We have a lively intellectual community,
and bring in world-renowned speakers for
special events.
•We aim to produce active, independent
learners with highly desirable career skills.
• We are excellently located in relation to
London and its facilities.
The English Literature degree is situated in
the School of Humanities, alongside subjects
such as Creative Writing, English Language
& Communication, and Journalism. There
is fertile cross-communication between
these fields, with a number of extracurricular
activities across the School, including lectures
by visiting academics, readings by published
and aspiring writers (including Writers in
Residence such as Paul Bailey and Hanif
Kureishi), dramatic performances and films.
Visiting professors in the Faculty also provide
input into the field. The study of English
Literature at Kingston encourages students
to take an active part within a supportive
and academically stimulating environment.
There is also a well-established postgraduate
culture in the field, and successful students
may progress to masters-level courses.
Teaching, assessment and support
Teaching is delivered through a mix of formal
lectures, workshop activities, small group seminar
teaching, and one-to-one supervision. Lecturers
also have regular weekly office hours during
which students can seek individual consultation.
Modules are assessed in a variety of ways,
but primarily through essay writing, exams,
presentations, and projects.
Throughout your time at Kingston, you will develop
an advanced understanding of the relationship
between critical, conceptual and theoretical
frameworks and literary texts. This will culminate
in a Year 3 module entitled ‘Great Expectations:
Theory and Research in Practice’. The content
of the module is designed to provide you with a
range of topics and conceptual approaches that
will inform your dissertation projects, thereby
promoting lateral thinking and enabling you to
produce a piece or writing with real-world impact.
Together with the dissertation, you are given the
opportunity to expand your existing transferable
skills in independent study and research, group
work, and time management, and to develop
valuable employability skills.
Personal Tutor Scheme
The teaching team is committed to providing
the support you need to facilitate your transition
to university life. We pride ourselves on our
approachability and readiness to help. The
personal tutor scheme, designed to help you from
your very first week, is the embodiment of this
commitment. As an integral part of your first year of
study, you will be placed in a small seminar group,
led by the same member of the teaching team
for the whole year. That seminar leader will also
be your personal tutor, not just for the first year,
but throughout your degree, providing support in
your learning, your personal development and in
developing your career aspirations.
Careers and employability
Successful completion of an English literature
degree shows potential employers that you have a
range of valuable skills including:
• advanced literacy and communication skills;
• the capacity to analyse and critically assess
diverse forms of writing;
• the ability to deal with substantial quantities
of complex information in a structured and
systematic way;
• the capacity for independent thought;
• the capacity to frame a persuasive argument,
both orally and in writing;
• skills in critical reasoning;
• creative and imaginative responsiveness;
• research and bibliographic skills;
• the capacity to function effectively in groups and
to work independently;
• competence in recognising and responding
appropriately to the requirements of a task; and
• time-management and organisational skills.
This skill base gives graduates of English a flexible
range of employment possibilities.
Graduates of English work in a range of
professions, including advertising, leisure
and tourism, arts management, business
management, journalism, IT, law (via a conversion
course), marketing, media, curatorship, publishing
and TEFL. Some students do teacher training or
masters courses, while some go on to study for
a PhD. Our graduates have achieved success in
a number of different fields, such as librarianship,
the civil service, personnel and fundraising. Some
have continued their education or training, for
example in counselling, nursing and computing.
One recent graduate took a law conversion course
and went on to become a barrister.
Student feedback
Here is what our students say:
“The lecturer has such an enthusiasm for this
subject and made it really interesting. This module
is so original and only one of a few on degree
courses – well done for including it on the course.”
“Brilliant novels with everything you could want –
they’re exciting, mysterious, with murders, love,
death…”
“I found the content and style of the lectures and
the lecturers very inspiring, really helping to feed
enthusiasm for the subject.”
“Our seminars were brilliant and stimulating. The
lecturer challenged us on every front.”
“Detailed discussions of texts in seminars helped
my understanding a great deal. My knowledge of
poetry has greatly improved, as has my enjoyment
of it.”
“I learned so much in the seminars. Things like
exercises and how to do them were made really
clear, and going through my work in a group really
helped me to improve it and understand what I
was doing.”
“I would recommend Kingston and their English
Literature course to anyone. I had a great time
and made friendships that will last a lifetime.”
„
Want to know more?
www.kingston.ac.uk/
englit

What you will study
Examples of the modules currently offered are shown below. The number of modules
taken each year and the choices available will vary depending on whether you study
English Literature as a full field (single honours) or as a half or major field (joint honours).
The module list varies from year to year as the course structure is reviewed and refined.
Our programme
• Do you love reading?
• Do you find the process of thinking and writing
about literature intellectually rewarding?
• Are you interested in cultural history?
• Do you want to develop vital career skills in
language use, imaginative problem solving,
information analysis, argument and clear
expression?
English Literature is an established and wellregarded
degree course focused upon the study
of writing in diverse forms and contexts. It allows
you to study fiction and non-fiction produced over
several centuries and in multiple countries. It also
allows you to combine the pleasures of reading
and analysing literature with the acquisition of
valuable employability skills.
You will study the genres of fiction, drama and
poetry, and will consider what fiction is as a genre,
learn to interpret poetry from different historical
periods and analyse a range of dramatic work. You
will also examine literature within the social, cultural,
critical and political contexts in which it was written,
and explore contemporary developments in critical
and theoretical approaches to text. In Years 2
and 3, we also offer an unusual range of optional
modules, which allows you to focus on particular
areas of interest. In addition you will receive training
in the use of computing facilities, and will enjoy a
stimulating learning environment with approachable
tutors and a high level of academic support.
Kingston Language Scheme (KLS)
KLS enables you to learn a foreign language
alongside your programme of study, completely
free of charge. You can choose to study modules
in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese,
Mandarin (Chinese) and Spanish, with or without
prior knowledge of the language.
Year 1 introduces you to a wide range of literary
texts and builds upon your skills in close reading,
argumentative essay writing and conceptual
frameworks. You will consider the concept of ‘the
canon’, debating what makes ‘great literature’;
learn to analyse a range of texts from different
historical periods and critical perspectives; and
improve your ability to write argumentative and
analytical essays about literature at degree level.
In Year 2, the course becomes more specific,
exploring literature within the social, cultural,
critical and political contexts in which it was
created. There are two types of core modules in
this year: one provides a conceptual introduction
to literatures of place and self, as informed by staff
research specialisms; the other improves your
independent research skills by allowing you to
focus on a text of your choice as selected through
consultation with a supervisor. You can also
choose to study specialist periods of literature,
covering English literature from the medieval
period to the present day. During your second
year, you will also have the opportunity to spend
a period of time abroad at one of our prestigious
partner universities in Europe or further afield.
Year 3 explores literary and cultural theories,
which will feed into a final project, such as a
special study or the dissertation module. You will
also be able to study global literatures, and will
have the opportunity to choose from a range of
special study modules. These modules change
each year to reflect staff research interests, but
currently include topics such as Victorian popular
literature, Bruce Springsteen and contemporary
American culture, and Jane Austen.
Year 1 modules
Writing and Rhetoric introduces you to the history
and theory of communicating well, both in written
and oral form. You will learn how to speak and
write persuasively, identifying how language can
be used to reason and argue convincingly, express
ideas, debate, and to disseminate knowledge.
You will also be given the skills needed to evaluate
and interpret critically the claims made by written
texts wherever they are encountered, whether
in the classroom or in everyday life. Rather than
remaining passive consumers of texts, you will
learn to become active readers engaged with
writing. The module begins by introducing you to
the basics of academic writing, alongside core
transferable skills foundational to your studies. This
work is supported through small group teaching
and regular contact with personal tutors. In the
second part of the module, these transferable skills
focus on oral communication.
Debates in Literature considers the critical
and theoretical debates that inform the study
of literature. Engaging with a range of texts in
literary theory, philosophy, and the history of ideas,
students are encouraged to engage critically with
secondary sources to enhance close readings
of literary texts. The module will encourage you
to negotiate different approaches to literary texts
and engage in active critical debates. You will be
introduced to a selection of critical texts through
the interactive lectures; these texts will be applied
to a single literary text, such as Stevenson’s The
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This work
will be supported by small-group teaching which
will help to explore concepts and critics in more
detail. There will be a series of four interactive
lectures which will be shared with the Writing and
Rhetoric module in which you will be introduced
to key literary texts to which you will then apply
relevant theoretical concepts.
Centre for Academic Skills
and Employability (CASE)
CASE offers students from the Faculty of Arts
and Social Sciences one-to-one help with
their studies, supporting both undergraduate
and postgraduate students with:
• researching and presenting;
• structuring and editing traditional academic
writing;
• structuring and editing multimedia texts; and
• referencing.
CASE also provides a range of resources to
enhance employability, including help with
writing CVs, application forms and interview
preparation. Results show that students who
use the centre are significantly more likely to
complete their degrees. As they are better
equipped to act on feedback, they also tend
to do better in their studies.

Reading and Interpretation, which is core for
all full-field students, develops skills of close
reading and textual analysis. Taking a broad range
of examples from prose, poetry, and drama,
the module will explore aspects of form, genre,
and convention and provide a solid foundation
for subsequent work on the degree. You will
be asked questions such as what is literature
and why is it worthy of our study? What are the
distinctive characteristics of narrative forms, for
example the realist novel, children’s literature, or
science fiction? In poetry, what are the formal
requirements of a sonnet, pastoral, or epic; or of
tragedy, comedy, and realism in drama? To what
extent are these categories useful ways of reading
and thinking about literature and who decides
anyway? Interactive lectures will focus on core
knowledge, while two-hour seminars will allow
skills to be developed in relation to a range of
significant literary texts.
Great Books? introduces students to a range of
important and canonical texts from Beowulf to
Brick Lane. The module will provide students with
a comprehensive overview of the development
and history of English literature. We will begin
by discussing the concept of canonicity and
how we might challenge traditional views of the
canon. You will be asked to consider the reasons
why a particular book should be studied, before
embarking on a series of chronological lectures
that will introduce you to a different key text
each week. Throughout the module, lectures will
engage in close readings and examine a range of
key literary themes, terms, concepts and contexts
in order to give you a comprehensive overview of
English literary studies. As such, this module will
act as a backbone to all other modules on the
degree. You will gain a transferable framework and
timeline for your literary studies.
Year 2 modules
Late Medieval to Early Modern Literature is
an optional period module which provides an
introduction to the literary culture of England during
the years 1380–1650. A number of discrete historical
issues and themes are addressed by studying works
of literature and non-literary texts of the period and
covers a relatively large number of diverse texts. You
will begin by examining poetry and stories written
in the late-medieval period and will then go on to
study plays from the late Elizabethan period to the
closing of the theatres in 1642. The module will
consider these plays in relation to early modern
contexts such as carnival, travel, performance and
the city; it will analyse revenge tragedies which
profoundly influenced succeeding dramatists;
address developing themes in relation to city
comedies; and will culminate in an investigation of
Shakespeare’s reputedly last play, The Tempest.
Eighteenth-century Literature and
Romanticism is an optional period module that
explores the major authors and literary themes of
the ‘long’ eighteenth century. You will be required
to think about literary production in relation to
historical and cultural change and to explore the
inter-connections of satire and sensibility, town and
country, and polite and popular literature through
its focus on major developments in the period,
such as the following: satire and society, the ‘rise
of the novel’ debate, sensibility and the literature
of feeling, and the growing participation of women
in the literary marketplace. Key to this year-long
study of eighteenth-century literature is the crucial
context it provides for understanding the evolution
of Romanticism towards the end of the century.
The module aims to situate the poetry of the major
Romantic poets between 1780–1830 in a historical
context and explore the philosophical and theoretical
concepts that underpin their work. It also seeks to
scrutinise the formation of literary categories such as
Romanticism and encourage a critical scepticism
about the usefulness or otherwise of such terms.
Victorian to Modernist Literature is an optional
period module which will focus on key texts from
the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries that
register the ways in which Britain is transformed
by the Industrial Revolution, and which give
expression to fears about technology, social
mobility and urban culture. We will consider
literature of the period that questions and resists
established theories of gendered identity, and
which challenges the literary representation of
sexuality, defying censorship in the process. We
will be introduced to writers who engage with
contemporary debates about science, religion,
the empire, and racial and national identity. And
we will encounter a range of consciously modern
texts which dislocate and make new the reader’s
experience by technical innovation and experiment.
Twentieth to Twenty-first Century Literature
is an optional period module which will begin
by exploring literature published from the 1930s
through to the present day, and will examine
the strategies writers have used in response to
a changing Britain and wider world. Students
will consider how 20th and 21st century texts
adapt realist, modernist and postmodern
techniques to engage with issues such as the
rise of mass culture, the threat of totalitarianism,
the establishment of the Welfare State, post-war
immigration, and sexual liberation. To enhance
students’ perspective on these issues, they will
be introduced to non-fiction material by other
contemporary writers, such as JB Priestley,
Erich Fromm, Iris Murdoch, Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Richard Hoggart, and George Lamming, as well
as more recent critical and theoretical material.
We will pay particular attention to the ways in
which realist drama is used as a tool of social and
political examination in the various contexts of
pre-Revolutionary Russia, Dublin in the aftermath
of the First World War, and the establishment of
the welfare state in Britain after 1945. We will also
examine the developments in non-realist forms
of drama and the experiments which gave rise
to what is, somewhat controversially, called the
‘Theatre of the Absurd’.
Modules continued overleaf...
„
Want to know more?
www.kingston.ac.uk/
englit

Modules continued...
Locating Literature/Speaking Subjects
investigates English literature through a critical
lens centred on two foundational components
of plot in any piece of literature; place and
character. Rather than offering a survey of English
literature across a defined historical period, this
module will permit a deeper engagement with a
selection of representative texts, both canonical
and uncanonical, drawn from the medieval to
the contemporary period and guided by the
research specialisms of instructors. In the first
part of the year, students will read with an eye to
the places constructed within texts, and to the
places of texts in history and the contemporary
cultural landscape. They will investigate the ways
in which place responds to the generic and
contextual expectations influencing authorship
and creates conditions of interpretation for readers
by ‘positioning’ them in relation to the text. In
the second part of the year, the module will
foreground the ways in which authors conceive
of character and set them in motion in their
works. You will learn to apply theories of selfhood,
identity, and subjectivity to draw connections
between representational versions of the self
and your use of your developing linguistic and
interpretive skills to engage actively with your
social and cultural surroundings.
Independent Research Studies is a core
module for full-field and half-field English Literature
students. The module is designed to introduce
you to the skills necessary for the effective use of
secondary sources in your written work through
the investigation of an important text or body
of work that is not part of the syllabus of your
regular English Literature modules. It encourages
independent learning and research into an area
and text of your choice, thereby developing
transferable critical and communication skills
that are central to the degree and useful in
occupations and professional tasks beyond the
University. In consultation with staff and personal
tutors, you will select a literary text or body of
work to study. Working with specialists among
the module team, you will identify and access
appropriate critical sources for your research.
Year 3 modules
Great Expectations: Theory and Research in
Practice enables you to develop an advanced
understanding of the relationship between
conceptual and theoretical frameworks and
literary criticism. The content of the module is
designed to provide you with a range of topics
and conceptual approaches that will inform your
dissertation projects, thereby promoting lateral
thinking. Consequently, you will work closely
with a supervisor to produce a major piece of
independent writing of dissertation length, and
meet regularly in small student-led discussion
groups for peer-support and guidance. In addition,
you will also produce a portfolio of work, including
a reading log, dissertation proposal and a short
piece of writing based on your dissertation for
publication in the English Literature Final-year
Online Magazine. Your dissertation and portfolio
are assessed both formatively and summatively
and, together, they represent the culmination
of your studies and bring together skills and
knowledge both from the first teaching block and
from your subject area.
Global Literatures introduces literature written
in places other than Great Britain and considers
the links between English writing and broader
cultural and historical issues including concepts
of colonialism, national identity, canonicity and
translation. The module begins with a core lecture/
workshop series discussing relevant conceptual
frameworks; you will be asked to consider how
texts function within discursive and ideological
contexts, and how language and culture are
related to social and political change. This core
also introduces and tests ideas generated by
postcolonial theory, translation studies, and
related cultural theories. The module acts as
a portmanteau in which you are able to select
two specialist areas of focus from four options,
for example 19th-century American literature,
Latin American writing, Caribbean literature,
contemporary American fiction, African writing,
gaining specialist knowledge of two periods or
thematic areas taught from staff research interests.
The Special Study module allows an advanced,
detailed, and extensive study of a specialised topic
or author. Each special study is led by a specialist
in the field and is delivered in small groups with
student numbers capped at 15; each option
reflecting the aims and outcomes of the Special
Study module as a whole. As well as writing
an extended essay and producing a practical/
creative project, students will present their work
at a final presentation day. Examples of previous
topics offered include ‘America Dreaming:
Suburbia, Literature and Culture’, ‘Adventures and
Empires 1850–1925’, ‘Bruce Springsteen and
Contemporary American Culture’, ‘Contemporary
American Fiction’, ‘Iris Murdoch’, ‘Jane Austen’,
‘Victorian Popular Literature: Sex, Secrets and
Sensation’, ‘Writing and Environment’ and ‘Writing
Women in the 20th and 21st Century’.
“Our emphasis on teaching subjects
that are relevant to the world today, and
on producing graduates able to make a
positive contribution to that world, makes
the educational experience on offer in
our Faculty at Kingston unique among
universities in the United Kingdom.”
Professor Martin McQuillan
Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Kingston Writing School
You’ll be part of our community of writers,
journalists, publishers and academics who
form the Kingston Writing School, London’s
most vibrant accredited writing school.
The School provides undergraduate and
postgraduate courses across a range
of disciplines including Creative Writing,
English Literature, English Language and
Communication, Journalism and Publishing.
With internationally acclaimed staff, high
quality teaching, innovative course design
and an extracurricular activities programme
that includes esteemed guests, writers in
residence, short courses, sponsorships,
and outreach programmes that take writing
and its benefits beyond the University, the
Kingston Writing School has much to offer
students, professionals and organisations
interested in all types of writing. See
www.kingstonwritingschool.com for more
information.
“The Kingston Writing School has become
one of the most dynamic places for students
and writers in the UK. It´s a pleasure to be
part of it and to have seen it grow so quickly
in such a short time”.
Hanif Kureishi, CBE
Distinguished writer in residence

Teaching team
Our highly qualified staff are active in both
teaching and research.
Dr Éadaoin Agnew teaches Victorian literature,
critical theory and travel writing. Her research
interests include the literature of adventure and
empire, with a particular focus on Irish writing and
the literature of Victorian India.
Dr Matthew Birchwood teaches Shakespeare
and other Renaissance literature and drama. His
research interests include early modern drama
and polemic, and English engagement with Islam
in the period.
Professor Fred Botting teaches literary and
cultural theory, Gothic fiction and Romantic and
contemporary writing. His research includes work
on horror fiction and film, theories of spectrality,
and the unconscious.
Dr Brycchan Carey teaches 18th century
literature, Romanticism, literary London and the
literature of empire. His research interests include
literature, empire and slavery in the 18th century.
Professor Norma Clarke teaches 18th century
and Romantic literature, poetry and children’s
fiction. Her research interest is in cultural authority
and the female writer.
Dr Martin Dines teaches 20th-century American
and British literature. His research interests focus
on suburbia in literature and visual culture, and
gay and lesbian cultural production and politics.
Dr Meg Jensen teaches 19th- and 20th-century
British fiction, creative writing and critical theory. Her
research is on influence and intertextuality among
British writers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dr Jane Jordan teaches 19th- and 20th- century
British literature, especially women writers. Her
research is on literature and history, especially the
legal status of British women in the 19th century.
Professor Patricia Phillippy teaches 16th- and
17th-century comparative literary and cultural
studies, Shakespeare, and Gender Studies. Her
research focuses upon early-modern women
writers and artists.
Dr David Rogers teaches 19th-century English
and American literature, and 20th-century
American fiction and poetry. His research centres
on the novelist William Faulkner and discourses of
the perverse.
Dr Anne Rowe teaches 19th- and 20th-century
literature, academic writing and research skills.
Her research centres on the relationship between
literature and the visual arts.
Dr Andrew Teverson teaches 20th- and 21stcentury
world writing in English, Renaissance
studies and folklore. His research focuses on
literature during and after the imperial period and
the fairy tale.
Dr Sara Upstone teaches 20th-century British and
postcolonial fiction, and black British and British
Asian literature and media. Her research focuses on
spatiality and identity in contemporary fiction.
Entry requirements
Typical offer
Single honours:
• Points: 300 UCAS points
• Units: to include two A-levels or equivalent.
• Subject: A-level English Literature or English
Language/Literature combined (100 points)
Joint honours:
• Points: 300–360 depending on combination
• Units: to include two A-levels or equivalent
• Subject: A-level English Literature or English
Language/Literature combined (80 points)
• Plus GCSE (A*–C): English
Further requirements for combinations:
Please see the course webpage for details.
International students
All non-UK applicants must meet our English
language requirements. For this course it is IELTS
of 6.5 overall, with special conditions for students
who require a Tier-4 student visa. Please make
sure you read our full guidance about English
language requirements on the course webpage,
which includes details of other qualifications we’ll
consider. If you do not meet the English language
requirements, you may be eligible to join our presessional
English language course.
Other entry routes
• Access course
• International applicants and mature applicants
with relevant qualifications are welcomed.
Joint honours combinations
You can study English Literature as a single
honours or in combination with:
• Business*
• Creative Writing
• Criminology
• Dance
• Design
• Drama
• English Language and Communication
• Film Studies
• French*
• History
• History of Art, Design and Film
• Human Rights
• International Relations
• Journalism
• Media and Cultural Studies
• Politics
• Sociology
• Spanish*
• Television & New Broadcasting Media
*Minor field only
UCAS codes
For UCAS codes, please see the course webpage.
Open days
Several open days are held each year. Please
contact the admissions office or visit the
University website for more details.
www.kingston.ac.uk/opendays
Contact details
Course enquiries
Modular Admissions Office
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT1 2EE
T: +44 (0)20 8417 2378/2361
F: +44 (0)20 8417 2292
E: fassundergrad-info@kingston.ac.uk
Accommodation
T: +44 (0)20 8417 9000
E: accommodation@kingston.ac.uk
www.kingston.ac.uk/accommodation
Student Funding Service
T: +44 (0)20 8417 9000
www.kingston.ac.uk/studentfunding
Disability and Dyslexia Support Services
T: +44 (0)20 8417 9000
www.kingston.ac.uk/disability-and-dyslexia
International Office
T: +44 (0)20 8417 3411
www.kingston.ac.uk/international
HS(13.050)L
T: +44 (0)8448 552 177 E: aps@kingston.ac.uk www.kingston.ac.uk