Modules

Core Module Information
Module title: Reformation, Restoration, Revolution: Early Modern Drama, Poetry, and Prose
SCQF level: 07:
SCQF credit value: 20.00
ECTS credit value: 10
Module code: CLP07117
Module leader: Georgina Lucas
School School of Arts and Creative Industries
Subject area group: Generic - School of Arts and Creative Industries
Prerequisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added
Description of module content:

Reformation, Restoration, Revolution explores the ways that literature from the 1580s through to the end of the seventeenth century engaged with dramatic upheavals in social, political, and religious culture. The module looks at writing from the period c. 1588 to c.1688, a time that saw the end of one ruling dynasty – the Tudors – and the beginning of another – the Stuarts. This was an era that saw major debates over national identity, religious doctrine, politics and government.Reformation/s defined and redefined religious practice. Hundreds of thousands of people died in a series of bloody civil wars. One king was executed, another deposed in a bloodless, ‘glorious? revolution. A republic was inaugurated, and a monarchy restored. These events took place in a wider context of emergent colonialism, the rise of capitalism, and a scientific revolution that paved the way for what we now think of as ‘modernity?: modern subjectivities, sexualities, politics, and cultures. Drawing from a variety of drama, poetry, and prose from the period, this module invites you to explore the different ways that works of literature imagined and engaged with the tumultuous events of the century. This was a period of immense creativity and experimentation: the primary texts studied on this module will open up a range of literary forms from canonical and less-studied writers alike through which you will develop a sense of the spirit of the early modern age.
Learning Outcomes for module:

Upon completion of this module you will be able to

LO1: Identify and critically reflect upon key, textual, thematic, and generic shifts within early modern literature.

LO2: Develop an awareness of key contexts for the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, encompassing the religious, political, and cultural frameworks in which early modern texts were written.

LO3: Respond critically and imaginatively to a wide range of poems, plays, and prose.

LO4: Develop skills in the close reading of early modern literature.

LO5: Acquire skills for navigating subject-specific digital archives.
Full Details of Teaching and Assessment
2026/7, Trimester 2, In Person,
VIEW FULL DETAILS
Occurrence: 001
Primary mode of delivery: In Person
Location of delivery: MERCHISTON
Partner:
Member of staff responsible for delivering module: Georgina Lucas
Module Organiser:


Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH))
Mode of activityLearning & Teaching ActivityNESH (Study Hours)NESH Description
Face To Face Lecture 10 Lectures will unpack key concepts and contexts relating to early modern literary culture. Each week will spotlight a particular author and/or literary form; you will use knowledge gained from lectures in tutorials for the analysis of primary texts. This activity directly contributes to your tutorial discussion and informs your assessments.
Face To Face Tutorial 20 In tutorials, you will discuss weekly texts in relation to their historical and formal contexts and be asked to summarise and reflect upon key points from the lecture. Working both independently and collaboratively, you will develop a vocabulary for analysing early modern texts and advance your close reading skills. These activities form the core of your assessments.
Online Guided independent study 170 Most of the credit-bearing hours for this module are spent in guided independent study. With the support of assigned reading materials, Moodle study resources, a weekly syllabus, and study skills taught during contact hours, you will manage your independent study time to complete assigned readings for each week in advance of classes, make notes and annotate texts, do additional recommended reading and research, and plan and produce assessments.
Total Study Hours200
Expected Total Study Hours for Module200


Assessment
Type of Assessment Weighting % LOs covered Week due Length in Hours/Words Description
Essay 40 2~3~4~5 Week 6 , WORDS= 1500 You will be required to produce 3 x 500-word critical commentaries from a range of texts studied so far on the module. Specific extracts and poems will be made available to you via the assessment brief Moodle. These critical analyses will enable you to explore the formal and rhetorical features of each poem/passage, developing your close reading skills and awareness of early modern literary culture. Although this is primarily a close reading exercise, you will be expected to engage with small amounts of criticism in each commentary to add nuance and depth to your work.
Essay 60 1~2~3~4~5 Week 12 , WORDS= 1500 Assessment 2 asks you to produce two 700-word historically-informed close readings of texts drawn from the second part of the module. Specific poems and extracts will be made available to you via the assessment brief on Moodle. These commentaries should pay close attention to the political, cultural, and social forces that shaped the composition, publication, and reception of the text under study.Since these are longer commentaries than assessment 1, you are expected to include more secondary sources and show a greater awareness of the historical contexts in which these texts were written.Your first assessment will have done some of this, so do keep it up, but the second assessment should be even more alert to the specific milieu in which the module texts were written.In addition to your critical commentaries, you are asked to submit a critical reflection on your module learning journey. Your critical reflection should specifically consider how you have implemented feedback from your first assessment in your second assessment.
Component 1 subtotal: 40
Component 2 subtotal: 60
Module subtotal: 100

 

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