Integrated Master in Literature: Literature

Program Overview

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You’ve read the classics, but you want a fresh take on literature, old and new. Perhaps you want to explore particular genres, themes or periods of literature in more depth; or perhaps you want to discover that your new favourite author is someone you’ve never heard of before. Studying literature widens your horizons, sharpens your critical skills, develops your writing ability, and introduces you to the great cultures, thoughts, ideas and imaginations of the world. Studying at Essex will challenge and revolutionise the way you think about literature. We’ll invite you to reflect on how literature shapes, and is shaped by, the world. Drawing on key texts, core theories and concepts, you’ll develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills that will help you make your own mark. On our four-year MLitSt Literature, you will be part of an interdisciplinary department where literary critics work alongside practising poets, dramatist, film-makers, novelists and journalists. You have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of optional modules across different topics and areas of specialism, including;

• Literatures of slavery and emancipation
• Themes of love, desire and death
• Identity, diversity and voice in United States literature
• Shakespeare’s tragedies
• Postcolonial literature
• Romantic, Gothic, naturalist, realist and sentimental writing
• 20th and 21st century literature
• Modernism, postmodernism, dystopias, and science fiction
• European, Caribbean and Transatlantic literature
• Poetic, contemporary, avant-garde and political writing

In your fourth year, as a post-graduate student, you will be able to choose from the following masters level modules in literature and, if you wish, creative writing:

• Shakespeare and the Modern
• Research Methods in Literary and Cultural Analysis
• The Modern City: From Modernism to Postmodernism
• Caribbean Crossings: Literature across continents
• African American Literature
• Dramatic Structure
• Memory Maps
• Oulipo and the Avant Garde
• US Avant Garde poetry

At Essex, you can study modules which examine a variety of genres, including travel writing, the podcast, and autobiography among others, and work across different media, including books, newspapers, plays and film. Our modules not only span momentous historical, political and social worldwide events, but also examine the alternative worlds that literature has produced. At Essex we believe in radical, challenging and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of literature and while we are respectful of conventions, we’re not bound by them. Why we're great.

• Achieve a masters level qualification with this four-year course variant
• Join a diverse network of distinguished alumni, including Booker Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners
• At Essex we believe in radical, challenging and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of literature and while we are respectful of conventions, we’re not bound by them.

Our expert staff

At Essex, we have an impressive literary legacy. Our history comprises staff (and students) who have been Nobel Prize winners, Booker Prize winners, and Pulitzer Prize winners. We are committed to unlocking your analytical and creative responses to literature within a community of award-winning novelists, poets and playwrights, as well as leading literature specialists.

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Specialist facilities

• Meet fellow readers at our student-run Literature Society or the Myth Reading Group
• Hear writers talk about their craft and learn from leading literature specialists at the Essex Book Festival
• Write for our student media platform Rebel
• Learn from leading writers and literature specialists at our weekly Open Research seminars
• Our research clusters allow you to collaborate with professionals on cutting-edge research while also improvising and experimenting with new work

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Your future

A good literature degree opens many doors and our students have gone on to work in a number of careers such as writers, and others are now established as scholars, university lecturers, teachers, publishers, publishers’ editors, journalists, arts administrators, theatre artistic directors, drama advisers, and translators. Our recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of desirable roles including:

• The Civil Service
• Journalism and broadcasting
• Marketing
• Museum and library work
• Commerce and finance
• Teaching

We also work with the University's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Program Outline

Course structure

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The following modules are based on the current course structure and may change in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

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Components

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose. Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

Status	What this means
Core	You must take the set module for this component and you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Core with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component but you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Compulsory	You must take the set module for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Compulsory with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Optional	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

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Modules

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits. In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available. Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code . For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

HR	100	4	FY
The department or school the module will be taught by. In this example, the module would be taught by the Department of History.	The module number.	The UK academic level of the module. A standard undergraduate course will comprise of level 4, 5 and 6 modules - increasing as you progress through the course. A standard postgraduate taught course will comprise of level 7 modules. A postgraduate research degree is a level 8 qualification.	The term the module will be taught in. AU : Autumn term SP : Spring term SU : Summer term FY : Full year AP : Autumn and Spring terms PS: Spring and Summer terms AS: Autumn and Summer terms

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Final Year Which writers re-worked Homer’s Odyssey? Or borrowed ideas from Dante’s Inferno? Examine how key literary texts and genres have been used by successive generations of writers up until the present day. Shift from classical text to a more modern example, studying the long cultural traditions that exist. View Origins and Transformations in Literature and Drama on our Module Directory How do you read a text closely? What is involved in close reading? With emphasis on you to active do the close reading, learn how this approach can contribute to your appreciation of meaning and significance in a diverse range of texts. View Text Up Close: Reading for Criticism on our Module Directory COMPONENT 03: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS LT109-4-SP or LT137-4-SP or LT171-4-SP (15 CREDITS) This interdisciplinary module serves several functions. Firstly, you will develop an understanding of your degree in the context of the wider world and specifically the graduate jobs market. You will come to understand the employability and career-development opportunities that are available to you during and after your time at Essex, and you will begin the life-long process of continuous professional development with a firm grounding in the practical skills and reflective practice involved. The module is divided into two parts: career-development learning; and Speaker Weeks, when a member of staff will interview guest speakers about their careers in fields that are allied to the arts and humanities. These will cover a range of career areas that may be of interest to humanities graduates in general: from media, arts, journalism, education, publishing, to entrepreneurship in related areas. These weeks are intended to be inspiring but also full of practical tips and ideas, with an emphasis on showing how careers develop over time, and what pathways students can explore to get to where they want to be; as well as what kinds of extra-curricular activities students can engage in now to open more doors professionally before and after graduation. In the career-development learning part of the module, you will cover topics such as the Graduate Labour market, the Humanities graduate, self-reflection and personal development, and how to research and apply effectively for jobs. Skills such as CV writing and interview technique will be covered. Two-hour interactive lecture/seminars will introduce students to careers resources and ideas, but will also include discussion and group work. View The Humanities Graduate: Future Pathways on our Module Directory COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS LT161-4-AU or LT191-4-AU (15 CREDITS) COMPONENT 06: OPTIOL Option(s) from list (30 CREDITS) A century of religious, philosophical and political turmoil, the Renaissance was also the age of the great flourishing of the English stage and English verse. In this module you will study Renaissance love poetry and learn about the sonnet, court literature, and the circulation of manuscripts. You will learn about the great writers of the canon, and some less familiar figures too, such as the female writers, who appropriated literary forms conventionally associated with men, and turned them to their own ends. Moving from the focus on “love”, to the darker theme of “death”, some of the most extraordinary literature of this time is engaged with the religious turmoil and culture of martyrdom associated with the Reformation. Finally, bringing these themes together, this module also explores Renaissance innovation in the theatre, and the revenge play, in which love, desire and death are intermingled and intertwined to horrifying effect. View Love and Death in the Renaissance on our Module Directory COMPONENT 02: OPTIOL LT203-5-FY or option(s) from the list (30 CREDITS) How can texts be read and interpreted using the thinking of Marx? What about Freud or de Saussure? Or Derrida and Said? Study literature, theatre, and film using these key thinkers. Analyse their approaches both historically and institutionally, and understand the importance of theoretical and methodological material to your studies. View Criticism: Practice and Theory on our Module Directory COMPONENT 04: OPTIOL Option(s) from list (30 CREDITS) COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS LT267-5-SP or TH205-5-SP (15 CREDITS) COMPONENT 01: OPTIOL Literature option(s) (60 CREDITS) COMPONENT 02: OPTIOL Options from list (30 CREDITS) What fascinates you? Pursue a topic that you are enthusiastic about and have chosen, with support and guidance from our expert academic staff. Gain invaluable training for future graduate work, as you learn how to sustain a written argument over 10,000 words. View Independent Literature Project on our Module Directory Are you ready for your dissertation? Examine a variety of research methods and methodologies, building the research skills and understanding needed to complete your postgraduate-level research project. View Dissertation Preparation: Postgraduate Research and Writing Skills on our Module Directory Your dissertation or final project is the centrepiece of your integrated MA work. It gives you the opportunity to develop and to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding and skills as an academic researcher and scholarly author or creative practitioner, as you investigate and interpret a topic of your choosing. View Dissertation on our Module Directory COMPONENT 03: OPTIOL Option(s) from list (60 CREDITS)