Overview

The BA (Hons) English Literature explores literary works across different periods, genres, and cultural contexts, examining how writers use language and form to express ideas and represent experience. Students develop a critical understanding of literature while considering its relationships with history, society, culture, and intellectual life.

What You'll Learn

• Poetry, fiction, drama, and other forms of English literature

• Literature from different historical periods and cultural contexts

• Literary language, form, structure, style, and narrative

• Close reading and interpretation of literary texts

• Major themes, ideas, and debates within literary study

• Relationships between literature, history, culture, and society

• Different critical and theoretical approaches to literary interpretation

• Research methods for investigating literary questions

• Comparison of texts, authors, genres, and literary traditions

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate informed knowledge of literary works, genres, periods, and traditions and explain their significance within wider contexts. They will be able to analyse texts closely, considering how language, form, structure, and style contribute to meaning. Students will develop the ability to compare different works and interpretations, evaluate critical perspectives, and use relevant evidence to support their arguments. They will also be able to undertake independent literary research, formulate clear questions, and communicate complex ideas effectively in written and spoken forms. The course will strengthen their capacity to engage critically with literature while recognising how texts can reflect, challenge, and shape cultural, historical, and social ideas.