CO4033 Essays, Manifestos, and Epigrams

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

3 pm - 5 pm Monday

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr E R Laügt

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Team taught

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module will offer an introduction to the comparative study of literary non-fiction. Our focus will be on the essay from its early modern beginnings to the present, but we will also study a range of other playful, bold, provocative, provisional, and fragmentary literary forms, including the manifesto and the epigram (or the short, pithy saying, now sometimes in the form of a Tweet). As we compare these diverse forms, we will also attend to the different roles they play in different literary and cultural traditions. Some of our key questions will include the following: What accounts for the essay form's lasting influence across so many contexts? What makes the manifesto a quintessentially 'modern' form? What does it mean to study short literary forms in an age of contracting attention spans? What can we learn as writers from the essayists and others whose works we will study?

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

Weekly ninety-minute seminars

Scheduled learning hours

17

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

130

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Closely and critically analyse a range of non-fiction literary forms
  • Understand the historical developments and the formal range of both the essay form and the manifesto
  • Read comparatively in nuanced and complex ways, attending to form as well as to social context and aspiration
  • Write in an expanded and experimental way, borrowing techniques from the writers studied where appropriate
  • Appreciate the continuing relevance of the essay, manifesto, and epigram forms to current digital cultures