English Literature BA (Hons)

 

Course Code

UCAS Code: Q311
International Code: AHU032

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

 

Study mode

Full-time
Part-time
Sandwich

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years full-time with study abroad / professional placement
Flexible part-time

Start date

September 2022

How to apply
Book an Open Day
Download a prospectus
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Course overview

Study level: Undergraduate

Coventry University’s English Literature course offers you the opportunity to study English literature of all periods from the Medieval to the present day.

  • Analyse fantasy and speculative fictions, African-American literature, Anglophone world literatures and literatures of the American West.
  • Discover a wide range of novels, plays and poetry from various historical periods and a variety of places, from the local (the Midlands) to the global.
  • This course offers you the chance to spend three years analysing texts and exploring great writing.
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Global Ready

An international outlook, with global opportunities
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Teaching excellence

Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
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Employability

Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeed

Why you should study this course

The English Literature BA (Hons) course at Coventry University is for students who want to explore the major literary periods that you will have studied in your pre-degree-level studies, and want to be introduced to new and diverse areas of the subject.

  • There is a focus on your application of new and cutting-edge theories and ways to analyse texts. Such examples include posthumanism, ecocriticism and critical race theory. This is to help you generate new insights of your own rather than just learning about literary history and the interpretations of others. Because at Coventry, we want to inspire you to keep learning even after graduation.
  • You may have the opportunity to apply for a work placement. This has led previous students to experiences as an English subject mentor at Cardinal Newman School, a marketing and events social media and newsletter editor at the Coventry Irish Society, an editorial intern at Grazia Magazine, a freelance journalist at Coventry News and Sport or a human resources intern at First Utility
  • There is a chance to develop a dynamic online presence through creating an individual A Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) website, which allows graduates to present prospective employers with an online portfolio of your degree-level work.
  • You have the opportunity to join a range of societies such as the Literature Society or Book Club Society which aim to develop your interest in literature, film, and theatre, as well as promoting social events.

Coventry University and the Booker Prize

In autumn 2021, novelists nominated for the 2021 Booker Prize came to Coventry University for a series of readings and interviews. Nathan Rogerson, a BA English and Creative Writing student, discusses his experience of working with the shortlisted authors.

Studying at Coventry University has been an incredible experience. I have acquired many useful skills and expertise, made remarkable connections and enjoyed myself immensely. The professors have been very forthcoming in providing help and counsel during my studies.

Aksshat Goel, First year English Literature BA (Hons) student 2020/21
Group of 4 students chatting at a table in a coffee shop.

What you'll study

Modules in the first year introduce you to a wide range of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of literature, as well as the major literary periods and genres within the Anglophone tradition, aiming to prepare you for higher-level study.

Modules

  • This first-year module aims to offer you the opportunity to develop the critical skills necessary for advanced undergraduate work in literature. The module can enable you to acquire skills and confidence in reading, speaking, and writing about 'literature'. You will be encouraged to become aware of a variety of critical approaches and how those approaches can be employed in the analysis of different literary texts.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework, exam

  • This module introduces you to a range of works of literature in the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century is a period of intense American literary activity which reflected the rapid settlement, urbanisation, and industrialisation of the nation.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • The module is intended to give you an insight into how the key periods of literary history were driven by and mirrored by language change. It can offer first-year students an overview of the major historical and socio-cultural trends which helped to shape the English language.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • This module introduces you to a range of theories of place and spatiality, and to relate this to ideas of regional and global literary texts, authors, influence and reception. You will be encouraged to apply these abstract ideas / contexts to a range of literary and other cultural works (such as films or art).

    Compulsory

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework, exam

In your second year, you will start to to broaden and deepen your study of the English Literature. Modules explore a range of the specialist concerns of the course while looking more deeply at the traditional period divisions of the subject.

Modules

  • This module introduces you to a broad range of authors, texts, periods and genres from Medieval mystery plays, to later poems and plays that were influenced by William Shakespeare.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • This module is designed to introduce you to moving image aesthetics. Focusing on those stylistic areas of cinema that make up its unique mode of artistic communication, Cin-aesthetics aims to familiarise students with the language of film.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Presentation

  • The module should equip you with a broad understanding of how literature intersected with the changing cultural landscape over the long eighteenth century. You will consider the relationship between the rise of capitalism, the fraught dynamics between women writers and an increasingly commercialised literary marketplace, and literary responses to turbulent historical events.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • On completion of this module, you will have acquired an understanding of the significance of literary modernism for twentieth-century literature. You can gain knowledge of both traditional critical conceptions of a modernist period and modernist aesthetic, and alternative modernisms.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • This module introduces you to literature in the period 1830-1900. Roughly half of the module will be devoted to poetry, and half to prose. By situating the Victorian era in a global context, this module aims to better understand the effects of empire upon British, anglophone and indigenous literature.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework, exam

  • (pick 1 from 3)

    • The American West: Real and Imagined (20 credits)
      This module introduces you to a range of literary and non-literary narratives from and about the American West. You will draw upon a variety of theoretical perspectives to support your readings and will gain an understanding of how history, culture, race, gender and the land have influenced these different Western narrative voices.
      Assessment - Coursework
    • English Literature International Study Trip (20 credits)
      This module aims to enable students to conduct primary field research into some of the major thematic and conceptual considerations of English Literature. The heart of this module is an international residential trip/simulated online experience. For example, a study trip to Valencia or similar simulated/online environment could entail the analysis of local authors, their environment, influences and legacies. On completion of the experience, you will submit an online portfolio of tasks which illustrate learning, critical thinking and intercultural awareness.

    Assessment - Coursework

    • Stylistics (15 credits)

    Stylistics is a field of study in which linguistic theories are used to identify and describe the distinguishing features (or style) of a text. The aim of this module is to equip you with an understanding of the linguistic models and analytic techniques that can be used to describe, analyse and interpret a range of literary, as well as non-literary, texts.

    Optional

After the end of the second year, you have the option to take either a work placement year* (in the UK, or abroad) or a study-abroad year*, and if you do so will take a non-credit bearing module which will help to ensure that you learn from and reflect upon their experiences.

N.B. You will be given advice but may be responsible for finding your own placements (with guidance). Similarly, study-abroad years with your first choice of international institution cannot be guaranteed. You will pay no fees to Coventry University for your placement or study-abroad year though you are responsible for covering your own costs.

Modules

  • Optional

  • Optional

In the final year you study a range of research-led modules at the cutting edge of the subject, taught by current research-active academics who are advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the discipline (staff may be subject to change).

Modules

  • This module will consider the literature that emerges in the final years after and during WWII, up to the end of the twentieth century. Students will study 'late' modernists such as Anthony Burgess and Vladimir Nabokov as well as the writers of the British 'New Wave' of science fiction, while also evaluating the movement from Neo Modernism to Postmodernism.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • This module introduces you to a selection of 21st century fiction from different national cultures and traditions. The module explores the ways in which fiction of the 21st century engages with and addresses issues of the new century like ecocriticism and spatial theory, to postcolonialism and poststructuralism.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: Coursework, exam

    • English Dissertation (40 credits)
      The optional module aims to provide an opportunity for you to exercise greater autonomy over your learning and study in the final semester of your degree. You may write about any area of English Studies that staff in the School can supervise, in an area that interests you.
      Assessment: 100% coursework
    • Style and Experimental Fictions (20 credits)
      This module explores the relationship between style and cognition, and explores how readers experience experimental texts. We will draw on a range of literary, linguistic and cognitive stylistic theories, with an emphasis on reader response research, in order to introduce and define experimental fiction.
      Assessment: Coursework and presentation
    • Speculative Fiction (20 credits)
      This module will focus around the reading and analysis of 'Speculative Fiction'. It embraces the great diversity of fantasy, gothic and science fiction texts and will explore their relationship to each other. It will investigate the rise and development of modern speculative fiction focussing on the social, cultural, and historical forces which influence its conventions, subjects, themes and which make it such a valuable genre for the study of Self and the Other.
      Assessment- Coursework
    • Utopias and Dystopias (20 credits)
      This module is for those with an interest in speculative fiction, utopian thinking, political science and / or philosophy. You will be introduced to the key theoretical concepts and texts relating to literary utopia and dystopia.
      You can examine how utopian and dystopian ideas intersect with concepts such as gender, violence, or technophobia and technophilia.
      Assessment: Coursework
    • Literary Festivals (10 credits)
      This module requires students to attend a UK literary festival with a view to making links between what they can learn from the experience about the cultural industries and a wider set of concepts and ideas connected to employability.
      Assessment:  Presentation
    • Romantic Revolt (20 credits)
      This module aims to give you the opportunity to explore issues, themes, debates, key figures and behaviours in the Romantic movement and develop creative and critical responses to these outside of their normal place of study in a Romantic-related residential environment. You will plan a group project and produce a creative or documentary video of your project along with a written or video journal reflecting on your learning experience.
      Assessment:  Coursework
    • African American Writing: Place, Race and Identity (20 credits)
      This module introduces you to a diverse range of literary texts produced by African Americans post-World War Two up to the present day. The focus of the module will be upon the ways in which the narratives construct black identities that are informed by place, history, culture and gender.
      Assessment: Coursework and presentation
    • Writing for the Theatre and Radio (20 credits)
      This module aims to equip you with essential tools for writing theatre and radio scripts. You will gain an understanding of writing realistic dialogue for newly-conceived characters and imaginative situations, while exploring dramatic devices and their effects. You will also analyse the differences of theatre plays and radio dramas.
      Assessment: Coursework 

    Optional

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

Find out more about our English courses in the video:

How you'll learn

The course is taught using a mixture of traditional, digital and innovative teaching methods and platforms.

Teaching and learning methods include lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials devoted to regular formative assessments. There are also study trips* in order to immerse you in experiential learning, as well as taught sessions in a range of locations outside of the classroom. Other forms of working will include online working and research, self-directed study and group / collaborative work.
*Subject to availability, application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs.

Assessment

Assessment methods include:

  • essays, reports and critical commentaries
  • oral/poster presentations
  • blog/vlog/online forum posts
  • digital tests and portfolios of exercises.

Assessments may include individual assignments or group work elements.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Job ready

On successful completion of the course you should be a globally and interculturally-aware graduate ready to make a dynamic difference in the world. English literature graduates go on to a wide range of postgraduate and employment destinations including journalism, publishing, public relations, marketing, public administration and teaching.

International experience opportunities

You have the opportunity to undertake a Study Abroad Year or International Placement Year after successful completion of two years of study*. As stated above, you will be able to obtain advice but may be responsible for finding your own placements (with guidance). Similarly, study-abroad years with your first choice of international institution cannot be guaranteed. You pay no fees to Coventry University for your placement or study abroad year, though you are responsible for covering your own costs. You will also have the opportunity to take the optional 20-credit International Study Trip module in semester two of your second year.

Entry requirements

Typical offer

Requirement What we're looking for
A level BBC
GCSE Minimum 5 GCSE's graded 9-4 
BTEC DMM
IB Diploma 29 points

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Are you eligible for the Fair Access Scheme?

We believe every student should have the opportunity to dream big, reach their potential and succeed, regardless of their background.

Fair Access Scheme

Typical offer for 2022 entry

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Europe

Americas

Middle East

South Asia

South East Asia

East Asia

Africa

Russia and Central Asia

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 overall 
  • If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. 
  • For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2022/23 Tuition fees

Student Full time Part time
UK £9,250 per year Not available
International £15,300 per year Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.

Facilities

FAH redevelopment

Building Redevelopment

We are currently in the process of a major redevelopment of our Faculty of Arts and Humanities buildings. The building will be open to the public, as well as students, and will feature an expansive gallery space.

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The Library

You will benefit from our support designed to help you succeed and our industry-relevant teaching and resources. These include our modern library and computing facilities, dedicated careers advice and Students’ Union.

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Confucius Institute

The School of Humanities is home to the Confucius Institute. This is a collaboration created through a partnership with Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, which aims to promote an understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

Careers and opportunities

Graduates in English literature go on to a very wide range of employment destinations and are typically well suited to any career in which communication and intercultural skills are paramount.

We are committed to preparing you for your future career and to give you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The university's dedicated employability support, the Talent Team, provide a wide range of support services to help you plan and prepare for your career.

Where our graduates work

Since our degree aims to develop your ability to use language effectively and appropriately in a range of circumstances, it may open up a wide range of career options over and above the professions associated with English. Such examples include journalism, publishing, marketing, public relations, advertising, teaching, the civil service or the media.

Further study

You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the English Literature MA. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

How to apply

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Your next steps

Student life
Accommodation
Fees and funding

  • Student Contract

    By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

    Tuition fees

    The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.

    For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.

    Accreditations

    The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery. 

    Facilities

    Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.

    Placements and study abroad opportunities

    Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.

    Additional costs

    This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).