BA English Literature

Compulsory modules

Theory and Practice of Writing

Discover the key concepts that shape our understanding of literature from the perspective of composition and of critical work. Consider how writers are connected to other authors, editors and publishers as you articulate your own and others’ ideas in a portfolio of written work.  

Introduction to Drama

Discover the genre of drama as you explore a historical range of texts from the early modern periods. You’ll focus on four plays as you explore comedy, tragedy, form, structure, and the elements of change and continuity found within the genre.  

Poetry in English

From the Renaissance to the present, uncover the history of poetry as you explore key genres related to love, politics, pastoral, elegy, satire, the sonnet, the ode, and the dramatic monologue. You’ll study poems drawn from the wider English-speaking world including Ireland, the Caribbean and North America, encountering the diversity of voices found in gender and sexuality.  

Prose: Writing Identities

Explore a range of literary prose, both fiction and non-fiction, from the eighteenth-century to the present day. You’ll consider these texts from a variety of critical perspectives to understand how they respond to various cultures, socio-political issues and aesthetics, with particular attention to the construction of identities such as ‘race’, gender and class.   

Optional modules

Modern American Culture and Counterculture

Discover American countercultures in work, from 1950s Beat poetry to fiction responding to the Black Lives Matter movement. You’ll study the perspectives of African-American, Native American and white American creatives in a variety of genres: poetry, short stories, YA fiction, science fiction, drama, songs, films, war reportage and the graphic novel.  

Thinking Translation: History and Theory

Shelf Life

Become acquainted with English literature’s material dimension and how writers, both past and present, have depicted the library as a symbol. As you study, you'll interpret poems, novels and plays, and investigate books and other archival documents as physical objects.  

What Is Comparative Literature?

Optional modules

Critical Thinking

Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling

Explore storytelling in medieval England as you take in the fantastical tales of ancient heroes, drama that blends comedy and religious devotion, and magic and supernatural beings. You’ll consider the stark contrast of narrative structure, character development and language use by medieval writers in contrast to our own.  

Victorian Literature

Victorian literature consists of a period where authors began to consider people’s place in the world with God, the workings of the mind, and the role of class and gender in the construction of identity. You’ll engage with these ideas as you consider some of the greatest works of the period – from Dickens and Hardy to Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  

Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation

Contemporary Fiction

Study a selection of fiction from the 1980s to the present day, exploring the formal, thematic and cultural diversity of Anglophone fiction produced in this period. You’ll consider these texts within a number of social, political and historical contexts, such as multiculturalism, feminism and globalisation.  

Creative Writing: Creative Non-Fiction

Study memoirs, essays, blog posts, long-form journalism, biography and auto-fiction as you explore the exciting and ever-evolving contemporary genre. As you study these texts, you’ll write your own piece of creative non-fiction and support others with creative feedback.  

Early Modern Literature

Modernism in Poetry and Fiction

Examine the concepts of modernity, modernism, and the history of early twentieth-century poetry and fiction. You’ll explore experimentation and innovation in poetic and narrative form, and their relation to wider social upheaval and cultural movements in the period. 

Enlightenment Revolution and Romanticism

Writing in the Public Sphere

Study literature designed to prompt social and political change as you examine speeches, pamphlets, tracts and political posters from the early modern period to the present. Consider how such literature shapes debates on race, class, religion, nationality and women’s rights across Britain and Ireland.  

The Business of Books

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

Complete a substantial work of literary-critical argument based on sustained independent research under the guidance of a supervisor. Engage in depth with a topic of particular interest as you develop the skillset accumulated during your first two years of study.  

Optional modules

British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present

Examine a range of British texts (poetry, drama, novels, short stories, films) by writers of Black and Asian descent. You’ll read theoretical and historical material as you examine issues of cultural capital, national identity, and minority communities.   

Lyric Voices, 1340-1650

Explore lyric poetry from the Middle Ages and the renaissance. You’ll look at the presentation of themes such as love and longing, grief, and the fear of death, and compare the ways in which authors make use of literary conventions to present such themes.  

Family Romances: Genealogy, Identity, and Imposture in the Nineteenth-Century Novel

Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s

Placing Jane Austen

Utopia and Dystopia in English and American Literature

Discover the idea of utopia in western literature from its philosophical, satirical origins in the 16th century to the ecological utopias of the twentieth century. As you study, you’ll consider the inter-relation between utopias and dystopias.  

From Romance to Fantasy

Psychoanalysis and Text

Shakespeare on Film

James Joyce

Class Matters

Nigerian Prose Literature: From Achebe to Adichie

Environment, Ecology and Literature

Literature and Healing

Medieval Otherworlds

The Writer’s Workshop: Studying Manuscripts

Gain a practical and theoretical introduction to modern literary manuscripts and textual scholarships. You’ll be given the unique opportunity of drawing on the resources of the extensive range of material held at the University’s Special Collections, including drafts, letters and notebooks.  

The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama

Writing Women: Nineteenth Century Poetry

Global Literatures: Translation as Theme and Theory

Literature and Mental Health

Discover how literature engaged with mental health in the first half of the twentieth century, a crucial turning point in psychology. You’ll consider the de-stigmatisation of mental health in the wake of World War I, the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology that emerged from it, and how literature engages with trauma, anxiety and obsession.  

Margaret Atwood

Modern and Contemporary British Poetry

American Graphic Novels

Childrens Literature

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.