Course content

One of the attractions of studying literature at Keele is our international focus: tutors and students know that there are fascinating connections to be explored between different national literatures. This course is a good example of our international outlook. The programme combines the distinctive strengths of English and American Studies, and looks at the contrasts and connections between two major national literary traditions. You’ll develop your critical arguments and technical analysis as you engage imaginatively and intellectually with literary texts from medieval literature to contemporary American graphic novels. You’ll examine the full chronological range of English and American literature, considering their direct intersections from the nineteenth century onwards. You can spend a semester at a partner university abroad – which might include the USA, Australia, the Netherlands or Canada.

Course structure

Our degree courses are organised into modules. Each module is usually a self-contained unit of study and each is usually assessed separately with the award of credits on the basis of 1 credit = 10 hours of student effort. An outline of the structure of the programme is provided in the tables below.

There are three types of module delivered as part of this programme. They are:

• Compulsory modules: a module that you are required to study on this course;
• Optional modules: these allow you some limited choice of what to study from a list of modules;
• Elective modules: a free choice of modules that count towards the overall credit requirement but not the number of subject-related credits.

A summary of the credit requirements per year is as follows, with a minimum of 90 subject credits (compulsory plus optional) required for each year. [Example credit split in the table below]

Year	Compulsory	Optional		Electives
		Min	Max	Min	Max
1	60	30	60	0	30
2	30	60	90	0	30
3	45	45	75	0	30

Year 1 (Level 4)

Year 1 (Level 4)

In Year 1 (Level 4), all students take two core modules in each semester, plus two more optional modules, giving a 90 credit minimum in English and American Literature-approved modules. Students must choose further modules, which can but need not include English and American Literature optional modules.

Compulsory modules	Credits	Optional modules	Credits
Reading Literature	15	Telling Tales	15
Starting Out: An Introduction to American Literature	15	Playing Parts	15
Composition	15	New York, New York	15
Transatlantic Gothic: Studies in Nineteenth- Century English and American Literatures	15	Poetry through Practice	15
		Fiction through Practice	15
		A Beginner’s Guide to Contemporary America	15

Year 2 (Level 5)

In Year 2 (Level 5), students take one compulsory and two optional modules in each semester (optional modules may also be taken as electives), making a minimum of 90 English and American Literature-approved credits for the year. Students must choose further modules, which can but need not include English and American Literature optional modules.

Compulsory modules	Credits	Optional modules	Credits
From Modernity to Counterculture: Literature and Social Criticism in Twentieth-Century American Literature	15	Victorian Performances	15
The Romance of Fiction: History and Society in Nineteenth Century American Literature	15	The Renaissance: Shakespeare and Beyond	15
		Writing Genre and Mode	15
		Alfred Hitchcock’s America	15
		The Detective and the American City	15
		Twentieth-Century British Fiction and Poetry	15
		Romanticisms	15
		Revolution and Restoration	15
		Medieval Literature	15
		Work Placement	15

Year 3 (Level 6)

In Year 3 (Level 6), students take the 30 credit ISP, Dissertation in English and American Literature, the core module Literature and Society and a minimum of 45 credits of optional modules, which may include a second ISP, Creative Writing Portfolio, giving a total of 90 credits for the year. Students must choose further modules, which can but need not include English and American Literature optional modules.

Compulsory modules	Credits	Optional modules	Credits
Dissertation in English and American Literature	30	Film Noir: The Dark Side of America	15
Literature and Society	15	Creative Writing Portfolio	30
		Dissertation in English Literature	30
Optional modules		Writing at the Borders	15
Words and Pictures: The Contemporary American Graphic Novel	15	Postmodernism: Fiction, Film and Theory	15
That womb where you imprison’d were: Pregnancy, Childbirth and Maternity in the Early Modern Period	15	Freedom and Death	15
Sex, Scandal and Society: Eighteenth-Century Writing	15	Shakespearean Stages: Making and Re-Making the Plays of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries	15
Modernist Manifestos and Magazines	15	Postcolonial and World Literature in English	15
Writingscapes	15	The Alcohol Question	15
Gender and Power in Restoration Literature	15	That womb where you imprison’d were: Pregnancy, Childbirth and Maternity in the Early Modern Period	15
High Culture: Drink, Drugs, and the American Dream	15
Wild Woods and Wide Worlds: British and American Children’s Fiction	15

Students may choose to study elective modules which are offered as part of other programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and across the University. These include:

• Modules in other subjects closely related to English and American Literature such as Film Studies or History.
• Modules in other subjects in which they may have a particular interest such as Media, Culture and Creative Practice or Politics.
• Modules designed to help students for whom it is not their first language to improve their use of English for Academic Purposes.
• Modern foreign languages modules at different levels in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin).
• Free standing modules related to the development of graduate attributes, student volunteering, and studying abroad as part of the University’s exchange programme.

For further information on the content of modules currently offered, including the list of elective modules, please visit: recruitnetworx.info/recordsandexams/az

Entry requirements

The entry grades outlined in this section indicate the likely offer or range of offers which would be made to candidates along with any subject specific requirements. This is for general information only. Recru it networ reserves the right to vary offer conditions depending upon a candidate’s application. Read more about our undergraduate entry requirements for United Kingdom, European Union and International students.

A Level requirements

• A Level requirement BCC - CCC
  
• A level English Language, English Literature, English Literature and Language combined or Drama and Theatre Studies (AQA)

GCSE requirements

• English at C (or 4)

BTEC

• BTEC requirements MMM
  
• To include a BTEC level 3 qualification in Performing Arts or Advanced Practice in Early Years Education. 

International Baccalaureate

• 26 points to include Higher Level English at 6 or above.

Access to HE Diploma requirements

• Access to Higher Education Diploma with 96 UCAS Tariff points including a minimum of 15 Level 3 credits at Distinction. You must have taken sufficient English credits please contact us for advice.

Fees and funding

Going to university can be a daunting as well as an exciting experience. It can be difficult to understand the true costs of being a student, as well as the financial support that is available to help you meet those costs.

We can help you to manage your funds, create a budget and ensure that you receive any funding for which you may be eligible. We also offer financial support such as the Recru it networ Hardship Fund and emergency loans.

For more information visit our money, advice and guidance section.

Career prospects

One of the attractions of studying literature at Keele is our international focus: tutors and students know that there are fascinating connections to be explored between different national literatures. This course is a good example of our international outlook. English and American Literatures at Keele will provide you with a wide range of skills – in research, presentation, written and oral communication – with real appeal to employers. Some careers may require further study or training, but you might work as a teacher, journalist, editor, librarian, advertising copywriter, solicitor, arts administrator or writer. You could go into marketing, research, broadcasting, publishing, the compiling of dictionaries, or teaching English as a foreign language.