EN1S30 - Being Human: Voices and Silence 01 Sep 2022 - 31 Aug 2028 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: EN1S30
Module Title: Being Human: Voices and Silence
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Culture and Animation
Faculty Sub Group: Culture
Module Leader: Barrie Llewelyn
Module Team: Diana Wallace
First Intended Intake: SEP 2022 Final Year of Intake: 2027
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 4
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2022
Valid To 31 Aug 2028

Module Aims

This module will introduce students to a range of literary and non-literary texts addressing inequalities of gender, race, class and sexuality, and in our relation to the natural world. T&L will enable students to analyse these texts and explore concepts of marginality, difference, silence and voice. Students will be encouraged to develop the skills to formulate their own responses to texts and issues examined on the module through either creative or critical writing.

Content Summary

What does it mean to be human? How can reading and writing literature help us to explore our place in the world and how we relate to other people? This module will examine how certain voices have been marginalised or silenced within Western culture. It will ask how writing might be able to give a voice to those who have traditionally been silenced. Students will be introduced to texts which address inequalities of gender, race, class and sexuality as well as our relation to the natural world. Students will engage with literary texts in a range of genres (such as life-writing, fiction, poetry, the polemical essay) as well as examples of non-literary writing (such as newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, podcasts and other internet resources) which show how these issues are central to the most pressing concerns of our time. Student responses to the issues raised may be critical or creative.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 11
Seminar 11
Practical classes and workshops 14
Independent Study 80
Directed Study 84
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Recognise the complex relationship between inequality, voice and silence in a range of literary and non-literary texts.
LO2 Engage with module themes in written/ oral form, meeting appropriate standards of expression and presentation in materials submitted for assessment tasks / activities.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Student Choice 2 Creative Writing project or essay 0 2000 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Student Choice 1 Creative Writing project or critique 0 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Student Choice 2
Student Choice 1

Reading List

Set texts will change regularly and may include work from a selection of the following: Virginia Woolf, Mary Prince, Christopher Meredith, Margiad Evans, Alison Bechdel, Adrienne Rich, Jackie Kay, Helen Simpson, Rachel Carson, Kathleen Jamie, Robert MacFarlane, Annie Proulx, Charlotte Williams, Nikesh Shukla, Bernardine Everisto, Graham Norton, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Des Barry, Sherman Alexie, Lemn Sissay, Yvette Cooper, Greta Thunberg, Michelle Obama, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Malala Yousafzai, Jo Ann Beard, Pam Houston.
Background Reading
Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, 5th edition (Routledge, 2016)
Catherine Riley with Lynne Pearce, Feminism and Women’s Writing: An Introduction (Edinburgh University Press, 2018)
Pam Morris, Feminism and Literature (Blackwell, 1993
Derald Wing Sue, Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race (Blackwell, 2010)
Sean Prentiss and Joe Wilkins, Environmental and Nature Writing: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology (Bloomsbury, 2017)
Jos Smith, The New Nature Writing: Rethinking the Literature of Place (Bloomsbury, 2017)
David Lodge, The Art of Fiction (Penguin, 1992)
Stephen King, On Writing (Hodder and Stoughton, 2012)
‘Diverse Reading List’, USW Library: https://rl.talis.com/3/southwales/lists/49FA0911-02BD-9688-D6F6-7E4FBC833567.html?lang=en&login=1