What will I be studying?
The course is taught through three termly units, each with its own topic. The evening session take place on Wednesdays.
Unit 1: Reading and interpretation
This unit will introduce students to critical terms which will broaden their understanding of literature and engage them in the task of close analysis. Students will be introduced to key terms in literary criticism such as tragedy, narrative, satire, genre, irony and intertextuality, as they read texts from a range of periods and forms, all with a connection to the theme of ‘investigation’.
We will begin with a study of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, described by one critic as ‘the first detective story in Western Literature’ and develop our thinking about themes of tragedy and irony in two of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. We will spend a little time in the 19th century with Jane Austen’s Emma and Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, thinking about irony, comedy, coincidence and discovery in narrative. The course ends with A S Byatt’s Possession, which brings together prose and poetry in a novel of literary investigation, where critics make the best detectives.
Unit 2: The Emergence of Romanticism
How should we define 'Romanticism'? This term is applied to a wide variety of literature, aesthetic ideas and philosophies mapped back onto a hazy historical period around the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries in Britain. How can a 'Romanticism' that includes Byron also include Wordsworth? Should we now include print culture and industrial expansion in conceptions of the word?
This series of classes will introduce you to the writers of the time but will also interrogate the term 'Romanticism' by approaching any sense of comfortable familiarity with 'literature' and 'literary culture' of the period with suspicion. Students will read poetry and prose by a range of authors including Byron and Wordsworth, but also Shelley, Keats and less well-known authors, alongside contemporary and later critical accounts of the development of this seductive but problematic term.
Unit 3: Samuel Beckett and the Theatre
This unit will provide an introduction to the dramatic work of Samuel Beckett, and its impact on writing for the stage from the 1950s to today. We will read Beckett's most important plays, including Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp's Last Tape, and Not I, and examine how Beckett left his mark on the work of Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and, more recently, Will Eno. The unit will focus on performance and dramatic technique, and consider Beckett's debt to earlier playwrights, to visual artists, and to the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
How will I be taught and assessed?
The course is taught through a mixture of informal lectures and seminars, day-schools, practical sessions and discussion.
You will learn how to present your creative ideas both through speaking and writing. You will also have access to online support through our virtual learning environment, which will accelerate your learning and enhance your experience of the course. Visit the ICE Online introductory website for a taste of the kind of online support you will receive.
All students are expected to take an active part in the course and submit work showing evidence of learning. In particular, you will be expected in each term to:
- attend classes and day-schools
- participate actively in class work
- undertake reading and assignments set by the tutors
- access resources and submit assignments through ICE Online, the Institute’s virtual learning environment.
It is essential that you have an email account and regular access to the internet. The course is supported by a web-based virtual learning environment (VLE) and course communications will be sent via email. Your assignments will be submitted online, and feedback on assignments is sent to you online.
The computing facilities available at a public library or internet café may be sufficient and unlimited free computing and internet access will be available to you within the University Library throughout your course.
Entry requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for this course. However, please be aware that the course is taught at university level and you should be able to read, write and speak English fluently.
If English is not your first language, you will need to send us evidence of your competence in the English language when you apply for a place.
ICE English language requirements
Fees information
The fee for the course is £1,800 and you can pay in one of two ways:
- in full on enrolment (by cheque payable to the University of Cambridge or by credit or debit card)
- in three instalments (credit/debit card only): the first on enrolment, the second on 1 November 2015 and the third on 1 February 2016.
ICE fees and refunds policy
How to apply
Online application is recommended and you will find the link to the online application form at the top of this page.
If you are offered a place on the course, we will ask you to complete your booking within a limited time and to pay the fees (£1,800) or if paying by instalments, the first instalment of fees, to secure your place.
Applications for this course can be received until midday (12 noon) on the 7 September 2015.
What is the status of this qualification?
The course is taught and awarded at first-year undergraduate level (FHEQ 4) and offers 60 credits within the Higher Education Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS). This is equivalent to half of the first year of full-time undergraduate study.
What can I go on to do?
If you wish, you can develop your studies in this subject by taking a second Undergraduate Certificate in English Literature to claim a 120-credit Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education in English Literature. Or you can progress to an Undergraduate Diploma in English Literature and the Undergraduate Advanced Diploma in English Literature.
Credit awarded by the Institute may also be transferred into the degree programmes of other higher education providers. However the volume of credit and the curriculum which can be transferred into degree programmes varies from institution to institution and is always at the discretion of the receiving institution.
Find out more
The course specification, giving information about course-content and assignments, is available below under Downloads.
If you would like an informal discussion on academic matters before making your application, please contact the Course Director, Dr Jenny Bavidge: jrb203@cam.ac.uk
If you have any questions about the application process, contact our Admissions team: ice.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262.
For all other enquiries, contact the Academic Programme Manager, Katherine Roddwell: ug-awards@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746223 / 746212.
