This handbook is designed to give you all the information you need about ENG105C1A: Telling Stories: Genres of Irish Narrative and what you will have to do to pass the module. Take time to read it and keep it safe so that you can refer to it throughout the semester.

ENG105C1A explores the influence of Irish oral tradition(s) on writers of Irish literature in English throughout the ages. Taking the module will encourage you to look at the way in which folk and fairy tales, myths and legends, voyage tales, seanchaí stories, tales of the supernatural and fantasy, all form a part of the cultural psyche and continue to influence the narrative genres, in autobiography, anti-narrative novels, the short story and postmodern fiction. Special consideration will be given to the “Irish literary revival” in the 20th century and the very idea of “revival” involved in it will be carefully interrogated, You will also be invited to consider problems relating to translation and the relationship between Irish literary traditions and other literary traditions in English.

This is a first-year module available as part of a Single Honours English programme (D120UC), or as a Minor subject within the combined Humanities Course; or, finally, as an optional module in a Combined Humanities programme. It is designed to introduce you to considerations of genre in Irish narrative and examines-in particular-the influence of oral tradition on a range of Irish writers. It links closely with the other five modules in the Irish Literature in English Minor Degree option (two modules in each year) for which it provides a broad historical, conceptual and generic framework addressing the sources of modern Irish literature.

In this respect, it offers you basic preparation for more advanced work which you may undertake in the English dissertation module (ENG504C1), or in the Postgraduate Diploma/MA course in Irish Literature in English and, beyond that, in a research programme. In addition, the module links up well with modules in English in that it introduces you to important literary considerations within the broader tradition of literary writing in English.

Each week you will be introduced to a narrative genre including folklore, fairy tales, myths and legends, short stories and anti-narrative novels and also to relevant texts by writers such as Oscar Wilde, Flann O’Brien and Samuel Beckett in which the genres of Irish narrative are reflected. In this way you will be made familiar with ancient forms of Irish literature and their modern counterpart, with some account of the relationship between them. Coursework and examination questions will reflect this duality.

Teaching on the module will be delivered through lectures and seminars but you will also be expected to undertake a substantial amount of independent study. It is important that you read the set texts, study background literature and secondary criticism, prepare for seminars, and produce written work for assessment. Satisfactory completion of the module usually requires around 200 hours of work (20 effort hours per 1 credit point) so it is helpful if you develop a good study pattern as soon as you can.

We hope you find this module stimulating and helpful in understanding Irish literary culture. If you have any questions or problems about the module please approach the Co-ordinator or your seminar teachers at any time.

You will also be expected to undertake an adequate amount of independent study (168 hours) to complete the following:

For titles and dates of lectures, see the ENG105C1A Timetable, infra. Note that the so-called “Study Week” falls in the week after the Thursday you are scheduled to submit your mid-Semester Essay. During this period there are no lectures and you are thus free to work on revise the foregoing lecture topics or to deepen your reading on the module.

The reading text for each week’s seminar will be asssigned in advance by the Seminar Tutor. There is one requirement only : read the text, bring it along, and be prepared to talk about it.

No marks are allotted for seminar attendance but a records will be kept for administrative purposes and non-attendance will attract a letter enquiring as to reasons since seminars are known to provide significant learning opportunities. Please bear in mind that the chief beneficiary of your presence after yourself is your fellow-students.

Methods (Teaching and Learning)
Teaching on the module is delivered through lectures and seminars; you will also be expected to undertake a substantial amount of independent study in your own time. General lectures will give an account of the development of the genre under consideration and its relationship to the oral tradition, while those on set texts will deal with those texts in some detail, identifying certain key areas of inquiry and suggesting possible directions of critical investigation. Further reading and analysis will subsequently be pursued in seminars and serve as guidance for private study.

To complement the lectures, you are also expected to attend seminars, during which you discuss the set texts and/or key issues relating to the genre.

In addition to lectures and seminars, you are expected to undertake an extensive programme of private study, during which you are expected to read the set texts, study background literature and secondary criticism, prepare for seminars, produce written work for assessment, and revise for the final examination. This work should by definition be primarily self-directed, with help and guidance available from module staff, in the first instance from the seminar tutor.

ASSESSMENT & ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
The module is assessed by coursework and examination. The relative weighting of the various elements of assessment is as follows:

Coursework (for 50%)
Coursework for ENG105C1A consists of one mid-semester essay of about 2,000 words. For a list of the coursework questions see the attached page, infra. These have been designed to test your knowledge of the genre and the texts and of their literary-social-political contexts; to express it in a clear and coherent way, and to do so in accordance with the standards and conventions of academic writing involved in degree-work at this (or any) university.

Seminar tutors on this module are asked to aim at returning your marked essays to you within two weeks from the date of submission. On receiving them, you will also receive “feedback” in the form of a written commentary attached to the papers. If you have any difficulty understanding this, some verbal clarification can be sought from the seminar tutor in question.

In cases where any student feels that an essay has been under-rated, the first step is to discuss the matter with the seminar tutor and afterwards with the Course Co-ordinator. The mark agreed in this way may be reviewed by the external examiners at the end of the academic year. (The examiners can and often do make significant changes to internal marks both in coursework and examination scripts.)

Your essays should be printed and appropriately formatted (double-space, &c.0, include footnote-references, and end with a bibliography of texted consulted. Taken together, these features serve to demonstrate your familiarity with scholarly methods - a key part of your training. The “English Style Sheet” - available in the Faculty Office - contains further recommendations on format and referencing for course-work essays.

A word of warning: please ensure that all material quoted from primary or secondary texts, including material taken from web sites, is clearly acknowledged in order to avoid the charge of plagiarism. This is essential in relation to both printed and web-based sources. (Please note that a web site which cannot be reached at the stated URL address will not be considered a valid reference.)

The coursework essay must be submitted at the end of Week 7 of the semester, in keeping with the ruling for all optional modules. Please check the English noticeboard and this web site for information about the official time and place (usually a Thursday in the p.m. and the Courtroom in the South Phase.) Remember to submit TWO COPIES of your essay and be sure to get a receipt in return.

Examinations
The second element of assessment is a two-hour end-of-semester examination in which you will be asked to answer two questions. There will be a choice of questions and all carry equal marks. The course work will be worth 50% of the total mark, the rest coming from the examination.

Assessment Criteria
In assessing your written work the examiners will use the following criteria except that the ’quality of referencing and bibliography’ criterion is not applicable to work done in unseen examination.