This module will introduce you to visual film analysis and key concepts of interpretation. You will undertake visual film analysis, looking closely at how cinematography, sound, editing and mise-en-scène work together to produce the emotional and intellectual viewing experience. We will also explore key concepts in film theory, for example, auteurism, genre, star studies, reception studies, feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, queer theory, semiotics and critical race theory. This module will enhance your ability to meet professional and employment expectations, such as clear communication, and the ability to work independently and to meet deadlines. It will also address ethical values, encouraging you to address issues of diversity and inclusiveness and learn to read texts critically. Your assessment will consist of a portfolio of written work, including shot analyses and textual analyses (a total of 6,000 words).
View the full module definitionThis practice-based module introduces you to film and the moving image through a series of briefs and exercises that investigate a number of principles regarding the language, conventions and aesthetic possibilities of film and the moving image. The range of projects will encompass the investigation of various principles involving composition and lighting, shot/reverse shot sequences, matching on action, graphic matching, continuity editing, synch/non-synch sound, and the rhythmic editing of pictures and sound. All are central to many film and moving image practices. The purpose and outcome of each project brief are aimed at experimenting and gaining an understanding of how they work rather than perfecting conventions. In the later part of the module, you'll make a film in creative response to codes and conventions explored in the first part of the module. No prior technical experience in filmmaking is required. The module will incorporate inductions in camera operation, sound recording, editing and the potential of online platforms. Practical workshops will be complemented by screenings of a range of complementary film and moving image works spanning narrative fiction, documentary and experimental work. In the process of pre-production and planning, you'll be encouraged to develop and practise methods of visualising and notating ideas. There will be regular presentations of your work in critical forums, to gain the feedback of your peers and tutors.
View the full module definitionThe module will introduce you to techniques for developing and sustaining creative writing and show you how to practice these techniques in your own short fiction, poetry and dramatic writing. There will be an emphasis on analysing imaginative texts to understand what makes them effective for different audiences and on practical writing exercises. Your practical work will address the processes, content, structure and formal features of imaginative writing genres. You will be given guidance on making use of journals and notebooks, on reading widely to inform creative writing practice and on engaging in constructive criticism. As the module progresses, you will explore the special techniques and conventions of writing short fiction, poetry and dramatic writing. Using critical skills developed through wide reading and from workshop analysis, you will re-draft your own work and produce a critical commentary evaluating the creative processes that you have pursued, analysing specific techniques used in your portfolio of imaginative writing, and identifying areas for future development.
View the full module definitionThe module is designed to equip you with the skill base to make an entry level submission to the industry, both in schemes for new writers and relevant competitions. You'll be expected to develop your own original idea for a short film, to this end it is vital that you acquire a real understanding of the form. The first half of the course will be spent analysing a range of short films and to understand how story ideas are generated and developed into a workable template. You'll then progress onto developing your own original idea in second half of the course.
View the full module definitionThis module demystifies the publishing industry and the author promotion activities of the literary world. It covers the process of being published, the different roles in publishing and types of publishing, cultural trends, and how books reach readers in a digital media environment. You'll learn about national and international publishing from small presses and independents to imprints and the ‘Big Five’. Through practical publishing exercises, you'll gain useful transferable skills such as developing ideas into engaging book concepts, editing your own work, and writing concisely.
View the full module definitionEntering higher education is exciting; but it can also be a daunting experience. At ARU, we want all our students to make the most of the opportunities higher education provides, reach your potential, become lifelong learners and find fulfilling careers. However, we appreciate that the shift from secondary education, or a return to formal education is, in itself, quite a journey. This module is designed to ease that transition. You'll be enrolled on it as soon as you receive an offer from ARU so you can begin to learn about university life before your course starts. Through Into ARU, you'll explore a virtual land modelled around ARU values: Courage, Innovation, Community, Integrity, Responsibility, and Ambition. This innovative module is designed as a game, where you collect knowledge and complete mini tasks. You'll proceed at your own pace, though we you to have completed your Into ARU exploration by week 6. If for any reason you're unable to complete by that date, we'll signpost to existing services so that we can be confident that you are supported.
In this module you’ll learn the tools of effective short fiction writing, beginning with the literary short story and moving on to explore short fiction for younger readers and some areas of genre fiction. You will understand the scope and the conventions of short fiction in English through analysis of a diverse range of classic and contemporary examples. You’ll look at the creative process from the collection of ideas at the notebook stage to the production and editing of a finished narrative, and you will engage in this process by maintaining a reading journal and writer's notebook where responses to literature that is read, and created, are recorded.
View the full module definitionOn this module you will focus on the practices, products and institutional frameworks of the classical Hollywood period. You will explore the narrative conventions that continue to shape the majority of mainstream commercial cinema and study the formal and stylistic features of the 'realist' text, the ideologies that inform it and its ideals of normative identities and lifestyles. You will explore coupling and heterosexual romance as a motor of plot development and as an intensely ideological aspect of films made in this period. Similarly, you will consider the significance of the ‘happy ending’ in maintaining or challenging key ideological norms and values. Drawing from some of the theoretical approaches encountered on earlier compulsory modules (Theorizing Spectatorship), you will think about classical Hollywood cinema’s positioning of the spectator, and the implications for the construction of gender and racial identities. Finally, you will also consider the style conventions of different classical Hollywood film genres and debate their significance in helping to align spectators ideologically and emotionally in the narrative action.
View the full module definitionYou'll address issues of spectatorship and representation through a range of theoretical approaches including psychoanalytic theory. You'll also explore the intersection of pleasure and terror in our encounters with the image, considering the ways in which film taps into our unconscious, and the role of the body, the senses, and emotion in shaping our responses to moving image culture. You'll look at the future of film studies by addressing the changing conditions of spectatorship in the age of digital cinema.
View the full module definitionThis module introduces the techniques and conventions of dramatic writing, with an emphasis on writing for stage performance. The skills and knowledge required to create effective performance texts are studied through a combination of reading, critical analysis of diverse examples from the genre, practical writing exercises and readings of your own work in progress. We'll explore elements of dramatic writing such as monologue, dialogue, narrative, character and physical and vocal connection, and you'll learn the conventions of presentation for dramatic texts. Through reading and discussion, you'll be introduced to a range of dramatic styles and structures and to different modes of theatre. We'll explore dramatic form and ensemble work through practical writing and performance exercises. You'll study the dynamics between writing and performance as you draft and re-draft your own short dramatic texts. Later sessions focus on workshop treatment of sustained pieces of dramatic writing that you are preparing to submit for your assessment at the end of the module. We'll read and partially stage extracts, confronting the challenges of audience and staging.
View the full module definitionRuskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
The module introduces you to many of the critical discussions and debates surrounding the historical, technological, aesthetic and socio-political developments of the documentary approach to film and video-making. As well as paying full regard to the key trends and film-makers to have contributed to the history of this important genre, the module responds to the renewed public interest in documentary film and its crossover into the mainstream with the most up-to-date commercial and critical hits. You'll focus on the nature, specificity and evolution of the documentary form, and its relationship to cinematic realism. You'll address the historical and theoretical contexts of the study of documentary film, and engage with topical debates regarding the relationship between reality and representation, documentary ethics, and the role of cross-cultural documentary and ethnographic film. You'll discuss the different modes of address in documentary film-making, the role of the documentary film-maker, and the relationship between film-maker and subject(s). Current and future modes of distribution and exhibition for the documentary film are explored, including an address to specialist festivals devoted to documentaries. Throughout the module there are opportunities for critical analysis of key film texts.
View the full module definitionIn this module, you'll have the opportunity to work exclusively with film. What film is, how it is different from video, its relationship to photography and the theoretical and practical benefits of its intrinsic nature, are the foundation of this module. The project requires you to work in a group of two or three. Each group is given one roll of 16mm film (100ft/3.5 minutes). You'll be required to devise a piece no shorter than one minute for your final project. The module seeks to develop your skills in visualisation as well as conceptual skills. There is a strong emphasis on pre-production in this module. You'll be required to plan/script/design your film before any shooting begins. The success of this piece is based on how well you stick to what you set out to do. You'll receive a strong technical induction in using the Bolex 16mm camera. Attention is paid to the features of the camera, exposure, and film stock. The module is informed by photography as well as film. Specifically addressed is the relationship the two have with each other. The module begins with an address to the proto-cinematic motion studies of Muybridge and Marey and work by Cindy Sherman and Hiroshi Sugimoto is also examined. Films that are screened range from artist filmmakers Stan Brakhage and Guy Sherwin, to European art house, Godard, Bergman, Antonioni, as well as a more mainstream auteur, such as Hitchcock. Theoretically, the module is underpinned by texts by Doane, Barthes, and Hamlyn. All texts seek to further establish issues arising through practice.
View the full module definitionThis module provides training and experience in writing film reviews within a professional context. You'll begin by exploring the nature and purpose of reviewing films, and consider the impact and influence of film reviewers on notions of taste and cultural and social value. You'll then work through the professional practices of the reviewing process. You'll gain experience in writing reviews for a variety of different readerships, across a range of print and digital formats. Seminars are designed to illustrate review philosophies; planning and structuring of reviews; tailoring the review according to a brief; keeping film diaries; and developing a personal writing style. You'll share and develop ideas in small peer groups and will benefit from regular formative feedback from the module tutor. You'll also have the opportunity to review films in a live context, through our links with the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse and Take One magazine. You'll also be encouraged to keep a film diary and to review for the student-led Ruskin Journal.
View the full module definitionYou’ll focus on the development, features and impact of independent cinema in the US and beyond. Alongside close examination of a number of key films, you'll consider areas such as the financing and promotion of independent film-making, and investigate how and why certain directors choose to work outside the protective infrastructures and high budgets provided by a studio system. You’ll also look at US-based film-makers starting out in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as John Sayles, Jim Jarmusch and Joel Coen, and how they influenced later international film-makers, such as Quentin Tarantino, Gregg Araki, Vincent Gallo and Lukas Moodysson. You’ll explore how Awards ceremonies and Film Festivals can showcase 'peripheral' cinema, and critically examine the role of independent distribution companies. Your assessment will take the form of a critical essay and an oral seminar presentation on the work of an independent film-maker of your choice.
View the full module definitionYou'll examine the nature and practice of documentary filmmaking, focusing on the aesthetics of documentary concerning expository, poetic, observational, performative, participatory, and reflexive modes of practice. You'll be encouraged to consider, reflect and implement appropriate responses to the range of issues that might arise in your work, including the ethical, creative, methodological, theoretical, and technical concerns that relate to documentary. Examples of contemporary, historical, independent, mainstream, television and film documentaries are examined in detail to rationalise the subject of non-fiction film and video in terms of forms and conventions of documentary language. A range of work will be screened and discussed during the module, which provides a context for the projects that you undertake in small groups. The module begins with you being asked to make a number of concise introductory pieces that explore concepts and aesthetics concerning documentary and 'non-fiction' filmmaking. You'll then pitch a more substantial project to the module tutors and seminar group, followed by feedback and further discussion of ethical, creative and practical issues raised by each proposal. Groups should then produce a shooting script and production schedule making sure to gain all permission from interviewees, copyright and location owners, prior to filming. The module tutors will supervise the production and editing processes and require students to attend group tutorials.
View the full module definitionThis module provides you with the opportunity to explore creative and technical processes involved in devising and developing a short narrative film, from script to screen. The module thus differs from other screenwriting modules in that you'll actualise your scripts in video. In particular, it draws attention to the importance of visualisation, communicating narrative through image, sound and action. Although films are created in a collaborative way, the distinct roles of producer, director, writer and editor are defined and discussed so as to encourage understanding of the interrelationships between each of them in ensuring the most effective realisation of the script ideas. You'll begin by viewing and discussing script and film work by new and established writers and directors and use these discussions to develop their original ideas into five-minute screenplays. A pitching session to peers and lecturers allows for the selection of some of those scripts to be produced into short films, with you working collaboratively in small groups to devise and realise those scripts to completion. You'll be expected to undertake script revisions and rewrites during the production process, as an integral part of interpreting and developing your ideas, and as the realities and practicalities of the production become evident. The module ends with a screening and critical discussion of all short films, with an opportunity to receive feedback from peers and lecturers.
View the full module definitionIn this module you will be introduced to the art of creative non-fiction. You'll explore the art of the essay as it has developed in the English Language and explore the concept of what creative non-fiction is. Using the key text, and additional collections, you'll explore issues of style, research, and personal expression as we investigate various genres of creative non-fiction writing including travel and food writing, writing about history, and science writing for lay audiences. You will practice applying fiction-writing skills such as characterisation, point of view choices, description, and plotting to non-fiction narratives. In class, you will participate in workshopping your ideas and drafts. We will further discuss platforms, contexts, and readerships in the current market.
View the full module definitionIn film studies we are most used to reading film theory and criticism by academics, cultural critics and historians. Filmmakers themselves (directors, producers, camerapersons, editors, or individual experimental filmmakers) have often written about film in illuminating, sometimes provocative, accounts of their craft that deal with aspirations spanning aesthetic, ethical, ideological, technological and theoretical concerns. The form of filmmakers’ writings has included manifestoes, journal articles, transcribed interviews, and monographs. In the course of this module, we will look at a range of filmmakers whose ideas have been manifest on the page (as well as the screen) to communicate their vision of cinema. In each instance we will also look at the broader historical and cultural context that filmmakers have operated in. Every week of the module will involve a screening, lecture and seminar devoted to an analysis and discussion of a particular filmmaker’s work, comprising one or more films and one or more accompanying texts. The range of filmmakers that we will look at on the module will have a global outlook and span historical to contemporary figures as well as narrative cinema, non-fiction filmmaking and experimental cinema.
In this module you'll explore the various kinds of editing and copywriting that are carried out in the professional world by both freelancers and full-time editors and writers. You'll learn the basics of editing across content editing, copyediting, and proofreading. You'll practice writing copy for brands and products following industry brand guidelines, and learn about search engine optimisation (SEO), tone of voice, concise writing, and creating effective headlines. The industry uses traditional skills and digital tools to carry out these core skills. You'll have the opportunity to use digital technology in a critical and creative way in your work. You'll work toward creating a portfolio of varied copywriting and editing work, together with a critical evaluation of these processes in industry.
View the full module definitionThe democratising power of the digital has turned all of us into photographers in a way that George Eastman (the founder of Kodak) could never have imagined. His motto for the Box Brownie Camera - the first truly mass produced affordable camera - was ‘you press the button we do the rest’. Digital cameras, iPhones and platforms like Instagram have allowed photographers complete control of how their images are made, and how they are seen, often within seconds of being taken they can be distributed and consumed. Building on from the photographic projects in Sound/Text/Image, the module will introduce you to a history of photography and key practitioners. The module is structured around lectures, seminars and workshops. There is an emphasis on photographers engaging in broadly documentary modes of photography; street photography, photographers documenting sub-cultures, the urban landscape, and transformations in society. The module is informed critically by historic trends and practitioners and will teach you how to read an image as well as compose one. We will also explore different modes of presentation, online, projection and print. There will be a series of weekly projects on a series of themes, which you will upload for reflection/critique/discussion in class. This will encourage you to make images regularly and use digital means of distribution to make your work as accessible as possible. We will also engage in analogue image making to provide an alternative photographic experience.
View the full module definitionThis module focuses on the idea of ‘cult’ in relation to film, television and wider media. It explores key themes and debates concerning the distinction between cult and mainstream media, and how cult media, along with its cultures and practices, influences and shapes trends within mainstream media. In this module, we’ll explore the historical development and varied applications of the term ‘cult’, while also addressing theories of quality, taste, and cultural capital in a media context. We’ll look at how cult media articulates and explores alternative conceptions of cultural identity (in terms of sexuality, gender, youth cultures and fan cultures). You'll consider how discourses such as text, industry and audience contribute to the formation of cult genres, with case studies that may include horror, sci-fi, fantasy, anime and comic book media. Throughout the module, you'll engage with theoretical concepts such as genre, media convergence, fan studies, taste, cultural capital and camp.
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.
In this module you’ll gain the technical skills required in the writing of poetry by facilitating a flexible use of traditional forms and rhythms. You’ll look at contemporary and modern poetry and explore important developments in technique and learn to appreciate the benefits of close reading to open up possibilities for language use. Seminar workshops focus on reading poetry and on creative exercises, aimed at helping to develop sophisticated approaches to the relationship between form and content.
View the full module definitionStarting with an exploration of the various modes within which film journalism functions, you'll explore the world of professional film journalism, enabling you to create original features for a variety of readerships in a range of media. Seminars are structured around an exercise designed to illustrate - with the aid of examples from the professional context - how to work with editors; planning and structuring interviews; developing, drafting and revising reviews and features; tailoring output according to a professional brief and/or a specific audience type; and developing a personal style. You will understand the practicalities of professional journalism in print and other media, with examples drawn from mainstream and specialist sources, at national, regional and local level.
View the full module definitionThis module is compulsory for all students studying Writing as a single subject and optional for those taking Writing in combination with another subject. you will be expected to work independently, with guidance from an approved adviser or mentor, to produce a longer piece of writing or coherent set of shorter pieces. This may be in any genre, including imaginative writing, creative non-fiction or professional writing, provided that a suitable consultant can be found to support the project. Approval may also be given for a major editorial project, for example leadership of the university writers magazine. Three seminar sessions will support you through the main stages of your project, enabling you to review strategies and content. A maximum of 4 hours individual consultation time is available to each student in addition to the seminars. Arrangements for consultation meetings are the responsibility of the individual student. Work towards the final project consists of four overlapping stages: reading and research (including consideration of audience) resulting in project proposal; drafting (with further reading and research as necessary); editing, re-drafting and more specific audience engagement; reflection and critical evaluation. Your work towards these stages will be reviewed in the seminar sessions. You will need to produce a proposal accompanied by extracts from your reading journal at an early stage in the project. You will submit this directly to your individual supervisor, and it will not be formally assessed.
This module will give you the opportunity to study a topic that will be taught by a member of staff whose particular academic interests and/or research is reflected in that area. You will extend your knowledge and understanding of a specific subject area that you may have encountered earlier in your studies, and in which there is deemed to be scope for more reading, critical commentary, analysis and discussion. Alternatively, this module may be used to introduce you to a topic which is not found elsewhere in the existing degree provision. A topic may be the study of a single filmmaker (e.g., Charlie Chaplin; Claire Denis) or cognate group of filmmakers (e.g., the French New Wave; New Queer Cinema), a genre (e.g. Global Horror; the Teen Movie), or a topic that allows for in-depth discussion and consideration of a defined area in film theory (Cinema & Sexuality; Digital Aesthetics in Contemporary Cinema; Film-Philosophy). The designated topics vary from year to year, and topics will be communicated prior to module choice. There will be no formal lectures - the module will be taught in seminars in which you will take part in group discussions.
View the full module definitionThis module builds on the skills you have acquired in Screenwriting: The Short Film at Level 4 and Script to Screen at Level 5. Through small group work and discussion with the seminar leader, you'll develop an original screenplay idea. The module will cover basic narrative conventions, including the role of conflict, the line of action and plot reversals, character building, and atmosphere. You'll be encouraged to experiment with the representation of place, space and time, and build in subplots when appropriate. You'll be expected to consider your target audience, and will be given the opportunity to explore the role of genre as a means of making narrative choices.
View the full module definitionThis module is built around several workshops that encourage you to explore a range of experimental approaches to filmmaking and the moving image. An indicative list of workshops includes: multi-screen filmmaking; the moving image in-situ, live performance with film; single-frame filmmaking; working with found footage and experiments in soundtrack recording. Each workshop will involve a concise brief, advanced technical inductions, an introduction to a range of associated film and video works, a short period of time to undertake the project and a discussion of the work that is produced. In the latter part of the module, you'll propose, develop and produce a project following the premises and lines of enquiry suggested by one of the earlier workshops. You'll be required to show and discuss the development of your project in the context of individual tutorials and wider work-in-progress sessions. You can work individually or in small groups.
View the full module definitionThis module will introduce you to key areas of professional practice in film, with a view to preparing you for entry to a specific range of film-related careers. You will identify and reflect on the skills and knowledge you are gaining on your degree, and explore how these map onto careers in film and related industries. Visiting guest lecturers and alumni will give you hands-on guidance and a more detailed working knowledge of industry processes and practices, as well as setting projects for you to undertake. You will also have the opportunity to incorporate a range of ‘live’ projects and work placement opportunities as part of your work on the module. At the end of the semester, you will produce a project portfolio in one of the professional areas introduced on the module, along with a critical reflection on skills development.
View the full module definitionOn this module, you'll take an historical approach to the various movements and themes associated with avant-garde film and experimental video. You'll consider these in aesthetic and socio-political contexts, but you’ll also study the work of a number of key film and video-makers in close detail. Throughout the module, you'll consider and reflect upon the history of experimental film and video and its association with other artistic forms, as well as its rebellious relationship with the mainstream. In addition, you'll examine the movement of the avant-garde film between cinema and modern art, while still focusing on it as an independent form of art practice with its own internal logic and aesthetic discourse.
View the full module definitionOn this module you'll explore trends in the aesthetics and production practices of Hollywood movies, and their contexts of distribution and reception, based on a representative selection from the last four decades. You'll discover how the style and output of American popular cinema in this period has responded to changing socio-political, economic and cultural circumstances. Alongside close readings of a number of films (bookended by the box-office record breakers Jaws and Avatar), you'll consider some of the broader tendencies they represent: What lies behind the so-called 'blockbuster syndrome' supposedly initiated by Spielberg's monster movie? What is the impact of new locations or technologies for viewing on the aesthetics of popular cinema? Did the blockbuster destroy or save Hollywood? These are just some of the questions you'll answer over the course of the module.
On this module you will explore the way stories are told in films from around the world. You will study key aspects of cinematic narrative structure, including order, duration, cause-and-effect patterns, and the distinction between fabula (story) and syuzhet (plot). You will also examine how character and voice are handled in film, the function of 'point of view', focalisation, and internal vs external characterisation. You will address theoretical aspects such as narrator and narratee, reception theory, suspense vs surprise, the key 'seven' narrative functions, narrative and genre, and the ideology of 'show vs tell'. You will analyse non-narrative (and anti-narrative) aspects of narratives, such as description, iconic shots, music, and other disruptive elements. You will also be thinking about the different roles of words (dialogue, text, sub-titles) and imagery. You will study all of these narrative topics with regard to global cinemas. You will compare and contrast mainstream commercial Hollywood movies with non-American examples, ask to what extent continuity narrative has become the dominant pattern across the globe, examine narrative structures that do not fit the mainstream model, and analyse the intersection of global narratives with diverse identity formations. You will view films and clips from various European countries and non-Western regions, in addition to co-productions and transnational examples. Your assessment will comprise a narrative analysis (1000 words) and a critical (2000 words).
View the full module definitionThe Research Project in Film and Media module allows you to engage in a substantial piece of individual research, focused on a topic relevant to your specific course. The project topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. The chosen topic will require you to undertake an extended piece of writing in the form of a dissertation. Regular meetings with the project supervisor should take place, so that the project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. This module involves secondary research only (e.g. that falling under the green category). It does not permit primary data generation. Students are required to carry out a literature review using publicly available documents. Any use of the internet is limited to searching for publicly available documents only. This module is exempt from the full ethical approval process in accordance with section 6 of the Academic Regulations.
View the full module definitionIn this module you'll develop knowledge and skills necessary for the understanding and creation of fictional worlds, the basis for a range of creative writing, editing, teaching, and reviewing undertakings. The module will focus in one trimester on the creation of a fictional past through historical fiction, and in the other on the creation of wholly invented worlds through speculative fiction and explore the links between the two in terms of research, ethics, plausibility, consistency, imagination, and verisimilitude. You will delve into the similarities between the techniques, aims, audiences, and outcomes of historical fiction, often described as a ‘realist’ genre, and ‘non-realist’ speculative fiction. Historical Fiction: in this segment of the module, you'll study the skills and techniques needed to create successful historical fiction for a range of media (prose, tv, film, radio, games, etc.). You will be asked to consider the ethical issues which arise while trying to create a fictional 'historical past', beginning with a consideration of the adage that the present reinterprets history for its own purposes, and consider the degree to which depiction via the novel, film, games, and other comparatively recent platforms is in itself an intervention in the past. You'll experiment with different techniques for conjuring the past with reference to setting, voice, and character as well as food, manners and mores. You will be asked to consider the needs of different audiences and different platforms, such as the demands of a staged play or the differences between the scope of a short story and a novel. Further, you will explore crossover historical fiction and how its conventions can work together with those of genres such as crime and fantasy. You will be expected to engage in primary and secondary research for your work and to reflect on how you incorporate such research into your writing. Speculative fiction: in this segment of the module, you'll be introduced to the craft of writing speculative fiction, focusing on fantasy, science fiction, and horror. You'll explore what it means to write within a genre, whether the lines between genres are clear cut or blurred, and reflect upon what this means specifically for the writer of speculative fiction. You will be introduced to the specific skills needed by a writer of speculative fiction: such as how to build convincing worlds; how to invent convincing histories, literatures, and societies; how to avoid cliché in the writing and creation of unreal places; and how writers of speculative fiction map, explore, populate, and imagine fully their unreal worlds.
View the full module definitionThis module will explore the various essentials of being a working writer. We will look at different kinds of income available to working writers, including stipends attached to residencies, revenue from publishing and self-publishing, freelance writing and editing opportunities, and funding from arts charities. You'll learn how to develop an online presence through web design and use of social media, including how to use online tools to build a network of writers, artists, and industry professionals. With these resources in mind, we will also discuss festivals, conventions, and other literary events. You will build toward a portfolio of curated and new work that you can use to present yourself.
View the full module definitionThis module introduces you to the process of writing a novel. You'll approach the project from idea conception and then progress to the development of elements including plot, main character/protagonist, conflict, setting, and other narrative choices. Class meetings will be split between discussion of these elements and directed writing sprints, giving you the opportunity to work individually in a writing-community setting. In addition to writing in class, you will also strengthen your critiquing skills by workshopping your classmates’ writing. The module will also develop your synopsis and query-letter writing skills as you explore the role of agents and editors in the publishing industry and the routes towards novel publication.
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.