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FREN3361: REBELLION, FEUD AND CRUSADE IN MEDIEVAL TEXTS

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Type Open
Level 3
Credits 20
Availability Not available in 2024/2025
Module Cap 30
Location Durham
Department Modern Languages and Cultures (French)

Prerequisites

  • French Language 2 (FREN2051) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

  • Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • To examine the chansons de geste and texts inspired by them.
  • To reflect upon the relation between literature and historical context, the justification of violence and the relationship between the aesthetic form and style of the texts and their content.

Content

  • Set texts will include chansons de geste and other twelfth- and thirteenth-century texts related to the themes of the module. See the module's webpage for details of the current set texts.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • knowledge of important French texts
  • knowledge of a crucial period in French history
  • knowledge of innovative approaches to analysing relationships between literature and history

Subject-specific Skills:

  • development of critical skills - close reading of primary texts
  • ability to relate texts judiciously to overarching themes of conflict and war
  • ability to analyse imaginatively and rigorously relationships between literature and history
  • ability to critique secondary material

Key Skills:

  • critical and analytical
  • essay-writing and commentary
  • structuring of arguments
  • independent learning

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The module will be taught intensively either in Term I or in Term II on a 'short-fat 'basis.
  • Lectures and student-led seminars, some of which will involve guided close reading of extracts from the texts; others will consist of discussion of the ethical, political and historical issues raised by the corpus.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Lectures20two per week1 hour20Yes
Seminars10weekly1 hour10Yes
Reading & Preparation170 
Total200 

Summative Assessment

Component: Summative Essay 1Component Weighting: 40%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Summative Essay 12000 words100No
Component: Summative Essay 2Component Weighting: 60%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Summative Essay 23000 words100No

Formative Assessment

None

More information

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