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Reading Critically in English for the Contemporary Humanities

Code: 45368
Credits: 5
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
English Studies: Linguistic, Literary and Sociocultural Perspectives OP 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Jordi Coral Escola
Email :
jordi.coral@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Nicholas Livingston Spengler

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Apart from fulfilling the general requirements of this MA programme, in particular as regards linguistic and academic skills, registering for this subject entails the need to take an active role in class and demands genuine intellectual curiosity about the way in which textual meaning is established, transmitted and debated.

Objectives

This course offers an introduction to the critical analysis of academic texts in English literature and linguistics.

Specific objectives:

  • Understand the key concepts in critical reading.
  • Select relevant, up-to-date and reliable texts in English linguistics and literature.
  • Analyse the structure, argumentation and ideological positioning of academic texts.
  • Reflect upon reading and subjective processes.
  • Communicate, orally and in writing, complex ideas in English at C2-level.

Learning outcomes

  • CA18 (Critically analyse academic texts selected by students and related to their research interests.) Critically analyse academic texts selected by students and related to their research interests.
  • CA19 (Design actions for the improvement of the comprehension of academic texts through group analysis of the structure of arguments and rhetorical patterns.) Design actions for the improvement of the comprehension of academic texts through group analysis of the structure of arguments and rhetorical patterns.
  • KA19 (List the main theoretical currents in the field of academic writing.) List the main theoretical currents in the field of academic writing.
  • KA20 (Identify the differences between corpus-based and non-corpus-based text analysis.) Identify the differences between corpus-based and non-corpus-based text analysis.
  • KA21 (Distinguish the main types of academic writing in the fields of language, literary and cultural studies in the English language.) Distinguish the main types of academic writing in the fields of language, literary and cultural studies in the English language.
  • SA27 (Critically analyse the linguistic features that are typical of academic writing based on texts from various sub-disciplines within the field of English studies.) Critically analyse the linguistic features that are typical of academic writing based on texts from various sub-disciplines within the field of English studies.
  • SA28 (Identify types of argumentation and implicit political-ideological positions in academic texts selected from the field of English Studies.) Identify types of argumentation and implicit political-ideological positions in academic texts selected from the field of English Studies.
  • SA29 (Produce written texts at an advanced level that address key aspects of academic writing and correspond to the rhetorical requirements of such texts.) Produce written texts at an advanced level that address key aspects of academic writing and correspond to the rhetorical requirements of such texts.

Contents

This introduction to critical reading skills analyzes a variety of scholarly approaches to the question of how linguistic meaning is created in literary texts in English. The subject is divided into two parts: the first examines how literary criticism and linguistics have treated literary language and metaphor in particular; and the second examines how these two fields have addressed the theme of literary hermeneutics, that is, the theory and methodology of interpretation.


At the beginning of the semester students will be provided with a selection of literary and academic texts related to themes of each part.


PART 1. Literary Language: Metaphor, Cognition, and Communication

Dr. Nicholas Spengler


Literary texts: a selection of poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Emily Dickinson, and Elizabeth Bishop



PART 2. Literary Hermeneutics: Speech Acts, Performativity, and the Perlocutionary Unsaid

Dr. Jordi Coral


Literary texts: Shakespeare's Sonnets (selection), Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Mr. W.H.", and Henry James's "The Figure in the Carpet"

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Group work (outside class) 10 0.4 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29
In-class essays 3 0.12 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29
Theory classes and debates 20 0.8 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29
Reading academic and literary texts 60 2.4 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28
Group work (in class) 7 0.28 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29

This course methodology will be predominantly dialogical. Students are expected to do all the preparatory reading and to contribute actively to in-class discussions and to group work.

The lecturers will provide a course calendar and a list of literary and academic texts at the beginning of the semester.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
In-class essay (Part 2) 40% 1.5 0.06 CA18, KA19, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29
Class participation 10% 12 0.48 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28
Group work 10% 10 0.4 CA18, CA19, KA19, KA20, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29
In-class essay (Part 1) 40% 1.5 0.06 CA18, KA19, KA21, SA27, SA28, SA29

ASSESSMENT of the module is based on the following components:

  1. In-class essay 1 (corresponding to the first part of the module) 40%
  2. In-class essay 2 (corresponding to the second part of the module) 40%
  3. Class participation 10%
  4. Group work 10%

The minimum pass mark is 5/10 for all essays and activities.

For each individual assessent activity, the teacher will inform the students (via Moodle) of the procedure and date for reviewing the grades.


NOT ASSESSED AS FINAL GRADE:

Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items (in this case, at least one of the two essays).


SINGLE-ASSESSMENT OPTION:

Students who opt for this modality will be evaluated through an exam of 3.5 hours with four components:

  1. In-class essay 1 (corresponding to the first part of the module) (90 minutes) 40%
  2. In-class essay 2 (corresponding to the second part of the module) (90 minutes) 40%
  3. A written reflection on the student's class participation (15 minutes) 10%
  4. An oral exam on the student's contribution to group work (15 minutes) 10%


REASSESSMENT:

  • The reassessment will be done in a period of two hours, scheduled by the Faculty.
  • The reassessment will be done item by item. That is, if the student who meets the conditions to opt for reassessment has failed only "in-class essay 1", the reassessment will consist of writing another essay with the same format and extension, corresponding to the first part of the module. If the student has failed only "in-class essay 2", the reassessment will consist of writing another essay with the same format and extension, corresponding to the second part of the module. If the student has failed both essays, the reassessment will consist of writing two essays corresponding to the two parts of the module, but in this case the extension of each essay will be half of the extension of essays 1 and 2 so that the student can write both essays within the period allotted for reassessment.
  • Class participation and group work cannot be reassessed.
  • The student must previously have completed at least two thirds of the exercises in the continuous assessment (in this case, both essays) or have completed all of the tasks for the single assessment.
  • Students should have a course average mark of 3,5 or higher to be eligible for reassessment.
  • There is no limit to the mark awarded through reassessment, but only failed items can be reassessed. That is, items that have passed cannot be reassessed to improve the mark.
  • For the single assessment, the same reassessment method as continuous assessment will be used. (The written reflection on the student's class participation and the oral exam on the student's contribution to group work cannot be reassessed.)


PLAGIARISM:

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities cannot be re-assessed.


ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI):

This subject does not allow the use of AI technologies. The work of critical reading and searching for bibliography is solely the responsibility of the student.


Important note for exchange students (Erasmus, etc.) on exams and other tests: Exchange students who request to bring forward an exam or any other type of assessment activity must present the teacher with an official document from their home university justifying their request.

Bibliography

During the semester detailed bibliographical references will be provided for each of the main topics.


GENERAL REFERENCES

DiYanni, Robert and Anton Brost. Critical Reading Across the Curriculum: Humanities. Wiley, 2017.

Hillis Miller, J. Speech Acts in Literature. Stanford University Press, 2002.

Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. The University of Chicago Press, 1980.

O’Donoghue, Josie. The Relevance of Metaphor: Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop and Seamus Heaney. Springer Nature, 2021.

Toolan, Michael. Language in Literature: An Introduction to Stylistics. Routledge, 1996.

Wallace, Mike and Alison Wray. Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates. Sage, 2021.

Zimmermann, Jenz. Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2015.

https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/critical/reading







Software

No specific software will be required. 

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 English first semester morning-mixed