Learn 2024

Gender and Writing ENGL 711

Led and co-ordinated by Professor Priya Narismulu

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the English Studies Honours degree, I hope you are well and look forward to seeing you in class on Thursday 15 February at 10h00, Venue E 138.

Let me know as soon as possible, and by Friday 9 February 2024, if there is any issue and please indicate all your available times, and I will check and indicate. Otherwise this is the day and time of the Gender and Writing Seminars: Thursdays at 10h00-12h00 (Venue E 138), unless the day and time has to be changed in relation to the UKZN schedule. Do check the G&W Schedule details below. The seminar venue E138 is in English Studies, First Floor, Howard College. When you are in the English Studies Corridor take the first left turn, walk past the letter boxes then turn left again, and E138 is at the second room on your left.

The English Honours degree takes one year (two semesters) full-time. A full time student must complete four modules, that is two modules each semester. Part-time students take two modules per year, one per semester. All modules carry equal credit and the three taught modules are assessed primarily by means of essays.

Each module is one semester long (12 weeks), with a double period seminar (about 1 ½ hours) each week. Note that this 32 credit module requires at least 320 hours of work, ie., about 45 hours per week of reading, seminars, revision, examinations etc. This means you need to allow for about 22 hours of self-study per module over 12 weeks (i.e., a full two and half days per module per week). This simply means eight hours work a day and half a day on the weekend. Fortunately, the readings are very interesting, and with focused attention from the outset (switch off distractions during your precious study time) you may be able to fit your work into the weekdays. Be sure to rest daily (improves focus and learning), and to have a free day on the weekend. The Dept of Higher Education and UKZN calculate the amount of work, level of work, fees, etc on these hours of dedicated work. To do well and avoid underperforming and losing out plan to meet these daily and weekly requirements.

Students are responsible for ensuring they read all the prescribed primary and secondary texts before the scheduled seminar. It is each student’s responsibility to order the books that are not in included. As Honours student numbers are small, the booksellers do not automatically order the books. Texts should be sourced in good time whether from bookshops (like Adams, R & L Books, Bargain Books, Exclusive, etc), or online (Makro, Loot, Kalahari, ABE Books, Amazon Kindle, etc).

Students will attend every seminar, and attendance is taken. A Doctor’s Certificate is required for absence from a seminar (but students need to complete and submit the work). The formal written work must be submitted for a student to have ‘Duly Performed’ status. This means that a student has satisfied the requirements for written work and attendance. Each student may be required to present (or co-present) seminars in their modules. Specific requirements depend on other factors and will be addressed by each lecturer. The presentation may comprise 10% of the module mark, and good preparation for this task will contribute to the strength of your Examination Assessments, and your professional skills. You need a DP to write the examinations. 

Details of the module follow.