School of English

Innervate: 2010-11 Archive

Innervate: online essay journal

ISSN: 2041-6776

Module and Essay Titles (and link)

Student
Arthurian Literature Q33207
The Depiction of Lancelot in Chrétien de Troyes’ The Knight of the Cart and Malory’s ‘Book of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere’ in Le Morte D'Arthur Bridgwood, Rowan
‘Muse on my mirrour’: Gawain’s function in relation to the supernatural of Arthurian literature Byrne, Rory
Cognitive Poetics Q33104
‘Disconnectedness is the new currency’: Falling Man, sympathy and Text-world Theory, sympathy and Text-world Theory Partington, Rosie
Creative Writing Q33108

Creative Writing Portfolio

 Robinson, Charlotte
Discourse Analysis Q33106
Exchange Structure in the Modern Classroom: ‘Jamie’s Dream School’ Brown, Helen
Dissertation Q33406  
An investigation into the knowledge of receptive vocabulary in a first and second language. A case study on Dizygotic twins Helena Thornley
Exploring the Abject in Medieval Literature
How the Abject Moment functions in Medieval Texts		 Hien, Jennifer
Dramatic Discourse Q33110
Power, struggle and control: An Analysis of turn-taking in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? King, Rachel
Enduring Realism Q33368
‘In every century, the way that artistic forms are structured reflects the way in which science or contemporary culture views reality’ (Umberto Eco, The Open Work, p. 13). In light of this view, demonstrate the ways in which the structures of two twentieth-century realist texts help shape their depictions of the realities of human experience Cary, Peter
Write about the topic of ‘Family’ in A Clergyman’s Daughter and The Child in Time Lautman, Emma
To what extent is it true that the treatment of history in the novel is really a coded reflection on the present? Discuss ‘history’ in two novels that you have studied in the light of this question van Buuren, Emily
History of the English Language Q33205
‘English is a Germanic Language.’ What does this mean, and how true is it? Byrne, Rory

Explore the influence of French on English

 Roth, Isabel
James Joyce: Revolutions of the Word Q33374
Excreta, Ejaculate and the Emetic: the Role of the Abject in Ulysses Byrne, Rory
Language and Creativity Q33115
Diary Writing and Creativity: A qualitative case study of self-consciousness Polonsky, Katarina
Language Development  
Word learning strategies during the one-word stage.
An analysis of one child’s vocabulary and phonology and its suggestions about how early words are learnt.
An observation of a 17 month old child who only has a few words, and a `grammar’ of their current language		 Walker, Victoria
Literature of the Anglo-Saxons Q33221
'Inevitability is a more powerful instrument of the narrator's art than novelty or last-minute surprise, and the gratification of knowledgeable expectancy is as much a challenge to the teller as it is a pleasure to the audience.' To what extent is such a view relevant to your understanding of Beowulf and/or any other Old English texts that you have read? Hien, Jennifer
“Di:4 bid se pe his Dryhten ne oncirdep”,
“Dot bid se pe him his Dryhten nor”
How far do these quotations from The Seafarer and Maxim I respectively illustrate an attitude to life found in the Old English texts you have studied?		 Partington, Rosie
‘Hera and poet have an almost symbiotic relationship in the Germanic cultural tradition from which the Anglo-Saxons came’. How helpful is this claim in understanding the Old English poems you have read on this course? Turner, Nicola
Modern British Fictions Since 1950 Q33372
Dominic Head has noted that some contemporary novels ‘foreground their linguistic virtuosity ... not in the mode of exaggerated playfulness, but to reflect in complex ways upon experience — and so, paradoxically, to build a bridge back to reality through the very artfulness that announces the division between World and Book’ (The State of the Novel [2008]). Explore the relevance of this account of virtuosity for understanding the formal and thematic aims of two writers from the module Polonsky, Katarina
Modern Irish Literature Q33602
‘The emergent literatures of modernity [...] are formed around a single question: how to express life which has never yet found expression in written literature?.’ How have Irish Writers explored the relationship between modernity, colonialism, and national identity? Byrne, Rory
For Declan Kiberd, ‘the emergent literatures of modernity’ are ‘formed around a single question: how to express life which has never yet found expression in written literature?’ How have Irish writers explored the relationships between modernity, colonialism, and national identity? Partington, Rosie
Modern Urban Fictions Q33346
Svetlana Boym argues that the city ‘is an ideal crossroads between longing and estrangement, memory and freedom, nostalgia and modernity.’ To what extent are such intersections between place and memory foregrounded in literary representations of the city? Roth, Isabel
Origins and Empires Q33362
‘Of Albions glorious Ile the Wonders…I write’ How important is the land in early modern depictions of national identity? Kaufman, Eleanor
Oscar Wilde Q33382
Write an essay examining Wilde’s exploration of Art and Nature Delman, Rachel
A common explanation for the enduring popularity of Wilde’s works is the apparent modernity of their themes. An essay examining Wilde’s interrogation of gender identity Wareham, Hayley

An essay examining Wilde’s exploration of art, nature, love and desire

 Wareham, Hayley
Outlaws, Ghosts and Heroes Q33225
With a particular focus on The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Gisfi Surrson’s Saga and Nijar’s Saga, discuss the nature and role of the supernatural in Icelandic saga literature and assess the extent to which it reveals a religious significance Georghiou, Georgina
Post-Millennial (re)formations Q33383
Caryl Phillips has maintained that a ‘migratory condition, and the subsequent sense of displacement, can be a gift to the creative mind’ (A New World Order [2002]). Examine the extent to which two twenty-first century novelists capitalize on the connection between migration (or displacement) and artistic creativity Currie, Alice
‘I’m not trying to be a modernist’, declared Tom McCarthy in 2010, ‘but to navigate the wreckage of that project’ (‘The Avant-Garde Can’t be Ignored’, The Observer [Sunday 1st August]). To what extent does McCarthy’s aim apply to other twenty-first-century writers? Write an essay that explores the various ways in which two twenty-first-century writers have responded to their modernist heritage Roth, Isabel
Caryl Phillips has maintained that a ‘migratory condition, and the subsequent sense of displacement, can be a gift to the creative mind’ (A New World Order [2002]). Examine the extent to which two twenty-first-century novelists capitalise on this connection between migration (or displacement) and artistic creativity van Buuren, Emily
Representing Democracy Q33381
What is the relationship between democracy and desire, and what critical role might this desire play? Discuss in relation to The Republic and ‘In The Loop' Peachey, Jack
Examine the role of the subject and the individual within democratic society. What are the implications of these concepts in a society with a shared history. Answer with reference to Beckett’s Company and Benjamin’s Concept of History Ely, Peter
“The only true and lasting meaning of the struggle for life lies in the individual, in his modest peculiarities and in his right to those peculiarities.” Individuals and the Collective in Coriolanus and A Sentimental Education Lindsay, Michael
Riotous Performance Q33512 
‘There were many occasions when the routine clamor [sic] and inattentiveness turned into more focussed demonstrations against a performance’. Using at least two examples of different theatre riots, evaluate whether, and to what extent, focussed demonstrations related to ‘routine’ audience behaviours Smith, Katie
Romanticism Q33380
The Subversion and Redefinition of Conventions of Femininity in the Poetry of Felicia Hemans and Lord Byron Bridgwood, Rowan
Sex and Society Q33338
Sex and Society: Analytical Exercise The Fair Penitent, Act Four, Lines 117-266 Macrowan, Charlie
Shakespeare: Peformance in Context Q33603
The Shakespeare Behind Bars project, like much theatre within the criminal justice system, functions as an explorative rather than a regenerative process for the prisoners. Discuss, making particular reference to the Shakespeare Behind Bars production of ‘The Tempest’ Adcock, Samantha
Shakespeare and Jonson Q33601
Compare the use of the unities in The Tempest and The Alchemist. What differences in function and effect are there? Powell, Hayley
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Q33218
Jonah and Gawain as Flawed Heroes Bridgwood, Rowan
Discuss the treatment of the Individual and the Community in Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Delman, Rachel
Do Pearl, Patience and Sir Gawain present the same concept of humanity through their portraits of their protagonists? King, Rachel
Sociolinguistics Q33103
Analysing women’s talk and gossip between two female friends Ahmed, Sara
A Critical Analysis of Holmes’ Scale of Seriousness Baker, Emily
You can take the Student out of the North but you can’t take the North out of the Student: Students dialect and language attitudes in Nottingham Binley, Emma
Code-switching as a power and solidarity strategy in the foreign language classroom. An analysis of language alternation strategies utilised in a Portuguese-English higher education class Walker, Victoria
Texts in a Digital World Q33116
The Application of Key Words to Theories of Language and Sexuality in Identifying the Assertion of a Homoerotic Linguistic Set Fitton-Hayward, Melanie
Twentieth Century Plays
What Brecht did for theater [sic] was to heighten the spectator’s participation, but in an intellectual way, whereas Artaud had specifically rejected intellectual approaches in favour of theatre as “a means of inducing trances”’ (James Monaco). Discuss King, Rachel
Virginia Woolf Q33354 
‘We long sometimes to escape from the incessant, the remorseless analysis of falling into love and falling out of love, of what Tom feels for Judith and Judith does or does not altogether feel for Tom’ (Woolf, ‘The Narrow Bridge of Art’). What desires empower Woolf’s novels if they do not depend upon the motivations of the romance plot? Cary, Peter
Virginia Woolf, the artist and the limits of Signification Makela, Mikko

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