In your final year, you’ll further develop your skills and knowledge in the areas of Writing and English Literature, with opportunities to develop ideas and plans for your future career. You’ll improve your poetry by exploring process, form and audience, developing sophisticated approaches to the relationship between content and form. You’ll also discover the common themes and issues in novels published over the past ten years, as well as the power and role of literature in society today.

The major project will allow you to either conduct an independent research project on a relevant topic in English literature, or produce a longer piece of writing, or a coherent set of shorter pieces, within any genre, guided by an appropriate supervisor from our teaching staff.

You could choose to develop your scriptwriting skills, learning the scope and conventions of writing for film, television, radio and gaming by analysing contemporary and classic examples, and using practical techniques to produce your own piece of work. You might find out how to write speculative fiction, learning to map, explore, populate and fully imagine unreal worlds, and taking on the challenges of making them convincing while avoiding clichés. You can also learn how to write features about films for various readerships in both print and digital formats.

As in Year 2, you can choose from a variety of English literature modules. You could take a fresh look at how the Brontës and Elizabeth Gaskell engaged with their cultural contexts through the lens of disability studies and by assessing their treatment of imperialism and other issuess; find out about the early modern literary fascination with magic by studying references to science, religion and the occult in journal entries, essays, epic poetry and drama from the period; study how identity, sexuality, violence and death are represented and displayed in a variety of plays from 1580-1642, by reading the text and analysing live and recorded performances; learn about representations of different kinds of exile in novels, graphic novels, poetry, autobiography and short stories; apply literary and wider theories to children’s and Young Adult literature; or examine radical ideas and pushes for change in the Romantic period.

You could also explore how publishing works in practice by creating and compiling an anthology of student work, learning skills such as desk editing, web editing, using publishing software, legal considerations, design and more. You might explore the significance of how new technology has changed how we communicate with others, and how to analyse authentic digital texts.

You’ll also have the opportunity to gain credits for 35 hours’ work in any field. This will allow you to investigate possible careers, learn more about the workplace and the value your degree can bring to it, further developing your strengths and skills, as well as your own awareness of them.

Assessment

You’ll show your progress through many methods, reflecting the varied nature of your course. These will include writing portfolios, critical commentaries, presentations, journals and log books, critical essays, film reviews and analyses, internet, print and video production, and commissions. You’ll also take part in 'crits', in which you’ll present and defend your work.

Each year you’ll prepare a Personal Development Portfolio, including a CV and personal statement. This will give you the chance to reflect on your progress to date, the skills you’ve developed and any extracurricular activities that will help you when looking for work.