Module ARA2001 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA2001: From Holy Text to Sex Manuals in the Medieval Middle East
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The module aims not only to give you an idea of the most important themes and authors within a highly influential literary tradition (sc. Classical Arabic literature) and its historical contexts, but also an awareness of issues that are essential to an understanding of all world literature, namely translation theory and practices, the construction of the author’s identity, the manner in which texts signal their truth value (i.e. do they present themselves as fact or fiction), and the effects of cross-genre and cross-cultural influences on literary traditions broadly speaking. These skills are essential to a scholar of history or literature dealing with primary texts in a comparative fashion.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate specialist knowledge of crucial themes in Classical Arabic literature and Medieval Middle Eastern history, and their relationship to similar themes and trends in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. 2. Demonstrate critical understanding of the intersection between religion, literature, and historiography in the Near and Middle East. 3. Demonstrate an awareness of translation practices in Arabic literature and beyond. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Critically analyse primary sources. 5. Demonstrate knowledge and application of some central ideas in both literary theory and in historiography. 6. Demonstrate specialist knowledge of critical debates surrounding world literature in general and as applied specifically to the Arabic literary tradition. 7. Collate data from a range of sources, both primary and secondary. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. Apply theory to texts and contexts. 9. Demonstrate critical and analytical skills. 10. Rank sources and structure arguments. 11. Identify a topic; select, comprehend, and organise primary and secondary materials on that topic with little guidance. |
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 x essay plans (500 words) | 1000 words | 1,2,3,6 | Written and verbal feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic analysis of a text/s 1 | 50 | 2500 words | 1-11 | Written (supplemented with oral as required) |
| Thematic analysis of a text/s 2 | 50 | 2500 words | 1-11 | Written (supplemented with oral as required) |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic analysis of texts 1 | Thematic analysis of texts (2500 words) 50% of credit | 1-11 | August/September reassessment period |
| Thematic analysis of texts 2 | Thematic analysis of texts (2500 words) 50% of credit | 1-11 | August/September reassessment period |
