Module: The Renaissance

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	The Renaissance
Module Code	LIT1051 (ITS: LIT4)
Faculty	Humanities & Social Sciences	School	English
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	15

Description

The Renaissance – roughly the period spanning the sixteenth and early seventeenth century – is an era marked by well-known political figures such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, as well as famous authors including Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and John Donne. This module focuses on drama and poetry that ranges from the gruesome violence of tragedies, through the troubles of lovers, to the meditative calm of religious verse. In doing so it deals with the traditional canonical writers of the era as well as introducing students to texts that have only recently received critical attention (such as the earliest female writers of modern English).

Learning Outcomes

1. Formulate an account of the Renaissance informed by current scholarly thinking and an awareness of historical views of the term
2. Discuss how the main features of Renaissance social and political life inform the literature of the period
3. Analyse English Renaissance texts in the light of the poetry and poetics of the era
4. Assess Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in terms of Renaissance dramatic practice
5. Relate early-modern texts to their differing religious backgrounds
6. Collaborate on the planning and execution of a group project
7. Present work to others in a coherent and effective manner.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Tutorial	15	No Description
Online activity	60	No Description
Independent Study	300	No Description
Total Workload: 375

Section Breakdown
CRN	11686	Part of Term	Semester 1 & 2
Coursework	100%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	N
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Jack Quin	Module Teacher	Leeann Lane, Shirley Anne O'Brien

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	n/a	15%	n/a
Assignment	Essay and Oral Presentation	45%	n/a
Group project	Critical guide	40%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	l,
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to Terms and Key Concepts

Part 2: Shakespeare's Sonnets and Spenser's Faerie Queene

Part 3: Drama (Marlowe, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Carey)

Part 4: Webster, Donne, Herbert

Indicative Reading List

Books:

This booklist is too long to present here.: 0, Please see Loop for the other readings.,
Barry, P.: 2009, Beginning Theory, 3rd ed., Manchester University Press, Manchester, Earlier editions will suffice,
Castiglione, B. Virginia Cox (ed.): 1994, The Book of the Courtier, Everyman, London (An alternative version is available in LION, but the quotations in the module units will not match this text book as it is a different translation),
Marlowe, C.: 2003, The Jew of Malta, The Complete Plays, 3rd edn.edited by Frank Romany and Robert Lindsey, (available in LION),
Shakespeare, W., Wilders, J. (ed.): 1995, Antony and Cleopatra, Routledge, London and New York (The Shakespeare editions must be from a reputable series e.g. Arden, Cambridge, Oxford, Riverside, Norton),
Webster, J.: 2003, The Duchess of Malfi, (London: Methuen)., (available in Stephen Greenblatt (ed.). 2012. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th edn, vol. 1 (New York: W. W. Norton and Co.),
Woudhuysen, H. R. (ed.): 1993, reprint 2005. The Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse: 1509-1659, Penguin, Harmondsworth,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None