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EL45SU: A TALE OF TWO THOMASES: THE POETRY AND PROSE OF DYLAN THOMAS AND R S THOMAS (2017-2018)

Last modified: 27 Feb 2018 16:30


Course Overview

This course takes a look at the contrasting visions of Dylan Thomas and R. S. Thomas, two Welsh writers born a year apart who made a major contribution to twentieth century poetry but whose achievement as prose writers has perhaps been undervalued. Between them, these profoundly different writers display not only contradictory aspects of their own small country but intriguingly divergent understandings of the possibilities of literature in the modern world.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Session Second Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Patrick Crotty

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Either English (EL) or Literature In A World Context (LW)
  • Programme Level 4
  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

  • EL40SU A Tale of Two Thomases: the Poetry & Prose of Dylan Thomas & Rs Thomas (Studied)

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

This course examines the achievement of the two most famous Welsh writers of the twentieth century. Dylan Thomas won international celebrity while still a young man. His slightly older contemporary R. S. Thomas did not come to prominence until after Dylan's untimely death in 1953. The work of one is associated with industrial Swansea and rural West Wales, of the other with the sparsely populated north and the Welsh-English borderlands where R. S. Thomas served as an Anglican clergyman for many years. Dylan Thomas's output as poet, short story writer and radio dramatist is noted for its stylistic flamboyance and rich verbal textures, while R. S. Thomas's work as poet and autobiographer is characterised by extreme economy of manner and sobriety of outlook. The course considers the writing of two authors of global importance who between them illustrate the cultural paradoxes of the smallest of the four countries of the 'British Isles'.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt

  • 2500-word essay (35%)
  • 3500-word essay (45%)
  • SAM (10%)
  • Presentation (10%)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

Detailed feedback on student essays will be provided by tutor at agreed times and within the normal turn-around schedule; feedback on presentations will be given within two days of the event.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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