Certificate of Achievement
Mary Templeman Hogg - O'Rourke
has completed the following course:
This online course explored issues relating to plot, characterisation, dialogue, and setting. It examined a range of techniques including flashbacks, different ways of presenting conversations, and the impact of location on the development of plot. Examples were drawn from a range of classic texts, as well as the four novels on this year’s shortlist for the James Tait Black fiction prize.
4 weeks, 2 hours per week
Dr Alex Lawrie
Lecturer in English literature
The University of Edinburgh
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Identify key strategies used by authors to alter the temporal progression of the narrative.
- Reflect on the effects generated by a narrative frame.
- Evaluate novels for signs of narrative unreliability.
- Discuss my reading of contemporary fiction with a large online learning community.
- Explore ways of understanding character, such as behaviour, speech, and motives.
- Explore the impact of various settings on the development of character and plot.
- Evaluate the effect of different ways of presenting dialogue, and the impact of dialect speech.
Syllabus
- The course examines specific techniques relating to plotting and temporality including flashbacks, unreliable narration and framed narratives.
- The course considers ways of understanding character, such as behaviour and motives.
- It explores issues relating to the presentation of dialogue, including conversational mood and dialect voices.
- The course examines the impact of various different settings on the development of plot and character.
- It invites learners to test their understanding through weekly quizzes and a final peer assessment task.
- The four novels explored for this course are:
- Girl by Edna O’Brien
- Sudden Traveller by Sarah Hall
- Travellers by Helon Habila
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
Issued on 17th April 2021
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.