EN2L8/EN3L5 Tales of Terror: Gothic and the Short Form
Resit information can be found on the tab above.
2026/27 IMPORTANT - ACCESSING MATERIALS FOR SUMMER AND IN THE NEW TERM
PLEASE NOTE.
Other one book to purchase or borrow (see below), everything will be accessible as weekly reading packs on moodle that are made up of a selection of short stories/forms and extracts from secondary reading. It is REQUIRED that you either print them out and annotate OR annotate on an electronic tablet (e.g. ipad, surface, ReMarkable etc, but not a laptop or mobile phone) to consult in class. THE SEMINAR SPACE WILL BE LAPTOP FREE WHERE POSSIBLE as these devices are not ideal for annotating and viewing the materials we use, (you may want to bring extra note paper / tablets for note taking). The exception will be term 1, week 8 when we do a two-hour session in the library which needs laptops/tablets as we look at digital resources.
Some of the packs have smaller than average print so if you are having trouble with the packs and have accessibility needs (such as where larger print would be needed) please don't hesitate to email me and I will sort it for you.
From the first few weeks of reading packs for the 2026/27 syllabus are available as hard-copies all throughout the summer in the UG Office on the 5th Floor of FAB for students to get a head-start. Until moodle is activated in the new term, the electronic versions of those first two weeks have been posted below in the syllabus section further down this page. After that, once enrolled on the course in September, you can access the rest of the reading packs from moodle and print them or download onto a tablet as suits you.
If printing, it is recommended you print them double-sided and if you want to save money then do so in black and white. It's 8p for a double-sided page, which works out at usually no more than £3.50 per pack per week (though there may be a few exceptions!) as I have tried to keep pages to a minimum and I have printed the first two weeks for you. See the "Printing and Scanning" information here for how to add credit to your account, how to set up your own device to print on University devices, and where the printers are (clue: some are on the ground floor of FAB and some in library, as well as other learning spaces - do ask support staff if stuck!).
Module convenor:
Dr Jen Baker
J.Baker.5@warwick.ac.uk
Value: 30 CATS
Office Hours: TBC
Seminar and Lectures Times:
Will be available in September.
Teaching Methods:
- 1.5 hour seminars for 17 weeks (and one reading week per term) PLUS One x 2 hour library-based workshop in Term 1. It will be an extra 30 mins added on the usual slot (i.e. if class is 9.30-11 this workshop will be 9-11, or if 1-2.30pm it would be 1-3pm and so on), but you will need to check for timetable clashes when devising your schedule in Sept / if it's a one off clash we can work something out)
- 8 lectures - four per term - in weeks 2, 4, 7, and 9 of both terms (again you will need to check for timetable clashes and get in touch with myself and ugenglish@warwick.ac.uk).
- PLEASE NOTE that ECLS modules, including this one, start in WEEK 1.
Module Description
Engaging with a range of "Tales of Terror" from the Anglophone world/ in English translation in the long nineteenth century c.1770 – 1920, this module will introduce you to the relationship between "the Gothic" (in its various meanings) and "the short form" - from the oral and transcribed folktale; the literary ballad; to the narrative poem, through to illustrated sensation tales and to the high-literary Gothic tale and the non-fiction tales and contexts with which they intersected. You will encounter tales of the supernatural, of psychological uncertainty, that are uncanny, and which sometimes include visceral horror. As well as strengthening your close-reading skills, this module will enable you to critically evaluate a developing form in its material, historical, visual, and transnational context; enhancing your understanding of the literary networks in which Gothic tales participated, were transcribed, circulated, appropriated, received, reviewed, and theorised. Material and print cultures and the modes and effects of changing publication contexts will be a key component throughout. Thinking also about the aesthetics of these works, you will consider why and how the Gothic (whatever that may mean) was a particularly influential mode in the rise of the Short Story.
We will read short works by more familiar authors such as Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and many works that you are unfamiliar with and whose authors may never be known.
IMPORTANT - ACCESSING MATERIALS
Other than one book to purchase or borrow (see below), everything will be accessible as weekly reading packs on moodle that are made up of a selection of short stories/forms and extracts from secondary reading. It is REQUIRED that you either print them out and annotate OR annotate on an electronic tablet (e.g. ipad, surface, ReMarkable etc, but not a laptop or mobile phone) to consult in class. THE SEMINAR SPACE WILL BE LAPTOP FREE as these devices are not ideal for annotating and viewing the materials we use. The exception will be term 1, week 8 when we do a session in the library which needs laptops/tablets as we look at digital resources.
Some of the packs have smaller than average print so if you are having trouble with the packs and have accessibility needs (such as where larger print would be needed) please dont't hesitate to email me and I will sort it for you.
From the first few weeks of reading packs for the 2026/27 syllabus are available all throughout the summer in the UG Office on the 5th Floor of FAB for students to get a head-start. Until moodle is activated in the new term, the electronic versions of those first two weeks are posted below in the syllabus section. After that, once enrolled on the course in September, you can access the rest of the reading packs from moodle and print them or download onto a tablet as suits you.
If printing, it is recommended you print them double-sided and if you want to save money then do so in black and white. It's 8p for a double-sided page, which works out at usually no more than £3.50 per pack per week (though there may be a few exceptions!) as I have tried to keep pages to a minimum and I have printed the first two weeks for you. See the "Printing and Scanning" information pages for how to add credit to your account, how to set up your own device to print on University devices, and where the printers are (clue: some are on the ground floor of FAB and some in library, as well as other learning spaces - do ask support staff if stuck!).
Learning outcomes / assessment objectives
- Demonstrate an understanding* of the socio-religious and/or oral/literary traditions from which many tales derived or were influenced by.
- Describe and explain the formal and stylistic characteristics of selected tales and their adaptations and appropriations produced in the long nineteenth century.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the publication contexts and material forms in which tales were transcribed, circulated, and experienced over the course of the long nineteenth century and how the rise of the anthology reshapes the tales in our own time.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the Gothic as a fashionable and controversial mode through which social anxieties were expressed and through which literary experiments were enacted and theories of literary form were shaped.
- Analyse the Gothic tale’s relationship to notions of nation, gender, and class in terms of authorship and readership.
- Formulate original arguments to do with an aspect of the module based on independent research.
- Demonstrate the ability to critically reflect on the aims, process, and outcomes of their own research.
- Test and utilise both physical and digital archive and research skills.
* ["advanced knowledge" for finalists]
Syllabus 2026-27
Other than one book to purchase or borrow (see below), everything will be accessible as weekly reading packs on moodle that are made up of a selection of short stories/forms and extracts from secondary reading. The reading packs will be uploaded on moodle, but the first two weeks are linked here and/or you can collect hard copies from UG office on 5th Floor FAB.
TERM 1
Week 1: Introduction to "Gothic" and "The Short Form"Link opens in a new window In this introductory week we will use short set secondary reading on “the short form” and on “the Gothic” to tease out the stylistic aspects that characterise the works and the wider theoretical issues we will encounter and consider on the whole module.
Week 2: Tales of Terror and/or Horror: Early Craft and ReceptionLink opens in a new window [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 3: From the Streets to the Parlour: Gothic Ballads
Week 4: Gothic Fragments [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 5: Evolutions and Experiments in Prose: Chapbooks, Tales of Terror, The Short Story.
Week 6: READING WEEK - Formative Close-Reading to be emailed to me by 12 noon Monday of Term 1, week 7
Week 7: Folklore and the Gothic [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 8: Periodical Publishing – A Library Workshop [2 hours]
Week 9: Death and the Afterlife [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 10: “Ghost Stories” for Christmas
Practical and Critical Reflection is due Thursday of Term 1, week 11 (see tabula)
TERM 2
Week 1: Queer Tales
Week 2: Anthologies and Collections [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 3: Terror in Translation
Week 4: Topographies of Terror [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 5: Colonial and Imperial Gothic
Week 6: READING WEEK
Week 7: The Science of/and the Supernatural [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 8: Tales of Trauma
Week 9: Visualising the Gothic Short Form [LECTURE WEEK]
Week 10: Editing and Reprinting the Gothic Short Story
Group Anthology with Individual Reflection is due Tuesday of week 11 of Term 2.
EASTER BREAK
Main Essay is due Term 3.
Text to Acquire for 2026-27
Recommended for Purchase or Borrow from library (see TalisAspire). MUST BE THE SPECIFIED EDITION.
REQUIRED
Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese Ghost StoriesLink opens in a new window, edited by Paul Murray (Penguin, 2019).
MUST BE THIS EDITION AND SHOULD BE A HARD COPY.
Ensure to read pretty much cover-to-cover, especially the Introduction, the "A Note on Text", and as many of the stories as you can. Although only certain stories will be set reading, the whole book will be used in a couple of sessions in term 2.
Assessments 26-27
The assessments will test your ability to perform comprehensive and thorough examples of some or all of the following: critical Close reading; analysis of genre, form, and style; capacity to understand, judge, compare, and employ different critical approaches; Comparative and close analysis, research, and the formulation of original and informed arguments.Details of each assessment will be on the 2026/27 moodle but will also be given in hardcopy.
Information on extension applications for summative work: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduates/english-handbook/teaching-learning-assessment/#extensionrequests
If you are retaking this module from 2024/25 you should use the assessment pattern for that specific year, found on the moodle page for that year.
If you are required to resit in the summer of 2026/27 or as Resit Without Residence (RWR) in the following academic year thenplease note that the "Independent Research Essay" requirements are the same but reassessment for the "Practical and Critical Reflection" and "Group Anthology & Individual Reflection" are different - see here.
EN2L8 Intermediate Assessment:
- Close Reading (Formative)
1000 words by 5pm Mon of Term 1, week 7 via email to me J.Baker.5@warwick.ac.uk - Practical and Critical Reflection (20%)
1400 words by 12pm Tues of Term 1, week 11 via Tabula - Group Anthology (1500 words) & Individual Reflection (800 words) (30%* total)
both by 12pm Tues of Term 2., week 11 via Tabula. - Independent Research Essay (50%)
3000 words by 12pm on Thurs of Term 3, week 3 via Tabula
EN3L5 Finalists Assessment:
- Close Reading (Formative)
1000 words by 5pm Mon of Term 1, week 7 via email to me J.Baker.5@warwick.ac.uk - Practical and Critical Reflection (20%)
1400 words by 12pm Tues of Term 1, week 11 via Tabula - Group Anthology (1500 words) & Individual Reflection (800 words) (30%* total)
both by 12pm Tues of Term 2., week 11 via Tabula. - Independent Research Essay (50%)
3800 words by 12pm on Thurs of Term 3, week 3 via Tabula
***For the 30% assessment, the total will be the combined mean mark of Group work - where everyone gets the same mark - and an Individual mark - where everyone gets their own mark. So you may all, for example, receive 74 for the group work (50% of the total mark for that assessment), but one person receives 68 for the individual component (the other 50% of the total mark) and so their mark for that assessment is 71. Another person receives 62 for the individual aspect and so, with the 74 for group work, their total for the 30% assessment is 68.
Exchange students with us for the full academic year will adhere to the same assessment methods detailed above according to the module code assigned to them (if unsure, email ugenglish@warwick.ac.uk).
Exchange students with us for one term only, will submit a 2,000 word independent research essay on the last Tuesday of the term they complete [see your tabula] and should discuss with me around week 4 or 5.
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