Through a combination of lectures and seminars, this module will explore changing responses to the central questions of poetics, from Plato and Aristotle in the classical period to contemporary theory. What kinds of truth, if any, do poetry and fictional writing tell? What is the nature of the imagination or the role of invention? How does fictional writing relate to philosophy, religion, rhetoric or science? This module will approach these questions through a combination of historical, theoretical and practical approaches. This module enables students to identify, assess and employ a range of critical methods in their study of literature.