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Unit of Study ENG00401 - Issues and Themes in Contemporary Writing (2020)

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Unit Snapshot

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Unit description

Introduces students to a number of contemporary written texts. Major issues and themes are identified and a number of critical methods are exploited. Particular attention is paid to those issues and themes which can be seen as having special relevance to postcolonial societies. There is an emphasis on Australian writing.

Unit content

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Postcolonial Writing 
Week 3: Zadie Smith's White Teeth
Week 4: Space and Place 
Week 5: Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance
Week 6: Ghosts, Monsters, and Bodies 
Week 8: Toni Morrison's Beloved
Week 9: Intertextuality 
Week 10: Peter Carey's My Life as a Fake
Week 11: Gender and Sexuality 
Week 12: Michael Cunningham's The Hours 
Week 13: Review 

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Online
Session2
Session2

Learning outcomes and graduate attributes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

GA1: Intellectual rigour, GA2: Creativity, GA3: Ethical practice, GA4: Knowledge of a discipline, GA5: Lifelong learning, GA6: Communication and social skills, GA7: Cultural competence
Learning outcome count Learning outcome description GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 identify and discuss some of the major issues and themes in contemporary writing
2 demonstrate familiarity with some of the major innovations in writing styles and genres
3 identify issues and themes of particular relevance to postcolonial societies
4 recognise the value of different critical/theoretical approaches (for example, feminist, postcolonial and poststructuralist) in analysing contemporary writing
5 demonstrate essay writing forms and practices.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. identify and discuss some of the major issues and themes in contemporary writing
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
  2. demonstrate familiarity with some of the major innovations in writing styles and genres
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
  3. identify issues and themes of particular relevance to postcolonial societies
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
  4. recognise the value of different critical/theoretical approaches (for example, feminist, postcolonial and poststructuralist) in analysing contemporary writing
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
  5. demonstrate essay writing forms and practices.
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.