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Unit Summary
Unit type
UG Coursework Unit
Credit points
12
AQF level
Level of learning
Intermediate
Former School/College
Unit aim
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
Learning outcomes
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 | 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:
-
identify and discuss some of the major issues and themes in contemporary writing
- GA1:
- GA2:
- GA3:
-
demonstrate familiarity with some of the major innovations in writing styles and genres
- GA1:
- GA2:
- GA3:
-
identify issues and themes of particular relevance to postcolonial societies
- GA1:
- GA2:
- GA3:
-
recognise the value of different critical/theoretical approaches (for example, feminist, postcolonial and poststructuralist) in analysing contemporary writing
- GA1:
- GA2:
- GA3:
-
demonstrate essay writing forms and practices.
- GA1:
- GA2:
- GA3:
Prescribed texts
- Any complete and unabridged edition of the prescribed text is acceptable: Carey, P, 2003, My Life as a Fake.
- Any complete and unabridged edition of the prescribed text is acceptable: Cunningham, M, 1998, The Hours.
- Any complete and unabridged edition of the prescribed text is acceptable: Morrison, T, 1987, Beloved.
- Any complete and unabridged edition of the prescribed text is acceptable: Scott, K, 2010, That Deadman Dance.
- Any complete and unabridged edition of the prescribed text is acceptable: Smith, Z, 2000, White Teeth.