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ENGL581 Contemporary Literature

Updated: 29 October 2012
Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 1 Off Campus
Armidale Trimester 1 On Campus
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites candidature in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites None
Restrictions ENGL381
Notes None
Combined Units ENGL381 - Contemporary Literature
Coordinator(s) Tom Bristow (tom.bristow@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

This unit focuses on a range of novels in English from North America, Australia and Britain in the period from the 1970s to the present. It aims to equip students with the background and literary critical skills to enable them to explore questions of history, time and memory raised by these works. We will discuss questions of literary form, such as the way in which different kinds of texts experiment with narrative, and the way they negotiate the relationship between past and present. The unit also provides opportunities for students to examine broader philosphical, ethical and historical issues.
Prescribed Material
Mandatory 		Text(s):

Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.

True History of the Kelly Gang
ISBN: 9781741667639
Carey, P., Random House 2008
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Stasiland
ISBN: 9781877008917
Funder, A., United Books 2003
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
The Driver's Seat
ISBN: 9780141188348
Spark, M., Penguin 2006
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Saturday
ISBN: 9780099469681
McEwan, I., Vintage 2006
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Foe
ISBN: 9780241950111
Coetzee, J.M., Penguin 2010
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Recommended Material
Optional 		Text(s):

Note: Recommended material is held in the University Library - purchase is optional

Time's Arrow or the Nature of the Offence
ISBN: 9780099455356
Amis, M., Random House 2003
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
The Sense of an Ending
ISBN: 9780099564973
Barnes, J., Vintage 2012
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Oryx and Crake
ISBN: 9781844080281
Atwood, M., Virago 2004
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Essay 60% 4000
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-5 GA: 1-3, 6
Essay 40% 2000
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-3, 6

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. identify and discuss key topics of debate within the field of contemporary literature;
  2. demonstrate an advanced understanding of the strategies and mechanisms by which literary texts engage with their cultural contexts;
  3. demonstrate a knowledge of the authors and texts set for study in the unit;
  4. apply critical, analytical and research skills to contemporary literary texts; and
  5. scope and deliver research in a discipline problem.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
This unit introduces students to a range of texts and areas of debate in contemporary literary and cultural studies. Knowledge is assessed through students' performance in the assessment tasks. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
Written communication skills will be assessed as part of the essay assessment tasks. For on-campus students, oral communication skills will be practised in seminars. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
Global perspective and inter-cultural competence will be taught, assessed and practised through the learning activities of the unit, including use of advisory materials, and in the assessment tasks. The unit content deals with twentieth and twenty-first century America, Australia and Britain, including the impact of key global events (the world wars, 9/11), their literary representations, and the impact on the human subject. 		True True True
4 Information Literacy
While these attributes are not specifically taught or assessed as part of the unit, students will use electronic information resources to research and complete the written assessment task. References to electronic resources will be provided in advisory materials and students will be expected to use basic research and retrieval skills to pursue these. Students will also be asked to prepare a bibliography as part of essay-writing. 		True
5 Life-Long Learning
Life-long learning will be taught and practised by encouraging students to critically read culture, in dicussion fora and in responding to advisory materials and assessment tasks. 		True True
6 Problem Solving
In the advisory materials, seminar topics and essays, students will be asked to critically and creatively think through issues that arise from their study of specific texts. Thus, problem solving is integral to the way the unit will be taught, assessed and practised. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
The content of the unit is largely concerned with individual and social experience within the contemporary period, and how this experience relates to the past and the present. Students in this unit will be asked to reflect upon how the ethics of responsibility to self and society raised by the texts translates in their own lives, including, respect for others in the online and face-to-face teaching environment. 		True True
8 Team Work
On-campus students have an opportunity to practise team work in seminars. Off-campus students have an opportunity for such interaction on the learning management system. 		True
   

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