ENGL2501: THE AUSTRALIAN LEGEND, 1890S - 1990S

• At least one of the following modules: Introduction to Drama (ENGL 1011), Introduction to the Novel (ENGL 1061), Introduction to Poetry (ENGL 1071).

• Any other 20 credit module in English.

• None.

• This module is designed to introduce students to a range of texts written by Australian authors from the 1890s to the 1990s, focused on questions of emerging national and cultural identity, a period which covers the federation of the colonies, the world wars and multiculturalism. It aims to cultivate an appreciation of the variety of Australian writing and provide insight into the cultural debates which have been taken up through literature.

• The period from the 1890s to the 1990s covers the century in which Australia formed itself into a nation at federation, entered the world stage in two world wars, and transformed itself into a self-confident, multicultural society. The writing of the period both influenced and reflects these transformations, with early authors such as Lawson, Franklin and Paterson engaged in a literary debate over Australian character and emerging national identity.
• The ideas of the bushman and bushwoman, the natural environment, urbanisation and geographic isolation , and others, which they brought to the centre of cultural debate came to constitute for some generations the standard tropes of Australian writing. This course will examine the development of Australian writing against and in reaction to these beginnings in the works of a number of authors.
• The syllabus may vary from year to year, and is subject to availability of texts, but is likely to be drawn from the following: Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Ethel Turner, Norman Lindsay, Patrick White, David Malouf, Peter Carey, Henry Handel Richardson, Miles Franklin, Martin Boyd, Christina Stead, Kate Grenville, Murray Bail, Tim Winton, John Shaw Neilson, Christopher Brennan, Kenneth Slesser, A.D.Hope, Les Murray, Chris Wallace-Crabbe.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will gain a comprehensive knowledge of a range of texts by Australian authors and an appreciation of the literary and cultural environment in which these texts were produced. They will also read works by a range of canonical and non-canonical authors, and gain an understanding of literary treatment of race, gender and nationalism, key themes in Australian writing.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• an ability to demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts and critical approaches
• informed awareness of formal and aesthetic dimensions of literature and ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in specific texts
• sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• an ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary studies
• skills of effective communication and argument
• awareness of conventions of scholarly presentation, and bibliographic skills including accurate citation of sources and consistent use of scholarly conventions of presentation
• command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

Key Skills:

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• an ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• competence in the planning and execution of essays
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organisation and time-management skills

• The module is taught by seminars, which encourage collective learning through lively discussion of complex ideas as well as the development of independent, individual thought.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.
• Consultation sessions with the seminar leader allow for further, guided exploration of individuals' ideas and arguments. Assessed essays give students the opportunity for focused independent study, permitting them to explore their own insights and interests, and to demonstrate a requisite knowledge of the subject.

Before the first essay, students will have an individual consultation session in which they are entitled to show their seminar leader of points relevant to the essay and receive oral comment on these points. Students may also, if they wish, discuss their ideas for the second essay at this meeting.

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