Units

---

Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This Unit is designed to provide students with an introduction to a range of literary texts from North and South American continents; their content, themes and styles. It will provide opportunities for students to communicate their ideas with their peers from an American university. Additionally, it will be of benefit to those seeking a broader understanding of literature from other countries and the opportunity to discuss and express their ideas in creative, intercultural and analytical ways in response to the selected texts.

Aims

This unit aims to introduce students to a range of writers and writing from the North and South American continents. It will provide students with opportunities to read discuss and respond in a variety of written and oral forms to these texts and in the process to develop their skills in written and oral communication and textual and creative analysis. Through the examination of the texts, and communication with students from an American university, this unit also aims to foster intercultural and international competencies.

Objectives

On completion of this Unit, you should be able to:

1. discuss, interpret and respond to texts drawn from the literature of the Americas
2. deconstruct the literature of the Americas from an intercultural or international perspective
3. recognise the differences between mainstream writing and marginalized writing as it applies to literature in the Americas' cultural traditions
4. identify and discuss national, regional and ethnic issues that emerge in the writings with students from an American university
5. create a journal of responses of a creative and/or analytical nature dealing with literary techniques and thematic issues in the texts.

Content

The unit content will concentrate principally on a selection of writing from the Americas - Central, South, Latin and North America. Background information will be provided to situate the writings within their respective historical, literary and cultural contexts, and emphasis will be placed on the ways in which the literature engages thematically with regional, political and socio-cultural issues within those varied contexts. The unit will also focus on the style and form (genre, literary techniques) of the diverse pieces of writing. You will be able to communicate and share your ideas with students from an American university via the Blackboard site as part of your formative and summative assessment.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

The unit will be delivered to you via a mixture of interactive lecture presentations, workshops and tutorials, which will include writing activities and structured discussions. The interactive presentations will be delivered by a number of contributing staff from the creative writing and literary studies areas. Specific sessions on journal writing, creative and analytical writing and use of the Blackboard for group discussion will be organised within the unit to assist you in your assignments. Supplementary information will be made available on Blackboard as will all lecture notes and other relevant material.

Assessment

The assessment for this unit is structured around written and oral communication skills related to your reactions to and interpretations of the literature being presented.

NB: Assessment item 3 offers alternative assessment types as indicated below.Feedback will be provided for each of the assessment pieces in the form of a comprehensive set of criteria and written responses. Emphasis is also placed on the formative assessment that will be the focus of activities in the workshops, tutorials and online discussions with American students which will feed into the summative assessment.

Assessment name: Reflective Journal
Description: A reflective document that contains a record of your personal (creative and analytical) responses to a number of set tasks, and which demonstrates your understanding of the issues that have been discussed and activities undertaken throughout the semester in relation to the unit.
Relates to objectives: 1, 3, 4, 5
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid-late semester

Assessment name: Creative Work
Description: A creative piece of work of approximately 2,000 words on topic(s) related to the literature in the unit.

OR

Type: Essay
Description: A critical essay of approximately 2,000 words on topic(s) related to the literature in the unit.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Weight: 60%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End Semester

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Required and recommended texts

(Students must obtain at least five of the following texts)

Alexi, Sherman (2007) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Littlebrown
Deloria, Ella Cara (2009) Waterlily. University of Nebraska Press
Esquivel Laura (1994) Like Water for Chocolate. Turtleback Books.
Eugenides, Jeffrey (1993) The Virgin Suicides. Picador
Kincaid, Jamacia (2002) Lucy. Farrar Straus Giroux
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia (2004) Memories of my Melancholy Whores. . Jonathan Cape
Morrison, Toni (1987) Beloved. Alfred Knopf
McCarthy, Cormac (2008) The Road. Vintage
Roth, Philip (2006) The Plot Against America. Vintage.

Risk assessment statement

There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks for this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 22-Oct-2012