Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

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

Rationale

NB: Information in this Unit Outline is subject to change prior to commencement of semester
This postgraduate unit is a key Creative Writing unit in the Masters program, and is open also to Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate and Honours students. This unit enables you to develop a sustained and coherent piece of work, and develop the analytical, practical and professional skills needed to work within this unique form. The unit is also designed to enable you to begin to develop a critical understanding of your own and others approaches to the writing life.

Aims

This unit aims to:
- familiarise you with the scope, challenges, philosophy and practices of writing a sustained creative work
- enable you to develop an original and engaging novel
- develop your editorial skills
- provide you with a constructive and critical workshop experience in a blended learning environment
- support you in developing a critical understanding of a professional writer's praxis, and use your critical engagement to further develop your own skills.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. understand and engage with the novel as a literary form
2. critically understand a professional writer's writing praxis
3. critically understand your own novel writing praxis
4. produce a significant portion of an original novel

Content

This unit includes face-to-face and electronic learning environments designed to develop professional reading, editing and writing skills. The unit will enhance skills needed to develop, research, write and submit a novel to a professional agent or publisher.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit will be taught through an interdependent mixture of:
- Formal lectures, including visiting lectures by professional authors
- Formal classroom writing and reading discussion groups
- Peer writing workshops in a blended learning (online and face to face) environment
- Individual student-directed writing
- Individual consultations with a supervisor
- Peer assessment and rolling formative feedback

You will be expected to display a significant ability for self-directed research and learning, as well as collaborative discussions with peers.

Assessment

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.

Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information please refer to the Blackboard site for this unit.FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Formative assessment is intended to inform you how you can improve your learning and achievement in a particular task or set of tasks. A Formative Assessment Item is any task that provides feedback to you on your learning achievements. The emphasis in formative assessment is on encouraging you to understand your strengths, weaknesses and gaps in knowledge.
Weight: 0%

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Summative Assessment is used to sum up your achievement in a particular assessment task, usually on a scale from No Evidence to Hight Distinction. Note that all summative assessment can also be formative, if feedback is sufficient.

Assessment name: Creative Work
Description: (Summative with Formative) A chapter of a novel. Length: 2000-3,000 word novel extract + synopsis (about 500 words)
Relates to objectives: 1, 3 & 4
Weight: 60%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End-Semester

Assessment name: Essay
Description: (Summative with Formative) An exegetical essay detailing your creative and critical influences. Length: 1500 - 2000 words
Relates to objectives: 2, 3 & 4
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End-Semester

Assessment name: Peer Review
Description: (Formative) A multi-phase assessment based on 3 requirements:
i.submission of your own work for peer assessment, at least 3 times during the semester
ii.active and engaged participation in small-group editorial discussions, including preparation and submission of critiques, and
iii.active and engaged participation in group discussions and in-class writing exercises.
Relates to objectives: 2, 3 & 4
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group with Individual Component
Due date: Throughout-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 Texts

Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. Bloomsbury, 2003.
Lindqvist, John Ajvide. Let the Right One In. St Martins Press, 2004.
Greene, Graham. The Quiet American. Penguin, 2004.
Morton, Kate. The Shifting Fog. Allen & Unwin. 2007
Temple, Peter. The Broken Shore. Text Publishing. 2005

Other editions are acceptable.

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit other than those usually faced in the gaining of new knowledge (eg: identity crises, artistic integrity crises, existential angst, etc).

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: 02-Apr-2013