LANG 2035 Methods of Reading

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Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101909

Coordinator Lorraine Sim Opens in new window

Description This unit aims to build the skills of reading, interpretation and theoretical and contextual analysis that are critical to the study of literary texts, skills that define scholarship in the discipline of English. Focusing on a sustained and careful study of a small number of literary texts the unit provides an in-depth exploration of technical approaches to close reading, cultural and historical contexts for the production and reception of the texts, and different theoretical approaches to their interpretation. The selected primary texts (one novel, one play and a selection of poems) will span two or three literary/historical periods.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Literature

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

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Level Undergraduate Level 2 subject

Restrictions Successful completion of 40 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

Identify different modes of literary/theoretical interpretion
Apply different modes of literary/theoretical interpretation to a work of literature
Articulate the formal attributes of literary texts
Demonstrate competence in the methods and practices of reading that are key to the discipline.

Subject Content

The primary texts for this subject may change from one year of offer to the next, so the subject content as set out below attempts to capture the structure and coverage necessary to provision of the outcomes.
. Why so many ways to read? The values, benefits, and pleasures of different approaches to interpretation.
. Why does genre matter? Consideration of how the formal attributes of texts shape interpretation.
. Reception studies: the work and its readers across time
Alignment of a small number of primary texts in relation to key theoretical concepts, such as:
. The author,
. The uncanny,
. Text and world,
. Narrative,
. Ghosts,
. Sexual difference,
. Desire,
. Racial difference,
. Pleasure,
. History.

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.