Students

ENGX8017 – Writing the Past, Building New Worlds: Fiction and Non-Fiction

2021 – Session 1, Fully online/virtual

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Hsu-Ming Teo
Michelle Hamadache
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MCrWrit (OUA)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Research is fundamental to creating innovative writing and constructing a believable storyworld: the shared universe within which settings, characters, and events unfold in a narrative. This unit focuses on developing the different types of research skills needed to create believable characters and vivid settings, and to use historical and contemporary events to ignite the imagination. Students learn how to engage in research that provides: relevant factual information for their topic; background material to assist with world-building; up-to-date scholarship on their genre of writing to gain a critical understanding of how their field has developed, and to identify current trends. Skills learned apply to different genres of writing such as historical or contemporary fiction, fantasy or futuristic writing, romance, crime, local or family history, and biography.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how creative writers incorporate different types of research into different forms and genres of writing.
  • ULO2: Identify and analyse written works that engage with relevant historical, social, cultural, global and ethical issues within particular genres of writing.
  • ULO3: Apply specialised research skills and creative language skills to produce a narrative or other textual forms of creative writing.
  • ULO4: Create a major written work that incorporates specialised knowledge and understanding of a specific period of history, or that explores current issues within contemporary, futuristic or fantasy writing.
  • ULO5: Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participatory task 30% No Weekly
Creative work 50% No 9am Friday 28 May 2021
Project plan 20% No 9am Friday 2 April 2021

Participatory task

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 36 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 30%

 

Preparatory reading of set texts and other students’ creative works. Answering questions in weekly online tutorials and contributing meaningfully to online discussions. Providing critical feedback on other students’ creative works.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how creative writers incorporate different types of research into different forms and genres of writing.
  • Identify and analyse written works that engage with relevant historical, social, cultural, global and ethical issues within particular genres of writing.
  • Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities.

Creative work

Assessment Type 1: Creative work
Indicative Time on Task 2: 48 hours
Due: 9am Friday 28 May 2021
Weighting: 50%

 

2000 word creative writing piece based on a particular genre or genres, accompanied by a 500 word reflective statement explaining techniques used and the research underpinning the creative work.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how creative writers incorporate different types of research into different forms and genres of writing.
  • Identify and analyse written works that engage with relevant historical, social, cultural, global and ethical issues within particular genres of writing.
  • Apply specialised research skills and creative language skills to produce a narrative or other textual forms of creative writing.
  • Create a major written work that incorporates specialised knowledge and understanding of a specific period of history, or that explores current issues within contemporary, futuristic or fantasy writing.
  • Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities.

Project plan

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: 9am Friday 2 April 2021
Weighting: 20%

 

1000 word plan of creative writing project including: story pitch, discussion of research needed to build the storyworld, and bibliography.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply specialised research skills and creative language skills to produce a narrative or other textual forms of creative writing.
  • Create a major written work that incorporates specialised knowledge and understanding of a specific period of history, or that explores current issues within contemporary, futuristic or fantasy writing.
  • Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Lectures

Lectures will be recorded and made available to students through Echo360 on the ENGL/ENGX8017 iLearn site. Lectures begin in Week 1.

 

Listening to the lectures is expected before participating in the weekly tutorial. Missing lectures will reduce your opportunities for learning and probably result in poor marks across the unit.

 

 

Tutorials

You must participate in the weekly tutorial class via Zoom, or through the iLearn Discussion Forums beginning in week 1.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.