Students

ENGL8022 – Short Form Writing - short story, novella, poetry cycle

2022 – Session 1, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor and Teacher
Willo Drummond
willo.drummond@mq.edu.au
Contact via email
by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MCrWrit
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
ENGX8022
Unit description Unit description

This unit focuses on short-form creative writing in its evolving forms, including micro narratives and the short story, poetry cycles, the short story sequence and novella. In addition to writing workshops, students read Australian and international short-form writing, and narrative studies texts that investigate questions of form and the relationship of the reader to the text. Students develop a critical awareness of the broader national and international contexts in which short-form writing is published. At the conclusion of the unit, students will have produced a range of short-form creative works and a book plan.

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: Evidence close reading skills in the reading of creative writing texts.
  • ULO2: Plan, write, edit and rewrite short-form creative works.
  • ULO3: Apply technical creative writing terms, vocabulary and narrative studies concepts in the analysis of texts.
  • ULO4: Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities utilizing interpersonal skills and creative writing terms, vocabulary and narrative studies concepts.
  • ULO5: Assess and evaluate contemporary Australian and international creative writing in print and digital modes.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Penalty

Please note that the University and the Faculty of Arts have launched a new assessment policy effective as of 1 July 2021. This new policy particularly affects LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENTS.

The Faculty policy in relation to late assessment submissions is as follows:

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests, etc.

 

To be very clear:

·         Unless you have applied for special consideration and had your application approved, for each day your assignment is late, 10 marks will be deducted. For example, if you submit your assignment 7 days late, 70 marks will be deducted, which means you will fail that assignment.

·         If your assignment is more than 7 days late (including weekends), you will get 0 marks for your assignment.

These are serious penalties that will substantially alter your final grade and even determine whether you pass or fail this unit. Please make every effort to submit your assignment by the due date.

If you find you cannot submit your assignment on time, please apply for Special Consideration through AskMQ. Make sure you read Macquarie University's policy regarding Special Consideration requests before you apply: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration’

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Workshop 30% No Ongoing
Report 30% No 23:59 on 15/05/22
Short-form creative work 40% No 23:59 on 29/05/22

Workshop

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 24 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 30%

 

Writing exercises; discussions and workshopping

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evidence close reading skills in the reading of creative writing texts.
  • Plan, write, edit and rewrite short-form creative works.
  • Apply technical creative writing terms, vocabulary and narrative studies concepts in the analysis of texts.
  • Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities utilizing interpersonal skills and creative writing terms, vocabulary and narrative studies concepts.
  • Assess and evaluate contemporary Australian and international creative writing in print and digital modes.

Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 16 hours
Due: 23:59 on 15/05/22
Weighting: 30%

 

Students select to write either a report and analysis of a recent issue of an Australian journal of creative writing/literature/cultural analysis; or a book proposal for a story or poetry cycle.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evidence close reading skills in the reading of creative writing texts.
  • Apply technical creative writing terms, vocabulary and narrative studies concepts in the analysis of texts.
  • Assess and evaluate contemporary Australian and international creative writing in print and digital modes.

Short-form creative work

Assessment Type 1: Creative work
Indicative Time on Task 2: 42 hours
Due: 23:59 on 29/05/22
Weighting: 40%

 

Short-form creative work

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Plan, write, edit and rewrite short-form creative works.

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

Seminar structure

The unit is delivered online, and in blended mode (face-to-face and online) for campus students.  Online students will work in groups of 6-8 students in a discussion group and a workshop group.

Weekly seminars will include seven weeks for reading and discussion, including two weeks workshopping Writing Exercises; and five weeks of workshop intensive discussions.

Classes will begin in Week 1.

Resources

Most of the essential and recommended readings for this unit are available via the unit's Leganto link. Some books will need to be borrowed or purchased. Your lecturer recommends that you source these from Australian suppliers in order to support your peers ( i.e. Australian writers, booksellers and publishers). Booktopia.com; independent booksellers such as Gleebooks; your local library; and Australian re-sellers of used books such as through Abebooks.com are all excellent supply sources.

Unit Schedule

Week 1 - Introduction to short-form writing: twitter fictions

Week 2 - Micro Fictions

Week 3 - Short Story Form - does brevity define it?

Week 4 - Poetry Cycle

Week 5 - Short Story Cycle 

Week 6 - Workshop

Week 7 - Workshop

Week 8 - Workshop

Week 9 - Long Short Story or Novella

Week 10 - Workshop

Week 11 - Workshop

Week 12 - Story or Novel?

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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Violent and Sexually Violent Content in creative writing workshop and assessment submissions

Material that might seriously disturb or distress other students or the teacher is not suitable for the University writing workshop environment. The aim of our workshops is to provide a safe place for students to share their work in progress. We are all required to read and discuss work that is presented in the workshop, and so for this reason you must consider the impact on others if you are planning to write potentially distressing content.

Students presenting work that includes detailed descriptions of violence including sexual violence, especially material that involves rape, or harm to animals must contact the Unit Convenor before submitting the work for workshop or as work for assessment. They must discuss their work with the convenor at least 2 weeks before the scheduled workshop or assessment due date. Permission may be withheld, in which case the student will be required to submit a new work by the due date.

You should also be aware of the Student Code of Conduct and in particular clauses in the sections Safety and Breach of Rights http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/student_conduct/conduct.html

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
02/02/2022 .

Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook