Students

ENGL8010 – Creative Writing Seminar: Narrative Fundamentals

2022 – Session 1, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor and Teacher
Michelle Hamadache
michelle.hamadache@mq.edu.au
Contact via michelle.hamadache@mq.edu.au
By appointment, please email.
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MCrWrit
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
ENGX8010
Unit description Unit description

In this unit students develop their creative writing practice across one or more writing genres, drafting new creative work in the genres of the short story, novel, or poetry. Students extend their skills both in the crafting and the analysis of the craft of writing, and practice close reading skills. New approaches to craft and technique or genre are explored, and students reflect upon and interrogate their writing and writing process. Analysis and evaluation of published creative works and contemporary narrative studies inform and enlarge students’ writing skills and technical vocabularies. At the end of the unit students will have drafted, workshopped and written a new creative work in their chosen genre.

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: Develop and demonstrate creative writing and close reading skills in relation to concepts, craft and technique.
  • ULO2: Plan, write, edit and rewrite creative works in the genres of poetry, short story, or novel.
  • ULO3: Analyse and evaluate the work of others in writing communities.
  • ULO4: Demonstrate knowledge of Australian and international literature and creative writing.
  • ULO5: Evaluate your learning in relation to your reading and writing of creative texts.

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
Creative Work (Major) 50% No 23:59 on 29/05/2022
Creative Work (minor) 15% No WE 1 & 2: 13/03/2022; WE3: 01/05/2022
Analysis and Appraisal 20% No Ongoing
Creative Work (minor) 15% No 23:59 on 0/04/2022

Creative Work (Major)

Assessment Type 1: Creative work
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: 23:59 on 29/05/2022
Weighting: 50%

 

A complete short story, series of poems or novel section. The work will develop upon one or both of the workshop drafts submitted for workshop; and may also have developed upon one or more of the Writing Exercises. The Creative Work (Major) must have been workshopped, and students are expected to have developed their work substantially following the workshop.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop and demonstrate creative writing and close reading skills in relation to concepts, craft and technique.
  • Plan, write, edit and rewrite creative works in the genres of poetry, short story, or novel.
  • Analyse and evaluate the work of others in writing communities.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of Australian and international literature and creative writing.
  • Evaluate your learning in relation to your reading and writing of creative texts.

Creative Work (minor)

Assessment Type 1: Creative work
Indicative Time on Task 2: 11 hours
Due: WE 1 & 2: 13/03/2022; WE3: 01/05/2022
Weighting: 15%

 

Three writing exercises are completed in order that students practice specific elements of writing craft and technique.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop and demonstrate creative writing and close reading skills in relation to concepts, craft and technique.
  • Plan, write, edit and rewrite creative works in the genres of poetry, short story, or novel.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of Australian and international literature and creative writing.
  • Evaluate your learning in relation to your reading and writing of creative texts.

Analysis and Appraisal

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 24 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Written or verbal analysis and appraisal of lecture topics, set readings, and work in progress by student peers.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop and demonstrate creative writing and close reading skills in relation to concepts, craft and technique.
  • Plan, write, edit and rewrite creative works in the genres of poetry, short story, or novel.
  • Analyse and evaluate the work of others in writing communities.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of Australian and international literature and creative writing.
  • Evaluate your learning in relation to your reading and writing of creative texts.

Creative Work (minor)

Assessment Type 1: Creative work
Indicative Time on Task 2: 11 hours
Due: 23:59 on 0/04/2022
Weighting: 15%

 

A short textual analysis exercise

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop and demonstrate creative writing and close reading skills in relation to concepts, craft and technique.
  • Analyse and evaluate the work of others in writing communities.
  • Evaluate your learning in relation to your reading and writing of creative texts.

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 work in groups of 6-8 students in a discussion group and a workshop group.

The weekly seminars are made up of six weeks of discussion that focus on the readings, topics, themes and lectures; and six weeks of workshop intensive classes, complemented with writing exercises.

Resources

Most of the essential and recommended readings for this unit are available via the unit's Leganto link to the Macquarie Library's online resources for the unit. 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) such as 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.

Required Texts:

 

You will need to access your own copy of the following texts:

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (any edition preferably Penguin)

Recommended Readings:

The library does have some digital chapters available of the below texts, however, it is recommended you buy or borrow copies of the below texts:

  • Jerome Stern, Making Shapely Fiction, WW Norton
  • David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, Penguin Books Norton

Unit Schedule

Week 1 Narration – ways of telling

Week 2 Text and Character

Week 3 Speech and Dialogue in literary texts

Week 4 Workshop

Week 5 Workshop

Week 6 Workshop

Week 7  Focalisation – expressing perspective

Week 8 Structure, scene, plot

Week 9 Workshop

Week 10  Workshop

Week 11 Workshop

Week 12 Choreography and Time

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 2022.04 of the Handbook