ENGLISH 769 : Representing Imagining

Arts

2024 Semester One (1243) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Investigates representation in imaginative writing. Principal texts are from 1928 to the present and from North America, UK, Aotearoa New Zealand, France, and the Caribbean. Topics include genre and expectations; ideologies of originality and copying; discursive mixing; authenticity; wholeness and brokenness; translingualism; the page, the codex and the digitas; and the economy of the imaginative subject.

Course Overview

This course takes on fundamental questions about how creative language connects to and differs from other uses of language and how literary works reflect the limits and opportunities of their cultural contexts, their technical and human bodies, and the natural earth. How do modern writers and readers perform representational styles, from the familiar to the new? How do we respond to recognisable writing and to “imagining what we don’t know”? How does imaginative writing conjure and interrogate representation? Can representation collapse or vanish? If it can, what events or imaginative purposes – ecstatic, traumatic and/or otherwise – position us in the unrecognisable and/or unspeakable?

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Apply readings in critical and theoretical approaches that help contextualize the literary readings. (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8)
  2. Recognise and interpret the cultural, linguistic, and historical diversity and global connectedness of New Zealand. We will study literary works from Aotearoa, North America, South Korea, multiple online, and Australian aboriginal sources. Our situated global context will be a recurrent topic in seminar analyses of the literary texts. (Capability 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7)
  3. Express and present information and ideas clearly, coherently, and persuasively in a variety of contexts of literary analysis and critical writings about lingual representation. Students will discuss in class, create response writings in smaller assignments, write two long research essays, and present an oral seminar analysis of a defined text and set of questions and situating critical research. (Capability 3, 5, 6 and 8)
  4. Demonstrate intellectual flexibility, self-assessment and self-directed learning for the purposes of producing high-quality work inside and outside class. Students will read complex texts for seminar discussion, oral presentation, and short and long written responses; in this work, students are expected to be able to work independently and generate sophisticated responses that amalgamate their learning from the different class texts as well as from self-researched outside sources. (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)
  5. Conceptualise and formulate questions based on synthesising information and ideas from features of literary language including word choice, genre type, and multimedia implications. (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 25% Individual Coursework
Essay 25% Individual Coursework
Participation 10% Individual Coursework
Presentation 20% Individual Coursework
Seminar reading responses 10% Individual Coursework
Seminar reading responses 10% Peer Coursework

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 30 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in, thus 20 hours per week, including class time, is to be devoted to this course.

For this course, you can expect 3 hours of seminar time, 7 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 10 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities  to complete components of the course.
There are no lectures, and seminar recordings will take place only in special circumstances such as UoA online required implementation. 
The course will not include live online events unless we are in required or exceptional online delivery mode. 

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student responses are an ongoing and valuable component of this seminar. Opportunities to differentiate between attentive listening time and active contribution time are factored in by presenting short modules of instructor commentary interleaved with expectations of student questions and interpretations. Students have expressed appreciation for the active learning pedagogy of this course as well as for the timings that take into account the human need for breaks and reflection time. This pedagogy has been developed in response to numerous opportunities for student response as well as in response to best practice pedagogy for active learners and collaborative benefits. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 18/10/2023 02:42 p.m.