Contemporary literary stories and those written in genre draw on historical antecedents and/or current literary and theoretical movements. Fables and fairy tales, experiments with realism or magical realism are all present in various forms of the contemporary short story, and stem from writers being influenced by past narratives and/or by reacting to their peers. This course will encourage students to read a variety of classical and contemporary short stories and to experiment with different styles and genres which have developed over the past two centuries, and which are still being questioned or utilised by contemporary authors.
Students will be expected to write two short stories and/or a few chapters of a novel in this course. Draft stories will be revised. The final versions of students’ stories will be arrived at through discussion in seminars and workshops, and through the reading of published fiction. The course will include some consideration of the practical processes involved in publishing stories and longer works.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- create prose pieces in two different genres, drawing on or reacting to a published work or works;
- experiment with and revise 2 diverse stories or chapters of a novel, integrating suggestions from writing workshops and/or utilising analysis of published or other students’ creative work;
- research, compare and contrast two stories, making a coherent argument about the relationship between these works;
- describe, analyse and make editorial suggestions for peers’ prose; and
- reflect on your own creative work in relation to its context, sources and formal qualities, and discuss your writing with respect to published work in a similar style or genre.
Indicative Assessment
- Fiction Portfolio: two stories of approximately 4000 words in total, with drafts (60) [LO 1,2,5]
- Written and oral comments on peers' work of 500 words (15) [LO 4]
- Essay, 1000 words (25) [LO 3,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact: 12 hours of lectures and 24 hours of tutorials.
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Ebrick of readings, (indicative bibliography appears below):
Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” (1968). Image-Music-Text. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977
Block, Francesca Lia. “Wolf.” The Rose and the Beast. New York: Harper Collins, 2000. 101-129
Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973
Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Lottery in Babylon.” Trans. John M. Fein 1959. Labyrinths. London: Penguin, 1964. 55-61
Carey, Peter. “The Chance.” (1977). Collected Stories. 2nd ed. St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, 2001. 271-305
Carter, Angela. “The Company of Wolves.” The Bloody Chamber. London: Penguin, 1979. 110-118
Chekhov, Anton. “Grief.” (1885). Lady with Lapdog and Other Stories. Trans. David Magarshack. London: Penguin, 1976. 15-20
Cho, Tom. “Today on Dr. Phil.” Best Australian Stories 2006. Ed. Robert Drewe. Melbourne: Black Inc., 2006. 232-235.
Eliot, T.S. “Tradition and Individual Talent.” Authorship: From Plato to the Postmodern. Ed. Sean Burke. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995. 73 - 80
Jennings, Paul. “Snookle.” Stories for Seven Year Olds. Ill. Tom Jellett. Ed. Linsay Knight. Sydney: Random House, 2012
King, Stephen. “1408.” (2002). Everything’s Eventual. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2007. 424-471
“Little Red Riding Hood.” (Charles Perrault). Trans. Ashliman. http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html
Mansfield, Katherine. “Bliss.” (1920). Bliss and Other Stories. London: Penguin, 1988. 95-110
Maupassant, Guy de. “Clochette.” (1884). The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003. 972-975
Mengestu, Dinaw. “An Honest Exit.” The New Yorker. July 12, 2010
Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas. New York: Random House, 2004. Extract: 185-236
Rawson, Jane. A Wrong Turn in the Office of Unmade Lists. Melbourne: Transit Lounge, 2013
Saunders, George. “Sea Oak.” (1998). The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories. Ed. Ben Marcus. New York
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $3780 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $5280 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8572 | 21 Jul 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 | 31 Aug 2025 | 24 Oct 2025 | In Person | N/A |
