This course is intended to introduce students to a series of twentieth century life narratives in the context of contemporary Auto/biography theory and practice. Students will explore concepts of memory and self-fashioning in life writing, together with issues of gender, colonialism, race, cross-cultural encounter and displacement as represented in autobiographical texts. Special attention may be paid to life narratives dealing with traumatic personal and historical events. The course will provide the opportunity to investigate and reflect on obstacles that writers confront in narrating their lives, the strategies they adopt and the gaps and silences that characterize autobiographical writing.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Students will:
1. learn to identify the features of different genres of life-writing
2. develop a critical vocabulary for analyzing autobiography
3. become familiar with debates in the field of life writing studies
4. develop advanced skills in reading
5. enhance their skills in literary analysis and response
6. hone their skills of critical thinking and writing
Indicative Assessment
Short response on each text (40%) (8 assessments x 300 words each) [Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6]
Final essay (50%) (1750 words) [Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6]Tutorial participation (10%). [Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6]
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
1.5 hours of lectures and 1 hr tutorial per week and associated working time to a total of 120 hours over the semester.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Preliminary Reading
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking.
Majors
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and 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). You can find your student contribution amount for each course 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 |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $2604 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $3576 |
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.