AustLit
Texts
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y
The Spare Room
Melbourne
:
Text Publishing
,
2008
Z1457068
2008
single work
novel
(taught in 10 units)
'Helen lives in Melbourne, and her friend Nicola flies down from Sydney for a three-week visit. She will sleep in Helen's house, in her lovingly prepared spare room. This is no ordinary visit. Nicola has advanced cancer and is seeking alternative treatment from a clinic in Helen's city. From the moment Nicola steps off the plane, gaunt, staggering like a crone, her voice hoarse but still with something grand about her, Helen becomes her nurse, her protector, her guardian angel and her stony judge.' (Publisher's blurb)
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The Journalist and the Murderer!$!Janet Malcolm!$! !$!!$!
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In Cold Blood!$!Truman Capote!$! !$!!$!
Description
This subject focuses on the concept of the real. Students are asked to engage with the history, contexts, conventions and current debates centred on the notion of 'the real'. Students choose different approaches to these issues in terms of creative and theoretical perspectives. The subject aims to develop students' awareness of the wide possibilities and scope of non-fiction writing and enables them to produce an extended piece of non-fiction writing in a workshop environment. The laboratory acts as a context for researching how the notions of the real are associated with questions to do with society, culture and globalisation no less than to do with issues of subjectivity, the senses and corporeal knowledge. Each class acts as a space in which students test out received and experimental approaches to writing and thinking about the real. Truth telling, the use of fictional mode in non-fictional forms of writing, concepts of simulacrum, verisimilitude, revelation and authenticity, and the ethical contexts of documentation are key features of each class's work. Students are asked to nominate the area in which they intend to write and are assisted in researching and contextualising that area.
Assessment
Assessment item 1: Non-Fiction Seminar
Objective(s):
b, c
Weighting: 20%
Task:
Present to the class an analysis of a chosen non-fiction text or dramatic representation of non-fiction, examining its strengths and weaknesses from a writers perspective. The emphasis will be on the techniques available to the non-fiction writer and to examine contemporary and past discourses in the mode, with a view to an appraisal of the writing and research strategies and any related issues and questions this raises for the non fiction writer.
Assessment criteria:
* Clarity of expression
* Depth of analysis
* Accuracy of reporting
* Relevance of sources used
Assessment item 2: Non-Fiction Synopsis
Objective(s):
b, c
Weighting: 20%
Task:
Write a one-page synopsis of your proposed non-fiction narrative, citing the documentary sources and/or interviews you intend to utilise and describing the techniques and approach you will be taking when structuring and writing your major narrative.
Assessment criteria:
* Clarity of expression
* Originality
* Creativity
* Depth of analysis
Assessment item 3: A Non-Fiction Narrative of a Person or Place
Objective(s):
a, b
Weighting: 60%
Task:
Develop an original narrative weaving together your own research combined with your own personal observations and reflections about either a person (living or dead) who has a public profile, or a place, (a suburb, town or city) and, using documentary sources (e.g. newspaper archives) along with interviews (if the subject is living) with the person, or with people who know the subject, construct a compelling and interesting narrative. This assessment task is designed to develop research and writing skills and consider creative approaches in the area of non-fiction writing.
Assessment criteria:
* Clarity of expression
* Originality
* Creativity
* Depth of analysis
* Accuracy of research
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