Monash University Handbook 2011 Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Notes

Synopsis

The unit is designed to introduce students to a range of elite and pop-cultural English texts that explore the relationship between rationalism, scepticism, science and reason on the one hand and madness, emotionalism, enthusiasm and genius on the other. Special attention will be given to aspects of the emerging print culture that enabled the intellectual and social conflicts of the Enlightenment to be articulated to an increasingly articulate and literate public via a flood of prose and verse pamphlets and literary 'best-sellers'.

Objectives

Students successfully completing the unit will develop:

1. Familiarity with a range of literary forms and genres, understood both as part of an evolutionary process of generic development and as the consequence of social and technological change.
2. The ability to read eighteenth-century literary English with enjoyment and to understand the reason for its linguistic differences from modern English.
3. The ability to argue interpretations clearly and persuasively in essay form and to communicate fruitfully in discussion.
4. Skill in using the Library's exceptionally strong resources in this area of study, including digital archives (esp. LION, ECCO and the Burney Newspaper Collection). 5. A capacity to meet the general learning objectives of the department as set out in the preamble.

Assessment

First essay (1500 words): 30%
Second essay (2000 words): 40%
Test (1 hour): 20%
Tutorial participation: 10%

Chief examiner(s)

Patrick Spedding

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 1 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour seminar) per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

European and European Union studies
English

Prerequisites

A second-year sequence in English or permission.

Prohibitions

ATS2487