units

ATS2519

Faculty of Arts

18 September 2017 25 April 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Arts
OfferedNot offered in 2014
Coordinator(s)Dr. Deb Waterhouse-Watson

Notes

Previously coded ENH2991

Synopsis

A study of contemporary literature for children by major Australian, American and British writers. The unit explores a range of modes, including humour, fantasy, picture story books, realistic and historical novels. Specific issues examined include the construction of national identity, cultural variations in thematic and formal emphasis, changing notions of childhood and the child figure, and the notion of the implied child/adolescent reader. Students will be encouraged to consider the ideological implications of the adult interests vested in the production of texts for children.

Outcomes

It is intended that students undertaking this course should develop:

  1. Knowledge and an understanding of the historic context of the development of the main genres of children's literature, and of contemporary trends and issues.
  2. Knowledge and an understanding of the ways in which different cultures construct different ideas of childhood, and of implied child readers.
  3. A critical understanding of the ways in which adult and child readers learn to construct cultural paradigms, particularly of national identity, through their reading.
  4. Critical skills pertaining to narratology, deconstruction and discourse analysis.
  5. An understanding of the crucial significance of childhood reading, and a desire to explore beyond the text's parameters.

Assessment

Written work (3600 words): 80%
Test: 20%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr. Deb Waterhouse-Watson

Workload requirements

22 hours per semester

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

Literary studies

Prerequisites

A gateway unit in Literary Studies or permission of unit coordinator.

Prohibitions

ATS3519