Writing

The writing major will enable you to gain an understanding of a range of writing practices in the context of communication and media studies, contemporary cultural theory, and analyses of literary and other media forms. Through the study of writing you will become familiar with different kinds of contemporary writing, especially prose forms, and acquire detailed knowledge of a range of techniques associated with contemporary cultural production. Upper-level units offer the opportunity to reflect critically on your own writing practices while developing and applying skills and techniques though individual and collaborative projects. The emphasis throughout the major is on exploring the many forms and possibilities of writing by contextualising writing practice through reflecting on a range of textual histories and cultural theories.

Availability

Writing is listed in the Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences at Malaysia as a minor or major.

Outcomes

In addition to achieving the broad outcomes of their course broadly, students successfully completing this major will:

1. Appreciate the symbiotic relationship between the content of writing and the formal features of writing (i.e. generic type, deployment of devices, etc.) during the act of interpretation.

2. Understand the way in which writers negotiate with, represent and address, social, political, cultural and ideological issues through various overt (social criticism, lampoons, parodies etc.) or covert (satires, allegories, etc.) writing styles.

3. Recognize the significance of the target audience's role in determining the motivations and direction underscoring the writing process.