This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

ATS2914 - The dark hero

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Organisational Unit

Coordinator(s)

Offered

First semester 2016 (Day)

Synopsis

The unit is designed to introduce students to the development of the dark or satanic hero in a range of major English texts selected to illustrate the tremendous impact and popularity of this powerful figure. Writers since the Renaissance have created powerful and seductive heroes, anti-heroes and appealing villains who advocate and personify radical individualism, self-sufficiency and ambition, but who are often isolated, gloomy and dissatisfied by their revolt against God, morality and society. Special attention will be given to the gendered representation of the dark hero, particularly the persistent tendency to represent or view female characters who challenge moral codes in relation to prevailing social roles of virgin/whore, good/bad mother etc. The unit encourages students to examine the relationship between the satanic heroes, vamps and villains who appear in the unit texts and the many dark heroes of who have subsequently appeared in literature.

Outcomes

Students successfully completing the unit will be able to:

identify key characteristics of the Dark or Satanic Hero;
identify the historical development, and with a range of different historical manifestations, of these figures;
identify the psychological, social and cultural roots of these figures and the impact they have had;
identify the key critical debates concerning the Dark Hero;
evaluate the relevance of these debates to the course-texts as well as to modern manifestations of these figures in literature;
argue their interpretations clearly and persuasively in oral and essay form;
communicate ideas and position effectively in discussion.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.