ATS3487 - The shadow of reason: Irrational literature in the eighteenth century - 2018

The unit is designed to introduce students to a range of eighteenth-century English texts that employ and explore irrationality, emotionalism and the supernatural. The unit considers why and how an era that championed Enlightenment values (such as scepticism, rationality and restraint) also gave rise to gothic, horror and supernatural literature, a literature of unrestrained emotionalism, morbid and fantastic speculation, and irrational themes.

It is intended that students successfully completing the unit will be able to:

1. Read and interpret eighteenth-century English verse and prose with ease and pleasure.
2. Locate and recognise, contextualise and analyse, critique and formulate hypotheses about, a range of eighteenth-century texts.
3. Locate, reflect on and synthesize information relevant to the interpretation of eighteenth-century English texts and engage in creative and original thinking regarding those texts.
4. Articulate their interpretations clearly and persuasively in oral and essay form, organising and synthesising their ideas into clear, coherent, logical and persuasive arguments.

Within semester assessment: 100%

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.

See also Unit timetable information

Literary studies