ECU Web Unit Outline
 
FACULTY OF EDUCATION & ARTS
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS AND ARTS
Full Unit Outline - Enrolment Approved Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Disclaimer
This unit outline may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.
 
UNIT TITLE Diverse Voices in Literature
UNIT CODE ENG4170
CREDIT POINTS 15
FULL YEAR UNIT No
MODE OF DELIVERY On-campus

DESCRIPTION

Students test a range of critical and theoretical approaches in their analyses of fiction and non-fiction, written by or about people who have risen to the challenges of potential marginalization on account of migration, indigenous origins or disability. The unit interrogates both the inspirational and the confrontational effects that these works have on readers as well as on the social contexts that have produced them. It examines ways of approaching diversity within the community and emphasises the particular importance of understanding individual people within the time and place of their experiences as well as within the time and place of the publication of their diverse voices.

 
LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  • discuss the ambiguities and complexities of accommodating and facilitating diverse views and voices in literary texts;
  • articulate and find possible solutions to the problems of conflicting beliefs and logistical requirements;
  • analyse various strategies for enabling heterogeneity in communities articulated in literature;
  • analyse diverse voices in literature in their historical and cultural contexts;
  • apply theoretical and ethical frameworks for analyzing/integrating diverse voices and needs expressed in literature; and
  • compare and contrast changing attitudes to texts manifesting social, intellectual or physical diversity,
 
UNIT CONTENT
  1. Fiction and non-fiction that interrogates or overcomes obstacles emanating from migration, indigeneity or disability.
  2. Ideologies related to difference and diversity.
  3. Appropriate literary and ethical theories regarding heterogeneous harmony within communities.
  4. Historical and cultural contextual knowledge.
 
TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES

Seminars, individual research.

 
GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES

The following graduate attributes will be developed in this unit:

  • Ability to communicate
  • Ability to generate ideas
  • Cross-cultural and international outlook
  • Critical appraisal skills
 
ASSESSMENT
Grading Schema 1
 
Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.
 

Item

On-Campus Assessment

Value

 

Assignment

Essay

40%

Participation

Tutorial presentation and participation

20%

Examination

Examination

40%

 
In order to pass this unit it is essential to have completed and passed all three assessment items: essay, tutorial presentation and participation, as well as the examination.
 
TEXTS
A selection of fiction and non-fiction. For example:
 
Alexander, B. (1994). Blind justice (Sir John Fielding). NY: Putnam.
Bender, K. (2001). Like normal people. NY: Mariner Books.
Carey, P. (1997). Oscar and Lucinda. NY: Vintage.
Hugo, V. (1831). The hunchback of Notre Dame. Any edition.
Kwok, J. (2010). Girl in translation. NY: Riverhead Books.
Morgan, S. (1999). My place. Frematle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.
Otsuka, J. (2003). When the emporer was divine. Port Moody, BC: Anchor.
Todd, C. (2006). A test of wills. London, UK: Harper Collins.
Pearce, L. (2001). Trust me: A heartrending saga of love and betrayal. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin.
Various authors. (2007). From there to here: 16 true tales of immigration to Britain. London, UK: Penguin.
White, P. (1957). Voss. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
 
SIGNIFICANT REFERENCES
Benhabib, S. (2008). Another cosmopolitanism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Fine, R. (2007). Cosmopolitanism: Key ideas. London, UK: Routledge.
Flood, J. (2006). The original Australians: Story of the Aboriginal people. Crows Nest, NSW; Allen & Unwin.
Howard, A., & Leonard, E. (1999). After Barnardo: 104 interviews with people who came to Australia under the child migrant program 1921-1965. Sydney, NSW; Tarka Publishing.
Hill, D. (2008). The forgotten children. London, UK: William Heinemann.
Mizner, C., Kip, S., & Wheeler, J. A. (1995). Stephen Hawking: A biography. San Fransisco, USA: Greenwood Press.
Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers of justice: Disability, nationality, species membership. Boston, USA: The Belknap press of the Harvard University Press.
Pilkington, D. (1996). Follow the rabbit proof fence. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.
Razack, S. H. (2008). Casting out:: The eviction of Muslims from western law and politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Rodriguez-Garcia, D. (Ed.). (2010). Managing immigration and diversity in Canada: A transatlantic dialogue in the new age of migration. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press.
Rutter, J. (2011). Worlds on the move; Educational and welfare responses to changing migration patterns. Stoke on Trent, UK: Trentham Books.
Various authors. (2007). Life in Australia Book. Online version in many different languages: www.immi.gov.au
Young, B. (2006). Helping people with disabilities help themselves: Promoting the I can attitude. Bloomington, Indiana: Author House.
 
WEB SITES
Migrant Stories: The Age http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2008/national/migrants/intro.html
Disability in Fiction http://www.utne.com/arts/disability-in-literature.aspx
Indigeneity and Fiction http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sgunew/MININT.HTM
 
 
 
Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)
For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Student Equity, Diversity and Disability Service website:
http://intranet.ecu.edu.au/student/support/student-equity
 
 


Academic Misconduct


Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students’ work.

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.


The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.




ECU Web Unit Outline