Backgrounds to English Literature

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

On Campus

102

None

None

None

670-317 Backgrounds to English Literature

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject examines a range of Classical and Christian works to establish how and why they have been influential in Western literature and thought. Students who complete this subject successfully will have read a representative range of Classical literature (representing epic, mythology, elegy, pastoral, satire, theology, literary theory), will have studied several books of the Bible and been introduced to various schools of interpretation (from Patristic to modern times), and will have investigated the many ways in which Classical and biblical writings have influenced western thought and literature over the past two millennia.

Students who complete this subject will:

• have read a representative range of Classical literature (representing epic, mythology, elegy, pastoral, satire, theology, literary theory);
• have studied several books of the Bible;
• have investigated the many ways in which Classical and Biblical writings have influenced Western thought and literature over the past two millennia.

One 1500 word essay (40%) due mid semester and a 2500 word essay (60%) due at the end of the semester.This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 75% attendance and regular participation in tutorials. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available.

• Metamorphoses (Ovid), Penguin
• Aeneid (Virgil), Oxford
• Myths from Mesopotamia, Oxford World's Classics

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students who complete this subject will:

• have the ability to develop critical self-awareness and the capacity to shape persuasive arguments;

• have the ability to apply research skills (especially in library and online resources) and critical methods to an emerging field of inquiry;

• have the ability to communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately, both in writing and in group discussions;

• have made detailed readings of a range of texts in different media;

• have the ability to think critically about the relations between academic and popular forms of knowledge of the past.