LITR19057 - Contemporary Australian Literature

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

The aim of Contemporary Australian Literature is to show how Australia as a nation is imagined through various contemporary works of literature (fiction, poetry, short stories, poetry), particularly from the immediate post-war period until now (1945 onwards). Students will explore the ways in which Australian identities are constituted, changed and challenged by these texts, through a variety of critical perspectives and contexts of reception.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Prerequisite: 18 credit points

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 25%
2. Written Assessment 25%
3. Written Assessment 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 42.86% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback:
 Microsoft Teams was embraced by some students, who engaged in valuable discussions about the novels and related issues, however, overall it was not widely utilised.

Recommendation:
 Consider introducing live meetings in Microsoft Teams or equivalent online forum.

Action Taken:
 Regular online student tutorials will be maintained in this unit.
Source: SUTE data
Feedback:
 Assessment items may not be relevant for students.

Recommendation:
 Review assessment items for relevance and update or revise where necessary.

Action Taken:
 Assessment items will be reviewed for the new version of this unit in 2024.
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Identify and analyse a range of contemporary Australian literary texts and authors, as well as the historical contexts in which these texts were written and are read;
  2. Identify, analyse and evaluate significant critical debates surrounding the reception of contemporary Australian literature;
  3. Demonstrate clear critical thinking skills in sound textual and thematic analyses; and,
  4. Collect, analyse and organise information and ideas about Australian literature, and to convey those ideas clearly in writing
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy •
5 - Team Work •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10