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Subject details

At the completion of this subject you will have:

  1. a solid foundation for later subjects in Literary Studies
  2. an improved ability to read closely, carefully, and attentively and with ethical, imaginative and emotional engagement
  3. an improved ability to see continuities and discontinuities between past cultures (as embodied in the works studied) and contemporary culture
  4. an improved ability to think clearly and logically about literature-and to express those ideas with civility and courtesy in online discussions
  5. an improved ability to express critical appreciation of literature in clear, cogent, and well-constructed essays.
    • Medea - love and marriage, revenge, gender roles, alienation, otherness
    • Heart of Darkness - the nature of evil, alienation, race and colonisation
    • Metamorphosis - humanity, hierarchy, postmodernism, vulnerability
    • Jane Eyre - gender roles, alienation, love and marriage, class, vulnerability
    • Frankenstein - medicalisation and science, the monstrous, parenthood, creation

  • Study resources

    • Instructional methods

      • Discussion forum/Discussion Board
      • Online Quizzes/Tests
      • Online assignment submission
      • Standard Media
      • Web links

    • Online materials

      • Online Assessment
      • Printable format materials
      • Quizzes
      • Resources and Links

No eligibility requirements

Special requirements

No special requirements

Great Books examines the allure of the literary. For centuries humans have recited poetry, enacted drama and, more recently, written novels that all speak to the human condition in ways that exceed the everyday even as they somehow capture it. In thematic terms this subjects asks: what does it mean to be human? What are the immortal themes that recur in any genre of great literature? In terms of readers' experiences of literature, what is it that makes a work 'literary'? How have people managed to express themselves in way that outlast the span of a single lifetime? What formal approaches have been taken to understanding and promoting 'the literary'. Perhaps most importantly of all, though, what does literature offer in a world full of images, a world apparently driven by economic issues. Join us to ponder upon such issues as you discover, or revisit, a fine range of literary texts.

  • Assignment — Short Answers (20%)
  • Essay 1 (25%)
  • Essay 2 (25%)
  • Online Discussion (30%)

Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a subject.

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Bachelor of Arts
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