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Writing the Natural World: Bodies and Landscapes, Art and Science
Undergraduate | MAQ-ENGX3032 | 2020
Previously MAQ-ENGX332
Course information for 2020 intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 18 weeks
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Writing the Natural World: Bodies and Landscapes, Art and Science
About this subject
At the completion of this subjects, students will be able to:
- Analyse and evaluate different readerships and audiences within the creative nonfiction market
- Identify and analyse practices and techniques of producing creative nonfiction
- Conduct research appropriate to nonfiction writing
- Apply practical and conceptual knowledge to creative written work
- Critique and evaluate your own research and creative writing processes
- Provide constructive feedback on students’ writing in a workshop context
- What is creative nonfiction?
- The cultural construction of the “natural world”
- Landscape
- Indigenous writing and the land: History, Poetry, Art
- Ecological writing/ecopoetics
- Ekphrasis
- Science
- Bodies
Creative nonfiction has been defined as “true stories that are told well”. In this subject, you will research and compose narrative nonfiction works, including art, science and environmental writing. You will analyse and apply various literary techniques, genres and styles to examine issues such as the embodied self and the cultural construction of the natural world. You will have the opportunity to explore contemporary critical and imaginative approaches to creative nonfiction, nonfiction poetry, lyricism, natural history, science, and public advocacy writing. This subject is particularly relevant to those who want to learn how to write discursive, persuasive or personal essays based on factual research.
- Participatory task (weeks 1-12) (20%)
- Plan (for major creative work: research + bibliography), 500 words + bibliography (week 7) (10%)
- Creative work (major) (includes 2000w creative work or 100 lines of poetry, + 500w research statement) (week 12) (50%)
- Portfolio (5 pieces of writing, 200w each), 1000 words (week 13) (20%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
This research-intensive university in north-western Sydney offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. With over 44,000 current students, Macquarie has a strong reputation for welcoming international students and embracing flexible and convenient study options, including its partnership with Open Universities Australia.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 10
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 10
Entry requirements
Prior study
You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:
MAQ-ENGX233-Creative Writing 2: Concept and Practice (no longer available)
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-ENGX332-Writing Ecologies (no longer available)
Additional requirements
- Other requirements -
Students who have an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion under Macquarie University's Academic Progression Policy are not permitted to enrol in OUA units offered by Macquarie University. Students with an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion who have enrolled in units through OUA will be withdrawn.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Undergraduate
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