ATS2503: Writing Women

Tutorial Leadership (10%), Essay Plan (10%), 2x Class Tests (20% each), 1x 1800wd Research Essay (40%)

All in all, I thought this was a fantastic unit. Out of the eight English units I've done in my major, I'd say this was my favourite of them all. Basically, the subject is divided into two modules. The first module deals with how female authors have used literature as a means of examining the relationship between femaleness and femininity, and the second half focuses on how women's writing has been valued and received, with some feminist theory thrown in the mix.

Anna is an extremely passionate, animated and approachable lecturer who taught the subject matter well. Most other English units I've done assume you already know the ins-and-outs of various literary theories, which can be especially daunting for those who haven't encountered any literary theory before, but in this unit you're given lots of assistance in understanding feminist literary theory by Anna at the start of semester. I thought that was nice. There were several guest lecturers in this unit (Melissa Hardie and Patrick Spedding) who were equally as passionate as Anna.

Interestingly, attendance at lectures were compulsory but tutorials were optional. I think this decision was an ingenious one as it made the tutorials smaller, which consequently made discussions more lively and interesting (since the only people who attended the tutorials were those who wanted to be there and contribute). Perhaps other Arts units could take a page or two out of Writing Women's book!

My only gripe with this unit was with the assessments. The essay plan was an easy 10%, but I still didn't really understand the point of being assessed for it. Also, the research essay and the final in-class test were both due on the same day, which isn't good if you love procrastinating like I do, haha.

Anna Poletti

No

5 out of 5

Yes

A unit guide and various texts. The texts studied in this unit were Jane Austen's Persuasion, Charlotte Bronte's Villette, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chris Kraus's Torpor, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Eliza Haywood's Fantomina, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and a selection of Sylvia Plath's poems.

1x1hr tutorial and 1x1hr lecture per week

Semester 2, 2011

TBD