ENGL30013: Gothic Fictions

1 x 1500 word essay (40%); 1 x 2500 word essay (60%)

This is the second enjoyable English subject I've stumbled upon so far (the first being David McInnis' Shakespeare in Performance) and much like that one, almost all the credit I will give this subject is for the way it was run.
The lectures had direction in that by the time we'd gotten to the end, Tom had made a valid and interesting point about the text, calling upon both close readings and secondary criticism. Each week would manage to weave together some really spectacular arguments with just the right amount of supporting evidence and ancillary discussion (+ a few amusing tidbits like this thing) without ever compromising the focus or feeling too hurried. So we'd walk out of each lecture having been exposed to a really comprehensive interpretation of the text and -best part ever, get hyped- IT WAS ACKNOWLEDGED AS JUST

Yes, though because it was a 90 minute session there would occasionally be problems with the recordings, especially on weeks where there were screenings.
For our year, lectures were on Thursdays 1:00 - 2:30, and then the screenings for Nosferatu and Picnic at Hanging Rock were scheduled from 3:00 to 4:30. However, we all (lecturer included) thought it made more sense to do the screenings for those films first and then talk about them second, so we were free to leave if we'd seen the films already and then come back at around 3 for the actual lecture. Other weeks, we'd have a totally optional screening of additional texts like Hitchcock's Rebecca and a Dracula adaptation or two, but there were only a few people who stayed behind for them.

Tom Ford
Note: a huge part of my enjoyment of this subject (...like, 95% of it, tbh) was down to the fact that Tom Ford was the lecturer/ tutor/ coordinator, and that won't be the case in 2016. He might take the odd lecture or tute group, but I believe Peter Otto is taking over, and I doubt my review would be the same had I not taken this subject in 2015, so just keep that in mind.

No exam for this subject.

No textbook; the subject reader was made up of certain set texts (see astrisked ones in the list below) instead of secondary readings. All the critical stuff was linked on the LMS, which makes infintely more sense to me than having a 400 page printed monolith to lug around...
here's looking at you, basically every other English subject ever -.-

1 x 90 minute lecture; 1 x 1 hour tute + 2 x optional screenings in weeks 9 and 12 for film studies

2015, Semester 2

H1