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    Overview

    A study of literary classics that have attracted controversy for reasons including political content; issues of morality/obscenity; transgressing conventions of form; polemical works; questions of authorial identity and authenticity; controversies over prizes and literary merit.

    ENGL 131 Controversial Classics explores how literature engages debates over art, religion, sexuality, morality, politics, race, gender, drugs, censorship, environmental destruction, and more, while introducing you to some of the great works of English literature from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Allen Ginsberg's Howl, and James Baldwin’s essays to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Sylvia Plath’s Ariel, Becky Manawatu's Auē, and Tusiata Avia's Savage Coloniser Book. The paper also equips you with the skills to take your own stand on debates over classic texts that continue to divide their readers.

    About this paper

    Paper title Controversial Classics
    Subject English
    EFTS 0.15
    Points 18 points
    Teaching period Semester 2 (On campus)
    Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) $1,040.70
    International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
    Schedule C
    Arts and Music
    Eligibility
    There are no prerequisites for this paper, which develops skills in communication, critical thinking, and ethics relevant to students specialising in a wide range of disciplines.
    Contact

    Professor Jacob Edmond

    Teaching staff

    Convener: Professor Jacob Edmond
    Lecturers: Professor Grace Moore
    Professor Thomas McLean

    Paper Structure

    There are generally three or four 1-hour lectures per text and a 1-hour tutorial for each text, along with tutorials on close reading and essay writing. Tutorials are designed to focus on student participation in discussion.

    Teaching Arrangements

    Two 1-hour lectures per week.

    A 1-hour tutorial in selected weeks.

    Textbooks

    • Course readings, available on eReserve and ancillary materials for each topic:
    • Allen Ginsberg, Howl (City Lights).
    • Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Classics).
    • Sylvia Plath, Ariel.
    • Becky Manawatu, Auē.
    • Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (Penguin).

    Graduate Attributes Emphasised

    Global perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Information literacy, Environmental literacy, Research, Self-motivation, Teamwork, Interdisciplinary learning.
    View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.

    Learning Outcomes

    Students who successfully complete this paper will:

    • Gain exposure to a range of literary texts and contexts and the ability to read them closely and with insight
    • Gain the ability to judge and assess literary controversies, to understand the reasons for them and to make informed judgements about them
    • Learn to reflect critically on how arguments about literary and artistic value relate to broader social, political, religious and ethical values and on how these arguments and values have changed over time
    • Learn to develop a sustained argument, supported by textual and contextual evidence, about literary texts and controversies, both orally and in written form, in groups and individually
    • Develop skills in editing and assessing their own writing
    • Gain basic research skills through an essay assignment requiring them to investigate primary and secondary materials about a particular controversy
    Assessment details

    The exact assessment structure is subject to confirmation but is likely to include:

    • Regular in-class tutorial responses
    • An essay
    • A final exam

    Timetable

    Semester 2

    Location
    Dunedin
    Teaching method
    This paper is taught On Campus
    Learning management system
    Blackboard

    Lecture

    Stream Days Times Weeks
    Attend
    A1 Tuesday 12:00-12:50 29-35, 37-42
    Wednesday 14:00-14:50 29-35, 37-42

    Tutorial

    Stream Days Times Weeks
    Attend one stream from
    A1 Friday 12:00-12:50 30-34, 38-40
    A2 Thursday 12:00-12:50 30-34, 38-40
    A3 Thursday 13:00-13:50 30-34, 38-40
    A4 Thursday 16:00-16:50 30-34, 38-40
    A5 Wednesday 16:00-16:50 30-34, 38-40
    A6 Thursday 14:00-14:50 30-34, 38-40
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