James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2003

BR1224:03

Critical Literacy: Text Analysis

Townsville, Cairns HECS Band 1

Semester 2 Limited Attendance. It will be taught through a combination of external package plus tutorials delivered weekly on campus.

Available to Tertiary Access Course students.

Staff: Ms L MacKay (Townsville campus); Ms D Stoter (Cairns campus).

Students are introduced to ways of analysing texts so that they gain control of linguistic and semiotic codes used in them. Advanced analytical skills will enable students to expose the underlying ideologies and assumptions upon which they operate. Possibilities for alternative readings and writings will be encouraged. A range of documents from the media and popular culture, public everyday texts and transcripts of talk will be integrated for analysis..

Learning Objectives:

  1. reflect on how texts are constructed by identifying techniques of bias, persuasion, informal logic and statistics as they are used in a range of print and visual texts;
  2. engage with information by writing critiques of set and individually chosen texts, showing underlying structures and devices that construct and/or repress meaning;
  3. critically review a range of texts to expose ‘underlying assumptions’ and versions of reality presented.

Assessment by film critique/review (15%); journal (20%); seminar presentation (20%); major essay (30%); attendance and participation (15%).