EL5051 - Self, Science and Society in Eighteenth Century Literature

[Offered in odd-numbered years]

Credit points:	06
Year:	2007
Student Contribution Band:	Band 1
Administered by:	Discipline of English

This course focuses on English non-fiction, fiction, poetry and drama in the period from 1660 to 1785, with an emphasis on the eighteenth century. It examines how social and political change and the rise of science impacted on culture and the individual. Key themes of the course are: Party Politics, Whig and Tory; New Worlds--Microscopic and Cosmological; Debating Women; The Country and the City; A Day in Eighteenth-Century London; The Plurality of Worlds; Slavery and the Slave Trade in Britain; Plagues, Epidemics and Medicine. The central themes of the subject have been addressed by some of the greatest thinkers and writers in the English canon, in a variety of modes including, romance, satire, epic, novel, diary, philosophical and scientific writing, and travel and journal writing.

Learning Outcomes

• to develop a comprehensive understanding of the set texts;
• to acquire a grounding in English literary histories which address and explore how the subjects of society, science and self are addressed in a range of literary modes;
• to acquire a grounding in the methodologies and critical practices appropriate to the themes of society, science and self;
• to broaden and intensify the literary critical skills and understanding attained by students at undergraduate levels, particularly where essay writing and extra-literary issues are concerned;
• to achieve a broad knowledge of how English literature of the 18th century thematizes society, science and self.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments;
• The ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area;
• The ability to speak and write logically, clearly and creatively;
• A coherent and disciplined body of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics in at least one discipline area;
• The ability to reflect on and evaluate learning processes and products;
• The ability to learn independently and in a self-directed manner;
• A commitment to lifelong learning and intellectual development.

Inadmissible Subject Combinations:

EL2045 and EL3045 and EL3051

Availabilities
Townsville, Internal, Study Period 1
Census Date 30-Mar-2007
Coord/Lect:	Assoc. Professor Stephen Torre.
Contact hours:	26 hours lectures 26 hours tutorials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (40%); tutorial attendance and participation (20%); essays (40%).
Cairns, Internal, Study Period 1
Census Date 30-Mar-2007
Coord/Lect:	Assoc. Professor Stephen Torre.
Contact hours:	26 hours lectures 26 hours tutorials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (40%); tutorial attendance and participation (20%); essays (40%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.