Crossing Borders: Between Fact and Fiction

Unit code: ACP3008 | Study level: Undergraduate
12
(Generally, 1 credit = 10 hours of classes and independent study.)
Footscray Park
Online Real Time
ACP1055 - Story: Transforming the Blank Page; and
ACP2081 - Writing from the Edge: Narrative Non-Fiction; or
ACP2082 - Script and Screen; or
ACP2086 - Impossible Worlds: Fiction and Genre; or
ACP2087 - News and Social Media
Applies to ABAB or LBLA Students only: must have completed two of the units listed.
(Or equivalent to be determined by unit coordinator)
Overview
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Overview

Building upon units Impossible Worlds, Writing from the Edge and Script and Screen, this unit focuses on the uneasy parallels and sometimes arbitrary boundaries between fiction and non-fiction in a variety of forms. Students are asked to interrogate the interconnectedness of these apparently distinct genres from a theoretical and creative perspective in either narrative (fiction and non-fiction) or scriptwriting formats (documentary or feature film), and to familiarise themselves with the generic conventions and contemporary and critical debates surrounding this form. By interrogating key texts in this field, students will critically reflect on the implications of writing in a global environment. Students will also be asked to commentate and critically review how writers of marginal ethnicities, class, gender and sexual identities have interrogated canonical ideas about creative writing. Crossing Borders asks students to work together to design an e-book and accompanying book launch to showcase students’ writing work. This unit will encourage students to position their writing within a wider discourse, and to commentate on their own and others' creative writing through a theoretical lens.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. Analyse and critique contemporary theoretical and cultural ideas related to creative writing;
  2. Exemplify critical and theoretical ideas through composition of creative works;
  3. Evaluate and reflect on professional and creative writing texts through a theoretical lens;
  4. Appraise the application of a major area of theory to writing practice;

Assessment

For Melbourne campuses

Assessment type: Review
|
Grade: 20%
Analysis of contemporary theoretical and cultural ideas
Assessment type: Exercise
|
Grade: 30%
Completed draft of their piece/s for peer workshopping
Assessment type: Creative Works
|
Grade: 30%
Developed and finalised non-fiction or fiction piece
Assessment type: Presentation
|
Grade: 20%
Critical reflection of unit of work

Required reading

Readings will be available via VU Collaborate.

As part of a course

This unit is not compulsory for any specific course. Depending on the course you study, this unit may be taken as an elective.

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