This course examines a selection of American novels, novellas and short stories that were published during what is now sometimes referred to as, the 'American Century'. In investigating a selection of twentieth-century US texts, we will analyse and reflect on the connections between authors' experimentations and/or narrative innovations, their use of more traditional forms and genres and their exploration of modern and postmodern American themes. Topics to be explored include the role of writing/literature in the age of multi- and digital media; racial/ multicultural/"post"racial identities; the role of the city, the suburbs and other American regions; utopian and dystopian visions of the future; literature and form/genre. The course will conclude with our exploration of the contemporary cable television drama, Mad Men, a series that can be thought of as thematising post 9/11 preoccupations with the idea that America has entered a new age of decline.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Identify key elements of twentieth-century American fiction and evaluate the similarities and differences between different narrative forms
2. Think, write and argue about the importance of literary, generic, intellectual and populist approaches to understanding everyday life in the context of the United States as a post-industrial or technologically advanced society.
3. Develop a critical stance on the role that narrative plays in imagining and responding to representations of everyday life.
4. Understand and successfully deploy a range of terms and concepts integral to literary studies.

Required Resources

Gertrude Stein, ‘Melanctha’ in Three Lives (available at Co-op Bookshop)

William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (available at Co-op Bookshop)

Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road (available at Co-op Bookshop)

Donna Tartt, The Secret History (available at Co-op Bookshop)

Mad Men (AMC Cable TV Drama Series, Series One – please see ‘Course Schedule for details of on-campus screenings)

Short Stories and essays set for this course will be available as e-texts that can be accessed through the ENGL2006 e-reading list at Chifley Library catalogue. Please see the ENGL2006 Wattle site for more details.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Oral and/or feedback will be provided on assessment tasks 1, 2 and 3.
• Students are very welcome to come and see me during my consultation time for feedback on all assessment plans or for clarification about assessment feedback and marks.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

Referencing requirements

MLA is the preferred referencing style for essays submitted to the English Program, School of Cultural Inquiry. Here is a user-friendly online guide to MLA referencing http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. You may choose to use an alternative referencing style. For full essay submission guides, including details on referencing, formatting and style please see the ‘Guide to Writing an Essay in English’ below

Guide to Writing, Formatting and Referencing your English Essay

1. Format

• You must leave a margin of approximately 4cm on the left-hand side of each page.
• Your text should be double-spaced.
• Number your pages.

2. Style

QUOTATIONS:

• If they do not exceed three lines, quotations should appear in the text in inverted commas, “like this.”
• If quotations are longer, they should be set apart from the main text, without inverted commas, indented and single-spaced.
• Quotations should fit with the syntax or flow of your sentence, or otherwise should be separately introduced (see examples below).
• Deletions from quotations should be indicated by three full stops (…), and your additions should be enclosed in square brackets [thus].
• All quotations should be followed by a page reference; for poems: section and/or line reference; for plays: page reference, or act and line reference as appropriate.

Examples:

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Duchess insists that “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it” (95).

In Through the Looking Glass, Alice is indifferent to the transience of beauty:

What mattered it to her just then that the rushes had begun to fade, and to lose all their scent and beauty, from the very moment she had picked them? (215)

TITLES OF WORKS REFERRED TO:

a) Titles of books, plays and films, long poems, and periodicals should be italicized or underlined.

         book, play or film:   The Bell Jar; The Merchant of Venice; Clueless

         long poem:             Paradise Lost; The Waste Land

         periodical:              Film Quarterly

b) Titles of chapters, articles, essays, short stories and short poems in collections or periodicals should be put in “inverted commas”:

         chapter, article or essay:    “Down the Rabbit-Hole”; “Emma becomes Clueless”

         short story or short poem: “Bliss”; “London’s Summer Morning”

3. Citation of sources

You are welcome to use in-text citation or footnotes – simply ensure that whichever system you use is clear, consistent and provides sufficient information for the reader to find the source of the reference.

A suggested means of documenting your published sources is that recommended by the Modern Language Association in its MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6^th edition. Useful summaries of the relevant guidelines is available here: https://style.mla.org and here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

All you have to do to acknowledge the sources of direct quotations is to include a Bibliography at the back of your method analysis and essay, with the relevant publication details. When you incorporate a quotation from the text in your method application or essay, cite the author’s name and the relevant page number(s) in brackets immediately following the second pair of inverted commas, or just the page number if the author is clear from the context. If your bibliography contains several works by the same author, identify your citation by author name and year of publication.

Examples of citation in text:

Henry Giroux argues that youth are often portrayed in Hollywood films as “dangerous, mindless, addicted to drugs or socially irresponsible” (284).

Chris Crawford argues that “The Sims does not come close to true interactive storytelling” (Crawford 2003, 261).

Example bibliography:

Crawford, Chris. “Interactive Storytelling.” In Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, eds. The Video Game Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003. 259-74.

—. The Art of Computer Game Design. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984. http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html Accessed 30 June 2005.

Giroux, Henry A. “Neoliberalism and the Disappearance of the Social in Ghost World.” Third Text 17.2 (2003): 151-161.

How to cite a book:

Last name, First name. Title. City of publication: publisher, date of publication.

Example:

McCloud, Scott. Understanding comics. New York: Harper, 1994.

How to cite a chapter or article in a book:

Author Last name, First name. “Chapter/Article Title.” In Editor First name Last name, ed. Book Title. City of publication: publisher, date of publication. Page numbers.

Example:

Crawford, Chris. “Interactive Storytelling.” In Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, eds. The Video Game Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003. 259-74.

How to cite a journal article:

Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal Title volume number.issue number (year of publication): page numbers.

Example:

Giroux, Henry A. “Neoliberalism and the Disappearance of the Social in Ghost World.” Third Text 17.2 (2003): 151-161.

How to cite a magazine/newspaper/journal article from an online source:

Author Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Publication Title or Name of Website. Day month year of publication/posting. Exact URL of content (not the main webpage). Accessed: date you accessed the article.

Example:

Doane, Rex. “A Conversation with Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes.” Salon.com. 27 July 2001. http://dir.salon.com/people/conv/2001/07/27/zwigoff_clowes/index.html?pn=1 Accessed 30 June 2005.

How to cite a film:

Film Title. Dir. Director’s first name last name. Distributor or production company, year of release.

Example:

On Our Selection. Dir. Ken G. Hall. Cinesound, 1932.

How to cite a newspaper (or other publication) article with no author:

“Article title.” Title of newspaper. Date, edition (if required): page number.

Example:

“Study Ties Self-Delusion to Successful Marriages.” New York Times 2 Jan. 1998, late ed.: A11.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Lectures and Tutorials - Week 1 through to Week 12

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Critical Concepts Journal	20 %	01/01/2029	01/02/2029	1,2,3
Minor Essay	30 %	01/01/2029	01/02/2029	1,2,3
Major Essay	50 %	01/01/2029	01/02/2029	1,2,3

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website. Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Critical Concepts Journal

Assessment Task 2

Minor Essay

Assessment Task 3

Major Essay

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) as submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

For Assessment Task One (critical concepts jouranl), you will receive feedback from peers and tutor. For Assessment Tasks Two and Three, the major and minor essays, you will receive written feedback. The feedback for the minor essay should be available by the end of Week 9. Major essays will normally be returned after the English Examiners’ meeting, which is held a couple of weeks after the end of semester.

Essays submitted after graded essays have been returned to students will not be marked. Essays handed in after the due date may receive no written feedback.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Assessment tasks cannot be resubmitted

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students