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Dangerous Pleasures: An Introduction to Literary Studies
Undergraduate
GRF-LTR110 2025Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Meet one of literature’s most famous characters in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Resurrect the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Journey into Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Explore what makes these novels and more considered ‘literary’.
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- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 23 Feb 2025
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed, No prior study
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Price from
- $578
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Dangerous Pleasures: An Introduction to Literary Studies
About this subject
At the completion of this subject you will have:
- Understand literary texts from a range of periods and places and identify the importance of their social, cultural, historical, and geographical contexts.
- Identify distinct genres or varieties of literary forms and apply methodologies and concepts in literary studies.
- Read, understand and interpret complex literary texts.
- Locate, assess and use appropriate critical resources and construct clear, evidence-based arguments.
- Apply relevant skills and knowledge to reflect on the significance of literary texts in imagining and interpreting the world.
- This subject introduces students to Literary Studies by exploring a diverse selection of fiction from different places and different times. The texts we read display sophisticated levels of formal design and respond in interesting ways both to local contexts and a wider sense of what is happening in the world. The subject uses this character to investigate intrinsic approaches to Literary Studies and to reconsider the role that literature and a literary education might play in the world.
- This subject develops skills in the close reading of texts and will build your confidence in working with primary and secondary sources. Students will become familiar with critical reading strategies, as each module of the subject demonstrates methods of interpreting, framing and contextualising literary writing. Learning activities are delivered through a variety of subject materials, an online discussion forum, and written assessments.
This course introduces the discipline of literary studies through case studies of a wide and diverse selection of shorter fiction. It will combine detailed attention to the formal design of the fiction with a consideration of geographical and social location, and historical context. The literature will be drawn from Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, United States of America, and Australia. The course examines literary form and language and develops methods of close reading and is designed to increase your confidence when responding to literature. It also looks at the study of literature as a discipline with its own history, topics, methods, and debates. It considers how the study of literature can be an important practical, vocational, cultural, and social component of a university education.
- Essay 1 - 1000 words (20%)
- Essay 2 - 2000 words (40%)
- Online Discussion (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
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Student feedback
11 student respondents between 3 Feb - 1 June 2024.
81%of students felt the study load was manageable
90%of students felt this subject helped them gain relevant skills
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Undergraduate
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