The Boat
Camberwell
:
Hamish Hamilton
,
2008
Z1495449
2008
selected work
short story
(taught in 42 units)
'In the magnificent opening story, "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice," a young writer is urged by his friends to mine his father's experiences in Vietnam - and what seems at first a satire on turning one's life into literary commerce becomes a transcendent exploration of homeland, and the ties between father and son. "Cartagena" provides a visceral glimpse of life in Colombia as it enters the mind of a fourteen-year-old hit man facing the ultimate test. In "Meeting Elise" an ageing New York painter mourns his body's decline as he prepares to meet his daughter on the eve of her Carnegie Hall debut. And with graceful symmetry, the final, title story returns to Vietnam, to a fishing trawler crowded with refugees where a young woman's bond with a mother and her small son forces both women to a shattering decision.' (From the author's website.)
This will assess your engagement with the course as a whole, including attendance at all
classes and regular preparation, engagement with course material and contribution to class
discussions.
Assessment Task 2 - Close Reading Exercise - 20% -
This is a 1000 word close reading exercise discussing a set poem.
The criteria for assessment are:
Your ability to identify specific poetic genres
Your ability to analyse key features of poetic language in the selected poem
Your ability to support your reading with careful reference to the text
Your ability to write grammatically, coherently and articulately.
Your ability to construct an essay that presents an argument that develops as follows: a
clear introduction with thesis statement, followed by paragraphs focused on specific
issues together with a conclusion summing up the argument.
Assessment Task 3 - Major Essay - 40% -
This is a 1500-1800 word essay on the novel Beloved. Topics will be distributed in the Thursday
lecture in week 6 (April 23).
The criteria for assessment are:
Your ability to identify and analyse the use of realism in the novel
Your ability to identify and analyse the fictional representation of history and trauma in
the novel
Your ability to support your reading with careful reference to the text
Your ability to make informed and judicious use of relevant and appropriate critical
material
Your ability to write grammatically, coherently and articulately
Your ability to construct an essay that presents an argument that develops as follows: a
clear introduction with thesis statement, followed by paragraphs focused on specific
issues together with a conclusion summing up the argument.
Assessment Task 4 - Examination - 35% -
This is a formal two hour examination.
The criteria for assessment are:
Your ability to identify and analyse features of the genres of drama, short story and
poetry
Your ability to support your reading with careful reference to the text
Your ability to write grammatically, coherently and articulately.
Your ability to construct an essay that presents an argument that develops as follows: a
clear introduction with thesis statement, followed by paragraphs focused on specific
issues together with a conclusion summing up the argument.
