The Turning
Sydney
:
Picador
,
2004
Z1146280
2004
selected work
short story
(taught in 12 units)
The Turning comprises seventeen overlapping stories of second thoughts and mid-life regret set in the brooding small-town world of coastal Western Australia. Here are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they've made for themselves.
These elegiac stories examine the darkness and frailty of ordinary people and celebrate the moments when the light shines through.
This is an advanced workshop subject for students who have already commenced work on a collection of short fiction and who are keen to progress towards a completed final draft of a manuscript. The focus of this subject is upon polishing, redrafting, editing and completing. The final work is two short stories of up to 4,000 words in total. Students are expected to write and circulate for peer assessment drafts of their work-in-progress every week. Additionally, students study a select and seminal range of short stories to enhance their understanding of the art of short fiction writing. There is no reader for this subject. Rather, students are set three collections of short stories, which are studied in relationship to their historical and narrative impact on the short story form. Assessment includes the critical and structured feedback on the complete work of another student. Students also write a 2,000-word critical essay on the development of the short story in collection. The aim of this subject is to provide focus and encouragement to enable students to produce a strong draft collection of short fictional works.
Subject objectives/outcomes
In this subject students will:
acquire skills to reflect critically on their writing
acquire skills to revise and re-draft work in progress
acquire skills to reflect critically on fictional texts in English
study and practise formal and technical elements of short story writing
place the short story collection in a social, political and cultural context.
Objective(s):b, c, d
Weighting:40%
Length:2000 words
Task:Submit a critical essay of up to 2,000 words which examines a collection of short stories not included in the set texts.
Assessment criteria:
Demonstrated ability to discuss literary texts in a scholarly and critical manner
Inventiveness and originality
Assessment item 2: Final Assignment
Objective(s):a b c e
Weighting:60%
Length:4000 words
Task:To complete two short stories with the total length of up to 4,000 words
Assessment criteria:
Inventiveness and originality
Accomplishment of style, structure and plot and/or characterisation
