Praise
North Sydney
:
Allen and Unwin
,
1992
Z563591
1992
single work
novel
(taught in 16 units)
'Praise is an utterly frank and darkly humorous novel about being young in the Australian of the 1990s. A time when the dole was easier to get than a job, when heroin was better known than ecstasy, and when ambition was the dirtiest of words. A time when, for two hopeless souls, sex and dependence were the only lifelines.' (from back cover)
My Brilliant Career
Edinburgh
London
:
William Blackwood
,
1901
Z161522
1901
single work
novel
(taught in 56 units)
'My Brilliant Career was written by Stella Franklin (1879-1954) when she was just nineteen years old. The novel struggled to find an Australian publisher, but was published in London and Edinburgh in 1901 after receiving an endorsement from Henry Lawson. Although Franklin wrote under the pseudonym 'Miles Franklin', Lawson’s preface makes it clear that Franklin is, as Lawson puts it 'a girl.'
'The novel relates the story of Sybylla Melvyn, a strong-willed young woman of the 1890s growing up in the Goulburn area of New South Wales and longing to be a writer.' (Publication summary)
Cloudstreet
Melbourne
:
McPhee Gribble
,
1991
Z204365
1991
single work
novel
(taught in 16 units)
After two separate catastrophes, two very different families leave the country for the bright lights of Perth. The Lambs are industrious, united and – until God seems to turn his back on their boy Fish – religious. The Pickleses are gamblers, boozers, fractious, and unlikely landlords.
Chance, hardship and the war force them to swallow their dignity and share a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet. Over the next twenty years they struggle and strive, laugh and curse, come apart and pull together under the same roof, and try as they can to make their lives.
This subject examines a wide range of nineteenth and twentieth century Australian writing. Emphasis is placed on texts which promote discussion of Australian history and society. Through the eyes of creative artists and story-tellers, the subject examines key issues and questions in the development of a distinctive Australian culture.
Two quizzes; a short essay; a long essay; and a seminar presentation.
