Handbook home
Gothic Fictions (ENGL30013)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Online
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Overview
| Availability | Semester 1 - Online |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject offers an introduction to the contexts, form, and enduring cultural power of Gothic fiction in modernity. It examines the formal conventions of Gothic Fictions in relation to the social, cultural and political contexts in which it first appeared in the late 18th century, while also mapping the ways in which the genre is reworked in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The subject connects changing historical structures of patriarchal and paternal authority to the aesthetics of horror and terror; investigates links between modern notions of individuality and conceptions of monstrosity; and explores the power of literary fiction to evoke virtual worlds more expansive than the everyday.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject, students should have:
- demonstrated a familiarity with the formal conventions and devices of Gothic fictions;
- a general understanding of the social, cultural and political contexts in which this genre first appeared;
- the ability to identify the formal and thematic differences between terror and horror, and male and female Gothic;
- an understanding of some of the ways in which Gothic fiction developed in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries; and
- a broad understanding of the relations in modernity, as explored by Gothic fictions, between actual and imagined/virtual worlds.
Generic skills
At the completion of this subject, students should gain generic skills in:
- social, ethical and cultural understanding;
- critical, creative and theoretical thinking;
- information management and information literacy;
- intelligent and effective communication of knowledge and ideas; and
- written communication.
Last updated: 8 August 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
670-328 Gothic Fictions
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 8 August 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
An essay
| Mid semester | 40% |
An essay
| During the examination period | 60% |
| Hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 80% attendance and regular participation in tutorials. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. Regular attendance at lectures and tutorials is expected.
Last updated: 8 August 2023
Dates & times
- Semester 1 - Online
Principal coordinator Peter Otto Mode of delivery Online Contact hours Total 30 hours: a 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 1 March 2021 to 30 May 2021 Last self-enrol date 12 March 2021 Census date 31 March 2021 Last date to withdraw without fail 7 May 2021 Assessment period ends 25 June 2021 Semester 1 contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 8 August 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
A subject reader will be available.
- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, ed. Claire Grogan (Norton Critical Edition)
- Matthew Lewis, The Monk, World’s Classics (OUP)
- Edgar Allan Poe, The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. G R Thompson (Norton Critical Edition)
- Anne Radcliffe, The Italian (OUP)
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, ed. P Hunter (Norton Critical Edition)
- Bram Stoker, Dracula, ed. Auerbach & Skal (Norton Critical Edition)
- Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark (Ace)
- Ahmed Saadawi, Frankenstein in Baghdad (Oneworld)
Films may include:
- Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- F. W. Murnau, Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens
- James Whale, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
- Subject notes
Formerly available as 106-277/377 and 106-052 Gothic Fictions. Students who have completed 106-277, 106-377 or 106-052 Gothic Fictions are not eligible to enrol in this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Major English and Theatre Studies Specialisation (formal) English and Theatre Studies Specialisation (formal) English and Theatre Studies Minor European Studies Major Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Studies Major Breadth Track English - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 8 August 2023