50307 Ficto-Critical Writing

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Writing and Contemporary Cultures
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Requisite(s): 50123 Narrative Writing OR 50243 Narrative Writing

Handbook description

Ficto-criticism deforms the limits of literary genres, working both within and beyond them. Post-romantic in conception, it is driven less by the individual imagination and more by the material and attitudes thrown up by the writer's encounter with everyday political emergencies. At its simplest, it makes a persuasive argument while telling an engaging story; at its most complex, it is a surrealist montage of different styles and media. Ficto-criticism can label a wide variety of styles – the renaissance tradition of the essay (from Montaigne to Barthes); the new journalism of Joan Didion; the travelling philosophy of Alphonso Lingis; and the hallucinatory ethnographies of Mick Taussig.

Subject objectives/outcomes

Ficto-critical writing aims to develop students' intellectual and writing skills together. Students will aim to develop arguments in narrative frameworks, to workshop particular techniques such as montage, characterisation, and discontinuous narrative. Students will develop their reading and critical skills through the classroom discussion of samples of ficto-critical writing.

The aim of this subject is to develop the original ideas in each of the workshopped pieces and to develop the skills while effectively responding to shifts in the material as they occur through the semester.

At the completion of this subject, students are expected to:

Have demonstrated creative, imaginative and fluent practises as writers;
Have developed their self-reflective critical and editing skills;
Have gained an insight into their own writing habits;
Have honed their skills in analysing the writing of others;
Possess a greater appreciation of the short story;
Have a clear understanding of the limits and possibilities of the ficto-critical text, of where it differs from other prose forms, and of the range of structures it can accommodate.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject:

enhances specific skills in writing
develops a knowledge of a specific genre of writing in relation to other genres
encourages a practical understanding of cultural and political debates
enhances critical and creative thought in relation to contemporary writing.

Teaching and learning strategies

The weeks will include a lecture, film or excursion focussed upon a particular site or idea. This will be followed by a discussion of the week's topic and weeks reading and will usually be followed in turn by writing exercises either in the tutorial or as take-home assignments.

Students will be asked to work on two major pieces of writing. The first will be workshopped through the class in weeks 5 and 7 and the second is to be completed as a single short essay. The third assessment is a journal response to four different weeks of the subject (excluding workshopping weeks) along with a five-minute verbal overview of the course. All writing submitted must be original pieces, written specifically in the context of this class. All students will also be expected to participate in all discussions.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Fictocritical Work - Local Consumption

Objectives	a, b, c
Value	50%
Due	Week 8
Word limit	2000-3000 wds
Task	Taking 'Local Consumption' as your working title, compose a 2000-3000 word (video, music etc) piece that responds to the ideas of consumption and local. Drafts of this work will be workshopped in weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Assessment criteria	At least one workshop of submitted work is required Completion and revision of work according to advice and recommendation from workshop session Inventiveness and originality of concept of 'local consumption' Writing style and expression reflective and inventive of site of 'local consumption' as you have defined it.

Assessment item 2: Fictocritical Essay: Sensing Selves

Objectives	b, c, d
Value	30%
Due	Week 15
Word limit	1000-1500 wds
Task	Write a fictocritical essay on the topic 'Sensing Selves'. You are able to define, redefine , cut-up or pervert this title as long as doing so reflects a knowledge and appreciation of the history and cultural meanings of the idea of 'the senses' and 'the self'.
Assessment criteria	Writing style and expression reflective and inventive of your response to 'Sensing Selves' as you have chosen to understand this topic. Demonstration of original research Capacity to synthesise ideas and display that synthesis through appropriate writing styles.

Assessment item 3: Present a Verbal Overview of and Hand in Journal of Responses to Four Different Weeks (Excluding Workshop Weeks)

Objectives	b, c, d
Value	20%
Due	Week 14
Task	In the final week students are to deliver a 5 minute verbal overview (about 500 words) of their various responses to four of the weeks of their own choosing (excluding Week 5). These written responses must each be about 300 words long.
Assessment criteria	Clarity of responses Originality of responsiveness within class time limits Written display of critical/creative intelligence.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Indicative references

Ficto-critical Writing Book of Readings

All writing students are expected to read widely in fiction and non-fiction.