Hugh Mackay argues that myths and generation gaps ‘aren’t biologically inevitable: they are simply the result of different generations spending their formative years in different social, cultural, economic and technological environments’ (Mackay, H 1997, Generations, Macmillian Sydney, p. 1). Using some of the 'gaps' Mackay identifies in his argument, explore a selection of generational tensions in George Johnston's My brother Jack. Find some direct evidence from the novel that suggests that the characters are products of their social and cultural context and show how this evidence is significant for our reading of the novel.

Word Length: 1200 words

This assignment will be evaluated on your ability to:

1. Develop a coherent argument using direct evidence from the novel and the Mackay text;
2. Express yourself clearly (including spelling and grammar); and,
3. Acknowledge all your sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style.

Choose one of the following topics.

NB. Texts used in this essay should not be used in the research essay.

Topics

1. ‘There’s a time for sowin’, and a time for reapin’ (Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, 2001, p. 287). Do you agree with Emma’s comment? Why?
2. What makes Les Murray’s poem 'The Last Hellos' Australian?
3. In Patrick White's The eye of the storm, Elizabeth Hunter's 'desire for the illusion of beauty' shapes her identity and taints her memories. Discuss.
4. In The Orchard, what is the significance of the re-growth of the hands (p.267)?
5. 'Tim Winton's characters in Dirt Music inhabit a place that is both physically and emotionally at the very frontier of existence. This changes them in destructive ways'. Discuss.
6. Bliss is a story about the stories the characters tell in order to make sense of the world they live in. Discuss.
7. The slap, by Christos Tsiolkas, has been described as literary soap opera: lots of bubbles and froth but not much substance. Discuss.
8. Devlin-Glass suggests that Alexis Wright's Carpentaria 'melds satire with a new form of magic realism based in Indigenous knowledge' (Devlin-Glass, F 2008, 'A politics of the dreamtime: destructive and regenerative rainbows in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria', Australian Literary Studies, vol.23, no.4, p.392). How does this process work and what effect does it have on our understanding of Indigenous issues?
9. The major theme of Andrew Bovell’s ‘Speaking in tongues’ is betrayal, but without much guilt and even less self-reflection. Discuss.

Length: 1600 words

This assignment will be marked based on your ability to:

1. Establish a clear argument (thesis) which is then supported with relevant direct textual analysis and critical comment (minimum 5 scholarly sources);
2. Express yourself clearly (including spelling and grammar); and,
3. Acknowledge all your sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style.

Topics:

Choose one of the following (NB. Texts used in other assignments may not be used in this research essay):

1. ‘Australian land and urban-scapes, frequently barren in themselves, are often metaphors for psychic and emotional quests characterised by disintegration and loss’. Discuss with reference to at least two of the set texts (or one of the set texts and a selection of Australian poetry).
2. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna Longley argue that ‘Those who don't fit into the dominant historical narrative, who are not assimilated, either exist as boundary markers, token figures, or are consigned to the margin and thus either to invisibility or to permanent opposition.’ Discuss with reference to two of the set texts (or one of the set texts and a selection of Australian poetry).

Length: No less than 2500 words

This assignment will be assessed based on your ability to:

1. Establish a clear argument (thesis) which is then supported with relevant direct textual analysis and critical comment (minimum 6 secondary sources);
2. Express yourself clearly (including spelling and grammar); and,
3. Acknowledge all your sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style.