UnitLevel 2Undergraduate

ATS2519 Children's literature: A comparative study

Faculty of Arts

ATS2519 Children's literature: A comparative study is a level 2, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts, offered in 2023 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.

Credit points
6
Offered in 2023
Semester 2
Clayton
Assessment
No exam
3 tasks
Workload
144 hours
per semester

This is the 2023 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.

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Requisites

Before ATS2519

No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.

After ATS2519

No unit lists ATS2519 as a prerequisite in the 2023 handbook.

Enrolment rules

Prohibition: ATS3519

Prerequisite: Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.

Overview

The unit introduces students to major developments in children's literature from the Victorian "Golden Age" to contemporary dystopian fiction. It examines canonical works by British, American, and Australian authors in a range of genres and forms, including the picture book. Specific issues examined include changing notions of childhood and the child figure, and the concept of the implied child/adolescent reader. Students will consider the ideological implications of the adult interests vested in the production of children's literature, and how the genre works to socialise children into dominant views about gender, race and class.

Offerings in 2023

Teaching periodCampusMode
Second semesterClaytonOn campus

Assessment

  • Annotated BibliographyResearch assignment
    15%
  • Essay
    35%
  • Essay
    50%

Learning outcomes

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

  1. 1

    Explain the historic context of the development of the main genres of children's literature, and of contemporary trends and issues;

  2. 2

    Discuss the ways in which different cultures construct different ideas of childhood, and of implied child readers;

  3. 3

    Critically analyse the ways in which adult and child readers learn to construct cultural paradigms, particularly relating to gender and race, through their reading;

  4. 4

    Apply skills pertaining to narratology, deconstruction and discourse analysis;

  5. 5

    Recognise and analyse the ideological significance of childhood reading;

  6. 6

    Explore the cultural contexts surrounding the production and reception of children's literature.

Workload and teaching

  • Tutorials24 hours
  • Lectures12 hours
  • Teaching approachActive learning
  • Teaching approachResearch activities
  • Teaching approachCase-based teaching

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

This unit engages students in actively applying their knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.

This unit allows students to develop their research skills by engaging in structured inquiry using a systematic approach and discipline-specific methodologies.

This unit includes case-based teaching, where students apply their knowledge and engage in analytical and reflective thinking to solve complex contextual scenarios. Activities are often designed so that there is not one clear answer, but students need to work together to examine, analyse and make decisions to resolve the situation.

Learning resources

Required resources

There are required texts for this unit. Required texts are usually available for purchase through the University Bookstore (https://www.monash.edu/retail/books) and are sometimes available for short-term loan or as eBooks through the library (https://www.monash.edu/library).

Where it fits

ATS2519 is part of 2 areas of study in the 2023 handbook.

Contacts

Unit Coordinators
Associate Professor Michelle Smith
Chief Examiners
Associate Professor Michelle Smith

Common questions

What are the prerequisites for ATS2519?

ATS2519 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.

When is ATS2519 offered?

In 2023, ATS2519 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.

How much work is ATS2519?

The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.

Does ATS2519 have an exam?

No. ATS2519 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.

Which majors and minors include ATS2519?

ATS2519 is part of Literary studies.

More details

Credit points
6
Level
2
Study level
Undergraduate
Faculty
Faculty of Arts
Organisational unit
Literary Studies
Type
Coursework
EFTSL
0.125
Student contribution
SCA Band 1
Study abroad
Available