Course coordinator
Dr Melissa Dickson
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2025 (28/07/2025 - 22/11/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Communication & Arts School
This course introduces students to major works of literature from the 1850s to the first decades of the twentieth century. This period of dramatic change, as Britain moved rapidly from a predominantly rural economy to become an urbanised, industrialised nation will be discussed alongside key issues such as transforming attitudes about Christianity, evolution, and scientific materialism; gender, sexuality and the role of women; changing social and community relations; debates about democracy and the role of Empire; and the development of new sciences, technologies, and psychologies. We will consider how such writers as George Eliot, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, and Virginia Woolf addressed and reflected such issues in their work, across various genres including the novel, drama, the short story, the poem and the essay. We will also consider how the literature of this period relates to the Romanticism that preceded it and we will consider the forces of Modernism that transformed Victorian and Edwardian aesthetics.
Course requirements
Assumed background
Students should be at an advanced level of their undergraduate study. As a 3000-levelﾠcourse, ENGL3900ﾠdraws from and builds uponﾠyour previous experiences of reading and thinking about literature throughout your major.ﾠ
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
ENGL1800 or ENGL1500, 2 units of Level 2 ENGL courses
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
ENGL1900
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Melissa Dickson
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Whilst every effort is made to place students in their preferred activity, it is not always possible for a student to be enrolled in their tutorial of choice. If you require assistance, please ensure that you email timetabling.commarts@enquire.uq.edu.au from your UQ student email with:
- Your name
- Your student ID
- The course code
- A list of three tutorial preferences (in order of preference)
- Reason for the change – e.g. timetable clash, elite athlete status, SAP
Teaching staff do not have access to change tutorials or help with timetables; all timetabling changes must be processed through the Timetabling Team.
Aims and outcomes
- To give students an understandingﾠof some of the major English-language writersﾠof the period from approximately 1850 toﾠ1960.ﾠ
- To provide an understanding of the keyﾠaesthetic and intellectual movements of the period.ﾠ
- To offer ways in which these literary texts can be read and understood within their intellectual and social contexts.ﾠ
- To develop oral and written argumentation skills.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Have an understanding of some of the most significant English-language writers, and intellectual and aesthetic movements of the period from approximately 1850 to 1960
LO2.
Have an understanding of the key political, cultural, and biographical contexts out of which English-language literature of 1850-1960 emerged.
LO3.
Formulate, present and defend a proposal or position with relation to modern literature, tolerate constructive criticism, and incorporate feedback into ongoing projects.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay/ Critique | Short Essay | 20% 800 words |
29/08/2025 4:00 pm |
| Essay/ Critique | Research Essay | 50% 1500 words |
31/10/2025 4:00 pm |
| Examination |
Final Examination
|
30% |
End of Semester Exam Period 8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 |
Assessment details
Short Essay
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Essay/ Critique
- Weight
- 20% 800 words
- Due date
29/08/2025 4:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03
Task description
You will be asked to write an essay of 800 words ( including quotations) on EITHER Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the Durbervilles OR Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest OR one of the Victorian poems you have studied in response to a question provided ahead of time.
You will find the essay guidelines and Turnitin submission link on Blackboard.
Your essay should have a clear argument, illustrated by appropriate evidence from the texts (including quotations). You are not required to cite secondary material.
Use of Generative AI/MT: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Please submit via TurnItIn on the link provided on Blackboard.
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Research Essay
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Essay/ Critique
- Weight
- 50% 1500 words
- Due date
31/10/2025 4:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03
Task description
You will be asked to write a research essay of 1500 words ( including quotations) in response to a question given ahead of time.
You may not discuss any text you wrote about for the short essay.
You will find the essay guidelines and Turnitin submission link on Blackboard.
Use of Generative AI/MT: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Please submit via TurnItIn on the link provided on Blackboard.
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Final Examination
- Identity Verified
- In-person
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 30%
- Due date
End of Semester Exam Period
8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03
Task description
The final exam for ENGL3900 will assess your understanding of key Victorian and Modernist concepts, texts, and techniques through a combination of short answer and close reading tasks.
The exam consists of two parts: Part A (Short Answer Questions) and Part B (Close Reading Essays). You must complete both parts of the examination.
PART A is comprised of 10 short answers questions (each question = 1 mark). Write 1–3 full sentences in response to each question.
PART B asks you to write 2 close reading essays (each essay= 10 marks). Choose 2 of4 extracts provided and write a short essay of approximately 500–600 words in response to the accompanying question.
Use of Generative AI/MT: This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | No calculators permitted |
| Open/closed book | Closed book examination - no written materials permitted |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 24 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 25 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
- Where fractional marks occur in the calculation of the final grade, a mark of x.5% or greater will be rounded up to (x+1)%. A percentage mark of less than x.5% will be rounded down to x%.
- Where no assessable work is received, a Grade of X will apply.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
- Further information regarding the assessment, including marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course.
- Marks Cannot Be Changed After Being Released: Marks are not open to negotiation with course staff. If you wish to discuss the feedback you have received, you should make an appointment to speak with the Course Coordinator.
- Assessment Re-mark: If you are considering an Assessment Re-mark, please follow the link to important information you should consider before submitting a request.
- Integrity Pledge: Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin. Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Modules.ﾠIn uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
- Withholding marks prior to finalisation of grades: Per UQ Assessment Procedures – Release of Assessment Item Marks and Grades: The final assessment item and the marks for the assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
ﾠ
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (28 Jul - 03 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 1 Lecture: Introduction We begin this module with an introduction to the course in general and to the Victorian Era in particular. I will outline some of the themes and ambivalences that we find in works of the Victorian era, many of which will emerge in the texts we’ll be reading in the following weeks. The scientific, technological, and socio-cultural of the period provide important context for the literature to come, and it is in many ways impossible to think through that literature without some kind of grasp of the milieu in which they were written, read, received, and published. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 1 : NO TUTORIALS No tutorials in week 1 |
|
Week 2 (04 Aug - 10 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 2 Lecture: Victorian Poetry This week is dedicated to Victorian poetry, a form deeply interested in this dichotomy between poetry and eloquence, which speaks to a distinction in attitudes and understandings of the purpose of art, specifically poetry, as either an act of meditation, and retreat into solitude, turning the mind inward upon its own thoughts and emotions, or a means of getting out into society, addressing audiences, rubbing shoulders with people, and participating in the world. Victorian poetry is deeply involved in that dichotomy, but it also committed to disturbing it in practice too, and in combining these different modes of writing in unstable mixtures. Copies of the set poems will be supplied in advance via Blackboard. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 2 Tutorial A selection of poetry will be provided on Blackboard. Please read them in advance of our meeting. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 3 (11 Aug - 17 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 3 Lecture: Tess of the D'Urbervilles This week we turn to Tess of the D'Urbervilles, ,a novel written in the Realist tradition of the Victorian Era, and a novel that is deeply concerned with the social, cultural, sexual, religions traditions of that Era, and which sets out to show us, in no uncertain terms, the damage that can be done by those who hold steadfastly to social conventions and rules. Thomas Hardy was a man highly critical of his Late Victorian society, who used his works of literature to expose and explore its hypocrisies, its cruelties, and its tragedies, but who did so very much within the forms and narrative structures of that era. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 3 Tutorial Please read Tess of the D'Urbervilles before we meet Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 4 (18 Aug - 24 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 4: Lecture: The Importance of Being Earnest This week we move from the literary realism and naturalism of Thomas Hardy to the aestheticism of Oscar Wilde, focusing on The Importance of Being Earnest. After a brief outline of Wilde's life, we will move on to his social, cultural, and ideological position as an aesthete in late nineteenth-century Britain, before turning more fully to The Importance of Being Earnest as as our case study and an example of a well-made play. |
Tutorial |
Week 4 Tutorial Please read The Importance of Being Earnest before we meet Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 5 (25 Aug - 31 Aug) |
Not Timetabled |
Week 5: Reading Week There is no lecture or tutorials this week to enable you to finish your first assignment for the course, and read ahead for the coming weeks. |
Week 6 (01 Sep - 07 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 6 Lecture: Decadent Short Fiction This week explores the decadent movement through short fiction that revels in artifice, sensation, and aesthetic transgression. We’ll consider how these texts challenge moral conventions, blur boundaries between beauty and decay, and stage the self as performance. Themes of desire, ennui, and excess will be central, as will the idea of art for art’s sake. Copies of the set stories will be provided on blackboard. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 6 Tutorial: Copies of the set stories will be provided via blackboard and the library. Please read these before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 7 (08 Sep - 14 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 7 Lecture: Heart of Darkness This week we read Heart of Darkness, a novella by the Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad, which recounts a sailor's story of his journey as steamer captain in the African interior. We will position this novel as a critique of European colonial rule in Africa, whilst also examining questions of power dynamics and morality. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 7 Tutorial: Please read Heart of Darkness before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 8 (15 Sep - 21 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 8 Lecture: The Wasteland This week we turn to T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland' as a prime example of modernist poetry, focusing on formal experimentation, fragmentation, and the search for new modes of expression in the aftermath of cultural and historical upheaval. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 8 Tutorial: Please read 'The Wasteland' before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 9 (22 Sep - 28 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 9 Lecture: Howards End This week, we move firmly into the twentieth century, with E.M. Forster's masterpiece, Howards End, first published in 1910. We will consider its treatment of social conventions, codes of conduct and romance in turn-of-the-century England. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 9 Tutorial Please read Howards End before we meet Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Mid Sem break (29 Sep - 05 Oct) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Mid-Semester Break |
Week 10 (06 Oct - 12 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 10 Lecture: Modernist Short Fiction This week we turn to modernist short stories by the New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, and Irish writer James Joyce. You are, of course, welcome to read more stories than the two set; however, we will be focusing our discussion on 'The Dead' and 'The Garden Party'. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 10 Tutorial: Please read the Joyce and Mansfield stories before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 11 (13 Oct - 19 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 11 Lecture: Jacob's Room Nearing the end of our course, we look at a modernist novel, Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room, published in 1922. Woolf's third novel, Jacob's Room is her first truly experimental work. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 11 Tutorial: Please read Jacob's Room before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 12 (20 Oct - 26 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 12 Lecture: Lady Chatterley's Lover Our final work on the course is D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, a work infamous for its explicit descriptions of sex, use of four-letter words, and depiction of a relationship between an upper-class woman and a working-class man. Perhaps most outrageous at the time, though, was the author's portrayal of female sexual pleasure. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Week 12 Tutorial: Please read Lady Chatterley before we meet. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 13 (27 Oct - 02 Nov) |
Lecture |
Week 13: Course Summary and Exam Preparation In this final lecture, we will revisit the major texts, themes, and critical ideas covered throughout the semester. The session will also offer practical guidance on approaching the final exam: how to tackle close reading passages, how to plan answers to thematic questions, and how to manage your time effectively. This is your chance to ask questions, clarify any uncertainties, and reflect on how the main themes of the course. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
Course guidelines
Communication Expectations
While you are a student at UQ, all communication must be conducted according to the UQ Student Code of Conduct. The UQ Library has a helpful Communicate and collaborate online module.
- Email is the primary way for you to send messages to, and receive information from, the School and our staff.
- You must use your UQ email address (not a private address) to communicate with staff.
- You should add a clear subject line, including course code, and a 2-3 word statement.
- You can send email at any time, however, please do not expect responses outside normal working hours (Monday to Friday from ~8am to ~5pm).
- Emails that constitute bullying, harassment or discrimination against staff contravene the Student Code of Conduct. Emails like this will be reported to the University, and the matter will be pursued as misconduct.