Course Outline

CMN117 Playing with Genre

Course Coordinator:Ginna Brock (gbrock@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries

2026Trimester 2

UniSC Sunshine Coast

UniSC Moreton Bay

Blended learning Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online.

Online

Online You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement.

Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.

What is this course about?

Description

This course introduces you to the conventions of a variety of creative writing genres and consists of a series of exercises and activities designed to develop aspects of a writer's craft and manipulation of genre with a foundation in theory. A selection of readings in a range of genres, styles, and innovations will serve as models for creative writing development and experimentation.

How will this course be delivered?

Activity Hours Beginning Week Frequency
Blended learning
Learning materials – Asynchronous online delivery of learning material. 1hr Week 1 12 times
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Synchronous and scheduled interactive face to face workshops. 2hrs Week 1 12 times
Online
Learning materials – Asynchronous online delivery of learning material. 1hr Week 1 12 times
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Synchronous online interactive workshops (Recorded). 2hrs Week 1 12 times

Course Topics

Course Topics:

  • Fantasy     
  • Science Fiction
  • Speculative Fiction  
  • Romance
  • Adventure 
  • Crime, Detective and Mystery Fiction     
  • Horror and Thriller            
  • Literary Fiction       
  • Creative Non-fiction, Memoir, Autobiography and Biography     
  • Historical Fiction

What level is this course?

100 Level (Introductory)

Engaging with discipline knowledge and skills at foundational level, broad application of knowledge and skills in familiar contexts and with support. Limited or no prerequisites. Normally, associated with the first full-time study year of an undergraduate program.

What is the unit value of this course?

12 units

How does this course contribute to my learning?

Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... Professional Standard Mapping * Education for Sustainable Development Goals
1 Demonstrate knowledge of a range of narrative genres and their conventions used in creative writing practice Knowledgeable
4.1.1
2 Create creative writing artefacts in alignment with publishing industry standards of professional presentation and communication Empowered
17.3.1
3 Create and critically reflect on creative writing in relation to theoretical concepts and/or societal contexts Creative and critical thinker

                                    
4 Analyse creative writing texts using scholarly conventions, critical thinking and the application of theory to practice Creative and critical thinker

                                    

* Competencies by Professional Body

CODE COMPETENCY
Education for Sustainable Development Goals
4.1.1 The learner understands the important role of education and lifelong learning opportunities for all (formal, non-formal and informal learning) as main drivers of sustainable development, for improving people’s lives and in achieving the SDGs
17.3.1 The learner is able to become a change agent to realize the SDGs and to take on their role as an active, critical and global and sustainability citizen.

Am I eligible to enrol in this course?

Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.

Pre-requisites

Not applicable

Co-requisites

Not applicable

Anti-requisites

Not applicable

Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)

You are expected to have established reading and writing skills. English language basics are not taught in this course, except as elements of narrative style.

Microcredential Information

Not applicable

How am I going to be assessed?

Grading Scale

Standard Grading (GRD)

High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL).

Details of early feedback on progress

Students will receive weekly formative feedback in tutorial workshops starting in week 1. 

Assessment tasks

Delivery mode Task No. Assessment Product Individual or Group Weighting % What is the duration / length? When should I submit? Where should I submit it?
All 1 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 30%
Creative Response (20%): 800 words
Critical Reflection (10%): 250 words
Week 4 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All 2 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 30%
Creative Response (20%): 800 words
Critical Reflection (10%): 250 words
Week 8 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All 3 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 40%
Creative Response (20%): 800 words
Critical Reflection (10%): 250 words
Weekly Writing Portfolio (10%)
Week 12 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All - Assessment Task 1:Unit 1 – The Fantastic and the Speculative: Creative/Critical Artefact
Goal:
The goal of this task is to give you an opportunity to develop your writing skills and genre knowledge in fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction. This task will also provide opportunity to critically analyse creative practices and to develop original ideas that align with publishing industry standards
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format:
Professional/industry format: You are required to read, engage with, and discuss the set material each week. Each week your writing portfolio will include short creative writing exercises and reflection on your writing within the set genre conventions. You will receive formative feedback on these attempts. These creative responses will prepare you, and provide the basis, for your Task 1 submission.

For Task 1, you will write a scene/scenario in your chosen genre, with an accompanying critical reflection. The work must be
thoroughly edited and professionally presented. This assessment will be submitted
electronically through Cadmus. More information can be found on Canvas.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1
Demonstrating basic knowledge of narrative genres and their conventions
1
2
Demonstrating basic knowledge of writing for audiences through appropriate content and style
1
3
Creating artefacts in alignment with publishing industry standards of professional presentation and communication
2
4
Demonstrating basic ability to create creative writing artefacts that respond to theoretical concepts and/or societal contexts
3
5
Analysing creative writing texts using scholarly conventions and basic critical thinking
4
6
Competed elements in the writing portfolio
1
Generic Skills:
Communication, Organisation, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 2:Unit 2 – Popular Narrative and Genre Fiction: Creative/Critical Artefact
Goal:
The goal of this task is to give you an opportunity to develop your writing skills and genre
knowledge in crime, adventure, horror and thriller, realism and romance. This task will also provide opportunity to critically analyse creative practices and to develop original ideas that align with publishing industry standards.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format:
Professional/industry format: You are required to read, engage with, and discuss the set
material each week. Each week your writing portfolio will include short creative writing exercises and reflection on your writing within the set genre conventions. You will receive formative
feedback on these attempts in class. These creative responses will prepare you, and provide the basis, for your final assessment in task 2.

In task 2, you will write a scene/scenario in your chosen genre, with an accompanying critical reflection. The work must be
thoroughly edited and professionally presented. This assessment will be submitted
electronically through Cadmus. More information can be found on Canvas.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1
Demonstrating emergent knowledge of narrative genres and their conventions
1
2
Demonstrating emergent knowledge of writing for audiences through appropriate content and style
1
3
Creating artefacts in alignment with publishing industry standards of professional presentation and communication
2
4
Demonstrating emergent ability to create creative writing artefacts that respond to theoretical concepts and/or societal contexts
3
5
Analysing creative writing texts using scholarly conventions and emergent critical thinking
4
6
Competed elements in the writing portfolio
1
Generic Skills:
Communication, Organisation, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 3:Unit 3 – Literary, History, and Nonfiction: Writing Portfolio and Creative/Critical Artefact
Goal:
The goal of this task is to give you an opportunity to develop your writing skills and genre
knowledge in literary fiction, historical fiction, memoir, autobiography and creative non-fiction. This task will also provide opportunity to
critically analyse creative practices and to develop original ideas that align with publishing
industry standards.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format:
Professional/industry format: You are required to read, engage with, and discuss the set
material each week. Each week your writing portfolio will include short creative writing exercises and reflection on your writing within the set genre conventions. You will receive formative
feedback on these attempts. These creative responses will prepare you, and provide the
basis, for your final assessment in task 3.

In task 3, you will write a scene/scenario in your chosen genre, with an accompanying critical reflection. The work must be
thoroughly edited and professionally presented. This assessment will be submitted
electronically through Cadmus. More information can be found on Canvas.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1
Demonstrating developed knowledge of narrative genres and their conventions
1
2
Demonstrating developed knowledge of writing for audiences through appropriate content and style
1
3
Creating artefacts in alignment with publishing industry standards of professional presentation and communication
2
4
Demonstrating developed ability to create creative writing artefacts that respond to theoretical concepts and/or societal contexts
3
5
Analysing creative writing texts using scholarly conventions and developed critical thinking
4
6
Completed elements in the writing portfolio
1
Generic Skills:
Communication, Organisation, Information literacy

Directed study hours

A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.

What resources do I need to undertake this course?

Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.

Prescribed text(s) or course reader

There are no required/recommended resources for this course.

Specific requirements

Nil

How are risks managed in this course?

Health and safety risks for this course have been assessed as low. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the health and safety risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.

What administrative information is relevant to this course?

Assessment: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.

Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.

In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.

Assessment: Additional Requirements

Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment

Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale

Assessment: Submission penalties

Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.

The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty

Links to relevant University policy and procedures

For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:

  • Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
  • Review of Assessment and Final Grades
  • Supplementary Assessment
  • Central Examinations
  • Deferred Examinations
  • Student Conduct
  • Students with a Disability

For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching

Student Charter

UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.

General Enquiries

For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.  

For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: