Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism
School of Liberal
Arts and Sciences
Missouri Western
State College
English 210:
Approaches to Literature
Sections 1 & 2
Fall,
2004
Professor:
Dr. Mike Cadden
Section
1: 9:00-9:50 MWF (SM 207)
Section
2: 10:00-10:50 MWF (JGM 220)
Office: 222-F Eder Hall (SS/C)
Office
Hours: 9:00-11:30 T, Th; and by appointment.
Office Phone: 271-4576
E-mail:
cadden@missouriwestern.edu
URL:
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/faculty/cadden.asp(This syllabus is on my website)
Course
Description:
ENG
210, a general studies course, is a sophomore level literature course that
introduces students to different literary genres. This section of ENG 210
focuses on versions of three basic stories: “Beauty and the Beast,”
“Cinderella,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.”
We’ll read different folk tale versions of each tale, discuss films,
read novel versions, consider poetry based on the story, look at children’s
picture book versions, and try to figure out what each version does to, with,
for, and against (in the case of parody) the basic story we have in our heads
as members of this culture. I look forward to exploring these three familiar
tales with you this semester.
Required
Texts:
Levine,
Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.
Lowry,
Lois. Number the Stars.
McKinley,
Robin. Beauty.
Tatar,
Maria, ed. The Classic Fairy Tales.
Evaluation:
General
Class Participation: 10%
Presentation
and Report: 20%
Three
Unit Exams: 70%
Attendance:
The MWSC Policy Guide states that “each
instructor will determine and make known to the class the requirement for
attendance” (45). If you don’t come to class you will obviously jeopardize your
class participation grade. I will not quantify how much presence equals what
grade. I will be judging your total participation performance, not just your
presence. I can also tell you that the exams draw heavily from class work.
Also, since you are responsible for all announcements in class, you run the
risk of missing important information regarding other assignments; I will not
accept absence as an excuse for ignorance. In short, if you’re not here, you’re
going to suffer through other assignments directly and indirectly.
Be on time, please.
Academic Dishonesty: All cases in which students pass off others’ work as their
own will be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs. Students run the risk of
failing the assignment as well as the course, depending on the magnitude and
nature of the offense. If you are unsure about how you are using sources,
please check with me.
Late and Missing Work: I reserve the right to refuse any late work.
Policy on
Students with Disabilities:
Any student in this course who has a disability which requires different
contexts for either evaluation or expression should contact me in the first few
weeks of the course so that those needs can be considered.
Calendar (Subject to Constant and Inexplicable Change):
Aug. 30M-
Introduction to the course.
Sept. 1 W- Goodnight
Moon--an example of textual play. Discussion of Textuality.
3
F- Beaumont’s "Beauty & the Beast" (Tatar 32) and visual images.
6 M- No Class: Labor Day Holiday.
8
W- Angela Carter’s “The Tiger’s Bride” (Tatar 50) and “Urashima the Fisherman”
(Tatar 66).
10 F- Grimms’ “The Frog King” (Tatar 47) and one other from
Tatar of your choice.
13
M- Robin McKinley’s Beauty.
15 W- Beauty.
17 F- Beauty.
20 M- Disney's Beauty and the Beast to be viewed by
today.
22 W- Poetry and
children’s versions.
24 F- Test #1.
27 M- Grimms’ “Cinderella” (Tatar 117) and Perrault’s
“Donkeyskin” (Tatar 109); images.
29 W- “Yeh-hsien” (Tatar 107) and Jacobs’ “Catskin” (Tatar
122).
Oct. 1 F- “The
Story of the Black Cow” (Tatar 125) and “Lin Lan” (Tatar 127).
4 M- Ella Enchanted.
6 W- Ella Enchanted.
8
F- No Class. Fall Holiday.
11
M- Ella Enchanted.
13
W- Poetry.
15 F- Disney
films to be viewed by today: Cinderella and Cinderella II: Dreams Do
Come True.
18 M- Children’s picture book versions.
20 W- More on children’s versions.
22 F- Test #2.
25 M- “Red Riding Hood” introduction--images.
27
W- Grimms’ “Little Red Cap” (Tatar 13) and Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood”
(Tatar 11).
29 F- “The
Story of Grandmother” (Tatar 10) and brief tales by Thurber and Calvino
(Tatar); Last Day to Withdraw.
Nov. 1 M- Poetry; Preregistration
Begins.
3
W- LRRH project—U. of So. Mississippi
(http://www.usm.edu/english/fairytales/lrrh/lrrhhome.htm): choose two tales for
discussion.
5
F- LRRH project continued.
8
M- Angela Carter: Handouts of “The Werewolf” and “In the Company of Wolves.”
10
W- Number the Stars.
12
F- Number the Stars.
15 M- Number the Stars.
17
W- Children’s picture books.
19
F- More children’s picture books.
22
M- Test #3.
29
M- Presentations.
Dec. 1 W-
Presentations.
3 F- Presentations.
6 M- Presentations.
8 W-
Presentations.
9
F- Presentations & Evaluations.
Presentation Report Due:
Section 1: Friday, December 17, 8:30-10:20
Secton 2: Monday, December 13, 8:30-10:20
Participation (10%): This will include a few things and will be assessed at the
end of the semester. “To participate” is not the same thing as “to show up.”
While attendance is necessary for participation, it isn’t enough by itself. Nor
is participation the same thing as constant talking; one might talk constantly
and actually detract from the course. There are ways to participate in such a
way that the course is worthwhile for everyone:
Exams
(70%): You’ll have three
exams. Each exam will have a writing component; they will not be multiple
choice tests. I will provide you passages from our readings for you to comment
on and choices of questions for paragraph-length (or longer) responses. You
should therefore take notes that aren’t limited to data or facts but record the
nature of our discussions and issues that we try to tackle. There may be, in
addition to the written portion, some short answer questions. In any case,
since the tests don’t simply quiz on terms or on matters of plot and character,
it will be very difficult to do well on the exams if you are not in class.
Presentation
and brief accompanying report (20%):
You will prepare a report that examines an example of some form of textual play
and present those findings to the rest of us at the end of the term.
Your
first job is to identify a likely candidate for a report. Perhaps you've
stumbled upon a collection by Alan Garner called Politically Correct Bedtime
Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life & Times. You notice that it
"updates" many old fairy tales in politically correct ways. After
determining that Garner isn't actually serious, you decide to discuss this text
as an example of intertextual play. Or perhaps you've seen a film recently that,
you are told, is "really" a sequel to another film--or book—that you
hadn’t experienced, but you enjoyed it anyway. Why? Shouldn't you have been confused? Was it really a "sequel," after all? You decide to examine that question. Perhaps
you notice an advertisement that alludes to a text you know, but the ad's
allusion to that other text is rather subtle. Did it really have to connect
with the audience? Why or why not? Perhaps you see a film version of a book
you've read--or a printed version of a film you've seen. You notice that the
experience is principally different, even though you think they are pretty true
to each other in many ways? Why does
that change of "genre" so affect your reception? Perhaps you see a version of a tale for one
audience remade for another; how has that been accomplished if it is
successful? How has it failed if it
has? You get the point. In any case,
you might find an instance of genre crossing, parody, imitation, allusion, or
serialization. Your job will be to share it with us and explain it as well as
you can.
This
report will be divided between an explanation or account or summary of
the text in question (what is it?), the analysis of the textual play at
work (how does it work in relation to another text?), and a brief discussion of
significance (why is it interesting or important?). To paraphrase, the
report will be divided between what, how, and “so what?”
I.
Summary: With as much detail as you can muster, explain what you have
found, exactly. Provide information that helps us understand what you’ve
examined and what texts are involved. Who authored the texts? Where were they found? (A word or two of how you stumbled on this
might be interesting.) What sorts of texts are they?
II.
Analysis: With as much detail as you can call forth in a short span of
time, explain what it is that you think is going on with the texts in question.
Make clear whether the texts work off of each other in particular ways:
allusion, imitation, parody, sequeling, etc. What links one text to the
other? Theme? Genre? Audience? Author?
What separates them? Has the
narrative point of view, or plot, or character use, or setting changed? What are you claiming is the relationship
between the texts and what specific features can you point to in order to
support this claim; in other words, marshall your evidence for what amounts to
an argument here.
III.
Significance: So What? What
implications are there for the way we might resond to anything else? Does your example imply something about how
ads work on us? How movies get more
bang for the buck? How audience is
determined? How different genres are
limited in what they can do? What
conclusions can you draw from what you've discovered across/between/in the two
texts?
The
written portion of the report will be about three pages. The in-class
portion will be 8-10 minutes (Don’t go over ten minutes; practice this at
home). How do you present your findings to the class? You should use the three-part structure above as your guide. All
media are welcome, from videotape to film to overhead to handouts to audio tape
to web sites, etc. Consider what will make your job easier in the time you have
allotted to you--an issue to be discussed later.
Let
me know if you want to discuss what you're finding; come on by the office. I am
quite interested in hearing about the possibilities for your report! I strongly discourage folks from waiting
until Thanksgiving to start looking and thinking about options. I want you to
collect a number of possibilities so that you might make a good, thoughtful
decision.