| Course
Syllabi for: |
English 190H: |
The Supernatural in Literature |
Fall 2002, Gieger |
Course Description:
This course will focus on two categories of the supernatural in
literature (the vampire & the haunted house) and investigate
their continuing popularity and fascination for readers of literature
and viewers of popular culture. We will study works from the 18th
century through the 1990s, both locating our texts in their historical/cultural
moments and seeking out how they speak to our own current fantasies
and fears. Come prepared to share your reactions to and thoughts
on these works of terror and suspense as we sketch out the enduring
appeal of the frightening and the mysterious.
Warning!!!Some of the texts we will study feature moments
of graphic violence and/or explicit sexuality.
Course Requirements:
| 10% |
Attendance & Participation |
| |
(After more than 6 absences, you risk failing the course) |
| 10% |
Discussion Leader / Oral Presentation |
| |
(On a day you choose, start class discussion with observations/questions
about themes, passages, or a passage from that day's reading-5
minutes) |
| 10% |
Thought Questions |
| |
(Semi-informal responses [1 ½ to 2 pages] to the content,
themes, or issues present in our texts) |
| 15% |
Three Prepared Questions for Discussion on Mondays' Readings |
| |
(written or typed questions about themes, episodes, or moments
in that day's reading[s]; handed in weekly) |
| 15% |
Midterm |
| |
(One Essay Question) |
| 20% |
Paper |
| |
(7-8 pages, citing at least 3 researched, critical sources
& 1 of our works) |
| 20% |
Final Exam |
| |
(Two Essay Questions) |
Required Texts:
(In the order that we will read them)
Polidori, Byron, et al.; The Vampyre and Other Tales of the
Macabre (Oxford)
Le Fanu; In a Glass Darkly (Oxford)
Stoker; Dracula (Norton)
Wolf, ed.; Blood Thirst: 100 Years of Vampire Fiction (Oxford)
Brite, ed.; Love in Vein II (Harper)
Holland; Lord of the Dead (Pocket)
Radcliffe; A Sicilian Romance (Oxford)
Doyle; The Hound of the Baskervilles (Dover)
Ward, ed.; Great Short Stories by American Women (Dover)
Grafton, ed; Classic Ghost Stories (Dover)
Grafton, ed.; Great Ghost Stories (Dover)
Haining, ed.; The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (Carroll
& Graf)
James; Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories (Oxford)
Wilde; The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories (Dover)
Jackson, The Haunting of Hi 11 House (Penguin)
Course Schedule:
| M 9/2 |
Labor Day! |
| W 9/4 |
Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe [1809-18491: "Annabel Lee" [1849]
Robert Blair [1699-1746]: from The Grave [1743]
James Hervey [1714-1758]: from Meditations among the Tombs [1745/46-47] |
| M 9/9 |
Before Dracula: Science, Thrillers,
and the Vampyre
George Gordon, Lord Byron [1788-1824]: "Augustus Darvell"
[1819]
(The Vampyre and Other Taks of the Macabre, pgs. 246-251)
John Polidori [1795-1821]: The Vampyre [1819]
(The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, pgs. 3-23 &
23 5-245)
Anonymous: "The Victim" [18311
(The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, pgs. 87-98)
Anonymous: "Life in Death" [1833]
(The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, pgs. 129-137)
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu [1814-1873]: "Green Tea" [1872J
(In a Glass Darkly, pages 5-40) |
| W 9/11 |
Before Dracula, Part LI: Feminine
Wiles
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu [1814-1873]: "Carmilla" [1872]
(In a Glass Darkly, pgs. 243-319)
Emily Gerard: from "Transylvanian Superstitions" [1885]
(Dracula, pgs. 33 1-335)
Lafcadio Hearn [1850-1904]: "The Story of Chiigor~"
[19041
(Blood Thirst, pgs. 12-16) |
| M 9/16 |
Brain Stoker [1847-1912]: Dracula
[1897] (Chapters 1-7; pages 9-86) |
| W 9/18 |
Stoker: Dracula (Ch. 8-11; pgs.
86-132) |
| M 9/23 |
Stoker: Dracula (Ch. 12-19; pgs.
133-228) |
| W 9/25 |
Stoker: Dracula (Ch. 20-24; pgs.
229-285) |
| M 9/30 |
Stoker: Dracula (Ch. 25-27; pgs.
285-327)
James Malcolm Rymer: from Varney the Vampyre [1845-47]
(Dracula, pgs. 335-338)
Stephen King [1947- J: from Salem's Lot [1976] (Blood Thirst,
pgs. 51-66) |
| W 10/2 |
The 20th century Vampire
C. L. Moore [191 1-1987]: "Shambleau" [1933] (Blood
Thirst; pgs. 136-159) Richard Matheson [1926-]: from lAm Legend
[1954]
(Blood Thirst, pgs. 178-187)
Charles Beaumont [1929-1967]: "Blood Brother" [1961]
(Blood Thirst; pgs. 316-320)
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro [1942-]: from H6tel Transylvania [1977]
(Blood Thirst, pgs. 325-33 6) |
| M 10/7 |
The Erotic/Heroic Vampire
Tanith Lee [1947- J: "Bite-Me-Not Or, Fleur de Fen"
[1984]
(Blood Thirst, pgs. 290-311)
Anne Rice 11941-]: "The Master of Rampling Gate" [1983]
(Blood Thirst, pgs. 337-358)
Neil Gaiman: "Snow, Glass, Apples" [1994] (Love in
Vein II, pgs.3-21)
O'Neil De Noux: "Whispers in Walled Tombs" [1997]
(Love in Vein II, pgs.69-94)
Lucy Taylor: "Ceilings and Sky" [1997] (Love in Vein
ll~ pgs.97-I 19)
Richard Laymon: "First Date" [1997] (Love in Vein
II, pgs.385-416) |
| W 10/9 |
The X-Files: "Bad Blood"
[1998] |
| M 10/14 |
Tom Holland: Lord of the Dead [1995]
(Ch. 1-6; pgs. 1-150) |
| W 10/16 |
Holland: Lord of the Dead (Ch. 7-10;
pgs. 15 1-246) |
| M 10/21 |
Holland: Lord of the Dead (Ch. 11-13;
pgs. 247-342) |
| W 10/23 |
Midterm |
| M 10/28 |
The Gothic
Ann Radcliffe [1764-1823]: A Sicilian Romance [1790]
(Read Chapters 1-10; Pages 1-134) |
| W 10/30 |
The Gothic and the Family
Radcliffe: A Sicilian Romance (Ch. 11-16; pgs. 135-199) |
| M 11/4 |
The Gothic and the Detective
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 11859-19301: The Hound of the Baskervilles
[1901/02] (Ch. 1-12; pgs. 1-99) |
| W 11/6 |
Reality or Delusion?
Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Ch. 13-15; pgs. 99-124)
Daniel Defoe [1660-1731]: "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal"
117061 (Photocopy)
Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Price) 11814-1887]: "Reality or
Delusion?" [18741
(Classic Ghost Stories, pgs. 5 9-73)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman [1860-1935]: "The Yellow Wallpaper"
[1892]
(Great Short Stories by American Women, pgs. 73-8 8) |
| M 11/11 |
Library Tour |
| W 11/13 |
Narrative Technique & Narrative
Chills
Edward Bulwer [1803-1873]: "Monos and Daimonos" [1830]
(The Vainpyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, pgs. 53-61)
James Hogg [1770-1835]: "Some Terrible Letters from Scotland"
[1832]
(The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, pgs. 99-112)
Ambrose Bierce [1842-ca.1914]: "The Moonlit Road"
[18941
(Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 5 3-60)
Ralph A. Cram [1863-19421: "In Kropfsberg Keep" [18951
(Classic Ghost Stories, pgs. 14 1-149)
H. Russell Wakefield [1888-1964]: "Ghost Hunt" [19381
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 73-79)
Fay Weldon [1931-]: "Watching Me, Watching You" [1980]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 309-325) |
| M 11/18 |
Spectral Justice
Sheridan Le Fanu: "The Familiar" & "Mr. Justice
Rardbottle" [1872]
(In a Glass Darkly, pgs. 41-82 & 83-118)
Robert Louis Stevenson [1850-18941: "The Body-Snatcher"
[1884]
(Classic Ghost Stories, pgs. 86-101)
Charles Dickens [1812-1870]: "To Be Taken with a Grain
of Salt" [18651
(Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 13-22)
Brain Stoker [1847-1912]: "The Judge's House" [1891]
(Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 3 2-46)
Jerome K. Jerome [1859-1927]: "A Ghost Story" [1892]
(Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 47-52)
E. F. Benson [1867-1940]: "The Confession of Charles Linkworth"
[1912] (Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 88-100)
Thorp McClusky [1906-?]: "The Considerate Hosts" [1939]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 25 3-264) |
| W 11/20 |
The Supernatural and the Scholar
M. R. James [1862-1936]: "The Mezzotint," "Count
Magnus," "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad,"'
"The Tractate Middoth," "Casting the Runes,"
"The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral," "Mr. Humphreys
and His Inheritance," & "Rats" (Casting the
Runes and Other Ghost Stories) |
| M 11/25 |
The Ghost and the Home
Amelia B. Edwards [1831-1892]: "The Phantom Coach"
[1864]
(Great Ghost Stories, pgs. 1-12)
Oscar Wilde [1854-1900]: "The Canterville Ghost" [1891]
(The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories, pgs. 1-24)
Henry James 11843-19161: "The Real Right Thing" [1900]
(Classic Ghost Stories, pgs. 113-124)
Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman [1852-1930]: "The Lost Ghost"
[1903]
(Classic Ghost Stories, pgs. 150-164)
Virginia Woolf [1882-1941]: "A Haunted House" [1921]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 69-71)
Hugh Walpole [1884-1941]: "A Little Ghost" [1922]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 461-476)
Joan Aiken [1924-]: "The Companion" [1978]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 547-5 56)
Penelope Lively [1933-]: "Uninvited Ghosts" [1981]
(The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories; pgs. 489-494) |
| W 11/27
***Class Cancelled*** Enjoy Thanksgiving Early! |
M 12/2 |
Shirley Jackson [1919-1965]: The
Haunting of Hill House [1959]
(Ch.1-7; pgs. 3-205) |
| W 12/4 |
Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House
(Ch. 7-9; pgs. 208-246) |
| M 12/9 |
Film |
| W 12/11 |
Film |
|
