I N T D 1 0 0:
MONSTERS AND FAIRY TALES
Fall 2015
Professor: Kate Durbin
Email: katedurbinteacher@gmail.com
“A nightmarish figure dwelling somewhere between genuine terror and high camp, a morbid repository for the psychic projections of diverse cultures, an endless recyclable mass-media icon, the vampire is an enduring object of fascination, fear, ridicule, and reverence.”
-back cover of The Vampire Lectures by Laurence Rickels
“Monsters…serve as the ultimate incorporation of our anxieties—about history, about identity, about our very humanity. As they always will.”–Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Monster Theory
Course Objectives
This course is designed to help you become a successful critical thinker and writer, equipped for the rigors of academic discourse. You will achieve these goals by cultivating active reading skills, developing effective writing habits, and learning to understand and use the many rhetorical techniques available to writers. By the end of the semester, you should be able to:
- Read texts critically, noting how a text’s style, structure, and context contribute to its meanings and implications.
- Write well organized, clearly written argumentative essays that are supported by strong evidence and clear explanation, and which employ a rhetoric and tone appropriate to the broader academic audience.
- Research—and integrate—credible and relevant sources that support the thesis of your essays.
- Apply effective drafting and revision techniques to your essays, including improved proofreading skills.
- Format your papers according to Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines.
The class readings will act as prompts for critical thinking about and engagement with others’ writing. As a key part of a community of writers, you will actively critique your peers’ work. Lively and regular engagement in the classroom is also necessary to your success in INTD 100. This class, which emphasizes the process of writing, will require a considerable workload, and moves at a rapid pace, so you must be prepared to commit a substantial amount of time to each assignment.
Why Monsters? Why Fairy Tales?
Monsters have been with us since the dawn of civilization, as well as the dawn of literature. From the chupacabra of Latin America to Dracula of Eastern and then Western Europe to the boogeyman of suburban childhood to the globalized threat of the zombies of 28 Days Later to the sexy North American vampires of the Twilight series, monsters have long provided us with clues to better understanding the various cultures from which they spawned—in particular, to understanding cultural fears, taboos, fantasies, and hidden desires. Three persistent cultural fears and desires monsters persistently remind us of—and of which we will talk about at length in this class—are long-standing human feelings toward difference (the Other), sex, and death.
Monsters have stalked us throughout the centuries, mutating with the times and yet still remaining stubbornly socially unacceptable and often undead. In this course, we will explore how the monster’s trajectory through culture, time and space reflects our own.
Fairy tales are rife with monsters--from the big bad wolf to the witch in Sleeping Beauty. Our exploration of these culture-shaping myths will follow the same vein as our study of horror narratives, but in addition to studying the cultural fears and desires the monsters in fairy tales represent, we will also examine the ways in which the narratives of fairy tales have shaped various social norms and taboos for centuries. We will look at the ways in which these (sometimes archaic) archetypal narratives still pop up in our world today, even where we least expect it. We will also look for the ways in which some of these narratives have shifted with the times.
Required Texts and Supplies
Dracula by Bram Stoker ISBN-10: 0743477367 *very important that you have this specific edition, for the introduction
Norton Fairy Tales
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Frankenstein (Norton Critical)
Readings via links on Class Blog (check syllabus)
Note: Always, always bring the book you were assigned to read and A Writer’s Reference to every class meeting unless informed otherwise by your Professor. Please note that even if we do not useA Writer’s Reference in class for several weeks, you are still required to have it on hand. Points will be taken off for failure to purchase and utilize this book.
Note: All books are available in the Whittier College Bookstore, and also can be purchased at Amazon.com (please choose 2-day delivery if you order online, and order immediately).
Note: Make sure you get the same editions of the books your teacher has and the bookstore has. You cannot use different editions, as they do not have the required supplemental texts. You will lose points for having the wrong editions.
NOTE: THE BOOKSTORE RETURNS ALL UNBOUGHT BOOKS AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS INTO THE SEMESTER! DO NOT WAIT TO BUY ANY OF YOUR BOOKS.
Note: Points will be taken off for those who fail to have their books on time. All of the books you are to buy for this class are relatively cheap, and plentiful—I would strongly recommend ordering them new and having them shipped as quickly as possible.
Course Requirements
Students will write four essays, one of which is an in-class essay. The course will also include in-class quizzes, writing process work, Peer Reviews, and other group work. Students will compose first drafts of all their essays, in addition to other pre-writing activities such as outlining and brainstorming. They may also receive the opportunity to share some of their writing aloud with the entire class, as well as with one another in Peer Reviews. Any work done in class cannot be made up if missed. Homework will include reading comprehension questions, and writing process work.
Note: To insure participation and on-time attendance, there will be a daily reading question at the beginning of class which functions both as a critical writing assignment and a reading/participation quiz. These quizzes are absolutely unrepeatable and impossible to make up. You must do your reading regularly. Anyone who does not regularly do well on reading quizzes will not pass the course.
Written Assignment Standards
Any writing done outside of class must be typed and follow the conventions of MLA style (see A Writer’s Reference 354-412). All outside assignments should be in twelve point Times New Roman or Garamond fonts, with one-inch margins, and black ink only. Do not use title pages or report covers; follow the MLA guidelines for formatting. All copies must be submitted on time. In addition, please think ahead when it comes to printing out, stapling essays, etc. Never turn in faded printing or unstapled documents. Never turn in any assignment without your name, my name, the date, and the class time, typed in the far left corner. Points will be taken off for failure to follow these basic instructions. I do not provide staples in class, and I do take points off for late work—even if it’s just ten or fifteen minutes late.
Very Important Note: While you will be turning in hard copies of your rough drafts and a few other assignments, you will be required to turn in your final drafts via email only. The same formatting and MLA guidelines apply to these emailed assignments, as does the fact that they are due at the beginning of class. All of your emailed assignments will receive notes and scores electronically only, which is very convenient, organized, and helpful for both you and me.
Please note that I do not accept hard copy assignments such as rough drafts via email. The only assignments I accept via email are final drafts. This is to ensure I keep my inbox organized.
Also, please note that for every half hour a paper is late, your score goes down one whole letter grade.
Point Breakdown
Quizzes, Homework, Class Participation and Activities: 200
Essay #1—Analysis: 150
Essay #2—In Class Essay (Comparison/Contrast): 200
Essay #3—Argument: 200
Essay #4—Final Essay: 250
Total: 1000
Attendance Policies
As your success depends on regular attendance and active participation, regular attendance is required. Work done in class—quizzes, group work, Peer Reviews, etc.—cannot be made up and you will not be allowed to make up work completed after you arrive. You will also not receive participation credit if you are not in class to participate! Participation credit is primarily given for sharing your thoughts aloud during class discussions--so please speak up.
If you have to be absent, please make arrangements with a classmate to turn in assignments for you, or turn in your work to my mailbox in in the English Dept. at least twenty minutes before the start of class (I will pick it up before class begins). No excuses, barring written, professional proof of illness or extreme emergency, will be accepted without prior notice.
Note: The Professor reserves the right to lower the final grade of any student with more than two unexcused absences or three unexcused tardies. Please do not be tardy. It is very disruptive to the class and to myself, and this class meets for a very short time frame. However, if you do end up arriving late for whatever reason, enter the room quietly. All tardies, whether I appear to notice your late entrance or not, are duly noted. In addition, if you are more than 15 minutes late to class, I will consider you absent.
Lastly, please do not arrive on time and then ask to be excused to the restroom or to get a drink of water. Do these things before class, or you will be considered tardy. Please don't leave in the middle of class to do these things either, except on rare occasions (and in those cases do them quickly and return to class). I require that you ask me permission before leaving, only because students have exploited this option in the past.
If you have a medical condition, let me know.
Missing/Late Assignments
All homework assignments and essays are due at the beginning of class. Late papers will not be accepted under any but the most extreme circumstances, and written proof will always be required (notes from parents do not count). Computer or printer problems, procrastination, and the complications of your academic and social lives are not extreme circumstances. This class has a heavy workload, and if I accept your late assignments, not only do you create more work for me, but you hinder yourself as well. If you know you will be gone, hand in or have a peer turn in your work for you. If it is an email assignment, obviously you should simply email it early.
Class Conduct
Cell phones should be quiet and out of sight. Absolutely no texting and no taking phone calls during class. If I see you looking at your phone once class has started (even just pulling it out of your pocket), it will be mine until the end of class. Please be respectful and do not talk while others are sharing. Raise your hand before speaking. As mentioned prior, be on time, and if you are late, enter the room very quietly. Stay in the room during class unless absolutely necessary (and abuse of this privilege will result in loss of the privilege). Please use the restroom and get water before class begins, not right after it does. You are welcome to bring food and drinks into class provided they don’t become a distraction.
Note: If you prefer to take notes on a laptop or iPad please discuss this with me. In general, I prefer for you to take notes on paper, so as not to disrupt the focus of our attentions in class.
Final Thoughts
A composition class requires hard work and is time consuming. Double check your schedule to be sure you have allotted enough time for this class. The rule of thumb is to expect to work two hours out of class for every hour in class.
This will be one of the most important classes you take—one that will affect how you do in your other classes as well as your job performance after graduation. Work hard. Do well. Your hard work will pay rich dividends beyond your academic career.
*A syllabus is a contract. Your continued attendance in this class means that you have read, understand, and agree to all of the expectations, policies and guidelines in this syllabus. I strongly recommend reviewing the syllabus several times throughout the semester, paying close attention to the attendance and class work policies.
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