Syllabus

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MONSTERS AND FAIRY TALES

Fall 2016                                                                                                     

Professor: Kate Durbin

Email: katedurbinteacher@gmail.com or kdurbin@whittier.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday and Friday from 1:30-2:30 PM in Mendenhall top floor; T/Th afternoons by appt. (please email me in advance and we will set up a time) 

“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

"Fairy tales are not unique one-offs....to the contrary, these stories circulate in multiple versions, reconfigured by each telling to form kaleidoscopic variations with distinctly different effects."

-Angela Carter

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 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 to reveal cultural shifts and values. 

Required Texts and Supplies

A Writer's Reference 8th edition updated MLA edition

ISBN 9781319087074

Dracula by Bram Stoker *very important that it is the Enriched Classic Edition! 

ISBN 0-7434-7736-7

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley *very important that it is the Bedford/St. Martin's edition 

ISBN 0-312-19126-X

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice 
ISBN 9780345337665

The Norton Critical Fairy Tales edited by Maria Tatar

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 use A 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 often 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 Moodle only. The same formatting and MLA guidelines apply to these Moodle assignments, as does the fact that they are due at the beginning of class. All of your Moodle assignments will receive notes and scores electronically only, which is very convenient, organized, and helpful for both you and me. 

Please note that the only assignments I accept via Moodle 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, Reading, Homework, Class Participation and Activities: 200

Essay #1—200

Essay #2—200

Essay #3—200

Essay #4—200

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 and a hard copy is due, please make arrangements with a classmate to turn it in for you, or turn in your work to my office 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. 

Please note that workshops are important days, so you do not want to miss them. 

Also, please remember that final drafts are due via Moodle only.We will run a test the second week so you can figure out how to upload there. No excuses for not uploading properly. Let me know in advance if you're having problems and we'll get you set up.

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 20 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.

If you have a medical condition, let me know or have Disabilities services contact me and we can make proper arrangements.

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, flash drive 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 a Moodle assignment, obviously you should simply upload it early.

Workshop Notes

Please note that workshop/peer review days are vital days to be in class. If you miss these days, it will only mar your success in the course. On workshop days, you will review each other's writing, giving help to your peers and  gaining valuable insights into your own writing processes. 

Do not miss peer review days. Do not half-ass them either. You will bring two hard copies of your papers on these days, and they need to be done to my instructions. If I say 3 pages, typed and double-spaced, don't bring in 1 and a half pages. 

Please note that in order to ensure that everyone during the workshop gets a fair and helpful exchange, that anyone who does not have a paper with them on workshop day that is to the required specifications, and anyone who does not physically print out their work, will be asked to leave and take an absence for the day.   

Class Conduct

Cell phones should be quiet and out of sight for the entire duration of class.  Absolutely no texting and no taking phone calls during class (including stepping out of the room to take a phone call). 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  quietly. Stay in the room during class unless absolutely necessary. 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. Our goal here is to create a calm, focused space in which we can learn most productively.

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, but I am willing to make exceptions with good reason.

Email Etiquette

If you have any questions about homework or other classroom related things, please first check the syllabus and class blog. If the syllabus does not answer your question, then ask a classroom friend and/or a peer mentor. If they do not sufficiently answer your question (or you doubt their response), email me. Do not be afraid to email me, but also don't email me if you can get your question answered otherwise. I have over 60 Whittier writing students this fall, and I need to focus my time on preparing for our class sessions and on grading your work. 

Please note that I do not respond to emails after 7 pm. When you email me, you can expect a response within 24 hours, often sooner. 

Title IX 

Whittier College is dedicated to providing a safe and equitable learning environment for all students. Sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, dating violence and domestic violence, is prohibited by the College. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Title IX Coordinator, Cynthia Joseph, at 562-907-4830 or cjoseph@whittier.edu. For more information about reporting and prohibited conduct, please see the Sexual Misconduct Policy at www.whittier.edu/smap.

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.