tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post7637769030133824017..comments2023-10-19T07:54:32.841-04:00Comments on Quod She: A weird syllabus?Dr. Viragohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-13687221227169578822008-11-10T13:29:00.000-05:002008-11-10T13:29:00.000-05:00I taught a "Heroes Medieval and Modern" class with...I taught a "Heroes Medieval and Modern" class with an Americanist once and we stuck Beowulf (in trans, natch) and Garner's Grendel together.<BR/><BR/>Don't teach Hardy. Just don't. I shudder. When I do intro to lit I end up with Life of Pi, which is very hopeful and sweet but gives you the option of cynical nastiness if you are so inclined (In fact that is the point). Good luck with this; sounds like fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-41740736540993691702008-11-01T10:27:00.000-04:002008-11-01T10:27:00.000-04:00I think Twelfth Night and Streetcar could work wel...I think <I>Twelfth Night</I> and <I>Streetcar</I> could work well together, in part because I usually teach the latter in terms of performance and story-telling. Sounds like a fun class!What Now?https://www.blogger.com/profile/04017629066466055668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-21438591306396867352008-10-31T06:07:00.000-04:002008-10-31T06:07:00.000-04:00I'm delurking to add a suggestion, albeit slightly...I'm delurking to add a suggestion, albeit slightly late. What about "Rappaccini's Daughter" for a short story? Death and desire intermingled...and if students come to it knowing only "The Scarlet Letter," as I did, they'll get to see Hawthorne in a whole new light.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-76330029008244925272008-10-30T12:19:00.000-04:002008-10-30T12:19:00.000-04:00It's probably not what you're looking for -- among...It's probably not what you're looking for -- among other things, it's a novella -- But H.G. Wells's The Time Machine is quite teachable, has wonderfully perverse desires (an Edenic garden with a sphinx in the middle offering a knowledge of good and evil that leads back directly to one's self, a twisted, patronizing "love" story, and a sense of the death of the world changing the understanding of human death) might make it fit, maybe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-74860432974472103072008-10-30T07:21:00.000-04:002008-10-30T07:21:00.000-04:00Ceirseach -- I was planning on doing Brokeback Mou...Ceirseach -- I was planning on doing Brokeback Mountain! Yay! Great mind think alike!Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-74022232290942085142008-10-30T07:20:00.000-04:002008-10-30T07:20:00.000-04:00Ooh, I'd forgotten about the Chopin and Carver...Ooh, I'd forgotten about the Chopin and Carver pieces. Those are possibilities. I'll look into that Atwood story, too.<BR/><BR/>I often do teach Jane Eyre in such a class. And I think maybe you're right that I should do it again. I was completely *obsessed* with Hardy in high school, so I didn't know that he's a hard sell for undergrads, but I know they they like JE, and maybe paired with LA Confidential (which does have a "happy" ending, at least) maybe they won't sentimentalized the J & R relationship so much. (OK, so Jane is no Lynn the whore, but Rochester is more Bud White than they're usually willing to admit. They often want to make him into Darcy from P & P.) And both books often alternative models of masculinity to talk about (St John vs. Rochester, the Guy Pierce character vs. Bud White).<BR/><BR/>OK, you've convinced me.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-80151138976345461912008-10-29T20:43:00.000-04:002008-10-29T20:43:00.000-04:00Oh, and just a note: while I don't have an explici...Oh, and just a note: while I don't have an explicitly stated theme for my intro to lit course (although I suppose one could say the theme is "memory and forgetting" or "jealousy and treachery" if one wanted to supply one that basically fits all of the texts), the two novels that I do in there are Lolita and What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal. Thus, at least one sub-theme in my intro to lit class is pedophilia. So death and desire seems completely reasonable (and cool!) to me, as themes go. Not weird at all, but rather, engaging!Dr. Crazyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-87031391296604526872008-10-29T20:38:00.000-04:002008-10-29T20:38:00.000-04:00Ooh! Ooh! Ok, short stories that could work:"The...Ooh! Ooh! Ok, short stories that could work:<BR/><BR/>"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/<BR/><BR/>"Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood (which isn't quite a short story in some ways, but I feel like any short story that includes "John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die" belongs on this syllabus.<BR/>http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/endings.htm<BR/><BR/>Both of these are heavy on irony, so they could work as a good end for the course because although they are somewhat serious, they are also funny in a way that makes students uncomfortable(esp. the Atwood one can work well at the end, as it brings them back to the beginning for the last day).<BR/><BR/>"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love" by Raymond Carver has stood me well in all intro to lit courses, and it could work with the theme.<BR/><BR/>Suggestion for a poem: Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess."<BR/><BR/>With the novels, I think that I might have a hard time doing Hardy and then Ellroy, if they were back to back. This may be in part because I think that Hardy can be a tough sell to undergrads sometimes. I'm wondering whether something like Jane Eyre might work instead? (I've taught Jane Eyre in a variety of courses, and most students really end up loving it. And there is death (Helen, Bertha, Jane's aunt and cousin) and desire....) And the whole gothic/mystery aspect of it might be a neat counterpoint to L.A. Confidential. I also suggest it because from what you've posted, the only lady writer (explicitly, though of course "anon" according to Woolf is always a woman) you're featuring in the lengthy works is Marie de France, so it might be nice, if you're going to choose a 19th c. novel, to choose one by a woman writer. Just a thought.Dr. Crazyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-20906169654907306402008-10-29T16:43:00.000-04:002008-10-29T16:43:00.000-04:00You could always do Brokeback Mountain. Okay, not...You could always do <I>Brokeback Mountain</I>. Okay, not cheerful, but with people bouncing around the room declaiming "I WISH I KNEW HOW TO QUIT YOU" it could be fun!<BR/><BR/>... or, yes, maybe end on Orfeo.Hannah Kilpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06750010843246514032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-51648044583614552652008-10-29T14:05:00.000-04:002008-10-29T14:05:00.000-04:00Hmmm...I'm starting to think I should just end the...Hmmm...I'm starting to think I should just end the course with Yonec and Sir Orfeo!!Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-39137976004041423672008-10-29T13:52:00.000-04:002008-10-29T13:52:00.000-04:00Nor does Kafka's "Metamorphosis."How about Atwood'...Nor does Kafka's "Metamorphosis."<BR/><BR/>How about Atwood's "Rape Fantasies"? You could talk about the place of the narrator (talking to someone in a bar), her desires to a relationship without rape, threats to her life that all end without her dying, and there's the GREAT bit about her being the new St. Anne!Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-81664379651978565272008-10-29T11:30:00.000-04:002008-10-29T11:30:00.000-04:00Ok, I guess The Lottery doesn't have the upbeat en...Ok, I guess The Lottery doesn't have the upbeat ending you are looking for. But it fits the theme.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com