Writing Seminar: Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Fiction
M-W 11:30 - 12:50, Library 102
Instructor: Laura Stevenson
There is more to “short fiction” than the short story, and this class is concerned with all forms of short fiction. We will read fables,“folk” fairy tales, selections from Boccaccio’s Decameron and Basile’s Pentamerone, literary fairy tales of the Romantic era, and finally some modern tales by Dinesen, Borges, Calvino, Malamud, and Bradbury. We will discuss the effects of writing upon a genre originally oral, the effects of “gentrification” of fairy tales, and the use of fiction in exploring psychology and subverting social norms. The stories studied this semester will provide essential background for Fundamentals of Fiction Writing in future semesters.
Credits: this is a four-credit course. Students who sign up for it are expected to write all papers and all in-class assignments, unless other arrangements are specifically made during the first two weeks of term. Barring family emergency or serious health problems, no credits may be dropped after the first week of classes.
Paper grades: the base grade concerns the level of discourse -- the sophistication of the ideas put forward and the clarity with which those ideas are expressed. This grade can be obtained only by consulting with me in person. From the base, I subtract 1 point (out of 100) for each error in grammar, punctuation or spelling, and I record the total number of errors at the end of the paper. Subtracted points on papers 1-3 are re-added to the base grade if the errors are corrected with a tutor within a week of the paper's return. A paper that is going irredeemably wrong should be submitted as is on the day it is due, with a cover page that says HELP! This procedure assures the paper a 68 (D+) and a speedy reading, so the student can meet with me and resubmit it without penalty within three or four days
Papers 1-3 may be revised and resubmitted (once only). Revisions must be submitted on or before the revision due-date to be considered for higher grades. A revised paper will not be accepted unless the student has had a conference with me on the first draft.
Late papers: papers are always due at noon on the day for which they are assigned. A paper is not late if it gets to me before I have left campus. Timely submission of all papers and revisions raises the final grade 1.5 points out of 100.
Late papers are penalized 2 points per day up to 24 points (twelve days). Thereafter, they receive an automatic 60, minus points reduced for errors; they may be revised, but not for a higher grade. One paper extension is granted per semester per student; no extensions on final paper.
Attendance: Perfect, prepared attendance raises the final grade by 1.5 points out of 100. Two (excused) absences are forgiven; a third excused absence lowers the final grade 1 point out of 100. Each absence after that lowers the final grade by 5 points out of 100. In general, I ask students who are chronically unprepared, or who miss more than five classes, to withdraw from the course. The only acceptable excuse for cutting a workshop or coming to one without a paper is a doctor-signed certification of bubonic plague.
Conferences: each student must sign up in class for one conference on each paper. The schedule of conferences will be posted on the door of D29A after everybody has signed up. Cutting a conference (as opposed to trading times with somebody else or changing times with prior – i.e., 24-hour – notice) is the equivalent of cutting a class.
Office hours are posted weekly (usually on Thursday afternoons) on the door of D29A; students should sign for appointments. If nobody has signed up, drop in at open hours.
- Iona and Peter Opie, The Classic Fairytales (Opie)
- Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
- Jack Zipes, Spells of Enchantment
- Packet of tales: Dinesen, Borges, Calvino, Malamud
All assignments and discussions assume familiarity with the classic fairytales printed in Opie. It would be wise to review them before their first class if you have not read them recently.
September 5 -21. The Uses of Enchantment
September 5. Writing Papers, Black Angels and Enchantment (Zipes, 564-65)
September 7. Fables (photocopied) and Archetypes.
September 12. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Opie, 102-18, 152-66; Photocopies of Basile and Grimm.
September 14. More gender stereotypes: Jack the Giant Killer, Diamonds and Toads, Hop o’ My Thumb, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, the Frog Prince, Bluebeard, Little Red Riding Hood; Zipes, 619, 672 745.
Paper 1 due Thursday, September 15, at noon in D29A.
September 19. No class. Conferences.
September 21. Influences. Cupid & Psyche (Zipes, 1) Beauty and the Beast (Opie, 179)
September 26 -October 12. The Human Comedy
September 26. Boccaccio, preface, I, 1-5 (3-52)
September 28. Boccaccio, II, 4-7; III, 1, 2, 9 (All's Well That Ends Well)
Explication Exercise due Thursday September 29, at noon in D29A
October 3. Boccaccio, IV, Introduction (very important thematically), 1, 2, 5 (Keats), 9; V, 9; VI, 7.
October 5. Boccaccio, skim the stories in Day VII; read IX, 2 and especially X, 10 and conclusion.
Revised paper 1 due Thursday, October 6 at noon in D29A
October 10. Sentence structure boot camp.
October 12. Structuring an argument: how to ask the right questions
October 17: Hendricks weekend-
October 19 -November 2. Romantic and nineteenth-century fantasies
October 19. Tieck, Wackenroder, Novalis: Zipes, 281-304
Paper 2 due Thursday, October 20 at noon in D29A
October 24. No class. Conferences.
October 26. Hoffman and Andersen: Zipes, 304-24, 373-82.
October 31. MacDonald, Stockton, Wilde, Yeats: Zipes 429-74, 482-508, 544-52.
November 2 -21. Twentieth century tales
November 2. Dinesen, "The Old Chevalier"
November 9. Calvino, Zipes 652-57; "The Distance of the Moon."
Paper 3 Due Thursday, November 10 at noon in D29A
November 14. No class. Conferences. Bring term paper prospectus to conference.
November 16. Borges, "The Garden of Forking Paths," "The Theologians"
November 21. Malamud, "The Angel Levine," Bradbury, "Hail and Farewell"
November 23. Thanksgiving Break.
November 28 -December 7. Term Papers and Portfolios
November 28. Claims and Drafts: what goes wrong with term papers.
November 30. Handling sources -- bring the booklet to class.
Term papers due December 2 at noon in D29A
December 5. Conferences and Portfolio Preparation.
December 7. Last Class: teaching evaluations, portfolio checks.
Portfolios are due December 8 at 8:30 in room D38.
Paper 1. Critical Comparison/Contrast Essay, 5-7 pages. Due Thursday, September 15 at noon. Revised edition due October 6.
Compare either the Basile and Perrault versions of "Sleeping Beauty," or the Grimm and Perrault versions of "Cinderella." Choose four or five themes to compare an organized topically if possible. Both the texts and any secondary sources you use should be properly cited, using the format in Handling Sources. Include a bibliography.
Paper 2. Analytical argument, 5-7 pages. Due Thursday, October 20 at noon.
The Decameron is a “double” book -- that is, it constantly “means” two things at once. That being the case, how are we to take the misogyny of the final story? Is Boccaccio really celebrating the virtues of the completely self-denying woman after writing many other stories with spunky, self-possessed, intelligent heroines? Is he showing the reader what heels men are? Is he trying to strike some larger balance? Support your argument by demonstrating how the Decameron “works.” Both the texts and any secondary sources you use should be properly cited, using the format in Handling Sources. Include a bibliography.
Paper 3. Analytical argument, 5-7 pages. Due Thursday, November 10 at noon.
Write a paper about some aspect of the tales we have read (or other tales you have read and admired). You may set some tales in their historical context; you may talk about the larger political or social interests of their authors; or you may write a straight critical paper about literary aspects of the tale or tales you use. Please check out the topic with me before beginning your research.
Term paper. Due Friday, December 2 at noon.
Write a 10-12 page research paper on a topic of your choice. You may “double” this paper with a term paper for another class, if you have the instructor’s written permission. There must be at least 4, preferably 6 or 7, sources. The paper is due to me on the date above, regardless of the date it may be due in other classes. No extensions. Late papers will receive an automatic 60.