Writing Seminar: Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Fiction
T-Th 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
- Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Packet of tales: Poe, Dinesen, Borges, Calvino, Malamud, Bradbury
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 11-27. The Uses of Enchantment
September 11. Black Angels, Fables (xeroxed), and Enchantment (Zipes, 564-65)
September 13. Fables and Archetypes. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
Opie, 102-18, 152-66; Photocopies of Basile and Grimm versions. When the Clock Strikes (Zipes, 758), Sleeping Beauty (Zipes, 701)
Paper 1 due Monday, September 17, at noon in D29A
September 18. More Gender stereotypes: in Opie, Diamonds and Toads, Frog Prince,
Bluebeard; Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin vs., The Princes and the Frog (Zipes, 745); The Girl and the Wolf (Zipes, 619), Bluebeard's Daughter (Zipes, 672), The Seven Wives of Bluebeard (Zipes, 566), Rumpelstiltskin (Zipes, 716)
September 20. Influences. Cupid & Psyche (Zipes, 1) Beauty and the Beast (Opie, 179), The Tiger's Bride (Zipes, 729-744)
September 25. No class. Conferences on Paper 1.
September 27. Politics. How Treason Came To Russia (Zipes, 561), Common Sense
(Zipes 621), Sphinx (Zipes, 625), The Crow (Zipes, 686), Pichounetta (Zipes, 772)
Revised paper 1 due Monday, October 1 at noon in D29A
October 2 -October 11. The Human Comedy
October 2. Boccaccio, preface, I, 1-5 (3-52)
October 4. Boccaccio, II, 5,7;9,10; III, 3, 9 (All's Well That Ends Well)
October 9. Boccaccio, IV, Introduction (very important thematically), 1, 2, 5 (Keats), 9; V, 8,9; VI, 7.
Explication Exercise due Wednesday, October 10 at noon in D29A
October 11. Boccaccio, VII, 1, 4; IX, 1, 2 ; X, 6, 7 and especially 10 and conclusion.
October 16 -October 25. Nuts and bolts.
October 16. Structuring an argument: how to ask the right questions
Paper 2 due Wednesday, October 17 at noon in D29A
October 18. Sentence structure boot camp.
October 23: Hendricks weekend
October 25. No class. Conferences on Paper 2.
October 30-November 2. Romanticism and the doppelganger
October 30. Tieck, (Zipes, 281), Hoffman (Zipes, 304-24) .
November 1. Andersen, "The Shadow" (Zipes 373-82); Poe, “William Wilson” (xerox)
November 6. Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
November 2 -21. Twentieth century tales
November 8. Dinesen, "The Old Chevalier"
November 13. Calvino, Zipes 652-57; "The Distance of the Moon." (Xerox)
Paper 3 Due Wednesday, November 14 at noon in D29A
November 15. Borges, "Funes the Memorious,” “The Shape of the Sword"
November 20. No class. Conferences. Bring term paper prospectus to conference.
November 22. Thanksgiving Break
November 27. Malamud, "The Angel Levine," Bradbury, "Hail and Farewell"
Deadline for revised papers 2 and 3: November 28 at noon in D29A
November 29 -December 11. Term Papers and Portfolios
November 29. Claims and Drafts: what goes wrong with term papers.
December 4. Handling sources -- bring the booklet to class.
December 6. Conferences and Portfolio Preparation.
Term papers due December 7 at noon in D29A
December 11. Last Class: teaching evaluations, portfolio checks.
Portfolios due Thursday, December 13 at 8:30 in room D38.
Paper 1. Critical Comparison/Contrast Essay, 5-7 pages. Due Monday, September
17 at noon. Revised edition due October 1.
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 Wednesday, October 17 at noon.
Revised edition due by November 28.
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 Wednesday, November 14 at noon.
Revised edition due by November 28.
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 7 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.