Essay 4: Final Essay

For your final paper assignment, please substantially revise Essay #1.

Your revision should include at least 2 pages of entirely new material. This can come throughout the essay and add up to 2 pages total, or it can come in one chunk somewhere, as long as the paper remains clearly organized overall.

You may want to expand or revise your thesis to include a second scene from Dracula.

You may want to include more textual examples with strong analysis for your expansion.

Make sure you incorporate any suggestions I made to you when I graded your assignment. For example, if I asked you to clarify your thesis, clarify your thesis. If I said you needed more analysis, provide more analysis.

Lastly, you need to incorporate at least one new outside critical scholarly source into the essay, and at least two quotations from your class notes for the semester. Please cite the class notes appropriately, using MLA formatting. Here are guidelines for how to cite class lectures:

http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/MLA/lecture

Requirements summary: 2 extra pages, 1 new critical outside source, 2 instances of class notes, any suggestions made by Prof D during grading

Due date: friday of finals week

Hi guys,

We will not have class today. Your latest reading assignment will be due next Tuesday. See you then. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about your fairy tale paper.

Happy thanksgiving!

HW for Tues

read "Beauty and the Beast" in Norton p. 32, read "The Tiger's Bride" in Norton p. 50

Please re-write a fairy tale for the 21st century. You can choose any fairy tale you like, whether it's one we covered in class or not. If you are unsure as to whether or not the tale classifies as a fairy tale, please ask your professor. While you are encouraged to use your imagination and change the tale however suits you, please keep the "tale type" the same. Remember, the tale type is the components of the tale that remain the same throughout every retelling.

This assignment has three components: a short story component, a visual component, and a critical analysis. The short story should be the fairy tale re-written, in 3-10 pages, double-spaced and typed. You should fe  el free to alter the title of the story to suit your update, but please indicate somewhere on the paper which fairy tale it is you are updating. 

The analysis should be at least 4 pages, typed and double-spaced. In your analysis, you need to talk about the updates you have made to the tale, and why you have made them. How do your updates serve a 21st century audience? What cultural needs, fears, and desires do they explore? In addition, you can talk about what aspects of the tale you have decided to keep the same. Why did you keep those aspects the same? Do you see them as serving some kind of continuing cultural need? 

Please incorporate your notes from this course on fairy tales into your analysis. You are encouraged to use any of the critical essays in your Norton anthology. 

Lastly, you need a visual component. You can create a video, draw something, film a skit, etc. No powerpoints please.

Good luck and have fun!

DUE: DEC 4 via email only

HW for Thursday

Homework: read "Little Red Riding Hood" introduction p. 3, "The Story of Grandmother" p. 10, "Little Red Riding Hood" p. 11, "Little Red Cap" p. 13, "The Werewolf" in Carter p. 108, "The Company of Wolves" in Carter p. 110, "Wolf-Alice" in Carter p. 119

HW for Tuesday

Homework: read "Yeh-hsien" p. 107 in Norton, read "Donkeyskin" p. 109 in Norton, read "Cinderella" p. 117 in Norton, read "Catskin" p. 122 in Norton

Bring Cinderella example to class

The Brother and the Bird by Alissa Nutting

The Brother and the Bird by Alissa Nutting

The Brother and the Bird

Marlene’s mother cleaned constantly, bleary-eyed in multiple hairnets on her vigilant search for the impure; as she walked she so often rolled an antiquated upright vacuum alongside her that it grew to seem like an exterior organ, an intravenous device that performed dialysis or another lifesaving function. Marlene had no memory of Mother’s bare hands, for they were always beneath thick, yellow kitchen gloves and had begun, as the years passed, to seem prosthetic. Fearful that dust might see her coming and scatter, Mother crept from one chore to another, hunched over, skulking around on the tips of her toes and raising each knee skywards with every step. What horrible shadows this cast upon the wall! Young Marlene would often shiver in bed and watch a ghastly outline bend steadily larger as Mother advanced down the hallway, the rubber gloves taking on the shape of oversized claws. Marlene’s fright and anticipation usually became so intense that she’d let out an audible gasp when Mother finally appeared in front of the bedroom door. Mother would stop, sniff. “Good girls are asleep by now,” she’d whisper, quiet enough to make Marlene wonder whether Mother even meant for this to be heard.

Father was friendlier, bear-like and aloof. When Marlene and Brother were little, they had delighted in running their fingers through the thick black curls on

Father’s chest and back and riding him like an animal. He’d obligingly take to all fours and crawl around the yard, giving in to their wishes for a spirit of manufactured danger. “I’m going to eat you!” he’d eventually growl, and their cheeks would glow pink as pigs.

But Father had always stopped their play if they got too close to the juniper tree, their yard’s curious landmark. Halfway up, its trunk divided into two distinct sections that grew away from one another towards separate futures. Being children,

Marlene and her brother always tested the limit—what was the closest they could

get to the tree before Father excused himself and cited fatigue, or claimed to be growing old?

            “It’s the cremated human remains,” Brother explained. He referred to his birthmother, Father’s deceased first wife, whose urn was buried in the yard under the tree. Marlene had occasionally spied Mother watering its roots with bleach and kicking the tree, stomping atop the first wife’s grave in a peculiar dance. And sometimes Mother picked up the large axe in the basement and spoke kindly to it, as though it were a baby, cradling it in her gloved hands and staring back at her reflection in the blade’s clean mirror.

But Mother hated her husband’s son even more than she did the tree. She beat him often and cleverly, across the body but never the face, with her heavy Bible and household objects made of wood. “I will clean the sin right out of you,” Mother remarked, sweating. “You are not of my loins, wicked thing.” Her own fictive brand of religion had curious rules; she’d stopped attending mass long ago, remarking that the purification of one’s household was tantamount to prayer.

            Marlene wished for a life away from Mother where she and Brother had the home all to themselves. And Father could float in and out as he pleased, a furry satellite.

As the years passed, Marlene fell deeply in love with Brother. By the time she was twelve and he sixteen, simply thinking about him made her feel as full and sleepy as eating a large meal.

Marlene often snuck into Brother’s room after Mother was asleep, and they would lie on his bed and listen to records. During each song he’d pick out a single line to sing, and Marlene liked to predict which one he was going to choose—when she was right she felt very good at loving. She’d watch Brother’s mouth and could almost see his voice spinning into the air like invisible string. Bird fly high by the light of the moon. To keep track of time she thought of the record as an hourglass and the needle as sand, and when she heard its empty scratch she’d rise gently from the bed, take up the needle, and sneak quietly back to her room.

But one night Marlene and Brother drifted off to sleep. They woke to Mother standing overtop them with her large Bible. A broken blood vessel had stained the white of her left eye a deep red.

Brother sleepily lifted his neck. “Mother,” he said, startled. “You look very angry.”

            “A dirty thing,” Mother insisted, pointing at the two of them with a shaking rubber finger. The spongy pink curlers beneath her hairnet looked like an inflated brain.

            Marlene tried to curl her body against Brother’s, but she was quickly flung from the bed as Mother’s Bible thrashed down upon Brother. This beating went on longer than Marlene thought possible, and just when Mother seemed to be done, a new wave of fury overtook her like a spell; she lifted her great weight upon

Brother’s chest, placed a pillow overtop his face, and pushed the heavy Bible down atop it. “A dirty, dirty thing,” she hissed. Brother’s feet kicked in high convulsions that lifted the sheets, but Mother did not dismount until his legs went still. Then she eased up and turned her smile towards the window and the sun.

            “Remove your socks as well,” Mother said.

Mother herself was naked, wearing nothing but an apron. She ordered

Marlene to fully undress, then fitted her nude daughter into a smock and a matching pair of yellow kitchen gloves. Marlene sobbed; Mother was gazing upon Brother’s corpse with grateful eyes, as though he was a gift basket of fruit. “Grab his feet,” Mother directed. Together they hauled his body down into the basement. Marlene’s stomach lurched when they neared the furnace, but Mother led them on further, over to the laundry sink in the basement’s left corner. 

As Marlene held open the garbage bag, her hands began to shake. “Hail Mary,” Mother started. A rosary dangled from the ax’s handle like a beaded tail.

The blade hit into the corpse with a great thwack and Marlene saw Mother’s flat buttocks clench tightly. This image placed Marlene into a catatonic state; she stopped blinking and errant blood began to dot the whites of her eyes.

They divided Brother’s pieces into twelve bags of different shapes and sizes, then scattered him throughout the basement’s deep freeze. Mother told Marlene to go take a long shower, and as Marlene climbed the stairs she spied a piece of

Brother’s flesh still lying beside the sink. Twice she stopped and stared, thinking that she’d seen it move; she cried each time she realized she was mistaken.

Father came home to a large sauerbraten flavored with dried juniper berries and a sauce crisped with gingersnap and honey-cake crumbs. He ate heartily, large tufts of hair spilling from his collar and shirt cuffs, their ends curling up from the dinner’s steam. It wasn’t until his plate was almost empty that he asked where

Brother had gone off to.

Marlene’s eyes moved to the Bible sitting in the living room. Mother had hidden its bloodstains beneath a quilted cover that bore an appliqué of a stitched cat face. The feline’s whiskers were long strokes of thread; lace bordered its edges. Due to its size, the Bible now resembled a pillow.

            “He’s visiting a friend for a bit,” Mother smiled. Her grin was fixed and still; she looked like a wicked doll that should never have come to life.

             “Did he say when he’d be back?” Father asked. Marlene began to weep as

Mother shook her head and adjusted her hairnet. Her yellow gloved hand moved a spoonful of gravy very slowly towards her husband’s mouth, teasing.

The weeks that followed were a parade of heavy soups, sweetbreads, and full stews. Disgusted, Marlene resolved to rescue what was left of Brother’s remains at any cost. Only nine bags were left in the freezer. One of these had been torn open, and when she peeked inside she saw butcher-like excisions on a shank of Brother’s torso. 

“I’ll bury you with your mother under the tree,” Marlene promised, “and no more of you will ever be eaten!”

            It took Marlene several trips to get all the bags outside; she could only carry a few at a time. On each return to the basement she carefully checked to see if Mother was hiding beneath the stairs, if the ax was still hanging on the wall.

            Marlene dropped to her knees beneath the tree and opened the bags, reaching her arm inside to search their contents for Brother’s head. He looked quite different, now. His cheeks and mouth had been pushed up against the freezer’s wall and had frozen at an upward angle. Brother’s iced flesh was as white blonde as his hair, and its heavy cold burned at her skin. When Marlene kissed him her wet lips stuck painfully to his; she tasted a bit of blood after she pulled herself free.

            For what seemed like hours, Marlene dutifully struggled with the hard earth and the shovel. She feared that when the sun came up the hole would still be no bigger than a shoebox and she’d have no place to hide Brother’s thawed parts. When the fluttering sound began, she dismissed it at first; it was buzzing and internal, like an insect too close to her ears. Then all the berries fell from the juniper tree at once.

Marlene’s breath left her lungs as she eyed the now-covered ground around her—a blanket of berries inches thick. “I’ll be caught for sure,” she panicked, and her panic only grew as the berries began to shake and toss on the ground like roasting coffee beans, then cleared to reveal a soft grey circle in their center. Curious,

Marlene reached overtop the berries and placed her hand onto its surface. “Ash,” she gasped, but wouldn’t say aloud what she was thinking: cremated human remains.

The fluttering sound loudened and the berries began to organize themselves like ants. They surrounded the pile of garbage bags, lifting them onto their backs and rolling them into the ash like an assembly line, the bags sinking down into its powder with the ease of rocks into a lake. When all the bags were gone, the berries formed a single line. They drained down into the ash like marbles. Finally a bird dove down from the tree and soundlessly followed the last berry into the ash.

Marlene was very tempted to jump inside and escape as well. But as she approached the grey surface she cried out in disappointment; the ground had set like a thick pudding, hardened into soil before her very eyes.

The next morning Marlene awoke to the horrible sensation of being watched. A thin stream of urine began to warm under her bottom.

“No one would ever have found him in the basement, frozen and quiet in little pieces,” Mother whispered. She was seated on the edge of Marlene’s bed, inching closer to her daughter’s face. “But where is he now?” The grayish-black pockets beneath her eyes seemed full of tiny dark stones.

            Her hands gripped against Marlene’s cheeks, their fingernails digging into Marlene’s skin even through the rubber of the gloves. For a moment Mother stared into her eyes, searching, then she gave a full smile and left. Marlene watched the indention Mother had left on the bed raise up and fill, but she did not move until she heard the faraway wail of the vacuum begin to heave in heavy sucks.

In tears, Marlene ran into Brother’s room. When she looked at his shirts hanging up in the closet, she felt the same affection for their cloth as for his skin. She buried her face in them, ran to his bed and ruffled his sheets, begged him to appear, appear. She did notice his guitar was missing. Had Mother cut it up as well?

Winter came and Father seemed to retreat into his woolly skin. He never pressed for further answers about where Brother was staying, but he often wished aloud for his son’s return.

After dinner, as Mother and Marlene sat by the fire, it became common for

Father to excuse himself and take his pipe outdoors. All the while he would stare at the juniper tree, whose branches were growing new berries despite the cold.

Mother peeked out the curtains and watched his every move. “How I think I’ll take the ax to that tree,” she’d remark, “so that Father might stay with us by the fire.” Whenever she passed a window that looked out upon the tree, Mother made an upside-down cross with her gloved fingers and extended it towards the glass. 

One night, right before she fell asleep, Marlene rolled over to find a feather on her pillow. The moment she touched it a deep dream began.

At first she saw nothing, and when she was able to see she realized the eyes were not her own but the eyes of a bird. She looked through them like two holes of a mask, the bird’s long beak jutting up into her line of vision.

Underground, in a hollow space made of earth, she and the bird were pecking Brother’s parts back together. The beak came down in small strikes that were a form of stitching. Occasionally it would stop and grab berries from a stockpile, using them to fill in holes where Mother had taken away meat. Pieces of pecked-through garbage bags were scattered everywhere like tissue paper. When finished, the bird cried out until Brother’s body started moving.

 The bird jumped ahead, leading Brother through a tunnel up into the juniper tree. Marlene watched as its trunk cracked open like an egg filled with light.

She and the bird flew up while Brother crawled out, and the tree closed up behind them.

Marlene then saw the sky and the roof of their home, and occasionally caught glimpses of Brother, naked far below, his flesh white and cloudy like a ridge of ice. Even from the air, she could make out the violet grafts on his arms where berries had patched his skin. When Brother walked into the house, the bird flew to Brother’s bedroom window and waited.

Brother appeared in his room minutes later, gaunt and confused. He dressed in the dark, lifted his guitar, and left.

The bird flew very high until Brother became a silver-blonde dot on the road below. A truck stopped and he entered it; the bird flew for quite a distance to follow him. There was the familiar sound of fluttering, the sound Marlene heard on the night she buried him, and there were long stretches of darkness that told of passing time. When the bird’s eyes went black, Marlene heard a flapping noise, like musical paper, as the sound of wings sped up into an echo.

Finally the bird perched above a small tavern. Marlene could hear music and see Brother inside, a blanched shape performing a song on his guitar. She saw flashes of him in many towns, on many stages, and could feel his confusion as he wandered; his memory had been reduced to a vague longing, and this came and went spontaneously like strange desire. Just before she woke she saw him standing at a sidewalk storefront, eyeing a pair of red shoes that resembled the ones she wore everyday.

            When Marlene woke again she was in her room; the feather was floating in the air just inches above her pillow. Her hand reached out, but at the slightest touch it turned to ash in her fingers.

The dream caused Marlene to feel weary and flu-like. Even the next night, she was still shaky when she sat down to dinner with Mother and Father. Light organ music played on the radio, and Father was cutting his meal into tinier and tinier bits. “Can’t you make the sauerbraten again?” he asked Mother, looking down at his plate with distant eyes.

Just then, the music on the radio abruptly stopped. Marlene’s hand froze around her fork; a fluttering noise poured through the speakers. After a brief minute of static, a very peculiar song came on. My mother, she killed me, the voice sang. My father, he ate me. My sister, she saved my bones, tweet, tweet…         

Mother crept over and turned down the radio’s knob with her rubber fingers.

“Some quiet,” she snipped. She then scowled at the radio and began to examine it carefully, as if it might be something more than it seemed.

The very next night Mother did indeed make sauerbraten, but this time it was not to Father’s liking. He excused himself to go outside and smoke, and Marlene turned on the radio as Mother made a fire. They sat and listened to an organ’s cheery song as flames seared the logs a deep white.

Just as Father came back inside the house, the radio’s song turned to static. This slowly gave way to the sound of wings, then music.

Mother killed her little son; what a beautiful bird am I. Father ate ‘til meat was gone; what a beautiful bird am I. Sister saved my bones; now I sing and fly…

            Mother’s eyes stared straight forward, wide with terror. “Looking at this fire,” she remarked in a flat and breathy voice, “I feel like I am burning up.”

Marlene awoke the next morning to a loud and constant wailing. Neither

Mother nor Father seemed able to hear it; Father went away to work as usual and

Mother spent her day on the patio killing bugs. Marlene desperately searched for the source of the noise, but she couldn’t tell where it stopped or started. Was it

Brother’s room? The juniper tree? The basement?

The sound grew so loud that Marlene began to see small grey dots; occasionally it seemed as if birds were flying just beyond the corners of her vision. 

For most of the afternoon, she lay in Brother’s room listening to records and getting sick into a bag.

When her parents insisted she come down for dinner that evening, Marlene did not think she’d be able to accept the smell of food. But as she sat down, the deafening static leapt from the inside of her head onto the radio. My mother forced me quick to die.Brother’s voice rang out inside the kitchen. My father ate me in a pie.          Mother leapt up and started her bony fingers towards the dial. “Some quiet,” she said, but Father interrupted.

“Some music might be nice tonight.”

“Perhaps a different tune, then,” Mother suggested. But as she flipped the knob, she found that the song was on every station. Only my sister began to cry.

Father stood up and squinted his eyes towards the window.

“Is someone walking towards the house?” Grabbing his pipe, he excused himself from the table to have a better look. Mother slowly backed away from the radio, her eyes fixed upon the fireplace, her hands twisting. “When I look at the fire,” she stammered, “I feel as if I’m being burned alive.” Her smile grew lopsided; she began to unbutton her dress.

“But there isn’t any fire, Mother.”

Mother’s gloved hands grabbed the radio and threw it to the floor. It split into as many pieces as Brother, but the song kept playing. Her gloves started ripping at her clothes; she buried her head beneath the faucet of the sink and began to shriek.

Panicked, Marlene ran outside to Father. But when she saw the pale figure coming down the path, her heart leapt. “Is it Brother?” she cried aloud. Hopeful Father began to wave a hairy hand, and Mother burst from the house topless with soaked hair. Marlene’s eyes flew to the ax Mother clutched in one yellow, gloved hand and the large Bible she held in the other. “I’ll chop them all down,” Mother screamed, her torn dress blowing off her body. “The tree and our visitor as well!”

But as Mother arrived beneath the tree, all its new berries rained down upon her and she halted in shock. The berries shook and spun on the ground, and as they cleared a hole around Mother, she and her ax dropped down right through the earth. Father and Marlene ran over just in time to see the white line of Mother’s scalp disappear into a thick powder of ash, to see the ash harden back to soil, to see Mother’s Bible fall to the ground. Its pages flew open and fluttered, then turned into white birds that sailed away. The berries lifted from the ground like a swarm of bees.

Their mass moved towards Brother as if to attack him; they landed everywhere upon his body and face and guitar until he was fully covered. Then, as if giving him juice to use as blood, the berries deflated and fell from his skin, one by one like dried scabs, flatter than onionskin. Marlene ran to him, breathless. “Look Father,” she cried, “Brother is pink and new!”

But Father loomed quiet beneath the tree. He was bent over, running his fingers along the ground, searching for some trace of either wife below.

Hw for Thursday

Homework: read introduction to "Hansel and Gretel" p. 179, "Hansel and Gretel" p. 184, "The Juniper Tree" p. 190, Alissa Nutting's "The Brother and the Bird" posted on blog, read Introduction to Norton Fairy Tales book

Bring Hansel and Gretel example to class

HW for Thursday

Homework: read introduction to "Hansel and Gretel" p. 179, "Hansel and Gretel" p. 184, "The Juniper Tree" p. 190, Alissa Nutting's "The Brother and the Bird" posted on blog, read Introduction to Norton Fairy Tales book

Bring Hansel and Gretel example to class

Fairy Tale Updates Assignment

Fairy Tale Examples Assignment

For each fairy tale that we cover in class, you will required to bring in a physical exampleof that fairy tale that we did not cover in the homework and that is not in any of your assigned books for the course.

You must also select a version other than the Disney version, simply because we will be examining Disney in the course and those examples are too easy to find. You can, however, use Disney-inspired and subverted works--provided that Disney themselves did not make or manufacture them.

So, a little mermaid figurine you found at the dollar store would be a NO GO, since Disney manufactured it.

An Ursula-inspired drag queen works, though--provided she's not working for Disney! Make sure to double-check.

Here's where things get interesting: you can, if you like, select a non-film or a non-book version of the story. A sculpture, a painting, a performance art piece, a comic, a children's toy (again, can't be Disney)--these are all options. You could even bring in a cereal box!

Again, can't be Disney, though.

Make sure that the example you pick is ripe for analysis. You need to be prepared to discuss what it tells us about culture: who is the audience, what sorts of messages does the object or story send, what cultural ideas does it complicate (is it subverting the original story for some reason? Is it a feminist re-telling), what is relevant about its form (book, sculpture, cereal, etc).

While you are required to do this assignment for every fairy tale we cover, you need to write a 1 page analysis for only 2 of the fairy tale examples you pick. These are up to you, and they are due on the day in which that fairy tale is discussed in class.

The 1 page analysis should be typed, double-spaced, and should follow MLA formatting. You are strongly encouraged to use your class notes on fairy tales in the analysis as well.

As for your visual examples, which are required for every single class session, they can be printed out from the computer. Make sure you take a few notes on the context of the work--I will ask you where it came from, who made it, when they made it, why they made it, what it's about, etc. Please make sure it's printed neatly and is large enough for the class to see.

Please don't bring examples on your phones or computers--these will not count for credit and you will not be able to share them. Additionally, no "it's in my head" examples.

You may also want to bring two different examples, just in case someone else in class steals your thunder.

Looking forward to seeing your fairy tale examples!

HW for Tuesday

Homework: read "The Little Mermaid" p. 216 in Norton

HW for Thurs

finish Frankenstein the novel

Homework

Homework for Tuesday of next week: read through the end of Chapter XII in Frankenstein. 

Don't forget that I will be contacting individuals for meetings on Thursdays. If you don't get a note from me, you don't have to meet with me.

HW for Thursday

finish I Am Legend

In class essay guidelines

IN CLASS ESSAY OUTLINE

AIM:
To successfully prove a clear, specific thesis. The thesis should, obviously, address the prompt given in class. Following directions here, as always, is crucial to receiving a good grade.

ORGANIZATION:
An in-class essay is organized into five paragraphs. The first paragraph is the introduction, and then comes three body paragraphs, then a concluding paragraph. No more—no less!

You will want to make a brief outline before you write your essay.* Make sure the body paragraphs appear in a logical order, not simply the order they came to your mind in. Build on the information as you go.

Introductory Paragraph: Make sure not to take too much time writing in introduction. This paragraph should be about five sentences long (give or take a sentence or two). Provide a clearly arguable, well-qualified, thesis.

Body Paragraph One: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well as a topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph.

Body Paragraph Two: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well as a topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. And remember, Body Paragraph Two should follow Body Paragraph One in terms of building logically upon it.

Body Paragraph Three: Don’t forget to provide clear examples to back up your argument, as well a topic sentence as the beginning of the paragraph. And remember, Body Paragraph Three should follow Body Paragraph Two in terms of building logically upon it.

Concluding Paragraph: Re-state your thesis. Summarize what has been successfully argued in the essay. End with a thoughtful and strong statement. This paragraph, like your introductory paragraph, need not be longer than five sentences, but should also not be shorter.

Grammar and formatting: Make sure to check your grammar and spelling as you go along. There is a bit more room for error in an in-class essay, but your essay must be readable and legible (so make sure your handwriting is clear). Double-check your essay for errors before you turn it in. You may choose to double-space or single space an in-class essay (depending on what your teacher requests).



SAMPLE OUTLINE FOR IN-CLASS ESSAY

Par. 1: THESIS: Write out thesis statement here.
Par. 2: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 1 here.
Par. 3: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 2 here.
Par. 4: TOPIC SENTENCE/MAIN IDEA: Write out topic sentence/main idea for Paragraph 3 here.
Par. 5: CONCLUSION: Final thought to leave reader with.

*Remember, this is just a sample outline—yours can differ slightly. Also, you obviously will want to fully develop your intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion—so while you are providing the main idea of these paragraphs here in the outline, you will flesh them out with evidence/support in your actual essay.

HW for Tuesday

read to page 100 in I Am Legend

Homework for Thursday

Read up to page 50 in I Am Legend

Course Schedule

Tuesday, Oct 7--Internship class visit

Thursday, Oct 9--Library Orientation visit; meet in bottom floor of the library classroom (peer mentors take attendance)

Tuesday, Oct 14--Should have finished reading Dracula; bring to class the final draft of your paper

Workshop

1) What is the paper's thesis? Restate it in your own words.

2) Give at least two suggestions for additional information that would be beneficial in the introduction, such as context. Think Who What Where When Why and How.

3) Are there vivid quotes in the paper? Are these murder weapon quotes?

9) Is the outline well-organized? Make suggestions for improvement.

Basic outline template

Par 1: Main idea/thesis

Par 2: Topic
Example / quote
Analysis
Example / quote
Analysis


Par 3: Topic
Example / quote
Analysis
Example / quote
Analysis


Par 4: Topic
Example / quote
Analysis
Example / quote
Analysis

And so on, until...

Conclusion

Final thought

Homework for Thursday

Create outline for Essay 1
Read to page 350 in Dracula

Homework for Thursday

Read over Essay 1 guidelines
Read to page 250 in Dracula

Essay #1 Guidelines

INTD 100:

ANALYSIS ESSAY #1

 Please write an essay that: 

• Analyzes one scene in the novel Dracula, explaining how that scene representsone of the three critical interpretations of blood discussed in the introduction to the novel. The three interpretations are religious, psychoanalytic/sexual, and race/class. This essay will require close reading of the text, with specific examples cited from the novel to prove your points. Please note that you may not analyze the novel from the straight literal perspective, as there is nothing to analyze--you would simply be summarizing.

*Your thesis should be composed the two main factors connected above.  Several specific examples of thesis statements will be provided in class.

*While you may analyze one of the scenes you were assigned to analyze in class (such as the blood transfusion scenes or the three vampire women dream sequence), you may not simply rehash what we already discussed about these scenes. In other words, if you choose to analyze one of these particular scenes I will expect serious, thoughtful, original analysis. You may find it is actually easier to analyze a scene that we did not already cover in class.

*You are required to provide plenty of evidence and examples specifically from Dracula and from at least two outside scholarly sources to support your argument. Reference sites, such as Wikipedia, Bookrags, Sparknotes, dictionary. com, or any dictionaries or encyclopedias whatsoever, are not acceptable as “outside sources.”  Instead, consult the library’s research databases and free e-periodicals (available through the library’s website); you may also use the introductions to other editions of Dracula. If you are uncertain about the validity of a source (particularly websites), please email your professor ASAP. Please ask your peer mentors for additional library research help.

*You are required to meet with one of your peer mentors prior to turning in the final draft of your essay. You will receive participation points for fulfilling this requirement.

   

*Since this is an academic analytical essay, only the use of the removed 3rd person perspective is acceptable (no “I,” “we,” “our” “your” or “you,” please). Use academic language throughout; avoid talking about your personal experiences or opinions about the novel. A good “tone” for the writing is to mimic the tone of the introduction to Dracula.

Length: 4-6 pages, double-spaced, Garamond or Times New Roman font

Your essay should include the following components:

A good title that is not too long or too vague. The title should capture the essence of your essay in an interesting and compelling way. It should also include the title Dracula as well as the name of your character—but should also indicate what exactly your essay is focusing on. For example: Blood Transfusions as a Form of Ethnic Cleansing Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a sufficient title.

• An introductory hook that captures the reader’s attention in a strong, but not over-dramatic way. Short and succinct statements go a long way. You may want to open with an image of or quotation from the scene  you are analyzing. You will then want to quickly and naturally move into a clear presentation of your thesis statement.
• A thesis that makes your position on the topic unambiguous (clear), appropriately qualified, and clearly arguable. The thesis should come at the beginning of the essay. Repeat it throughout the essay when the reader might become lost; repeat it as well at the end of the essay, though don’t necessarily repeat it word for word. The thesis is the most important part of your essay, and everything that comes after should exist to prove its validity.
• Clear transitions between paragraphs or topics, and topic sentences (mini-theses) at the beginning of each paragraph.
• An awareness of the historical time period and social context in which the novel was written. This ties into understanding the critical interpretations of blood in the novel. You will likely need to do some further outside research into Victorian England (and possibly Stoker’s Irish background) to understand this aspect of the essay fully. Your outside source(s) will be invaluable in this regard, as “proof” for the validity of your arguments. Always, always, always tie in your observations to the cultural context of the novel.
• Plausible reasons and convincing support for your thesis. You must have at least two or three specific and compelling reasons for your argument. Your support for these reasons should be taken firstly from the novel itself, as well as your outside research (both are crucial). Don’t forget that you will need to provide evidence from the scene itself in order to interpret it critically. In other words, you should use clear examples from the text as often as possible to back-up your arguments.  If, for example, you are writing about Jonathan Harker’s shaving / mirror scene with Dracula in the bedroom through the lens of the pyschoanalytic interpretation, you could utilize the quote: “The whole room behind me was displayed, but there was no sign of a man in it, except myself” (Stoker 36).
• A logical order of organization that will guide the reader through your argument in a clear, convincing way.
• An awareness of your audience. You are speaking to a general academic audience, who may or may not have read Dracula. You need to give context to the quotations you take from the text, and not assume that your reader knows the book as you do. Your audience is also secular, so if you choose to write about Dracula via the religious perspective, do not bring in your personal spiritual beliefs.
• Proper MLA documentation. Your final draft should include a Works Cited page with a list of all sources used in the paper (likely just the one outside source as well as the novel Dracula). In addition, you may use more than one outside source if you so choose. 
• If you have trouble filling up 4 pages with your scene, you may choose to analyze two corresponding or related scenes (for example, two scenes with Renfield, or two blood transfusion scenes, or a scene with Lucy's sleep-walking and another scene where she is getting a blood transfusion).

*Remember when using resources the goal is not to simply plop them into the essay and hope the reader understands their purpose.  It is the job of the writer to smoothly integrate short pieces of information into his/her prose according to proper documentary style, as well as to discuss the research’s significance to your essay.  Also, remember you will not impress a reader by presenting huge chunks of quotes and that there will be a significant grade penalty for using block quotes (quotes longer than five lines).  Finally, don’t forget to introduce your resources!

Homework for Tuesday

Read up to page 200 in Dracula.

Homework for Thursday

read up to page 100 in Dracula

Homework

Homework for Tuesday:

Purchase all books and bring them to class, read the introduction to Dracula, read the first fifty pages of Dracula, come prepared to discuss

Syllabus

I N T D   1 0 0:

O U R  M O N S T E R S,  O U R S E L V E S

Fall 2014                                                                                                       

Professor: Kate Durbin

Email: katedurbinteacher@gmail.com (no MY WHITTIER)

“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

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Norton Fairy Tales 

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
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, as I juggle several hundred students at one time.

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: Laptops and iPads are not allowed in class except on days when I specify otherwise.

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.