Ashton Nichols Syllabus

English 403         Frankenstein and Other Romantic Monsters        Fall 2018

Required Texts

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Deborah Lutz. Norton Critical 4th edition. 978-0393264876                                                                                                                                                     Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Poetry and Prose. Norton, 2003. 978 0393979046                                                                                                                                                                                    Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. Frankenstein: A Cultural History. Norton, 2007. 978-0393061444                                                                                                                                                             Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, ed. Johanna Smith. Bedford, 3nd edition, 2015. 978-0312463182                                                                                                                                                         _______. Frankenstein, ed. Susan J. Wolfson & Ronald Levao. Harvard, 2012. 978-0674055520                                                                                                                                                     Shelley, Percy. Shelley’s Poetry and Prose. 2^nd edition. Norton, 2002. 78-0393977523                                                                                                                                                                                                            (texts must be in these exact editions)

Course Aims and Learning Goals

This course is designed to explore the Frankenstein myth in relation to the idea of “monstrosity.” What is a monster? Do monsters exist? Why are we scared of monsters? What can monsters teach us? Is the problem merely that we all think of ourselves as monsters? We will read Mary Shelley’s masterpiece in two versions. We will also be exploring the recesses of Mary Shelley’s imagination by reading a contemporary account of the cultural history of this remarkable story. We will examine Mary’s relationship to her devoted and destructive lover and husband, Percy Shelley, and to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the creative source of a “monstrous” sort of energy (and lethargy) that the century came to identify as “romantic.” Along the way, we will examine an unlikely group of Romantic “monsters”—Jane Eyre, Rochester, and Bertha Rochester—as we consider Romantic monstrosity in light of subsequent monsters: Dracula, Mick Jagger, Blade Runner. We will look at films including James Whales’ masterpiece and Kenneth Branagh’s monstrosity, which gets less monstrous with age. We will also consider Gods and Monsters, the 19989 semi-fictional drama that considers James Whale and his gay existence in the Hollywood of the 1930s. These works will provide the basis for your exploration of these and other Romantic monsters. We will also participate in FRANKENREADS, a national series of events surrounding the 200^th anniversary of the first publication of the novel in 1818.

Course Requirements

Students will prepare two discussion introductions during the semester. Students will also be active participants in a seminar conducted almost entirely as a conversation. Students will write one essay (5 pp.) on two curated materials on Frankenstein, as well as submitting two (2) library file cards sized texts that will be displayed with you items. Each student will also produce a longer research essay (12-15 pp.) on some aspect of our work this semester. Topics will be developed in class and individual conferences. Drafts can be discussed with me by December 8. The final essay will be due by noon on December 12. Students must complete all of these requirements in order to receive credit for the course. The Dickinson plagiarism policy will be strictly enforced. Grading will be based on the following scale:

Participation               First Essay           Research Essay              Research

20%                              30%                       40%                               10%          =100%

Professor Ashton Nichols, Class time: 1:30-4:15 p.m. TH, Classroom: K 187                      

Office Hours: M TH 12-1:30 p.m. W 12-1:30 p.m. (and by appointment)

 

 

Required Reading

Students will come to class prepared to discuss the following readings on the assigned days. Brief oral or written assignments will assess your preparation. In addition, each student will prepare a discussion introduction for two (2) of our classes (sign-up sheet to be circulated in class).

W, Sept. 5 “The Myth of Frankenstein”: Introduction and Syllabus

12  Meet in Special Collections (May Morris Room) downstairs in the Waidner-Spahr Library.

19  Frankenstein, ed. Wolfson & Levao, 1818, text and Susan Tyler Hitchcock: Intro & 1

26 Frankenstein, ed. Wolfson & Levao, 1818, the apparatus and STH: 2

Oct. 3 Frankenstein, ed. Smith, 1831, the text of the novel and STH: 3

10 Frankenstein, ed. Smith, 1831, the apparatus and STH: 4

17  P. B. Shelley, Poetry and Prose and STH: 5 (Exhibit Curation texts DUE as Word documents to Nichols, Jim Gerenscer, and Malinda Triller—all three names on your email by 6 p.m.)

24   P. B. Shelley, Poetry and Prose and STH: 6 (Install exhibit in Library)

30 7:00 p.m. Dana 110. Gods and Monsters screening followed by required panel discussion.

31  Coleridge, Poetry and Prose and STH: 7 (1:30-3:00 p.m. RESEARCH ESSAY ABSTRACT DUE) Then 3-4:00 pm. Frankenstein Readings Waidner-Spahr, Display Reception 4-4:30 p.m.

Nov. 7 Coleridge, Poetry and Prose and STH: 8

14    Brontë, Jane Eyre, text and STH: 9

21-22   THANKSGIVING

28  Brontë, Jane Eyre, apparatus and STH: 10 (ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE)

28 4:30 p.m. Required 403 meeting with Prof. Hsuan Hsu (UC-Davis) “Olfactory Aesthetics and the Politics of Deodorization”

DEC. 5  “The Monster and His Myth Today” (film screenings)

12 Bring provisional—one paragraph—abstract for your 404 essay (11 copies)

S 22 FINAL ESSAY DUE: 5:00 p.m., Kaufman 192 (NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED)

Please contact me any time to discuss the course, your research, your writing, or your grade.

 

First Written Assignment

Instead of a typical essay, students’ first written assignment will be to find and curate, with at least a five-(5)-to-seven-(7)-page essay and file-card sized caption/s, two objects in our Frankenstein exhibit prepared with the help of the Waidner-Spahr Library. Your essay should suggest why this material is valuable to our understanding of the novel and should also describe the interpretive approach or approaches (textual, historical, biographical, feminist, etc.) that your object recommends to readers and observers. Finally, the essay should suggest why this particular interpretation is useful for our understanding of book. Due October 17 in class. No late essays or curation labels will be accepted. Word document of your descriptive labels should be submitted electronically to Nichols, Jim Gerenscer, and Malinda Triller on Oct. 17 as well.

Object Curation

Because our Library dates back to 1783, Waidner-Spahr is a rich repository of materials connected to the 1818 first publication of Frankenstein. Your goal for this assignment is to locate two (2) objects: including objects in our Special Collection and Archives or in the regular stacks of the Library, or that belong to me. One (1) should connect to the history of Frankenstein and (1) one should shed light on the influence this book has had over the past 200 years.

How to Begin

We will meet as a class in the Special Collections (May Morris Room) of the Waidner-Spahr Library (downstairs) to begin work on this assignment. Staff from Special Collections will help us by providing examples of the kinds of things that may be found in our Archives and Special Collections. These materials might include backgrounds to Mary Shelley’s masterpiece—John Milton (Paradise Lost), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Volney (Ruins of Empire)—or contemporary texts or contexts, books, manuscripts, other ephemera linked to the origins or subsequent history of this remarkable story. You may even want to talk to me about materials that are in my office. I have numerous, books and other materials connected to Mary Shelley and her “hideous progeny” that I am willing to loan out for the semester for this purpose. If you get stuck, let’s talk.

Your Short Essay

You will write at least a five (5) to seven (7)-page essay about your curated material. This essay must describe the objects, or material in detail with all necessary background detail and careful analysis, as well as interpretation, of what your materials are, what they represent, and why they are significant to our exhibit and to the history of this powerful novel.

Your Exhibit Display

On the same day you submit your short essay you will also submit to me and to the Library the materials that should accompany your curated object. This needs to be at least a file-card sized display card that text will appear in the Library display cases. This card must include bibliographic details: the title, or a title, the author, date and publisher of your material/s if appropriate, and a brief description of what you material includes and why it is important to Mary Shelley, to Frankenstein or to the subsequent history of the Frankenstein story.

 

 

Research Essay

The research essay is your major graded piece of work for this course. You should begin thinking about the topic for your essay as soon as possible so that your draft will be in as complete a form as possible by early December. I will ask for an abstract (2 paragraphs) of your proposed research essay on October 23, after midterm pause. A working annotated bibliography of research sources (consulted or considered) will be due on November 13. Drafts and problems with your essay can be discussed with me between November 26 and December 8, and your final essay will be due at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 12.

The texts chosen for use in the course are useful starting places for your research. They include scholarly texts and bibliographies of works by Mary Shelley and others, historical and biographical information, as well as collections of critical essays from various interpretive perspectives. In addition, several of our volumes provide bibliographies of primary and secondary sources that will help you select a topic for your essay, focus that topic, and begin to produce your draft. Successful completion of this project will demand careful library research and thoughtful attention to the details of your own critical writing style. Several electronic resources will be useful as you prepare your essay. You can Google: “Dickinson Writing Guidelines and Format,” “Resources for Research and Writing,” “MLA Style (Purdue),” “MLA Format for WWW Sources,” “Interpretive Methods: A Primer”

We will also use class time to discuss the selection of your topic, the preparation of your bibliography, and the writing of your first draft. We will use discussions of our authors to focus your critical method, and we will evaluate different approaches to interpretive problems posed by these texts. Class work will include peer discussion of topics and research tools as well as sessions in December for troubleshooting and problem solving as drafts are being discussed. The goal of all of our work on this essay will be to give you tools and opportunities to develop your skills as a critical writer and researcher.

Students will also be using their work this semester to help them decide about the larger project which they plan to research in depth during the spring term 404. The general assumption is that you will use your research this semester as a jumping off point for your independent work next semester, but you may also change directions entirely as long as your prospectus (due early next term) is approved by me. You should also be thinking about a project that would sustain the sort of work you begin this semester over the course of our work in 404.