Prof. Cheryl Nixon
Department of English
Wheatley 6-013
(617) 287-6707
Office Hours:
Email to make appointment
(will require paper appts)
Cheryl.Nixon@umb.edu
ENG 602: STUDIES IN FICTION: READING THE GOTHIC
SUMMER 2014
Course Description:
Where do stories of haunted houses, ghosts, vampires, and monsters come from? This course explores
how Gothic stories were invented in the mid-18th century, and surveys their subsequent development
through the 21st century. At the heart of the class are questions about the power of the storytelling and
story-reading imagination: why are readers attracted to obviously “unreal” stories and how do these
stories test the imagination’s ability to make extreme fictions feel “real”? As we investigate forms of
the gothic (such the “explained” supernatural or the “southern” Gothic), we will unearth its defining
themes, including the portrayal of twisted family dynamics, the desire for revenge, the repression of
sexual desire. We will trace the influence of the Gothic on other artistic fields such as architecture,
painting, and film. Although the focus will be on gothic “classics,” such as Frankenstein and Dracula,
the course includes less well-known texts, including 20th-century gothic short stories. A final project
will feature analyzing a “rewriting” of a Gothic text—and will ask you to create your own Gothic
“rewriting” or “cultural edition” of re-writings (an mini-collection of rewritings).
Course Texts (order used from Amazon or purchase at UMB Bookstore):
Core Readings (in order on syllabus):
--Horace Walpole, Castle of Otranto, PDF
--Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (any edition) --Bram Stoker, Dracula (any edition)
--American Gothic Tales: Plume: 978-0452274891
--Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (any edition)
--Rachel Klein, The Moth Diaries: Bantam: 978-0553382181
--[suggested: Oxford Book of Gothic Tales]
Additional Readings:
--The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (CC), Jerrold Hogle
--on library e-books page: http://umb.libguides.com/ebooks (Camb Collections Online)
--Wikipage will contain PDFs of class readings, including critical essays and short stories
Course Wiki-page (location of PDFs, copies of syllabus and assignments):
http://engl602-nixon.wikispaces.umb.edu/
Course Assignments:
Analysis of Frankenstein: (8-page essay; 30%)
30%
Final Project: (13 pages: 8-page essay: 30%; 5-page creative piece: 15%) 45%
“Notes and Quotes” (due on ** date)
1. Frankenstein:
2. Dracula
3. American Short Stories: one story to present
4. Turn of the Screw
5. Moth Diaries
5% each
Participation in Informal Writing/Speaking Activities
1. Class Discussion: Attention, Enthusiasm, Energy!
2. In-Class Exercises, One-on-one Meetings
+/-
Attendance:
Students are required to attend all classes. You are permitted one “no penalty” absence. If
you know you will be absent on a certain date, due to any sort of conflict, let me know as soon as
possible. We can work together on a plan for make-up work before you are absent. If you have a lastminute absence, a courtesy phone message or email to me, alerting me to your absence, is appreciated.
Repetition of excessive tardiness will count as a class absence.
Class Participation:
At the end of the semester, I reserve the right to raise or lower your final grade based on
participation (a lack of participation will lower your final grade; extraordinary participation will raise
it). I expect the class to take the initiative in raising questions, offering topics, and expressing
opinions—the class should naturally develop a good "discussion mode."
Grading Policy, Withdrawals, Incompletes:
All work assigned in the class must be submitted on time for satisfactory completion of the
course. Due to our tight schedule, an assignment can be handed in late only by prior arrangement with
me; such arrangements must be made a week in advance of the assignment’s due date.
It is almost impossible to receive an incomplete; incompletes are strongly discouraged, require
documented physical or psychological illness, and are given only at the discretion of the instructor.
Accommodations:
If you have a disability and feel you will need accommodations in order to complete course
requirements, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services (M-1-401) at (617)287-7430.
Plagiarism:
Using someone else’s work or work you have written for another class without clear
documentation is forbidden. Plagiarism is the most serious of academic crimes. Plagiarism is taking
what the academic community considers its most important resource: ideas. You cannot present
someone else’s ideas as your own. You must document even the shortest of phrases and sentence
fragments, the “borrowed” argument/theme/thesis, all quotations, and all notes, citations, and references
used. You must document your use of another source, no matter what the source—including a web site.
If you plagiarize in my course, as a graduate student, at the very least you will fail the
course. I will also undertake a full judicial investigation, seeking further sanctions. For a list of
possible sanctions, see the Code of Student Conduct: http://www.umb.edu/student_affairs/code.html
Prof. Cheryl Nixon
Department of English
Wheatley 6-013
(617) 287-6707
Office Hours:
Email to make appointment
(will require paper appts)
Cheryl.Nixon@umb.edu
ENG 602: STUDIES IN FICTION: READING THE GOTHIC
SUMMER 2014
WEEK 1: The Birth of the Gothic
Tuesday, May 27:
Introduction
Walpole, Castle of Otranto (1765), first two chapters
In class: excerpt from Cambridge Companion, Hogle, “Introduction”
Thursday, May 29:
Walpole, Castle of Otranto (1765), all
Shelley, Frankenstein (1818), first 100 pages
Cambridge Companion (CC): Clery, Chpt 2 (ebook and on wiki)
Skim for sections on Walpole
WEEK 2: Defining the Gothic
Tuesday, June 3:
No class (replaced by last week): email swap of notes
Shelley, Frankenstein (1818), all
**Notes and Quotes: on assigned critical chapter on definitions of the Gothic:
submission via wiki-page and/or email
1. Excerpt from The Gothic Tradition (David Stevens)
2. Excerpt from Gothic: New Critical Idiom (Fred Botting)
3. Excerpt from The Gothic (David Punter)
4. Excerpt from The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction (Nick Groom)
5. Excerpt from Art of Darkness: A Poetics of the Gothic (Anne
Williams)
6. Excerpt from The Contested Castle: Gothic Novels and the Subversion
of Domestic Ideology (Kate Ellis)
7. Cambridge Companion (CC): Hogle essay (ebook and on wiki)
Thursday, June 5:
No class (replaced by last week): paper drafting
Paper: “Frankenstein and the Definition of the Gothic”
Assignment: You will write a 8-page seminar paper that applies definitions of
the Gothic to Frankenstein. You will use the course-assigned critical chapters
on the Gothic to create a definition of the Gothic, naming at least five literary
elements/motifs that you see as central to the Gothic genre. You will then
examine how Frankenstein does/does not use those elements—how does
Frankenstein fit your definition of the Gothic?
Draft due Friday, June 6—one-on-one meetings to discuss draft following week
WEEK 3: The Expansive Gothic: Dracula!
Tuesday, June 10
Stoker, Dracula
**Notes and Quotes: ½ of group
Thursday, June 12
Stoker, Dracula
**Note and Quotes: ½ of group
WEEK 4-5: The Compressed Gothic: Short Stories
Tuesday, June 17:
British Short Stories
Polidori, “The Vampyre” (on wiki)
LeFanu, “Camilla” (on wiki)
Stevenson, “Olalla” (on wiki)
Cowles, “The Vampire of Kaldenstein” (on wiki)
Carter, “The Lady of the House of Love” (on wiki)
Thursday, June 19:
American Short Stories: American Gothic Tales--selections
Irving, “Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” p. 19
Hawthorne, “The Man of Adamant,” “Young Goodman Brown,” p. 45
“Rappacini’s Daughter (on wiki)
Poe, “The Black Cat,” p. 78
LeGuin, “Schrodinger’s Cat,” 304
Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” p. 87
White, “The Door,” p. 199
Jackson, “The Lovely House,” p. 204
Bradbury, “The Veldt,” p. 264
**Note and Quotes
--We will determine names of stories for next class; add 2-3 questions on your
story to the Notes and Quotes due today.
Tuesday, June 24:
American Gothic Tales--selections
Poe, “Cask of Amontillado (poestories.com)
Lovecraft, “In the Vault” (www.hplovecraft.com)
Oates, “The Temple,” p. 346
--Plus class selections (one additional selection from each student)
--Be prepared to start off discussion on the story you selected
Thursday, June 26:
No class: replaced by trip to Salem (if possible)
One-on-one meetings to discuss final paper
WEEK 6: Gothic Re-writings
Tuesday, July 1:
Gaskill, “The Old Nurse’s Story” (on wiki)
James, Turn of the Screw, all
**Notes and Quotes
Thursday, July 3:
Perrault, “Bluebeard” (original fairytale)
Hardy, “Barbara of the House of Grebe” (on wiki)
Carter, “The Bloody Chamber” (on wiki)
Poe, “Fall of the House of Usher” (poestories.com)
Glasgow, “Jordan’s End” (on wiki)
Lovecraft, “The Outsider,” American Gothic Tales, p. 175
Lovecraft, “The Shadow over Innsmouth” (www.hplovecraft.com)
Neil Gamon, “Only the End of the World Again” (on wiki)
Lovecraft, “The Nameless City” (www.hplovecraft.com)
Langan, “Children of the Fang” (on wiki)
WEEK 7: Gothic Re-writings
Tuesday, July 8:
Klein, Moth Diaries
**Notes and Quotes
Thursday, July 10:
Klein, Moth Diaries
Final Paper Due Date: TBA
Final Paper Topic:
The final paper will feature your analysis of a “rewriting” of a Gothic text—and
will ask you to create your own Gothic “rewriting” or “cultural edition” (an
mini-collection of rewritings).