UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Approval of a New or Revised Course
All new courses should be created online via WISARD and approved online. This sheet should only be used for Continuing Education courses (or where
the online process has failed).
† = Mandatory for Approval
Course Code (generated
by Student Record) N/A
† Course Name
American Gothic Fiction of the 20th Century
† ‘Owning’ School
College
Office of Lifelong Learning
CHSS
Collaborating Body e.g. School or other Institution
School Acronym for Course
N/A
Additional Information on Collaboration (max 120 characters)
† Course Level
† If PG, Modular
† If UG, Honours?
SCQF 7
Master’s? N/A
N/A
Code(s) and Name(s) of Course(s) being replaced N/A
10
† Credit Points
† Credit Scheme SCQF
† Visiting Students
Only? N/A
† Credit Level
7
† Contact Teaching (hrs/mins per week, number of weeks)
2 hours per week for ten weeks, plus one two hour unseen assessment and consultation session
Other Required Attendance (hrs/mins per week, number of weeks)
It is anticipated that students will spend 80 hours in independent study
† Session course operational with effect from (YYYY/YYYY)
2010/2011
Scheduled Class Hours (max 250 characters) – include day, start and finish times, and term
To be arranged by OLL
Any costs which have to be met by students e.g. materials (max 1000 characters)
None
Code(s) and Name(s) of any Prerequisite Courses
None
Other Prerequisite Requirements (max 1000 characters)
None
Programme(s), Method(s) of Study and Year(s) of Study for which Course is Mandatory, or Optional but to be
Seeded
N/A
Code(s) and Name(s) of Prohibited Combinations
none
Other Prohibited Combination Requirements (max 1000 characters)
N/A
Code(s) and Name(s) of Co-requisite Courses
n/a
Other Co-requisite Requirements (max 1000 characters)
N/A
† Short description of course (max 2000 characters)
The course follows the development of the gothic tradition in the American fiction of the twentieth century. It will explore
the interplay between American literary Gothic and modernity analysing the way it presents fear, alternative political
ideologies and anxieties about race and gender.. Open to students of all abilities.
† Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes (max 2000 characters)
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
 understand the textual strategies of the Gothic genre;
 assess the impact of the Gothic on both canonical and popular fiction;
 discuss the political implication of the Gothic view of American history and its criticism of modernity..
† Components of Assessment (max 1000 characters)
Assessment 1 25% commentary on a selected passage
Assessment 2, 75% essay
N/A
URL for supporting approval
documentation
† Course Organiser Ann Edmond MA Hons
† Course Secretary
LLC BoS 27 January 2010
Course URL (where not WebCT)
UG Courses Only: Year(s) in which course normally taken (e.g. 1, 1+2)
Diet
Diet
Code
Paper Name
Duration
Comments (e.g. Other courses with exam
Summative
(1st or Month
(e.g. 1, 2) (e.g. Paper 1)
(hrs/mins)
common content)
Exams
2nd)
N/A
N/A
† Month Assessment Result Due (1st Diet)
† Month Assessment Result Due (2nd Diet)
Chairman of Board of Examiners
† Default Course Mode of Study (Class and Exam, Class and Assignment, Class Only, or Exam Only)
Class and Assignment
Course Organiser Comments (Internal Use Only) (max 1000 characters)
Approved by/On behalf of
Course Organiser
Convener, School BoS
Convener, College SC
Convener, SUGSC/SPGSC
Date
January 2010
Authorised signature
Name
Ann Edmond
Processed by Registry
†
1. Course title: American Gothic Fiction of the 20th Century
2. Tutor name: Roxana Preda
3. Tutor qualifications: PhD
4. Rationale
The course follows the development of the gothic tradition in the American fiction of the twentieth century.
Understood as the underside of the American dream, the gothic played a major role in the work of the best writers
of the nineteenth century, such as Poe, Hawthorne, Melville and James. After the turn of the twentieth century, the
Gothic continued to hold up a dark mirror to America in the work of canonical and popular writers alike. The
course will explore the interplay between American literary Gothic and modernity analysing the way it presents
fear, alternative political ideologies and anxieties about race and gender.
5. Course aims & objectives
 to outline the evolution of the Gothic in the United States in the twentieth century;
 to delineate the literary conventions operating in the Gothic genre;
 to analyse the perspective on history and politics that the Gothic provides.
6. Intended learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:



understand the textual strategies of the Gothic genre;
assess the impact of the Gothic on both canonical and popular fiction;
discuss the political implication of the Gothic view of American history and its criticism of modernity.
7. Transferable skills
 Critical literary analysis
 Participation in class discussion
 Close reading skills.
8. Contents
Week 1 – Introduction.
Week 2 – The horror of American modernity. Henry James, The Jolly Corner.
Week 3 – H. P. Lovecraft’s monsters: At the Mountains of Madness.
LLC BoS 27 January 2010
Week 4 – William Faulkner and the drama of postbellum South: Absalom, Absalom.
Week 5 – Richard Wright. Urban Gothic and racism: Native Son.
Week 6 – Gothic of the 50s. Flannery O’Connor: Wise Blood
Week 7 – Vampire resurrection: Stephen King: Salem’s Lot
Week 8 – Vampire goddess. Ann Rice: Queen of the Damned
Week 9 – Women, Race and the Gothic. Toni Morrison, Beloved.
Week 10 – Finding vampire identity. Poppy Z. Brite, Lost Souls.
Week 11: Unseen assessment & credit essay workshop.
9. Student intake
All welcome. No prior knowledge is assumed.
10. Organisation of teaching.
Lectures, seminar-style discussion and small group work.
The reading of the set texts is essential.
11. Assessment strategy
Two components:
 Assessment 1: unseen classroom assessment in the final week of the course, worth 25% of the total course
mark
 Assessment 2: 2000 word essay (seen assessment) submitted after the course finishes, worth 75% of the
total course mark.
12. Course Readings
Essential:
Brite, Poppy Z. 1992. Lost Souls, New York: Penguin.
Faulkner, William 1936, 1995. Absalom, Absalom, London: Vintage Classic.
James Henry 2008 The Jolly Corner London Penguin Popular Classics
King, Stephen 1975, 1982. Salem’s Lot. Oxford New English Library.
Lovecraft, H.P 1931, 1985. At the Mountains of Madness, London: Grafton Books
Morrison, Toni 1987, 1997. Beloved, London Vintage.
O’Connor, Flannery 1952, 1980 Wise Blood, London: Faber.
Rice, Ann 1990. Queen of the Damned. New York Time Warner Paperbacks
Wright, Richard 1940, 2000. Native Son. London: Vintage
Recommended:
Bloom, Clive, ed. (1998). Gothic Horror: A Reader’s Guide from Poe to King and Beyond. Basingstoke:
Macmillan.
Hattenhauer, Daryl (2003). Shirley Jackson’s American Gothic. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press.
Hoppenstand, Gary and Browne, Ray B. (1996). The Gothic World of Ann Rice. Bowling Green: Bowling Green
State University Popular Press.
Hume, Kathryn (2000). American Dream, American Nightmare: Fiction Since 1960. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press.
Oakes, David (2000). Science and Destabilization in the Modern American Gothic: Lovecraft, Matheson, and King.
Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Sage Victor and Lloyd Smith Allan, eds. (1996). Modern Gothic: A Reader. Manchester: Manchester University
Press,
LLC BoS 27 January 2010
Course feedback & evaluation
The following procedures are applied to all OLL credit courses:
 Course Organiser visits newly approved class at an early stage and provides the tutor with feedback on
delivery.
 Tutors are encouraged to discuss the course with students (collectively and individually), and act
appropriately on responses.
 Formal feedback is gathered from students via an on-line student survey. Results of these are analysed and
provided for Course Organisers who may take appropriate action with the tutor.
LLC BoS 27 January 2010