English: Poe & American Gothic (A)

About ENGL 2380 A

Interdisciplinary topics examining issues in nineteenth-century American culture. Representative topics include: Dissent in America, American Literary Cultures. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: Three hours in English numbered 1010 to 1990; minimum Sophomore standing.

Notes

PACE students by permission and override Prerequisites: Three hours in English numbered 1010 to 1990; Minimum Sophomore standing.

Section Description

The nineteenth century in America is bifurcated between two highly distinct strains of literature: the Transcendental camp highlighted by Emerson and the Concord, MA group of writers and thinkers, and the distinctly separate gothic fiction authors who were responding to the Emersonian idealists at the same time that they felt the world to be governed by a more somber set of principles. This course focuses on the latter group, essentially the four major representatives of the Gothic inheritance in America: Poe, Melville, Hawthorne, and Dickinson.

Section Expectation

Daily attendance is mandatory; the class is small enough to encourage participation and discussion. Most of the primary work from these four authors is available online. I have ordered copies of the Broadview edition of Poe's novel Pym available in the UVM bookstore because I’m not sure of the novel’s easy availability online. The course will be a combination of student presentations, classroom interaction in response to student presentations, professor's lectures and commentary. In this course you will: Increase the opportunity to improve your writing skills through different writing assignments; grapple with interpreting the American gothic as a coherent body of work where specific themes and topics intersect and reoccur theories from literary studies, such as psychoanalysis, ecocriticism, race studies, feminism, fairy tales, etc.; conduct scholarly research and writing on topics that analyze the various writers’ fiction, poetry, literary legacy; practice your public speaking skills by assembling and presenting an oral report dealing with one of the texts scheduled to be discussed by the larger class and in researching a specific topic germane to American gothic studies; consider the relationship of work from these writers in relationship to the Transcendentalists, other writers from the 19th Century, and forward to include other creative artists that followed the Gothic and are indebted to it; recognize the importance of these authors as a multi-genre writers and inspiration for artists and filmmakers from the 19th century right up to our own time.

Evaluation

Each student will be responsible for signing up and leading a presentation on one of the texts listed in the syllabus. This 15-minute oral presentation will consist of a close reading of a page or paragraph from the work under the scheduled discussion, or a presentation on some specifically noted connection to the writer’s canon and/or other gothic writers featured each week over the course of the semester. 48 hours later, following this report, the student will submit a 3–page summary-analysis hard copy essay centered on their presentation. A final exam will be distributed the last week of classes and due a few days later. Part of the final grade will be based on individual in-class participation in the course of the semester.

Important Dates

Note: These dates may change before registration begins.

Courses may be cancelled due to low enrollment. Show your interest by enrolling.

Resources

• Parking
• PACE Course Pricing
• Textbooks

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