Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 149-2 - Winter, 2012
Topics in Literature
Topic: American Gothic: Wonder, Horror, and the Fantastic in American Literatures
Class Information
Instructor:
Lauro, Sarah
CRN:
53860
Time:
MWF 2:10-3:00
Location:
101 Olson
Description
This course will trace the American response to the European Gothic movement, and then consider various other movements in American literature that have been called, or might be associated with the “Gothic.” Using Todorov’s descriptions of the “Fantastic” as a resource, we will look at novels, short fiction, poetry, and other texts of the 18th and 19th centuries. We will consider first those iconic nineteenth century texts that might be claimed as part of an American Gothic, for example Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland, and short stories by Poe, Hawthorne, and others. Moving into the twentieth century, we will expand our definition of the Gothic, and consider why a movement like the “Southern Gothic” borrows this name. We will also explore texts that have been grouped under the headings of the “Postcolonial Gothic” and the “Suburban Gothic.” Along the way, we will look at the way pulp fiction, science fiction, and contemporary horror both develop and pay homage to the genre. Our main goal for this course will be to determine the Gothic's relationship to the fantastic, and assess whether or not this is an appropriate term to apply to American literature. In addition to the texts listed below, which will be available at the bookstore, a reader will include shorts texts by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Washington Irving, Jack London, HP Lovecraft, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pauline Melville, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, Joyce Carol Oates, and others; films and other media will be made available to students separately.
Grading
Attendance and Participation: 10%
Quizzes and Short Writing Assignments: 20%
Short Paper: 20%
Long Paper: 30%
Final Exam: 20%
Texts
The Fantastic, Tzvetan Todorov.
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Zombie, Joyce Carol Oates
The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin
The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon
Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson
Pedro Peramo, Juan Rulfo
The Great Short Works of Herman Melville,
Weiland, or The Transformation
The Complete Short Story Collection, Edgar Allen Poe