ENGL 111 A1: Composition: Literature

Autumn 2024
View in MyPlan View in Time Schedule
Meeting:
MW 8:30am - 10:20am / MEB 250
SLN:
14729
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructor:
NO OVERLOADS, NO AUDITORS ENTERING FRESHMAN ONLY CANNOT BE TAKEN IF STUDENT HAS ALREADY RECEIVED A GRADE OF 2.0 OR HIGHER IN ENGL 109/110, 111, 121, 131 OR 182 FIRST-YEAR INTEREST GROUPS (FIGS) ONLY, QUESTIONS VISIT FYP.WASHINGTON.EDU/EXTRASEATS.
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

ENGL 111 A1: Vampires in Literature

The scholar Nina Auerbach once wrote, “Every age invents the vampire it needs.” In premodern European communities, the folkloric vampire was a real, literal answer to unexplainable questions: why do otherwise healthy people waste away and die? Why do some people take more communal resources than is their fair share?

The modern literary vampire – which will be our focus – has become one of our most potent symbols of horror, capable of creating altered, heightened psychological states in victims and readers alike. But the vampire is also a figure who can explain big ideas. Indeed, Karl Marx memorably described the capitalist world system as “dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.” In this course, we will read and discuss vampire fiction that is beautifully made and treats topics including gender, race, queerness, technology, and imperialism. And things that go bump in the night.

This is a composition course, so our reading and discussions will feed into intensive writing in the genre of close reading. “Close reading” is itself as much about writing as reading, a creative practice and a craft that makes something new with the words of others. Together, we will dig into the pleasures of vampire fiction and create new knowledge about what this genre can tell us about modern life that no other can.

 

Textbooks

  • Octavia Butler, Fledgling (Seven Stories Press, ISBN 9781644211298, $27.95)
  • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla (Lanternfish Press, edited by Carmen Maria Machado, ISBN 9781941360385, $17)
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula (Second Norton Critical Edition, edited by David J. Skal and John Edgar Browning, ISBN 9780393441819, $24)
  • Do not buy the optional Writer, Thinker, Maker textbook listed on myUW 

Please buy/borrow these particular editions (new or used). If buying online, search by the ISBN number. Prices are for new books at the UW Bookstore. If this requirement constitutes a financial hardship or presents accessibility issues, let me know and we’ll it figure out.

Catalog Description:
Uses narratives to study writing as social action and language as tied to identity, culture, and power. Centers students' language resources and goals in developing rhetorical and research skills for composing ethically and critically across different contexts and genres. Prepares students for writing to audiences both within and beyond the university. Prerequisite: may not be taken if minimum grade of 2.0 received in either ENGL 111, ENGL 121, or ENGL 131. Offered: AWSpS.
GE Requirements Met:
English Composition (C)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
November 24, 2024 - 2:00 pm