Full PDF syllabus here. Only the course description and grade breakdown are displayed here.
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 allows us to engage with 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.
Our reading and discussions will feed into 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 9780393679205, $24)
Please buy/borrow these particular physical books (new or used) at the beginning of the quarter. 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 figure it out.
Requirements:
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Class Participation: good citizenship in our intellectual community, including completing the assigned reading, being on time & courteous in class, contributing actively to large- and small-group discussion, and completing the Commonplace Book writing assignments. See full policy below.
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30% |
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Discussion leader: select a class session and a passage from the assigned text, then produce a short close reading (with or without a thesis), which you’ll (1) informally present to class and (2) write up for me after the class discusses it (2 pages max). Write-ups due on Canvas by Friday 11:59pm the week you present.
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10% |
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Midterm essay (4-5 pages): analytical close reading essay (with thesis) on a topic related to class material and discussions. You’ll have the opportunity to revise based on feedback to improve your grade. Assignment prompt to follow.
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30% |
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Creative project OR final essay (4-5 pages): analysis of a topic related to class material/discussions in the form of an essay or a non-essay project that creates critical perspective on the material. Full assignment prompt to follow. |
30% |
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Total points |
100% |
Points to 4.0 scale conversion:
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Number scale |
Percentage points |
Letter Grade |
|
4.0 |
100 |
A + |
|
3.9 |
95 |
A |
|
3.8 |
92 |
A - |
|
3.4 |
88 |
B + |
|
3.1 |
85 |
B |
|
2.8 |
82 |
B - |
|
2.4 |
78 |
C + |
|
2.1 |
75 |
C |
|
1.8 |
72 |
C - |
|
1.4 |
68 |
D + |
|
1.1 |
65 |
D |