Dream Tales Comics Download
Vaniria Setser
English 150 introduces non-English majors to the study of literature. In this course, we will read from a variety of genres including short stories, poetry, drama, and the novel, and we will explore oral and visual literary forms. Students will develop a deeper appreciation for literature and improve their abilities to discuss and analyze a literary text through a consideration of genre conventions, style, themes, historical context and representations of identity. In addition, students will learn to compose in both textual and multimodal modes of literary scholarship. Required work in this course includes quizzes, three short response papers, two exams, and two literary analysis projects.
English 150 serves as an introduction to the study and appreciation of literature for non-English majors. As such, this course is designed to increase enjoyment from reading by providing students with the tools to understand how literature works and the vocabulary necessary to talk about literature. Classes will center around the discussion of readings from various times, locations, and cultures, and the development of arguments about those readings. Four short (2-3 page) papers, one presentation, and a midterm and a final exam will be required.
dream tales comics download
In this English 150 course we will focus on censorship of children's literature. In this fast-moving class, we will try to answer these questions--should children's books focus on topics such as child abuse? Should books for young children include homosexuality? Is it okay to be critical of American government and history? Should fairy tales be censored? While we may not be able to resolve these issues, we will emerge from this class with a better understanding of the interaction between community values, censorship, and children's books. Texts: JK Rowling, Harry Potter; Judy Blume, Blubber; John Boyne, Boy in the Striped Pajamas; Sherman Alexie, Diary Of a Part-Time Indian. I have included a selection of fairy tales, short stories, poetry, and drama, all of which are in a reader, available at DSH.
What makes a monster? What makes us human? This course will examine "monsters" in literature and pop culture and examine what these creatures tell us and teach us about being human, both on a societal and personal level. Monsters such as werewolves and vampires have persisted from medieval and gothic literature into today's pop culture, establishing, reinforcing, and reworking monster archetypes. Using examples from canonical literature, popular fiction, television, and film, we will explore monster archetypes and work to define what makes a character a "monster" and how monsters complicate and clarify our humanity. This will construct the foundation for the final semester project in wh ich students will select a type of monster for which they will research the history and analyze the function of this monster in a particular text.
The "monster" is a transgressive character that resonates throughout literature and film. The monster can be interpreted as a nonhuman beast, a shadowy apparition or a man who is psychologically deranged. The monster narrative creates a foundation for terror and fear -- a being that is not part of society and who becomes a cultural "other." However, the monster narrative is based on lies and untruths and creates a dialogue for what is hidden in dark places -- a silence that screams if we listen close enough. In this class we will explore literature, art, and film that portrays monsters. We will focus on the most popular monsters in our own culture, such as vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's monster and many others. The course will also incorporate movie genres such as; Tim Burton's comedic horror and popular horror/slasher films, were the monsters just won't die. We will look at Ichabod Crane's mad dash through the woods (that he never escapes) to Marian Crane's fateful stop at the Bates Hotel. Along the way we will identify how the monster is constantly changing and moving through popular culture.
In his book Graphic Encounters: Comics and the Sponsorship of Multimodal Literacy, Dale Jacobs explains that in comic books meaning is created through the combination of written text and visual illustrations to achieve effects and meanings that would not be possible in either a strictly print or strictly visual text. In this English 220 class, students will read comic books and graphic novels, discuss the way the stories are constructed, and rhetorically analyze the effects created by the combination of visual and written elements. Students will also develop their own graphic narratives by writing scripts, storyboarding pages, and illustrating (to the best of their ability) the final drafts. In studying comic books and graphic novels--and the way the written text and illustrations support one another--students will put the genre in the larger context of multimodal literacy. The term "multimodal" refers to a composition that combines writing with other modes of communication tion, such as video, audio, or visual elements. Therefore, the study of comic books will help students rhetorically analyze and understand videos, podcasts, websites, brochures, board games, and various other kinds of multimodal projects.
This class will focus on four primary texts: "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, "Butcher's Crossing" by John Williams, "Warlock" by Oakley Hall, and "Son of a Gun" by Justin St. Germain. Discussion will be centered on how these five novels use the genre of the Western in order to debunk and expose the myths of the Wild West and how the violence that accompanied Westward Expansion in the 1800s has affected our contemporary politics and the way in which we've shaped an American identity. We will also watch some of the early films of John Wayne and Gary Cooper and will follow the progression of the genre through to the Spaghetti Westerns and to Clint Eastwood's masterpiece, "Unforgiven." Through this progression, we will discuss how the Western genre has pushed into the intellectual realm, where psychological depth and complexity has replaced the simplicity of heroism.
The American Dream has motivated countless movies, books, and television programs throughout the 20th century. Presently, the term and the vast idea it represents is used in media, education and in discussions about literature, film and various other mediums of art. As the country has evolved throughout the last century, the dream should have theoretically evolved as well. The question is; what has it become? Does it really exist anymore, or is just an unattainable goal we continue to strive for? In this course we will explore the question of if and how the dream has evolved, focusing on how it has experienced and withstood changing economic situations, increasingly diversified populations, changing education standards, and the influence of Hollywood. We will read five primary texts, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The House on Mango Streetby Sandra Cisneros, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Day of the Locust, by Nathaniel West, and American Pastoral by Philip Roth (book list subject to change) as well as various critical essays and articles throughout the semester in order to better inform our discussion. These texts will give us the opportunity to read about and understand the American Dream from different perspectives. We will encounter characters that have recently immigrated, characters that fall into different social and economic classes and characters of both genders. However, one quality that all of these characters share is their struggle to accomplish the American Dream, or create their own. We will also determine what the American Dream means to us as individuals; does it still exist, is it a primary motivator, is it as important as it once was? Reading examples of American Dream literature and developing your own understanding of the idea will adequately prepare you to write your personal American Experience; integrating common thematic elements and your own personal perspective on the reality (or lack thereof) of the American Dream. The coursework will include: weekly journaling, an exploratory essay, a well-researched literary analysis, a personal narrative and a final reflection.
This is a course in developing critical thinking and writing through art and art criticism. Building off of John Berger's Ways of Seeing, we will take a non-formalist approach to viewing visual art, theater, music and hybrid artforms. We will focus instead on contexts such as the poetic, the personal and the regional, as well as race, indigenaity, gender and sexuality. In addition to Berger's seminal work, we will read excerpts and articles from Lucy Lippard, Frank O'Hara, Rebecca Solnit, and David Levi-Strauss, among others. Our textbook will be William Zinsser's On Writing Well. The assignments include a literary analysis ofWays of Seeing, a review of a local exhibition or performance, and a research paper ce ntered on students' areas of interest. This latter assignment may focus on developing the theoretical underpinnings of a studio practice, for example, or center on the work or works of a particular artist.
After the course begins, students and the instructor will arrange an optional weekly meeting to go over readings and assignment details. We will also determine together if we want this meeting to be in person or online.
In this online class we will explore writing as it occurs in the city, both in literature and on the walls. Albuquerque itself provides many opportunities to experience unique urban narratives, from the Petroglyph National Monument to the rainbow dripping down from the Anasazi Building at Sixth and Central. We will read essays and literature about the city in addition to reading the city itself as it is written on walls (graffiti), billboards, street signs, cardboard signs, help wanted signs, monuments, people (tattoos), etc. The words and images in the city, wherever they may be found, tell a story. We will learn to make sense of this story by performing a rhetorical analysis of a local artifact, by writing a personal narrative describing the city similar to Walter Benjamin's "Hashish in Marseilles" (preferably without the hashish) and George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris" (Preferably without becoming down and out), and we will synthesize this work into a larger final project on the topic of the city and urban space. Ideally, we will leave the class with a more profound sense of our relationship to the city, the social issues that define the city, and a vital competence in reading, composing, and participating in the urban public sphere.
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