ENGL 201-101
Topics in Literature
Bryan Robert Smith
Summer 2009 1st Term McM368 +1 513 673-1665
Office: Library 1st floor
M-F 9:30-11:20
Office hours: 11:30-1:00pm
Required Texts
Auster, Paul. City of Glass (1987)
Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep (1939)
Lethem, Jonathan. Gun With Occasional Music (1994)
Films
Chinatown (1974)
Blade Runner (1982)
Brick (2005)
Course Goals and Expectations
Your goal in here is to write/speak with force and surprise and to tender your efforts regularly and cleanly. You will also be expected to write thoughtful, thorough responses to our readings/discussion. My job here is to introduce you and ingratiate you to the forms and expectations of form in 20th century detective fiction and the literature influenced by the detective works of the late 1930s. The objective of this course: that you leave it writing and reading better than when you entered it. Because of the brevity of this class, I’ve divided our readings and watching into three general sections, more or less: Intro to Hard-boiled Fiction, Detection as Philosophy, and the Future of Detection.
Exam
Our final exam will be on the last day of class, July 13th, 2009. It will consist of a few identification questions and some larger, essay-based questions that will pertain to class discussions.
Reading Responses/Quizzes
For every reading day, I expect you to write a one-page (250 word) response/critique that exhibits your thorough engagement with the piece. These should be posted on the class blog (www.20thcenturydetectivefiction.blogspot.com). Each letter should address your engagement with the work using specific passages, quotes, et al, in order to lend credibility to your opinion. You are required to bring a copy of your response to class.
We’ll occasionally have quizzes in class. If you’ve done the reading they won’t be at all difficult.
Participation
Come to class. Speak your mind. Turn in your work on time. I fully expect that while speaking your mind you remain polite and considerate. If I have to ask you to leave during class you will be marked absent for the day. Late work is not accepted.
Attendance
This class is discussion-based. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance that you come to class prepared to positively contribute to class discussion. In the event that you’ve not properly prepared to do so, you have one absence to use at your discretion.
There is no such thing, with the exception of religious holidays and University-sponsored events (e.g. Rosh Hashanah or sporting events), as an excused absence in this class.
Conferences
I require that you meet with me at least once during the summer to discuss your progress. I would rather have more than one meeting, so feel free to schedule as often as you’d like.
Blackboard/Email
We’ll use Blackboard in this class, primarily as a means of transmitting secondary readings. I do require that you check our Blackboard site the day before each class period; if I do post something, I’ll post it no later than 5pm the afternoon before our class.
Grading
Exam: 50%
Blackboard Responses/Quizzes: 35%
Class Participation: 15%
-------------------
Total 100%
Possible course grades include A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, NP (Not Proficient), W (Withdrawal), and UW (Unofficial Withdrawal).
1. My best stories come out of nowhere, with no concern for form at all. –Barry Hannah
2. I can take a sentence apart and tell you why I did it; obviously that’s the key to the whole thing, being able to write a sentence, and I’ve got a sense of what my sentences ought to do. –Pete Dexter
3. Learn to play your instruments, then get sexy. –Debby Harry
4. Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult but because it is art. –Donald Barthelme
+++++++Readings should be completed before the class date where they appear+++++
Further secondary readings TBA.
Week One
6/22 Intros. Brick (first half).
6/23 Brick (second half).
Chandler, Raymond. “The Simple Art of Murder.” – see Blackboard Course Documents for .pdf
The Big Sleep, pp. 1-62 (chapters 1-11)
6/24 The Big Sleep, pp. 62-119 (chapters 12-19)
* first blog post due before 10pm, 6/23
6/25 The Big Sleep, pp. 119-180 (chapters 20-26)
6/26 The Big Sleep, pp. 180-231 (chapters 26-End)
Week Two
6/29 film: Chinatown (‘70s noir)
6/30 City of Glass, pp. 1-49 (chapters 1-5)
7/01 City of Glass, pp. 50-108 (chapters 6-9)
7/02 City of Glass, pp. 109-158 (chapters 9-End)
7/03 Closed
Week Three
7/06 film: Blade Runner
7/07 Gun With Occasional Music, TBA
7/08 Gun With Occasional Music, TBA
7/09 Gun With Occasional Music, TBA
7/10 Gun With Occasional Music, TBA
Week Four
7/13 Exam
