ENGL 301: Forms of Fiction Animal Tales
Prof. John MacNeill Miller Oddfellows 203
Oddfellows 230 MWF 11 - 11:50 am
Office Hours: MWF 2:30 - 4pm, TTh 11am - 12pm
(and by appointment)
email:
Course Description
Humans are sometimes described as “storytelling animals.” Why, then, do so many of our stories revolve around other creatures? From the fables of Aesop to the “Just-So” stories of Rudyard Kipling, from medieval bestiaries to the “Science” section of the New York Times, humans have long been fascinated with the lives and minds of other organisms. We express that fascination in the wide variety of stories we concoct about nonhuman animals.
This course will examine our obsession with animal tales. But it will also use animal stories as the basis for a deeper investigation into the many forms human storytelling can take. Lectures and discussions on famous animal stories such as Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty (1877), H. G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), and E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952) will enable us to explore how narratives work as we ponder the subtle powers of fable, allegory, science fiction, naturalism, and other literary genres to shape the meanings we discover in the world.
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully completeENGL 301will . . .
. . . continueto hone their skills as close readers of literary texts.
. . . enhance their understanding of the relationship between text andcontext (literary and
historical) begun in the 200-level Studies courses.
. . . refine their ability to ask relevant, independent interpretivequestions of literary
texts.
. . . encounter relevant examples of literary criticism andbe able to summarize
andrespond to the argument of select articles.
. . . complete a research project that draws on relevant literary criticism as partof its
interpretive argument or, complete a final project that demonstrates comprehension
offormal conventions within a genre.
Required Texts
All the readings on the course schedule are required. It is only necessary to purchase (or rent, or borrow) specific editions of some of our texts, however.
You MUST obtain the following editions for this course:
Coetzee, J. M. The Lives of Animals. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U P, 1999.
[ISBN: 9780691070896]
White, E. B. Charlotte’s Web. 1952. Rev. 60th anniversary ed. New York: Harper, 2012.
[ISBN: 9780064400558]
You must also acquire some version of the texts below. Although I have ordered my preferred editions through the campus bookstore, you are welcome to use another edition of the text—provided that the actual text is identical to the editions I have ordered. The preferred editions I have ordered are:
Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. 1877. New York: Penguin, 2010. [ISBN: 9780143106470]
Wells, H. G. The Island of Doctor Moreau. 1896. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press,
2009. [ISBN: 9781551113272]
Other readings will be posted to Sakai.
Course Requirements
Graded Assignments
Final grades are determined on the basis of three writing assignments, two tests, and regular informal class participation. Final grades will be calculated by weighting assignments as shown:
10% Participation
10%Analysis of Historical Forms
20%Mid-Term Exam
20%Close Reading Paper
20%Revision with Critical Positioning
20%Final Exam
Policies
Your presence and participation are expected in every class.
The participation grade reflects the type and frequency of student participation. Those students who arrive well-prepared every day, who regularly comment on and respond to others’ questions (including mine), and who offer their own incisive contributions can expect an A in participation. Students who generally arrive well-prepared and make a clear effort to participate in class each week can expect a B in participation. Students who come to class having done most of the reading, and who occasionally pitch into the conversation with relevant comments, can expect a C in participation. Students who show up, but rarely say anything relevant can expect a D in participation. Students who do not show up regularly, or who never say anything relevant to the conversation, will receive an F in participation.
If you are concerned or simply curious about your current grade, you should come to see me during office hours to talk about it. I do not send approximate grades over email upon request.
Late assignments are dropped by one grade interval (A- = B+, B+ = B, B = B-, etc.) for each class they are late.
Missed quizzes cannot be made up. Unexpected absences on quiz days result in a score of 0% on the quiz. If you inform me of an unavoidable absence well in advance, however, I will not count the quiz in your final grade calculation.
Incorrectly formatted assignments risk being dropped by one grade interval, especially if the formatting results in a shortened assignment.
All assignments must be turned in both online (through the Sakai site) and in hard copy in class.
Every student should familiarize himself or herself with the Allegheny Honor Code. Drawing on someone else’s original thinking or writing without attributing that work to its source is plagiarism. Plagiarism, like other forms of cheating and academic dishonesty, constitutes a violation of the honor code. Violating the honor code will result in a 0% on the assignment—and may also result in a failure of the course alongside other more serious academic repercussions.
Computers, cell phones, etc. are not permitted in class, except insofar as they are functioning as e-readers.
Expectations and Exceptions
Course policies are designed to make this class run smoothly. In order for a teacher to do his or her job effectively (see Learning Outcomes) and deliver the best course possible to students, students must hold up their end of the bargain (see Course Requirements). Having this syllabus in your possession and choosing to remain in this course constitutes a kind of contract, both among all students and between every individual student and the instructor. You break these rules, or ask for exceptions to them, at your own risk.
If you do end up needing an extension or other exception, you are much more likely to get it by speaking with me about it as soon as you think you may have an issue. Emergencies and unexpected situations arise—of course—and it is your duty to inform me of them as soon as possible, so that we can work together to make sure they do not disrupt your individual work or our work as a class. While I will try to inform you when you accumulate too many absences or late arrivals, or are in any other way no longer a member in good standing of this class, following the rules is finally your responsibility.
If you need to get in touch with me, feel free to email me or to come to my office hours. I check my email regularly during normal work hours (8am – 5pm). If I receive an email from you during that window, I tend to respond as soon as possible—often immediately, or within an hour or two of receiving it. Emails that arrive at other times may take longer to receive a response. You are also welcome—no, encouraged!!!—to come and speak to me during my office hours.
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disability Services at 814-332-2898. Disability Services is part of the Learning Commons and is located in Pelletier Library. Please contact that office as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely manner.
As with any other absence, if you need to miss class due to a religious observance, please let me know in advance to we can make arrangements to ensure that your absence does not adversely affect your standing in this class.
Last but not least: this world we share can be a grim, gruesome place. The authors, artists, and thinkers we encounter in class are trying to make sense of the world by representing it. They are also, in their own ways, historically bound, flawed human beings. In their work, then, they may represent facets of life that some people find disturbing or overwhelming. Please prepare yourself accordingly. If you find that something you encounter in a text or that we discuss in class profoundly and pathologically unsettles you, I would like to know about it. Nevertheless, I am not a trained mental health professional. If such a case arises—and I hope it never does—I encourage you to seek the guidance of our counselors at the Counseling Center on the third floor of Reis Hall. They can be reached at (814) 332-4368 during work hours, or after hours through Campus Security: (814) 332-3357.
Course Schedule
Non-bold, non-italic items denote readings to be completed in preparation for that class.
Bold items denote in-class activities or events.
*Starred, italic items denote assignments due on that day.
“SK” indicates that readings can be found on Sakai.
All assignments and due dates may be subject to change.
Week 1
——————EtiologyThe Just-So Story (Stories as Explanation)——————
W 8/31Introductions / Syllabus Highlights
Introductory Quiz
F 9/2SK: Jason Bittel, “Why Humpback Whales Protect Other Animals from Killer
Whales,” National Geographic (2016)
Randy Kennedy, “Waiting for the A Train, The Sophisticated
Pigeon,” New York Times (2002)
Ed Yong, “Squirrels Masturbate to Avoid Sexually Transmitted
Infections,” Discover (2010)
Discussion of Narrative Form
Week 2
M 9/5SK:Rudyard Kipling, “The Elephant’s Child” (1902)
W 9/7SK:Rudyard Kipling, “The Elephant’s Child” (1902)
F 9/9SK:Robert Kurzban, “Just So Stories Are (Bad) Explanations. Functions Are
Much Better Explanations,” Evolutionary Psychology (2012)
Week 3
——————Fable (Stories Explaining Themselves)——————
M 9/12SK:Aesop, “The Man and the Lion Travelling Together,” “The Ploughman
and the Dog,” “The Seagull and the Kite,” “The Bees and Zeus,” and “The Ant and the Scarab Beetle,” from the Fables (~600 B.C.)
W 9/14SK:R. L. Stevenson, “The Scientific Ape” (~1885)
——————Allegory (Stories in Need of Explanation)——————
F 9/16SK:Russell Edson, “Killing the Ape” (1973)
From Genesis(~600 B.C.)
Week 4
M 9/19SK:From Genesis(~600 B.C.)
W 9/21SK:Russell Edson, “Ape” (1973)
Formal Analysis Exercise
——————Bildungsroman (Stories as Socialization)——————
F 9/23E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web (1952), chap. I –chap. V
Week 5
M 9/26E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web(1952), chap. VI –chap. XIV
W 9/28E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web(1952), chap. XV – chap. XIX
F 9/30E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web(1952), chap. XX – END
Week 6
M 10/3SK:Franco Moretti, “The Bildungsroman as Symbolic Form,” from The Way
of the World(1987)
W 10/5Analysis of Historical Forms Assigned
F 10/7In-Class Mid-Term
Week 7
——————Melodrama (Stories as Redemption)——————
**FALL BREAK**
W 10/12SK:Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Half-Brothers” (1859)
F 10/14SK:Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Half-Brothers” (1859)
Week 8
M 10/17SK:Peter Brooks, “The Melodramatic Imagination,” from The Melodramatic
Imagination (1976)
Mid-Term Returned
——————Autobiography (Stories as Self-Definition)——————
W 10/19Anna Sewell, Black Beauty(1877), chap. 1 – chap. 6
F 10/21Anna Sewell, Black Beauty(1877), chap. 7 – chap. 13
Week 9
M 10/24Anna Sewell, Black Beauty(1877), chap. 14 – chap. 21
*Analysis of Historical Forms Due
W 10/26Anna Sewell, Black Beauty(1877), chap. 22 – chap. 29
F 10/28Anna Sewell, Black Beauty(1877), chap. 30 – chap. 39
Week 10
M 10/31Anna Sewell, Black Beauty (1877), chap. 40 – END
Analysis of Historical Forms Returned
Close Reading Paper Assigned
W 11/2SK:Adrienne E. Gavin, “The Autobiography of a Horse? Reading Anna
Sewell’s Black Beauty as Autobiography” (1999)
——————Detective Fiction (Stories as Ratiocination)——————
F 11/4SK:Edgar Allan Poe, “Murders on the Rue Morgue” (1841)
Week 11
M 11/7SK:Arthur Conan Doyle, “Silver Blaze” (1892)
W 11/9SK:Franco Moretti, “Clues” (1983)
F 11/11Revision with Critical Positioning Assigned
Research Methods Discussed
*Close Reading Paper Due
Week 12
——————Naturalism (Stories as Empirical Observation)——————
M 11/14SK:E. T. Seton, “Introduction” and “Lobo, King of Currumpaw” from Wild
Animals I Have Known (1898)
W 11/16SK:E. T. Seton, “Introduction” and “Lobo, King of Currumpaw” from Wild
Animals I Have Known (1898)
F 11/18SK:John Burroughs, “Real and Sham Natural History” (1903)
Week 13
M 11/21Close Reading Paper Returned
Introductory Quiz Revisited
**THANKSGIVING BREAK**
Week 14
——————Science Fiction (Stories as Conjecture)——————
M 11/28H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), Introduction – chap. 8
Quizzes Returned
W 11/30H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), chap. 8 – chap. 15
F 12/2H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), chap. 16 – END
Week 15
——————Metafiction (Stories about Storytelling)——————
M 12/5J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals(1999), “The Philosophers and the Animals”
*Revision with Critical Positioning Due
W 12/7J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals (1999), “The Philosophers and the Animals”
F 12/9J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals(1999), “The Poets and the Animals”
Week 16
M 12/12Course Conclusion / Wrap Up
**The Final Exam will be administered on Tuesday, December 20 at 9:00am in Oddfellows 203. Critically positioned papers will be returned when final exams are turned in.