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Selected Courses

LIT 2010: Postmodern Cowboys: The American Western's Long Shadow

This course examines the lineage of the American Western in noir and cyberpunk. We will read one novel and watch one film from each of these genres, identifying which storytelling elements are preserved or transformed as cowboys give way to detectives and cyborgs. We will also consider each work from a craft perspective using story mechanics.

THE NOVELS

Western: Walter Van Tilburg Clark, The Ox-Bow Incident Noir: James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential
Cyberpunk: William Gibson, Neuromancer

THE MOVIES

Western: High Noon (1952) Noir: The Third Man (1949) Cyberpunk: Blade Runner (1982)

COURSE STRUCTURE

The semester will be broken into three five-week units. Each unit will examine one of our foundational novels, comparing them to the mechanics of the other works. After reading each novel, we will screen the film in its corresponding genre. Then you will submit a craft essay (see below) examining the story mechanics and genre elements present in the works from that unit.

CLASS DISCUSSIONS (40% of final grade)

To be a part of class discussion, you have to (1) complete all of the assigned readings, (2) show up, and (3) make substantive contributions to our efforts to understand the assigned readings.

CRAFT ESSAYS (Each 20% of final grade)

You will write one craft essay about the Western, noir, and cyberpunk books and movies. In 1,000-1,500 words (roughly 4-6 double-spaced pages), you will do a deep-dive on the story mechanics of the novel and film. Talk about how they immerse us in the characters' experiences and how events leave them irreversibly changed.

INSTEAD of your final craft essay, you have the option of writing an alternate ending or epilogue for any of the novels or movies from this semester. Please accompany this with a brief précis describing why this is a better ending than the original version. Total word count (ending and précis) should be in the ballpark of the word count for the craft essay, but you are welcome to go over if you want.

LIT 3010: MODERN CRIMES

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course examines the tools of fictional storytelling through case studies of three novels that revolve around crimes, but have not been marketed as crime fiction. We'll consider each book from a craft perspective using story mechanics (see below), and try to figure out why bad behavior seems to be such a promising premise for a novel.

THE NOVELS

William Gibson, Neuromancer Kevin Barry, City of Bohane
Kevin Barry, Night Boat to Tangier

STORY MECHANICS

Acute tension Chronic tension Collision
Plot

Escalation Stakes

Setting
Mood
Direct characterization Indirect characterization POV
Voice

By the events of the novel, our main character(s) is (are) left irreversibly changed.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The semester will be broken into three five-week units. Each unit will examine one of our foundational novels, comparing them to the mechanics of the other works. At the end of each novel you'll submit a craft essay (see below) examining the story mechanics of that work.

UNIT 1: The Hacker Cowboy Text examined: Neuromancer

UNIT 2: The Dystopian Turf War Text examined: City of Bohane

UNIT 3: The Krusties, the Junkies, and the Witches Text examined: Night Boat to Tangier

CLASS DISCUSSIONS (40% of final grade)

To be a part of class discussion, you have to (1) complete all of the assigned readings, (2) show up, and (3) make substantive contributions to our efforts to understand the assigned readings.

CRAFT ESSAYS (Each 20% of final grade)

You will write one craft essay about each of our novels. In 1,000-1,500 words (roughly 4-6 double-spaced pages), you will do a deep-dive on the novel's story mechanics, showing us how the writing employs each component of said mechanics to achieve its effects. Talk about what tactics the writing uses to immerse us in the characters' experiences and how the events of the story leave them irreversibly changed.

Ekphrastic Writing

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course serves as an introduction to ekphrasis. In the first half of the semester, we will examine ekphrastic texts and poems; in the second, students will produce their own works of ekphrastic fiction or poetry.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Art Through the Eyes of Mad Poets: An Ekphrastic Poetry Collection
Rumi in Manhattan: An Ekphrastic Collection of Poetry and Photography
Father and Son (Alexsandr Sokurov, 2003)
"Baader–Meinhof", by Don Delillo (from The New Yorker)
"An Ottoman's Arabesque", by Ayşe Papatya Bucak (from The Kenyon Review) Assorted poems by Shelley, Browning, Donne, Sexton, Barryman, Williams, and others.

CLASS DISCUSSIONS (40% of final grade)

To be a part of class discussion, you have to (1) complete all of the assigned readings, (2) show up, and (3) make substantive contributions to our efforts to understand the assigned readings.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ONE REQUIRED TEXT (30% of final grade)

1,000-1,500 words.

YOUR OWN EKPHRASTIC WORK (30% of final grade)

Up to 5,000 words.