This document appears to be a syllabus for a World Literature: Horror course from Spring 2015. It outlines the course structure, assignments including discussions, reading quizzes, journals/blogs/wikis and a literary analysis paper. It introduces the instructor, Laura Govia, and her minion assistants - Le Chapeau, Magpie, Monk, and Big Green Head - who will provide reviews on grammar, developing a thesis, organizing an argument, and more. The grading criteria is also summarized for the various assignments.

1. 65
COURSE
TERM SECTION
SPRING 2015
WORLD LITERATURE:
HORROR
1650-PRESENT
Mary Shelley
R.L. Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe Alfred Hitchcock

2. Nuts and Bolts

3. YOUR BOOKS

4. Monsters
Madness
Your Movies
Dystopias
Supernatural

5. Your Instructor
Laura Govia

6. Her minions

7. Le Chapeau
Areas of “expertise”: diction,
style, literary terms
Hobbies: reading the dictionary,
diagramming sentences,
correcting public signs, showing
people how “smart” he is

8. Her minions

9. Magpie
Areas of “expertise”: MLA
format and citation,
organizing an
argument/interpretation,
clarity, time management
Hobbies: putting things in
alphabetical order, cleaning,
alerting others to areas in
need of cleaning, planning
ahead, reminding others to
plan ahead

10. Her minions

11. Monk
Areas of “expertise”: critical
reading, research
Hobbies: reading between the
lines, browsing on Google
Scholar, going to the library,
highlighting, annotating

12. Her minions

13. Big, Green
Head
Areas of “expertise”: logic,
rhetoric, argumentation,
grammar
Hobbies: thinking, identifying
logical fallacies, solving
differential equations,
contemplating the
multiverse, string theory

14. Her minions

15. The minions will show up from time-to-time in slideshows,
blogs,
and videos designed to review the following:
• Grammar, Style, and Voice
• Developing a thesis
• Organizing an argument
• Critical reading
• The research process
• Rhetoric and logic
• MLA format and citation

16. COURSE STRUCTURE

17. Traditional
Post-
Colonialism
Post-
modernism
Modernism
Romantic
Period
Victorian
Age

18. Postmodernism
This course
Postmodernism Post-Colonialism
Supernatural

19. Traditional Blah blah blah
blah blah
wa wa wa wa wa
wa

20. It contrasts with the Romantic
writings in that Gothic literature
does not treat apocalypse as a
means to a ‘new beginning.” It
is just and end.
Gothic literature was a
response to the horrors
of the failed French
Revolution.
This course

21. Participation=Attendance
You must complete at least ONE assignment each week to be
counted as “present.”
Please email me if you are the victim of an extenuating circumstance
(i.e., illness, death in the family, writer’s block, a really amazing
episode of Real Housewives);
Your grade is your responsibility; HOWEVER,
I will drop you from the course if
you have not completed any assignments for TWO
consecutive weeks AND
have not emailed me with a reasonable (but I will settle for
original and/or amusing) explanation of your failure to do any
work;
Regardless of the originality or humor of the “reason,” I will drop you
if you have completed NO assignments for FOUR consecutive
weeks (it’s for your own good).

22. HOW TO PASS THIS
CLASS

23. Read carefully
Work together
Discuss
thoughtfully
Be creative with
your journals and
blogs
And most important of all:

24. THINK
CRITICALLY

25. “The past is never dead…Actually,
it’s never past”
—William Faulkner, Requiem for a
Nun
“What we learn from
history is that we
never learn from
history”
—David Hume
“Only Connect…”
—E.M. Forster, Howard’s End
Objectives:
Identify cultural and individual assumptions in the assigned texts;
Explain these assumptions within cultural and historical contexts;
Connect these or similar assumptions and their consequences to
contemporary American culture.

26. GRADIN
G

27. Assignments Weight Criteria
Discussions 20%
• Write a well-written, thoughtful, and original response to each week’s discussion topic with examples and
explanations of why you chose those particular examples;
• Respond to at least three of your classmates’ post by the specified due date;
• These responses must demonstrate the following:
• You have read the posts and thought about them;
• In other words, “Hey! Loved your post” ain’t gonna cut it;
• Responses should encourage continued dialogue about the topic beyond the week it is assigned.
Reading
Quizzes
10%
• Correctly answer multiple choice questions related to the content of the reading assignments;
• All short answer (one paragraph) questions should demonstrate that you have accomplished the following:
• Fully comprehended the assigned reading;
• Thought about it in long enough to situate it within a cultural and historical context.
Journals,
blogs, and
wikis
50%
• All wikis should address the topic/theme of the week;
• They should be organized according to a thesis;
• Points/sections should be organized logically and clearly labeled;
• There should be no errors in grammar, mechanics, or usage that interfere with the clarity of your argument;
• Make it pretty with pictures, slide shows, embedded videos, etc.
• Provide at least TWO links to web sources related to your argument;
• Must be at least 1200 words, and you must prove your thesis by the end of the wiki;
• Work/sections should be divided equitably among members of the group when creating wikis;
• Each week, I will review your progress via the group discussion board and Google docs;
• All references to academic sources must be cited according to MLA guidelines.
Literary
Analysis
20%
• Must be at least 2000 words;
• Must address a work of literature we have covered this semester or falls within the purview of the course (any English
literature written between 1780 and the present);
• You may write a comparative analysis of two works of literature;
• The analysis must include six secondary sources retrieved from academic sources (academic journals or book-length
studies)
• You must organize your analysis according to a thesis;
• All references to the primary and secondary sources must be formatted and cited according to MLA guidelines;
• There should be no errors in grammar, mechanics, or usage that interfere with the clarity of your argument;
• The paper must have a works cited page that lists the primary source(s) and all secondary sources;
• The paper itself must be formatted according to MLA guidelines;
• The paper must demonstrate the following:
• Complexity of thought, an ability to imagine the culture in which it is written, effective argumentation, and
understanding of certain concepts and conventions related to the history of ideas and literature.

28. Yeah…umm…don’t do this; it will be ok.

29. First day
of class…
She got some
pretty good
reviews. I think she’ll
be nice as long as we
do our work.I’m a little
nervous.
I hope she’s
nice.
This class will be a piece
of gateau. I have always
excelled in English
because
of my stupendously
extensive vocabulary.
How much wood could a
woodchuck chuck if a
woodchuck could chuck
wood?

30. Midterm…That was the best story
EVER! I had no idea how
scary something could be if
you really thought about it.
I haven’t
slept in
eight
weeks.
I really should have
paid attention when
she said this was a
LITERATURE course
Sacre bleu! My teachers
anglaises have always
appreciated my grasp of la
symbolisme. The creature
is a satanic figure. I do not
care what she says…

31. Finals’
Week
…
I think I’ll join the Peace
Corps or Teach America
once I graduate with my
bachelor’s in history.Man! I’m SO
gonna major in
political science!
I can’t believe I have been such
a pretentious ass all these
years. If I’m going to be a
successful business owner, I
gotta learn how to write and talk
so my clients can understand
me.
I think I will ask Magpie out on a date. I
may only be a head, but I’m an interesting
head.
We can talk about all sorts of
things…current events, books we’ve been
reading, how all episodes of Duck
Dynasty are the same and only
encourage Southern stereotypes…Should
I ask her out for coffee, or should I dream
big and actually suggest dinner?

32. Questions? Comments?
Concerns?
Don’t hesitate to email or call.