EN 12: Introduction to Literature

Spring Semester 2009

Section W: Monday and Thursday 11:00-12:15

Section X: Monday and Thursday 2:00-3:15

Syllabus

Subject to revision

Part I: Children, Parents, and Monsters

Monday 1/12: Introduction: The Meanings of "Fairy Tales"

Thursday 1/15: Little Red Riding Hood.

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction” (pp. ix-xviii)
• “Introduction: Little Red Riding Hood” (3-10)
• “The Story of the Grandmother” (10-11)
• Charles Perrault, “Little Red Riding Hood” (11-13)
• Brothers Grimm, “Little Red Cap” (13-16)
• Italo Calvino, “The False Grandmother” (17-19)
• Chiang Mi, “Goldflower and the Bear” (19-21)
• Bruno Bettelheim, "The Struggle for Meaning" (269-273)

Monday 1/19: No class-- Martin Luther King Day

Thursday 1/22: Jack and the Beanstalk

Read the versions of "Jack and the Beanstalk" by Joseph Jacobs, Andrew Lang, and Edwin Sidney Hartland.

Monday 1/26: Hansel & Gretel

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• "Introduction: Hansel and Gretel" (179-184)
• Brothers Grimm, "Hansel and Gretel" (184-190)
• Bruno Bettelheim, "Hansel and Gretel" (273-280)
• Robert Darnton, "Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose" (280-291)

Thursday 1/29: Other Hungry Children

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• Brothers Grimm, "The Juniper Tree" (190-197)
• Joseph Jacobs, "The Rose Tree" (197-199)
• Charles Perrault, "Little Thumbling" (199-209)
• Joseph Jacobs, "Molly Whuppie" (209-211)

Monday 2/2: Thesis workshop.

Part II: Women, Love, and Marriage

Thursday 2/5: Animal Lovers

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• Giovanni Straparola, “The Pig King” (42-47)
• Brothers Grimm, “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich” (47-50)
• “Urashima the Fisherman” (66-68)
• Alexander Afanasev, “The Frog Princess” (68-71)
• “The Swan Maiden” (72-73)

First essay due.

(Click here for a brief guide to citing sources.)

Monday 2/9: Beauty and the Beast

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction: Beauty and the Beast” (25-32)
• Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, “Beauty and the Beast” (32-42)

Thursday 2/12: Snow White

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction: Snow White” (74-80)
• Giambattista Basile, “The Young Slave” (80-83)
• Brothers Grimm, “Snow White” (83-89)
• “Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter” (90-96)
• S. Gilbert and S. Gubar, “Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother” (291-297)

Tuesday 2/17 [Monday classes meet]: Cinderella

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction: Cinderella” (101-107)
• “Yeh-hsien” (107-108)
• Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” (117-122)
• Lin Lan, “Cinderella” (127-131)
• “The Story of the Black Cow” (125-127)

Also read:

• Jodi Kantor, "Love the Riches, Lose the Rags"
• Charles Perrault's "Cinderella."

Thursday 2/19: Donkeyskin

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• Charles Perrault, “Donkeyskin” (109-116)
• Joseph Jacobs, “Catskin” (122-125)
• “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” (131-137)
• Marina Warner, "The Old Wives' Tale" (309-317)

Monday 2/23: Bluebeard

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• "Introduction: Bluebeard" (138-144)
• Charles Perrault, "Bluebeard" (144-148)
• Brothers Grimm, "Fitcher's Bird" (148-151)
• Brothers Grimm, "The Robber Bridegroom" (151-154)
• Joseph Jacobs, "Mr. Fox" (154-156)

Thursday 2/26: "Snow White" Revised

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (332-352)

On streaming video, watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, directed by Walt Disney (1939; 84 minutes). Instructions:

• Open the Quicktime application.
• Go to the "File" menue and choose "Open URL..."
• Copy this URL into the address box: rtsp://streaming.fairfield.edu/academics/snowwhite/snow_white.mov
• Click "OK"

The program will require you to enter a Username and Password:

• Username: en12x
• Password: fairytale

Please note:

• The Username and Password are case sensitive, so be sure to enter them exactly as they appear here.
• The window can be resized after the movie begins playing.
• The technicians at Computing and Network Services inform us that trying to view the video over a wireless connection may result in inconsistent video quality, especially if it is shared wireless (i.e., in a residence hall). Streaming videos are best viewed over a wired connection.

[SPRING BREAK]

Part III: Classic Revisions

Monday 3/9: Thesis workshop for second essay

Thursday 3/12: "The Little Mermaid"

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction: Hans Christian Andersen” (212-216)
• “The Little Mermaid” (216-232)

Second essay due.

Monday 3/16:"The Little Mermaid" Revised

On streaming video, watch the Walt Disney production of "The Little Mermaid" (1989).

Thursday 3/19:"Little Red Riding Hood" Revised

Read Angela Carter's short story "The Company of Wolves."

Also, on streaming video, watch the film The Company of Wolves, written by Carter and directed by Neil Jordan (1985; 92 minutes).

Monday 3/23: "Beauty and the Beast" Revised

On streaming video, watch "Beauty and the Beast" directed by Jean Cocteau (1946; 90 minutes) and the Walt Disney production (1991; 90 minutes).

Thursday 3/26: "Beauty and the Beast" Revised Further

In The Classic Fairy Tales, read Angela Carter's "The Tiger's Bride," pp. 50-66.

Monday 3/30: "Cinderella" Revised

On streaming video, watch the film Ever After, directed by Andy Tennant (1998; 100 minutes).

Thursday 4/2: "Bluebeard" Revised

In The Classic Fairy Tales, read Margaret Atwood's "Bluebeard's Egg," pp. 156-178.

Part IV: Researching Fairy Tales

Monday 4/6: Thesis workshop, and Introduction to the Research Paper.

[EASTER BREAK]

Thursday 4/16: Library instructional session.

Third essay due.

Monday 4/20: Class presentations.

Thursday 4/23: Class presentations.

Monday 4/27: Individual conferences.

Thursday 4/30:Class presentations.

Research paper due.

Tuesday 5/5: Critical research papers returned with comments to students in Section X from 9AM-12AM (the assigned exam period).

Thursday 5/7: Critical research papers returned with comments to students in Section W from 1:30PM-4:30PM (the assigned exam period).

Saturday 5/9: Revisions of research paper due.