English 2020: The Grotesque

Dr. David Lavery, Professor, English Department | Office: PH 372 | Office Phone/Voice-Mail: 898-5648 | Office Hours: T-Th 225-330; W 500-600 | E-mail: david.lavery@mtsu.edu

Dr. David Lavery is Professor of English at MTSU (1993- ). The author of one hundred and fifty published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is author / co-author / editor / co-editor of twenty three books, including Joss Whedon, A Creative Portrait: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Avengers, TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural, The Essential Cult Television Reader, and The Essential Sopranos Reader. The organizer of international conferences on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Sopranos, a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Journal of the Whedon Studies Association and Critical Studies in Television, he has lectured around the world on the subject of television (Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica (Portugal), Information (Netherlands), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From 2006-2008, he taught at Brunel University in London.

Class format: We will follow a lecture / discussion format during most class meetings. Power Points will be used in almost class meetings and will be available for reviewing on the website (see the links below). A substantial portion of class time will be spent screening and discussing various films and television shows. Manuscript form: All written assignments must be word-processed and submitted as Microsoft Word or Rich Text e-mail attachments submitted via the D2L drop boxes for each assignment. Please name the file with your own last name (for example: lavery.doc). Essay Evaluation: I will evaluate your essays using a grading scale which can be found here. Reading assignments: You are responsible for having read the entirety of each reading assignment. See the agenda below. Participation & involvement: Please come prepared for each day’s class. I encourage you to become an active participant in class discussion and to ask constructive and meaningful questions at all times. Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to the ongoing progress of the course. Two absences will be permitted. A third absence may result in the loss of a letter grade. A fourth absence may result in failure of the course. Inclement Weather Policy: Go here. Plagiarism / Cheating: The unacknowledged use of the words / ideas / insights / original research of another is, of course, prohibited. Should I catch you plagiarizing, or cheating in any way, you will receive a grade of "0" on the assignment in question, the violation may be reported to University authorities, and you may fail the course. Students with Disabilities: Any student with a disability will be given all the rights and privileges guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act if he/she is registered with Disabled Student Services (call/contact John Harris, KUC 120/2783). University Writing Center: At The University Writing Center (now located in the Walker Library), sponsored by the English Department and staffed by full-time and adjunct faculty and graduate teaching assistants, you can get constructive help with a variety of writing problems, from pre-writing to organization to grammatical errors. (Please be aware, however, that the UWC does not do proofreading.) Grading Scale: 90-99%=A | 80-89%=B | 70-79%=C | 60-69%=D | 0-59%=F

An in-class cognitive-memory mid-term, consisting of a variety of matching, identification, short answer questions (on authors, artists, terms, directors, titles, etc.). (10% of course grade)

A take-home essay final exam, in which you will write two 750 word essays on your choice from ten possible topics supplied by me (20% of course grade).

An in-class cognitive-memory final exam, similar to the mid-term but covering the entire course. (15% of course grade).

Mtng	Date	Subject	Reading(s)	Requirements
1	1/12/12	Introduction to the Course: Diane Arbus \| The People of Walmart
2	1/17/12	The Grotesque in Theory	Bakhtin \| Anderson \| Kayser \| Thompson: 1 Introduction 2 The Term and Concept 'Grotesque': A Historical Summary 3 Towards a Definition \| Stevens
3	1/19/12	Grotesque in Other Modes: The Comic \| Lysistrata & Commedia dell'arte \| The Comic	Thompson: The Comic
4	1/24/12	The Grotesque in Painting (I) (Hieronymous Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Giuseppe Arcimboldo)
5	1/26/12	Grotesque in Other Modes: The Macabre & Bizarre	Sections in Thomson: The Macabre & Bizarre
6	1/31/12	Grotesque in Other Modes: The Uncanny & Fantastic	Sections in Thomson: The Uncanny & Fantastic
7	2/2/12	Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels and "A Modest Proposal"	"The Lady's Dressing Room," Description of a City Shower," "A Modest Proposal"
8	2/7/12	Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels and "A Modest Proposal" \| Caricature \| Satire	"Lilliput," "Brobdingnag," Laputa," "Houyhnhnms" (GT) \| Project Gutenburg Version of Gulliver
9	2/9/12	Mark Twain & the Grotesque	"1601," "Little Bessie Would Assist Providence," "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut," Letters from the Earth
10	2/14/12	The Grotesque in Painting (II): William Hogarth, Francisco Goya, James Ensor
11	2/16/12	The Grotesque in Painting (III): Dada & Surrealism
12	2/21/12	The Grotesque in Painting (IV): Otto Dix, Francis Bacon [The Art of Francis Bacon], Frida Kahlo
13	2/23/12	The Grotesque in Other Modes: Black Humor \| Nathanael West & the Grotesque	Miss Lonelyhearts (MLH)
14	2/28/12	Nathanael West & the Grotesque	Day of the Locust (MLH)
15	3/1/12	Grotesque Photography	No class: I will be in my office (PH 372) from 100-300 pm.
3/5-3/11/12		Spring Break (No Class)
16	3/13/12	Amos Tutuola & the Grotesque	The Palm-Wine Drinkard (PW)
17	3/15/12	Amos Tutuola & the Grotesque	The Palm-Wine Drinkard (PW)
18	3/20/12	The Grotesque in the Movies: Fellini		Mid-Term Exam
19	3/22/12	The Grotesque in the Movies: David Lynch
20	3/27/12	The Grotesque in the Movies: The Triplets of Belleville		Critical Essay Due by This Date
21	3/29/12	The Grotesque in the Movies: Tim Burton
22	4/3/12	The Grotesque in the Movies: David Cronenberg
23	4/5/12	The Grotesque in Popular Culture: The Far Side	"Aesop After Darwin: The Radical Anthropomorphism of The Far Side"
24	4/10/12	Flannery O'Connor & the Grotesque	"Good Country People," "Everything That Rises Must Converge," "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (CS)
25	4/12/12	Flannery O'Connor & the Grotesque	"Parker's Back," "The Artificial Nigger," "Revelation" (CS)	Take Home Final Available on This Date
26	4/17/12	The Grotesque in Music: Patti Smith \| HBO and the Television Grotesque	"It's Not Grotesque, It's HBO, and Showtime, Too"
27	4/19/12	HBO and the Television Grotesque (cont.):
28	4/24/12	Celebrity Death Match, Ren and Stimpy		Webpage Due
4/27-5/3/12		Final Exam Week: In-Class Final on 5/3/12, 100-300 pm		Take Home Final Due, 9 am, 5/4/12