Readings/Films:

Writing Analytically, 7th edition

Course Reader to include following authors/titles:

First Meditation, Descartes
The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe
Le Horla, Maupassant
The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street (television series, The Twilight Zone), Serling
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (television series, The Twilight Zone), Serling
La Vénus d’Ille, Mérimée
Les Diaboliques (film), Clouzot
The Turn of the Screw, James
The Shining (film), Kubrick
Jealousy, Robbe-Grillet

Last Year at Marienbad (film), Resnais/Robbe-Grillet

Additional short texts will be required via notification from Instructor

Course Description:

In this course, we will encounter written and visual texts whose unreliable narration, unsettling narratives, and enigmatic endings summon the reader to intervene in the story. If the characters in these works find themselves questioning their reality, we as readers are pulled into their world and are faced with task of constructing a coherent narrative — and meaning — of our own. We will also reflect critically on the function of literary genres and writing modes. We will encounter short stories, novellas, novels, television episodes, and films which span the realms of horror, mystery, the fantastic, the weird, the French “new novel,” and film noir, among others.

RIB is intended to introduce students to, and develop their skills in‚ research-based literary analysis. To this end, we will work on interpreting literature, producing close readings, developing solid literary arguments, understanding literary theory, conducting and presenting outside research, and analyzing and critiquing theoretical work in class discussions and writing
assignments.

Additional Information:

French R1B satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH

Section times and locations in the Schedule of Classes