English 1000

The Vampire as Cultural Construction: Researching, Revising and Re-evaluating the Myth

 

DESCRIPTIVE OVERVIEW

Even though our topic for this course isn’t traditional, you will still gain “traditional” skills and strategies for writing across the curriculum.  English 1000 stresses writing as a process, with due attention given to critical reading and thinking skills. Thus, this class incorporates exercises of invention, drafting, revising, and re-writing in preparation for final, polished essays.

My class is not a lecture course. It is a discussion course. This means that you are expected to come to class ready to add something to our discussion. You should enter the classroom each day with one question or point you have formed on your own and that you will be comfortable sharing.  It is a good idea to write these ideas down so that you don’t forget them.

COURSE GOALS

By the end of this course you should have gained familiarity with a diverse range of communication skills, including, but not limited to: comprehension, analysis, persuasion, investigation, problem-resolution, evaluation, explanation, and refutation. These skills will be acquired through a process of composition that involves numerous drafts of unit papers, small writing assignments, peer-reviews, professor-conferencing, small assignments, group work, and individual research.

COURSE MATERIALS

Required Materials

A notebook specifically for this course

The Penguin Anthology of Vampire Literature

Articles available on e-reserve

Recommended Materials

A portable or desktop file case or an accordion folder

A portable USB storage device

A college-level dictionary

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS

(The following are brief instructions for the major assignments you are required to complete in this class. I will give you more detailed instructions as the due-dates approach).

Paper #1: Definition of a Vampire (4 pages double spaced, in MLA format)

According to Dictionary.Com, the term Vampire could refer to any one of the following:

1.       A preternatural being, commonly believed to be a reanimated corpse, that is said to suck the blood of sleeping persons at night.

2.       (in Eastern European Folklore) a corpse, animated by an undeparted soul or demon, that periodically leaves the grave and disturbs the living, until it is exhumed and impaled or burned.

3.       A person who preys ruthlessly upon others; extortionist

4.       A woman who unscrupulously exploits, ruins, or degrades the men she seduces.

5.       An actress noted for her role as an unscrupulous seductress: the vampires of silent movies.

Using one or more of the stories that we have read during our first unit, write your own multi-layered definition of the term: vampire. Your goal here is not to pick one character that already exemplifies your definition (though you can draw on a few that exhibit one or more of the qualities that will fit under your definition) and describe him/her.  Instead you should focus on complicating the idea of vampirism by focusing on the vampire-as- cultural construction. Some questions you might want to consider answering in this paper are: how does the vampire operate as a metaphor that speaks to specific social issues/crises? What makes one version of a vampire more compelling than another (in your opinion)? (Does your opinion have anything to do with your specific cultural/social moment?). What are the regional/ethnic/racial/gender differences between American versions of the vampire, and vampires from other cultures/countries? How does your vampire definition take up any of the following themes we have discussed as a group (you should not address all of these issues; pick and choose a few that interest you the most): technology, immigration, sexuality, gender, race, food/consumption, desire, denial, folklore, human vs. animal, dead vs. undead etc?

Paper #2: Vampire Annotated Bibliography with a Twist (6 items complete with image and annotation).

Now that you have come up with your own definition of vampire, you will need to do some research to understand the ways in which other people imagine the vampire.  The goal of this paper is to familiarize you with the process of gathering information (research) and putting multiple sources together to create a new and original meaning in your own words. You will choose 6 pop culture vampire icons (these can range across film/literature/comic books/games, etc) and provide a visual annotated bibliography on your findings. For each icon that you choose you must include 1 image that best represents that icon (to you) and create a short annotation that explains what the image is, what the history of the image is, how the image operates in modern culture, and how you think it connects to the other images you have chosen.  You will be expected to include the website addresses for any site you visit (and make use of) to conduct research in your annotation. You are also expected to familiarize yourself with uploading images into Microsoft Word for this project.

Paper #3: Research Paper (6-8 pages).THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. I MAY NOT EVEN USE DRACULA.

Your final project is a research paper that asks you to generate your own original thesis and argument on a topic that relates directly (or indirectly) to

The goal of this assignment is to argue a thesis that you generate about DO I WANT THIS TO BE ABOUT DRACULA AND THE FILM? and to use information from multiple sources that will discuss and add depth to your thesis.  While the direction of your paper will be entirely up to you (i.e. you will generate your own question related to narrating the vampire experience). The essay you compose should  it must refer back to either your or one of your classmates’ character profiles/wiki entries from The Watchmen as well as 2 other sources that either confirm or complicate the thesis you create about narrating the war-time experience.  We will discuss in class the best way to evaluate the usefulness of possible sources.

MINOR ASSIGNMENTS

Minor Assignment I: Class Blog

Every Friday evening at the end of our week, I will post a question on our course blog that addresses assigned readings for next week, issues that I want to bring up in class discussion next week, and general areas of inquiry that I feel will be useful to us that week. These questions will not always be inquiries about vampires; instead these questions may address concepts/skills/strategies that we are learning in class and that contribute to your process (and progress) as a writer. You are required to post a comment to each of these entries a minimum of 10 times (there will be 14 questions total) by Friday afternoon at 4pm the week after it is posted. For example, the first question will be posted on January 23^rd and you are expected to post your answer by January 28^th at 4pm.

A Quick Note about UserNames: Your username for this course should be the first half of your email for Mizzou (or in the rare case where that name is already taken, it needs to match the first half of your email as closely as possible). As an example, my email is nmkgg3@mizzou.edu and my username for the course blog would accordingly be nmkgg3.

A Quick Note About Blogs: The blog is a public forum that anyone can view online, so you should pay careful attention to your response (both content and grammar should be carefully considered). Further, you should always be respectful of your peer’s opinions—no matter whether they match your own. Should you feel uncomfortable posting comments on a blog, you will need to email your response to both me and your classmates  by Friday at 4pm. Finally, even though you are posting these blog entries online for the class to read, you should also come to class ready to discuss them each week.

Minor Assignment II: Group Reading Assignment/ Secondary Source Summary and Presentation (10-15 min Presentation)

You will be assigned to a discussion group at the beginning of the semester. Your third assignment will involve reading a complex (and often complicated) academic article on the subject of Vampirism. Your group will be responsible for creating a presentation that summarizes this article for the class. Each group member will be expected to read the entire article, though I would suggest that you break up the article into manageable sections for the presentation.  Only one class period will be allotted to planning your presentation, so it is important that you collect contact information from all of your group members and keep in touch with each other outside of class.

Minor Assignment III: Group Writing Assignment/ Character Analysis (500 words on Wiki part I, 500 words on Wiki part II—1000 words total)

(1000 words to be submitted to the class Wiki and Presented on in class). This assignment will be two-fold. You and your group members will construct a character analysis of one character (randomly assigned) from the film Underworld or from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You will gather information from the text to support your analysis. Later, your group will track the differences/similarities between that character’s representation in the book, and that character’s representation in the film that we view in class. You will need to submit each part of this assignment (as you complete them) to the class Wiki (http://comp.missouri.edu/wiki) and present your findings to the class. STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. DECIDING BETWEEN FILMS.

FINAL GRADE BREAKDOWN

Blog responses	10%
Paper #1: Vampire Definition	15%
Paper #2: Vampire Annotated Bibliography with Visuals	20%
Paper #3: FILM ANALYSIS? TBA	25%
Group Reading Assignment: Secondary Article Summary and Presentation	10%
Group Writing Assignment: Character Analysis (two-part)	5% and 5%
Peer Reviews and Conferences	10%

GRADE EQUIVALENTS

A+          97-100                   C+           77-79

A             94-96                     C             74-76

A-           90-93                     C-            70-73

B+           87-89                     D+          67-69

B             84-86                     D             64-66

B-            08-83                     D-           60-63

*Anything lower than a D- is FAILING

COURSE POLICIES

Accommodations

If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please notify me as soon as possible. You should also register with the Disability Services, 882-4696. Other especially useful contacts are the Learning Center (882-2493) with its Writing lab, and the Counseling Center (882-6601) for stress management, crisis intervention, and other services.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the intentional use of another author’s material and/or words in your own text without acknowledging that author’s contribution.  In the academic environment, plagiarism is a serious ethical violation that carries serious consequences.

Please also note that assisting somebody else in the act of plagiarizing by providing them with your own work to turn in as their own—and/or submitting your work to on-line data bases from which students can purchase papers to turn in as an act of academic dishonesty and may be subject to disciplinary action under the Student Conduct Code.   

Course Attendance Policy

I do not deduct point for absences. However, excessive unexcused absences will prevent you from passing my course. Missing class prevents you from turning in daily assignments (no daily assignments or major assignments will be accepted late except in the case of documented emergencies). You should also know that I reserve the right to drop you from my course before the drop date  (TBA) if you have missed a total of 2 weeks or more of class. After the drop-date, and if you have missed 2 weeks (or more) of class, you will take the failing grade.

Tardiness

Unless excused by the instructor, an instance of tardiness or an early departure from class exceeding ten minutes will count as an unexcused absence.  Unless approved by the instructor in the case of valid excuses, students will not be allowed to complete in-class assignments missed partially or in full because of being tardy or departing early from class.

Disruptive Behavior Policy

Behavior that disrupts the educational environment in English 1000 and that, therefore, interferes with others’ learning opportunities will not be tolerated.  Disruptive behavior in the context of the English 101 classroom includes (but may not be limited to):

·         disrespectful treatment of your instructor or peers

·         patterns of tardiness

·         violations of the policy for responsible cell phone use (see below)

A student determined by his or her instructor to be “disruptive” will be referred—along with a report describing the offending behavior—to the Director of Writing Studies for the English Department.  A student in this situation will not be allowed to return to class until the offending behavior has been specifically identified and the consequences of repeating the behavior clarified in the context of a meeting between the student, the instructor reporting the behavior, and the Director of Writing Studies.  Following this meeting, repeated acts of disruptive behavior as identified by the instructor will result in referral to the Chair of the English Department, the Director of Student Judicial Affairs and/or the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.  Consequences could include suspension or expulsion from the course.

Policy Regarding Cell Phone Use

Cell phones must be turned to silent at all times, except in approved emergencies. If you need to take an emergency call, quietly leave the classroom and find a place where your conversation will not disturb others. Lack of compliance with this policy will be regarded as disruptive behavior, and violators will be subject to the consequences for disruptive behavior outlined in the previous section.

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name: Niya Bond

Office: Tate 6

Phone/E-mail: nmkgg3@mizzou.edu

Office Hours: TBA