Syllabus

TRY NOT TO SCREAM:

HORROR AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

ENGLISH 290            

JAN TERM 2020

KATE DURBIN

KDURBIN@WHITTIER.EDU

MOODLE: we will use it for all assignment submissions only!

COURSE OVERVIEW

“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones."

-Stephen King

For a long time, horror was circumscribed as lowbrow, a less important genre than “literary fiction” or “serious cinema,” despite being an incredibly popular form of entertainment in the US and abroad. This has changed in recent years, with more scholars such as J. Jack Halberstam and Jeffrey Jerome Cohen taking it seriously, although prejudices against the genre still persist.

Our course looks at horror as a window into the human condition, and as an important literary and artistic genre in its own right. I’ve long said that horror is the most honest genre, as it does not shy away from the existential and bodily terrors we face as human beings in a world where violence is only sometimes out in broad daylight. Horror is not afraid to look at the monsters inside us all; it doesn’t hesitate to get its hands bloody. 

Horror is not pure fantasy (no such thing exists of course; even fantasy narratives mirror our world). Rather, the horrors of our everyday lives serve as fodder for this most compelling artistic genre. The monsters that inhabit our waking nightmares represent our cultural condition, the hidden fears and desires that possess us. They are our projections.  When read through the lens of gender studies, critical race studies, Marxist theory, and other socio-political lenses, we begin to discover important knowledge about the world we inhabit—its persistent injustices, its traumatic histories, its demons that cannot be exorcised. Perhaps most importantly, we start to understand our (often unconscious) role in creating the conditions in which we live, and we can begin to process them and imagine alternatives.

In this course, we will look at horror novels and films spanning the last fifty years (particularly focusing on more contemporary works), from the US to the UK to Japan to Spain. We will cover topics as diverse as teen girls and the devil to serial killers and capitalism, and we will discuss the ways in which these topics intersect and overlap, just as horror media intersects with other horror media.

For those of you interested in writing horror fiction or making horror films, this course will feature a creative component in the form of a short story or short film.

There will also be analytical writing in the form of journals as responses to the books and films you will be reading/watching.

HORROR STORYTELLING PROJECT

Students will develop their own horror narratives that mirror, amplify, and embody the horrors of our world today. They will do this in the form of a short story or film.

In addition to the storytelling project, students will be expected to submit a 5 page analysis discussing the aesthetic chocies and real life issues that inform their horror narrative. They will discuss  how their work is in conversation with the works they read/watched in class. This paper will also require outside, library-based research. More details about this project will be covered in class.

REQUIRED BOOKS

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Pet Semetary by Stephen King

Out by Natsuo Karino

The Woman in Black by  Susan Hill

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

*This is a writing-intensive course, so to that end you will write journal entries that follow MLA guidelines and serve as close readings of the texts/films you are studying; you will also write an analytical essay to accompany your final project in the class

*You will create one creative horror narrative that uses the aesthetic strategies of the genre to demonstrate real life horrors in an imagined way 


*You will examine the horror genre as an interdisciplinary field or constellation of interrelated media (films and books)

*You will be able to recognize various sub-genres of the horror genre in both literature and film

*You will make critical connections between real life horrors and aesthetic ones, demonstrating an advanced ability to recognize cultural traumas and systemic injustices which give rise to horror narratives

*You will understand and offer a case for why horror is a unique and signficant aesthetic genre that has much to offer in terms of understanding the world and our own contributions to its condition   

JOURNALS

Students will write one 15 page (double-spaced, typed) journal response to two of the novels they read for the class, along with two of the films they watch in class. So, four of the pieces covered in class will be covered in the journal.

Instructions will be given in class as to how to divide and organize the journal, which will be submitted as one single paper 15 pages long (or longer). 

Think of the journal as a paper, and treat it with the appropriate seriousness.

The journal response should examine how each project’s medium (film, novel, etc.) influences its aesthetic effects, which real life horrors influenced the imagined horrors of the story (here you should consider and look into specific political events and conditions that occured in real places and times such as "the recession of 2008" or "gender and economic disparity in middle-class Japan," not general things like "death" or "fear of the unknown"), and how this work is in conversation with the other works you’ve been watching/reading/playing for class or perhaps have seen elsewhere. Does the work fall into a particular sub-genre of horror, such as survival horror, or found footage horror, or exploitation horror? What about the particular sub-genre is compelling overall and in this instance; what real life problems does that specific subgenre of horror reflect and deal with in a particularly powerful way? For example, found footage horror deals with surveillance culture and survival horror deals with our fears related to climate change and the precarity of our economic systems. 

*You'll want at least one outside resaarch source for each novel or film (in addition to including the films/books themselves). You should use historical, sociological, cultural, film studies, or literary sources from the library's databases.

Please include plenty of examples from the novel (or film, etc) in your journal entry, and do a little research into some of the socio-political influences on the work. Use MLA formatting and include a Works Cited page at the end.

The journal will be submitted electronically, in Moodle, once during the semester. The due date is on the syllabus.

Submit this as one file.

READING QUIZZES

To ensure on time attendance and regular reading habits, daily we will have reading quizzes that will function as a jumping off point for discussion. These quizzes are very straightforward and should get easier as you go along and become accustomed to the focus of the class.

CLASS BLOG

I will update the course blog regularly with any updates to the course schedule, reading list, or if class is canceled for any reason. Please check it every day, twice a day (before and after class) to make sure you are abreast of the current schedule and updates.

EMAIL ETIQUETTE

If you have any questions about the homework or reading, please ask a classmate. This is especially important to do if you need to miss a day of class for some reason. If your question is not sufficiently answered, or you have a question that a classmate cannot help you with, then please email me at kdurbin@whittier.edu.

I ask you to first ask your classmates before emailing me so that I can focus my time on preparing for our class time together and on grading your work. Thank you for your respect and help in this regard.

You can generally expect a response to your email within 24 hours. Please note that I do not respond to emails after 7 pm and am slower on the weekends.

There will be moments when I will lecture. Aside from these times, class should operate like a seminar. This means that it is imperative that you read the material--on time-and are prepared to discuss it in class. Part of your grade is participation-based, and it is required that you speak up in class in order to receive full credit with participation. You will also be quizzed regularly on the reading, and failing to do the reading will severely harm your class score.

Always be prepared, and always come to class on time.  Two tardies count as an absence. More than one unexcused absence may result in a lower grade; more than three may result in a failing grade. Any absences at all can only mar your performance in the class. 

All homework assignments are due via Moodle only unless otherwise specified in class. Please upload them in .doc, .docx, or pdf formatting.

PARTICIPATION AND ATTENDANCE

If you need to be excused for a medical reason, please let me know immediately (the day of the emergency) and bring verifiable proof from the doctor to excuse your absence. More than one absence in the class may affected your grade. More than three will result in a failing grade.

CLASS POLICIES

No laptops unless I approve them for notetaking (ask first). I don’t want to see your phones out—if I do, I will take them away, no exceptions.

If we do brainstorming or workshop sessions for your horror story project, please make sure to bring the work with you. If you do not, you may be asked to take an absence for the day.

Please use the facilities and get drinks of water before class and during breaks. Please do not show up to class then ask if you can leave to get a drink of water or use the restroom. Of course, if you have a medical condition I need to be aware of, please have Disabilities services contact me (and of course feel free to chat with me directly). 

Abiding by these policies will allow us a pleasant, productive class session.

POINTS BREAKDOWN

Journal--45
Participation (includes Workshops, Reading Quizzes, Group Work, and Class Discussions)--10
Final Project (Essay and Horror Narrative)--45

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Students desiring accommodations on the basis of physical, learning or psychological disability for this class are to contact Disability Services. Disability Services is located in the Library building, first floor, room G003 and can be reached by calling extension 4825.

COURSE CONTENT

Horror is a genre where the main affect--feeling--it intends to inspire in its audience is stated in its very name: horror. Horror seeks to shock, disgust, cause fear, and other "negative" emotions along those lines. We will discuss why the genre focuses on these emotions and why humans create works intended to evoke such responses. As all the course content falls under this category of horror, I ask that you keep an open mind as we encounter the works in this class. Seek to understand your feelings and to examine them and the material critically. Also, what horrifies some does not horrify others, as fear can be highly subjective (this, too, we will discuss).

If you feel that the course's materials might be too much for you, I strongly recommend dropping the class. While you are welcome to cover your eyes or step out briefly during difficult moments in the films, stepping out of the room should not be happening regularly as it is a distraction to other students who are trying to focus and learn.