big scary essay prompts 
Sinemadness or An Asylum Striptease SPRING 2006 | SDSU | English 301 | The Psychological Novel with William A. Nericcio & Tricia Almase | T/TH 9:30 to 10:45 INTRO A year and a half ago, I taught an Introduction to Literature course entitled Sinematic Bodies; four years ago I taught an E301 entitled Sinema--this course, Sinemadness or An Asylum Striptease (a twisted version of what the SDSU General Education calls "The Psychological Novel") is the bastard child of those earlier incarnations. The premise of this class is quite simple: in literature and films of the 20th, and now, 21st, centuries, there appears a body of work that features characters with significant psychological problems born from their relationship with cameras or from movies somehow impacting on their minds.
During the semester, we will spend NO LITTLE time reading books, watching films, studying poetry, and voyeuristically devouring pieces of art that feature curious, damaged, individuals (shattered bodies, twisted psyches) who receive solace from or gain further madness from that asylum we call Hollywood--;as we read, we will witness a psychoanalytic striptease of sorts, as various kinds of mental pathologies reveal themselves to us. Think of the movies, books, and photographs we will study this term as an influenza, and of cameras as a kind of psychic syringe, and you get an idea of the kinds of themes we will collectively pursue.
Requirements Reading and class discussion make up a significant portion of the class; attendance helps--you won't pass without it. If you intend to miss more than three classes, you might think about taking another class. Get this! I do not just expect attendance, I expect prepared attendance--even, brace yourself, participation. And please do think twice about setting foot in our classroom if you have not completed your assigned reading for the day--while you are at it, make sure your cell-phone is set on vibrate: for self-pleasure, of course, but also so as to NOT disrupt the class with your chiming. Also to be expected? One short imagination challenge (2 to 3 pages); one researched imagination challenge (5-8 pages), a final exam on the last day of classes and (yuck) reading/screening quizzes (if and only if the majority of the class decide to perform with high school level indifference). Plagiarism Pla gia rize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plagiarized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Plagiarizing.] To steal or purloin from the writings of another; to appropriate without due acknowledgment (the ideas or expressions of another). You steal someone else's ideas or pay for them at some creepy internet site, you will fail this class and be reported to the University. Grades Quizzes, Attendance, Participation
40%
Office Hours
Required Texts! Here they are hot off
the Campus Bookstore server; please do feel free to look around online
for cheaper offerings!
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 DISCLAIMER:
this GENERAL EDUCATION class will deal with ADULT issues and activities.
If you are squeamish about insanity, human sexuality, erotic taboos or
if graphic art, literature and film leave you weak, angry, disgusted etc.,
PLEASE drop this class BEFORE you get the urge to call on your parents
and clergy to remove me from my job! This is a university-level course
exploring usually hidden elements of the human psyche: you should EXPECT
to be disturbed and moved. Test your levels of tolerance! Does this
bother you? How about this?
Move forward with caution!!! |
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-->working
crash codes for e301, spring 2006, schedule #11200
 
if none of these work, email me and I will send you one that works do please read this online syllabus CAREFULLY before using an add-code. thanx, WAN y TA |
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TRICIA ALMASE bio? in the works! Almase, a fan of good writing, psychics, football and poetry, is an MFA Graduate Student at SDSU contact info--> talmaseATyahoo.com, of course just type in the @ sign when you email her! (this will save her some ungodly spam in the future! office? 4220 in AH; office hours are from 12 to 3 on Mondays for now--watch this space for updates! |
In
these tales filled with both tons of sin and loads of cinema, the "I,"
that peculiar, one-letter pronoun/nickname we give to our psyche, is overwritten
or, at the very least enchanted, by some odd parallel tale of the EYE:
who one is mirrors (often with twisted consequences) how one sees.
The
working list of required books and movies (subject to last minute change
include): A selection of Man Ray photographs from Spezial Fotografie
Portfolio Number 35, Sigmund Freud's On Dreams, Nathanael West's
The
Day of the Locust, Junichiro Tanizaki's The Key,
Walker Percy's The Moviegoer, Tino Villanueva's Scene from
the Movie Giant, Michael Powell's 
