English 301 | Naked in Black & White
Psychological Snapshots from Film Noir to Pulp Fiction
A Special Summer 2006 Version of the Psychological Novel
William Anthony Nericcio, Professor of English and Comparative Literature,
Latin American & Chicana/o Studies, SDSU | 594.1524 | memo@sdsu.edu | malas.sdsu.edu
  It
lies. The SDSU
catalogue lies.
You open it and it tells you, "Psychological novel from its inception to present, including major works from a variety of cultures. Readings designed to aid students in discovering insights that great novelists have unearthed in their explorations of the human psyche. Prerequisites: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations II.C., Humanities." Don't listen to it. Don't fall for that scam. It's perjury with a capital "P." Well, OK, maybe "lie" is too strong a word, too bold a claim. Let's just say, keeping it between you and me, that the old boiler-plate catalogue description tries to do too much and say too much, when all you really have to know about our peculiar summer exploration is that we will be spending a lot of time in the dark, a lot of time in the dark naked. Ok, so now, I am lying.
You doubt me? Start writing down your dreams during the course of this term and you'll shortly be very surprised by what you'll see. You'll see too much, be too naked on the page and on the silver screen.
"Film Noir" is a key genre from the medium of Film; "Pulp Fiction," trashy, dark, and cheap, is a key genre from the medium of Writing--one of the most interesting developments in publishing and writing in the 20th Century. Each give us weapons to unpack and lay bare the workings, the deep, dark, quirky, sexy, and obscene dynamics of the unconscious mind. REQUIRED WORKS | BOOKS | AVAILABLE AT THE CAMPUS BOOKSTORE (not in any meaningful order)
REQUIRED WORK | FILM | SCREENED FOR
FREE IN CLASS
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| SYLLABUS/CONTRACT
FOR THE CLASS
DISCLAIMER This
class
deals
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 your scandalous
professor
from his job! This is a university-level course exploring usually
hidden
elements of the human psyche: you should EXPECT to be disturbed and
moved. FACTS | LOGISTICS ENGL
301
|
Schedule Number 01433 | Title: Psychological Novel | 3 UNITS |
May
24 - Jul 6 | 1200 1340 MTWTH | classroom AH-4176 PREPARED ATTENDANCE This is NOT one of those pathetic, waste-of-time, high school-style classes where you can skip the readings, bs, forget to go to class, and get a solid "C." Members of our "NAKED IN BLACK AND WHITE" seminar must attend class having COMPLETED the reading and prepared to participate in class discussions. While I understand that NOT ALL STUDENTS ARE COMFORTABLE contributing to class discussion, I nevertheless expect you to exhibit signs of intellectual life and to share your curiosity, questions, gripes, and views on a regular basis. Undergraduates who know they are going to miss more than three sessions, for WHATEVER reason, during the term should look for another summer class. ESSAYS, EXAMS, and QUIZZES Regarding quizzes and other torturous in-class surprises, NOTHING WILL BE WRITTEN IN STONE; the hotter and more lively the class discussions (NOT BY THE SAME THREE PEOPLE), the fewer busywork quizzes all of us will have to endure. There will be TWO written essay assignnments during our summer semester: the first essay will be an in-class short essay challenge; the second will be a 5-8 page researched IMAGINATION CHALLENGE that will make use of at least TWO published outside scholarly books related to YOUR chosen subject. NOTE: WHILE I WILL PROVIDE PROMPTS FOR THIS ESSAY, STUDENTS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO DEVELOP AND PURSUE THEIR OWN THESES! FINAL EXAM There will be a comprehensive, in-class final exam on the final day of our class, THURSDAY JULY 6, 2006. PLAGIARISM Plagiarism comes from the Latin word, "plagiarum" which means KIDNAPPING--not a GOOD thing. In the university, plagiarism refers to the art and crime of presenting other people's work under your own signature--definitely a bad thing. While the professor is forbidden by CSU/SDSU code from tattooing the word LOSER on the foreheads of guilty students, he can promise that felonious students will be remanded to the state-authorized SDSU executioners. OFFICE HOURS My office hours are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 to 12 and by appointment. Contrary to legends passed around by legions of SDSU undergraduate doofi (plural for doofus), "office hours" are not time periods set aside for students to "suck up" to professors in need of worship. Office hours are times set aside by scholars for students in need of class assistance, etc. USC has a great handbook for undergraduates that addresses the mysteries of "office hours" and other undergraduate essentials: take a peek--the "office hours" description is toward the bottom of the page. GRADING BREAKDOWN 33%
Attendance
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Quizzes |
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| Pulp/Noir
Web Resources
Palace | Old
Films Resource Pulp Friction |
Overview
Article |
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 Pulp/Noir Teaching AssistantI am happy to announce more support for undergraduates taking our summer noir/pulp extravaganza/adventure. Brook Barman, a senior Art and Literature student here at SDSU, will be acting as my Teaching Assistant for this section of E301. She will shortly post her office hours. Her contact info is here: Brook Barman,TA E301 Professor William Nericcio bbarman@rohan.sdsu.edu |
Psychology,
the human psyche in general--especially if we are to be influenced by
the
writing of a guy named Sigmund Freud--is a place of the dark, a place
that
is hidden, a place that is raw, closeted, clever, evasive, but, at the
same time, it is a place as well that is very, very, naked, open,
exposed,
and at risk. 
Not surprisingly, that's what the
writers, artists, and directors we will
experience have in store for us in the days that follow. 
In
the six fast weeks that comprise this class, we will make the time to
study
closely a very particular and ultra-peculiar branch of
"literature"--and
let me make it clear here in the syllabus that when I write
"literature"
or use the word "text," I am talking about novels, short stories, and
poetry--you'd
expect that--, but I am speaking as well about films, graphic art,
painting,
and photography as well: in short, if it is capable of expressing a
story,
a dark sordid pulp fictiony and film noirish exposé on the
workings
of the soul, on the gyrations of the human mind, we are going to be
down
on it like gum on the shoe of a detective. 
