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Summer 2018 ENGLISH
220: SEX DRUGS ROCK *aka, your major essay of
the semester!
The writing you will turn in, based on the prompts below, should be no longer than 5-8 pages in length (if you must go longer, a page or two let's say, don't sweat it; graduate students in the class should turn in an essay from 8 to 11 pages in length). Please do not turn in a paper that focuses on an illustrated and/or filmed text without also turning in visual evidence -- images do NOT count toward your final page count so illustrate at will. Your imagination challenge will be cleverly titled, double-spaced, have 1-inch margins and be carefully proofread; additionally, it will be full of active verbs and, in general, have syntactic variety so as to avoid the dangers of the "IS" VIRUS (use the sample grading sheet, to your right, as a checklist of what NOT to do). Lastly,
please use
MLA or University
of Chicago works cited pages formatting. Your
eyegasmic expository bundles of genius are due, in class, Monday, August 13, 2017. Late
papers
will not be accepted. Early papers, in most cases,
will be cherished lovingly. All
"A-grade" level imagination challenge responses will
integrate select, direct quotations from the primary
texts read thus far in the class this semester and
will avoid ALL of the quicksand-like bad habits listed
on the gradesheet already mentioned above.
Additionally, A-level grades will be awarded ONLY
to crafty undergraduates who make use of scholarly
research discovered either by prowling "the stacks"
(the shelves and shelves of books that fill Love
Library, aka the "Library
of Love") or that you can gather off of JSTOR or PROJECT
MUSE--be sure to CITE THESE WORKS CAREFULLY. In
general, avoid research garnered from the
internet--any use or adaptation of material from
Schmoop, Spark Notes, Cliffs Notes, Barron's Notes,
etc (and especially essays that rely on Wikipedia)
will likely be returned to you ungraded or burned
ritually at a secret sacred site guarded by druids! One last
bit of advice, do NOT plagiarize ANY material from an
online source or 'paper mill.' In other words: unCITED material = PLAGIARISM;
also, as noted above, if you are going to analyze a key
element from an illustrated or filmed work, do please go
to the bother of xeroxing the image and incorporating it
INTO your essay with captions and with a notation in the
'Works Cited' to let your readers know where you got it
from. Last hint? Have a blast with this paper! Try things you have NEVER tried before! Test the limits of your imagination! Good luck! This IMAGINATION CHALLENGE is slightly different from other writing assignments you may have completed as an undergraduate (for example, please leave everything you learned to loathe in RWS 100 or 200 at the door--unless your instructor was a genius, in which case, use your best judgment). For this Imagination Challenge you will fill in the blanks provided below and then complete the essay making sure to provide specific textual evidence to sustain/defend/illustrate your stated position in your writing! FINISH only ONE of the following challenges. Note that some of the blanks below are meant to be filled with authors' names whilst others should be filled with specific phrases/ideas; read the prompts carefully to make your final determination. One last thing. Try to finish your paper a DAY BEFORE it is due. Print it out and lay it on a desk in your room. A day later, wake up early and take this printed work and go to a room/library/cafe you don't usually go to--go there with a big old printed dictionary, you should own one and you can get good ones for cheap at old book stores like Maxwell's House of Books, Adams Avenue Books, DG Wills Books, Bluestocking Books and other area book shops. Take your paper to this special place and edit your paper. We really don't have the power to carefully edit a document on the screen where it was composed. You must switch the medium, going from screen to paper, from photons to ink, to see errors your reader will trip over! Cool. Go for it! Here are your prompts! Unless you KNOW you can write a better introductory paragraph, please use these PromptParagraphs™ (an intellectually enhanced version of MadLibs!) as your actual opening paragraph for your paper. Option 1. Psychology &
Graphic Narrative (note that doing this
challenge means also doing some cool secondary
research on human psychology) A
provocative graphic narrative by Dan Clowes, Like a Velvet Glove Cast
in Iron challenges its readers to explore the
_________________ and __________________________of
_____________________--to be more specific, Clowes take
viewers/readers on a tour of _____________________
introducing characters and situations that reveal
______________________. Recently, specific scholars have
written essays that shed new light on these
phenomena--typical among these is
"_______________________{essay title}________________________"
written by ____{scholar's
name}_________________. However, I am not
totally content, with Professor _________________'s
study. In the paragraphs that follow, I will briefly
illustrate my problems with his/her work and suggest
better ways to explore the concept using Clowes's novel
comic book to guide my way. Option 2. Surrealism and
Literature/Art/Film Two
recent essays on Surrealism in Art and Literature that
prove valuable are Option 3. Morrison and
Gurba Ride Together! How is
it possible that a Mexican-American writer from the
first part of the 21st century and an African American
writer from the Seventies and beyond, be seen to share
a singular obsession? And yet that is the case with
Myriam Gurba and Toni Morrison. In my brief
study that will unfold before you here, I will take
the time to focus on the themes of _______________ and
_______________________ as I weave a critical tale of
Morrison's and Gurba's kinship. But I will also take
time below to point out their contrasts, especially
with regard to __________________________________. Option 4. Comparative Literature The
best
literature is merely a vehicle for surveilling the
complex corridors of the human mind. With ___________{main character
name}___________(from the book of your choice and ___{main character
name}__________ (from the book of your choice),
writers _______________________ and _______________ Option 5. Joan Didion, Reconsidered Joan
Didion does a remarkable job letting us get inside of
1960s American in "White Album" giving us a taste
of ______________________________ and showing
how __________________________________. Didion's
essay is a fine memoir and a fine piece of reporting
but it also can be used as a skeleton key of sorts to
probe ________________________________ {choose a
work that we have read that you believe to be
illuminated by ideas in Didion's writing}. In the
paragraphs that follow, I will attempt to apply
adaptations of Freud's scribblings to Didion's essay.
In particular, I hope to explore how
______________________ ... Option 6. Allusions
Allusions Allusions... 20th and 21st
century American Literature drowns us in literary and
cinematic works that are filled with
allusions--allusions most clearly dominate the writing
of ____________________ and
______________________________. .... Option 7. Verisimilitude or The Play within the Play Many of the works that have happened our way this term are metatextual--that is, they are as likely to tell a compelling fictional tale as they are to tell a story about the nature of storytelling itself (in a sense, then, we can say that most of the mirrortextian works we have sampled this semester are allegorical). In critical writings, this practice goes by various names: self-referentiality, postmodernity, poststructuralism, and 'breaking the fourth wall'. Trapped in Love Library, I happened upon _________________________ written by ___________________________. His/Her writings on the nature of self-referentiality/postmodernity/poststructuralism/'breaking the fourth wall'/ metatextuality (PICK ONE) give us a better way to enter into a discussion of _____________________________ and _________________________ (pick two works we have worked on this semester). Using this critical work, I will attempt to show how_________________________________..... Option 8: Documentary Film
and Cultural Critique The language of documentary film and that of literary criticism and cultural commentary are distinct and share unique histories. That said, it can be argued that Frederick Wiseman's High School and _________________________ share much in common--in particular when it comes to ___________________ and __________________________. In the paragraphs that follow, I will explore the connection between Wiseman and _________________, and, as well, the connection between documentary film and expository cultural critique. In doing so I hope to ________________________... Option 9: Sex,
Drugs, Literature Narcotics
and sexuality play a key role in the writing of Lidia
Yuknavitch and Chuck Palahniuk--particularly intriguing
are the ways that Yuknavitch _____________ Option 10: The Elevator Dan Clowes and Chuck Palahniuk are trapped in an elevator. What happens next? And why is Philip K. Dick speaking to them through the intercom? {This one is not as easy as it may appear at first as I expect you to weave in key, meaningful citations from their works or published interviews to enliven the conversation}. Option 11. Roll your own! Develop and refine your OWN independent fill in the blanks prompt--it must make use of at least two works from the required texts (books, film, graphic narrative, etc) we have and will peruse this term. You MUST bring your proposal to me, typed out on paper by the beginning of class Thursday, August 9, before OR after class, or email your proposal to me at memo@sdsu.edu--no emailed proposals will be considered after 12noon, Friday, August 10, 2018. You are also welcome to run it by me in person during office hours or by appointment. Have fun!
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| MODELS FOR GOOD
LITERARY AND FILM CRITICISM |
| If you have never read a good piece of literary
criticism or film theory, it is probably a good idea to
read some BEFORE you tackle this writing assignment; below
appear paragraphs and a link to some good writing focused
on literature and film. As you do your research for your
essay, pay attention not just to the ideas of the critics
you select to share in your essay as proof, pay attention
as well to the way they carefully craft these arguments. Edward Said, one of my stylistic mentors, on Joseph Conrad...  Edward Said, again, on Joseph Conrad (and Sigmund Freud)...  Helen Vendler on Criticism  and last, J. Hoberman (extra-cool film theorist)... (click image to see/read his full review)...  |
| urgent issues? email: memo@sdsu.edu |
 Back to your day to day diary! |
