Gods and Monsters 1

Fall 2004, Sharon Goetz

(I taught two similar classes back to back: the first was composition only, whereas the second had a research component. Thus the readings differed somewhat as well.)

Using texts that explore the exercise of unusual power by unusual characters, this course examines the entangled interfaces linking human and almost-human, individual and community, and identity and responsibility. Who determines what is “human” or “normal”? How does ignoring, minimizing, or emphasizing difference impact someone’s relationship with society? Where and how do personal and social responsibility overlap and come into conflict? What are some ramifications of the resulting ideological compromise? These questions and others offer points of departure for class discussion as well as the course’s written component. In a series of short essays, we will address the argumentative thesis, issues of sentence and paragraph structure, use of textual evidence, and the process of revision. In addition, please be aware that active participation in class is vital to your success in this course.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “Ozymandias.” http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1904.html [in-class handout]

Butler, Octavia. “The Evening and the Morning and the Night.” Bloodchild and Other Stories. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1995. 35-70. [Originally in Omni, 1987.]

Keats, John. Lamia. The Poetical Works of John Keats. Ed. H. W. Garrod. Oxford: Clarendon, 1939. 191-214.

Murphy, Pat. “His Vegetable Wife.” The Norton Anthology of Science Fiction. Ed. Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian Attebery. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993. 628-32.

Sturgeon, Theodore. More Than Human. 1952, 1953. New York: Vintage, 1998.

Padgett, Lewis [Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore]. “Mimsy Were the Borogoves.” The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF. Ed. David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. New York: Tor, 1994. 122-43. [Originally in Astounding, Feb 1943.]

Carroll, Lewis. “Chapter One.” Through the Looking-Glass. Ill. John Tenniel. New York: Macmillan, 1899. Available online via Electronic Text Center, Univ. of Virginia: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/

Delany, Samuel R. The Einstein Intersection. 1967. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan Univ. Press, 1998.

Zelazny, Roger. “24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai.” Frost and Fire. New York: Morrow, 1989. 203-77. [Originally in Asimov’s, Jul 1985.]

Ford, John M. “Heat of Fusion.” The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF. Ed. David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. New York: Tor, 1994. 553-63. [Originally in Asimov’s, Sep 1984.]

Bradley, S. J. A., trans. Judith. Anglo-Saxon Poetry. London: J. M. Dent, 1982, 1995. 495-504.

Liuzza, R. M., ed. and trans. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2000. 151-55, 60-61, 228-31 [reader order].

Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000.

Wolfe, Gene. “The Fifth Head of Cerberus.” The Fifth Head of Cerberus: Three Novellas. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1972. 3-73.

Chiang, Ted. “Liking What You See: A Documentary.” Stories of Your Life and Others. New York: Tor, 2002. 281-323.

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