ENG LIT 0625: DETECTIVE FICTION

Transcription

1 University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Spring 2017 Dr. Patrick Scott Belk Office: 225 Biddle Hall Phone: SPR Office Hours: MWF 1-1:50 p.m., T 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., also by appt. ENG LIT 0625: DETECTIVE FICTION CATALOG DESCRIPTION This course examines detective fiction in terms of its history, social meaning and as a philosophical form of narrative. It also seeks to reveal the place and value of popular fiction both in our lives and the modern world. Discussions will focus on helping students to understand and use critical methods for the analysis of detective fiction, while topics covered include history and development of detective fiction; describing and defining the genre; and the collaborative roles of readers, writers, and editors of detective fiction. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to acquaint students with works of both mainstream and minority crime, mystery, and detective-fiction writers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Being a course in close reading and textual analysis, we will also pay careful attention to this genre s forms, analyze the methods and techniques used by authors, and apply what we learn toward writing critically and intelligently about them. The course is concerned not only with detective fiction and literary studies, but also with abstract thinking and critical writing skills expected of college-level students regardless of their particular major. To ground our discussion of detective fiction we will also be focusing on the study of modern periodicals, asking how the growth of detective fiction magazines and magazine cultures in Britain, Europe, and the US helped to shape, define, and introduce diverse audiences to the broad cultural, historical, and aesthetic shifts that characterize modern detective fiction as a literary genre. Along with reading detective novels and stories in the first context in which they were published, we will discuss a variety of features crucial to understanding periodicals. Editorials, ads, art, and illustrations; essays on criminal science, detectives, and ratiocination; and readers letters will broaden your idea of what constitutes literature, and encourage you to regard these magazines as both complex aesthetic objects and documents of cultural history. Adaptations from weekly radio serials and Hollywood films will further enhance this exploration of the multiple channels and variety of media that first brought classic works of crime, mystery, and detection by writers like Agatha Christie, Earle Stanley Gardner, and Sax Rohmer to audiences around the world. REQUIRED MATERIALS Texts can be downloaded from my website, The Pulp Magazines Project (URL available). Contexts may be provided through academic articles, chapters on book history, or fan essays (in such cases, a PDF will be made available). So for this course, you need just 3 things: reliable access to a computer, a fast Internet connection, and some basic software (Adobe Reader and Google Chrome w/ Flash plug-in preferred). ASSIGNMENTS Position papers (60%) There will be four short papers assigned this semester; each is worth 15% of your final grade for the course. These papers should be in MLA format, typed, and double-spaced. Include your name, my name, the title of the course, and the date on which the draft is due in the upper-left corner of the first page.

2 Include your last name and page number on all subsequent pages. Margins must be one inch, and fonts no larger than Times New Roman, 12 point. Please do not skip a line between paragraphs. Make sure that you proofread every assignment you turn in. Use spell-check, but remember that this tool is not a substitute for your own diligence. I also suggest you have someone else proofread your work outside of class; it is sometimes difficult to catch your own mistakes. Typographical errors will considerably lower the final grade on a paper. Papers should always be finished on time, and they are always due on the day assigned. No exceptions. Reading quizzes (20%) Short quizzes will be given on a regular basis to ensure that students are keeping up with the assigned readings. You should be prepared for a quiz, delivered at the start of class, on all reading assignments on the day that the reading is due. Reading quizzes will not receive letter grades or comments; grades are determined by answering the questions correctly and completing them on time; and they are due on the day assigned. No exceptions. Together these quizzes comprise 20% of your final grade in the course. Discussions (10%) Each student will choose two days this semester to launch our class discussion. The sign-up sheet will be circulated in class before the end of Week 1. Sign up for any two topics of your choice. If you are not in class on the days the sign-up sheet is circulated, I will assign one. For these days students will be responsible for preparing a short presentation of materials to start class discussion (20 min), producing a Powerpoint or other visual supplement (no web tours), and being prepared for the benefit of the class. Attendance and participation (10%) Regular attendance is needed to develop a strong sense of community in a classroom, and to foster a healthy sense of class participation. Students must attend class regularly throughout the semester for this to work, and take mutual responsibility for the course s success by actively participating in class discussions. Failure to attend regularly and participate in class hurts the experience of other students. COMMUNITY STANDARDS Studies show that mutual respect is absolutely essential in a classroom. If there is no respect, then no real, long-term learning can ever take place. Therefore, mutual respect in this class is mandatory, and that includes your adherence to community standards regarding plagiarism. The University makes its official policy on plagiarism available for students online. Please familiarize yourself with this policy. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS The University makes reasonable academic accommodations for students with disabilities. Professors are available to discuss the implementation of academic accommodations for students who register in advance through appropriate campus service channels to verify their eligibility. Eligible students with accommodation letters should meet with professors individually, prior to any accommodations being implemented. These meetings should occur sometime during the first three weeks of the semester. Students are encouraged to stop by my office (Biddle 225) to discuss any question regarding policies. SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2017 All texts are available online at The Pulp Magazines Project, unless otherwise noted. All contexts are marked PDF, and available to download through Course Web, or the PMP (Pulp Magazines Project).

3 WEEK 1 01/04: Introduction to the course; Tour of the project s digital library; Indexing sites incl. FictionMags 01/06: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Kurowski, Detective Story Magazine (PMP); Rogue For A Day, John Mack Stone, pp WEEK 2 01/09: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Rogue For A Day, John Mack Stone, pp /11: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Rogue For A Day, John Mack Stone, pp /13: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Rogue For A Day, John Mack Stone, pp WEEK 3 01/16: NO CLASS Dr. Martin Luther King Day 01/18: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Red Raven VIII -- A Chance Clew, Scott Campbell, pp /20: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: The Sultana Crescent, William F. Vassall, pp WEEK 4 01/23: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: May and December, Frank Parks, pp /25: Modern detective fiction, Detective Story Magazine (March 5, 1916) READ: Practical Theory, Keene Thompson, pp /27: NO CLASS READING DAY The Parthian Shot, Robert Peel Noble, pp Grilled, Burns Patterson, p DUE: Paper 1 (3-4 pp. max)

4 WEEK 5 01/30: NO CLASS READING DAY 02/01: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, Graham's Magazine (April 1841) READ: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe, pp /03: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, Graham's Magazine (April 1841) READ: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe, pp WEEK 6 02/06: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, Graham's Magazine (April 1841) READ: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe, pp /08: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, The Strand Magazine (July 1891) READ: A Scandal in Bohemia, A. Conan Doyle, pp /10: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, The Strand Magazine (February 1892) READ: The Adventure of the Speckled Band, A. Conan Doyle, pp WEEK 7 02/13: Nineteenth-century detective fiction, The Strand Magazine (December 1893) READ: The Final Problem, A. Conan Doyle, pp /15: Detective fiction in the dime novels, Nick Carter Weekly (Nov. 6, 1897) READ: Nick Carter's Promise, Uncredited, pp /17: Detective fiction in the dime novels, Nick Carter Weekly (Nov. 6, 1897) READ: Nick Carter's Promise, Uncredited, pp WEEK 8 02/20: Detective fiction in the dime novels, Nick Carter Weekly (Nov. 6, 1897) READ: Nick Carter's Promise, Uncredited, pp /22: NO CLASS I am attending a conference, The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, at The University of Louisville in Louisville, KY, from Feb th, 2017: (Conference Website). There is no reading assignment scheduled for today. Students are encouraged to use this time to begin or continue developing Paper 2.

5 02/24: NO CLASS READING DAY DUE: Paper 2 (3-4 pp. max) WEEK 9 02/27: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: Hagemann, The Black Mask (PMP); Exterior To The Evidence, J. S. Fletcher, pp /01: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Finger Of Guilt, J. J. Stagg, pp Appearances Are Deceiving, George B. Jenkins, Jr., pp /03: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Light That Lies, Pettersen Marzoni, pp The Extra Dozen Eggs, J. B. Hawley, pp The Man Who Was Two, Harold Ward, pp WEEK 10 03/06: NO CLASS SPRING BREAK 03/08: NO CLASS SPRING BREAK 03/10: NO CLASS SPRING BREAK WEEK 11 03/13: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Trap, R. T. M. Scott, pp /15: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Campaign For Vengeance, John Baer, pp /17: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Campaign For Vengeance, John Baer, pp WEEK 12 03/20: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Brand Of Cain, Ward Sterling, pp

6 A Track-And-A-Half, Walter Deffenbaugh, pp /22: The Black Mask (April 1922) READ: The Too-Easy Alibi, George Briggs, pp Hankenson's Perfect Crime, Ward Sterling, pp /24: NO CLASS READING DAY Pink Ears, Murray Leinster, pp The New Mystery Books, Capt. Frank Cunningham, pp DUE: Paper 3 (3-4 pp. max) WEEK 13 03/27: The Blue Book Magazine (January 1924) READ: The Plymouth Express Affair, Agatha Christie, pp /29: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: Diamond Death [Part 1 Of 2], Madeleine Sharps Buchanan, pp /31: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: Miracle Murder, Harold De Polo, pp WEEK 14 04/03: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: A Fair Reward, Erle Stanley Gardner, pp /05: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: A Line To Lefty, Robert H. Rohde, pp /07: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: Exploits Of The Wolf, Alan Hynd, pp WEEK 15 04/10: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: The Second Message, J. Lane Linklater, pp

7 04/12: Detective Fiction Weekly (June 28, 1930) READ: The Blind Fury [Part 5 Of 5], Sinclair Gluck, pp /14: NO CLASS READING DAY READ: Why Do They Go?, G. Haines Trimingham, pp Moonshine, H. M. Sutherland, pp The Madame Aubertin, David Redstone, pp Character Revealed In Your Handwriting, John Fraser, pp Flashes From Readers, Editorial Dept., pp Solving Cipher Secrets, M. E. Ohaver, pp WEEK 16 04/17: 1940s Film noir/ black-and-white cinema WATCH (during class): The Maltese Falcon (1941) 04/19: 1940s Film noir/ black-and-white cinema WATCH (during class): The Maltese Falcon (1941) 04/21: 1940s Film noir/ black-and-white cinema WATCH (during class): The Maltese Falcon (1941) FINAL EXAMS WEEK 04/28: All final semester assignments (including the Extra Credit assignment) are due before 5:00 PM on Friday, April, 28, Please place copies of assignments under my office door (Biddle 225). DUE: Paper 4 (3-4 pp. max)