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H 203 28362 Twice Told-Tales Gareth Evans garevans@indiana.edu

In this course, we will read four canonical literary texts with their twentieth and twenty-first century counterparts. Our concern will be with how recent writers revise and re-imagine the concerns of writers from earlier periods and other countries. We will also consider the extent to which contemporary authors extend, challenge, or subvert the texts they revise. Sean Merediths film features hand-drawn puppets, is full of references to American culture and politics in the last fifty year, and is a satirical update of Dantes Inferno. While Baz Luhrmanns postmodern filmic retake of Romeo and Juliet seeks to remake and popularize that play for a contemporary audience, we will add a third layer to our investigation of Romeo and Juliet by attending a performance of Cardinal Stages production of the play. In Seth Grahame-Smiths Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, monsters roam the Regency England of Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice. Finally, in The Graveyard Book, we will see Neil Gaiman offer a ghoulish, graphic-novel inflected rewrite of Kipling, whose book we will also see remade, and drastically cut, in Disneys The Jungle Book. In each case, we will address the knowledge and expectations of the initial audience for each work, examine the controversies some of these rewrites have engendered, and ponder whether and how the tale we read or view second or third causes us to re-read and re-interpret the tale we read first. The historical context in which the work was written and rewritten will always be at the heart of our concerns. Reading Dante, Inferno. Sean Meredith, Dantes Inferno (Film). William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Baz Luhrmann, William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet (Film). Walt Disney, The Jungle Book (Film). Rudyard Kipling, Jungle Book. Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The books for the course are available at Boxcar Books, 408 E. 6th Street. Schedule 1/10 1/12 1/19 1/24 1/26 1/31 2/2 2/7 2/9 2/14 Introduction Dante, Inferno, Cantos I XI. NO CLASS. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY Dante, Inferno, Cantos XII XXII. Dante, Inferno, Cantos XXIII XXXIII. Watch Dantes Inferno. NOTE: At the beginning of class, submit copy of pre-film quiz about the identity of major characters in the film. Discuss Dantes Inferno. Discuss Inferno and Dantes Inferno. Read and discuss sample essays. Writing Workshop. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. NOTE: Read all of the play before we begin discussing it.

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Essay 1 due Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. TBA. Potentially, a discussion of aspects of the play with one of the actors in the Cardinal Stage production of Romeo and Juliet. Discuss play and film Discuss play and film Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 3-89. Reception History of Jane Austen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception_history_of_Jane_Austen Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 89-158. Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 158-254. Essay 2 A Due. SPRING BREAK Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 7-162 Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 162-317 Visit to Wells Library. Visit to Lilly Library. Essay 2 B Due. Kipling, The Jungle Book, 1-110. Kipling, The Jungle Book, 111-218. Kipling, The Jungle Book, 219-336. Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, 2-98. Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, 99-210. Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, 211-307. TBA Evaluations Essay 3 due.

2/16 2/21 2/23 2/28 3/2 3/7 3/9 3/21 3/23 3/28 3/30 4/4 4/6 4/11 4/13 4/18 4/20 4/25 4/27

Note: The schedule and syllabus are subject to change. Three 6-8 page essays. 80% of final grade. Each essay you write must be comparative and it needs to show how the film rewrites the poem, play, or novel that is its source. Pay as much attention to the rewritten work as you do to the source. Quote from the rewritten work as often as you quote from the work on which it draws. The essay must be wide ranging, examining three or more comparable scenes in each work you discuss. The quality of the essay will depend in part on how detailed a reading you are able to provide of both the works you analyze. Attendance and participation in discussion and in-class activities. 10% of the final grade. A graded exercise designed to display your ability to find and use information in IUCAT, and a number of online databases. 10% of the final grade. Participation in out of class activities, such as attendance at a performance of Romeo and Juliet in late February or early March, and at evening showings of two films. Failing to attend the performance of the play or the evening showings of the films will be counted as a class absence.

Writing Requirements and Grades Your third essay may include use of and reference to secondary, critical sources. A hard copy of each of the essays must be submitted to me on paper. Note: Essays that do not meet the page requirement will be returned unread and given an F. Be warned that changing font size, line spacing, and the size of margins are not only doomed to

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failure, but will insure you get an F for the essay. You will not be allowed to rewrite an essay that does not meet the page requirement for the assignment. A graded exercise designed to display your ability to find and use information in IUCAT, WorldCat, Online Full-Text Journals, and the online Modern Language Association International Bibliography. 10% of the final grade. 10% of your grade will depend on class participation. Students who rarely or never participate in class discussion receive a C for class participation. A C for class participation typically means a student who averages B on his or her essays gets a B- for the class. An A for class participation and on the library exercise typically means a student who averages B on his or her essays gets a B+ for the class. On every day you dont have an essay due, bring to class a typewritten response to one of the reading questions posted at Oncourse. Class discussion on those days will sometimes be driven by the questions you ask. Ill collect your discussion questions at the end of each session and redistribute them within a week of their submission. The questions you write and ask count towards class participation. Your final grade for the class will drop by 1/3 of a grade every time you dont bring a response to class with you. You must fulfill all of the writing requirements to receive a passing grade in the class. Essay w/ lowest grade Essay w/ 2nd lowest grade Essay w/ highest grade Library research exercise Class Participation 20% 25% 35% 10% 10%

All essays must be exercises in literary criticism and analysis. Essays will be graded on form as well as content. I place a great deal of emphasis on writing skills and only those students with exceptional writing skills can expect to receive an A in this class. For a sense of how I grade essays, see my Grading Policy and Essay Writing Guidelines below.