Subtitle: Popular Novels & Film
This course will look at the development of different genres of popular novels, focusing on what have since become “classics,” as well as the development of popular film genres as filmmakers sought to bring the narratives to the screen.
These are the pairs of works we will study:
Horror and birth of science fiction:
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)
James Whale, Frankenstein (1931)
The Romance and the Remaking of a “Classic”
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)
Robert Stevenson and Orson Welles, Jane Eyre (1943)
Children’s Series
L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1901)
Victor Fleming and various others, The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Hard Boiled Detective and Film Noir
Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1936)
Howard Hawks, The Big Sleep (1946)
Here’s Johnny
Stephen King, The Shining (1977)
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining (1980)
Science Fiction
Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1964)
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner, Director’s Cut (1992)
Graphic Novels
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen (1986-87)
Zack Snyder, Watchmen (1980)
This is NOT a writing intensive class, so the focus will be on keeping up with the reading, attendance, and participation in class activities.
Major Assignments
Study Questions
Reading Quizzes
One report on author/director
Reading Log
Take Home Midterm (Essay)
Take Home Final (Essay)