Fantasy course
Working on the syllabus for my fantasy course! I have some questions that I'm hoping my flist will be able to help with.
1. Suggestions for critical essays or articles. So far I have Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", Ursula Le Guin's "The Critics, the Monsters, and the Fantasists", extracts from Rosemary Jackson's 'Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion', and an article on Harry Potter by Richard Bernstein.
2. Films to watch. So so many, so little time! I'm thinking Fellowship of the Ring, Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Neverending Story. Good/not good? Better options? Maybe The Hunger Games? PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl?
3. BOOKS. The Hobbit, Goblet of Fire (not sure about this one -- Philosopher's Stone may be better?), H G Wells' short story "The Inexperienced Ghost". Should I include Earthsea? Will 18-19 year olds be able to relate? Any suggestions for works/extracts from Gaiman? I want to include Philip Pullman, but His Dark Materials is too long to read/discuss as part of the course, and the film version of 'The Golden Compass' does very little justice to the book. Maybe just the first chapter of the book?
4. TV shows:
- I'm thinking maybe one episode each from Buffy and Merlin. Would the pilot episodes work? Or maybe there are better options among later episodes?
- Possibly SPN? Although all the good episodes I can think of need context to understand. "Roadkill" is a good one, right? Something people who don't know the show will still be able to appreciate (given the awesome twist at the end)? Possibly "Dead in the Water", since it's creepy and atmospheric enough for the genre, and has some wonderful characters as well as great writing? Any other suggestions?
- I know Doctor Who is sci-fi rather than fantasy, but I can think of a couple of episodes, such as 'Blink' and 'A Christmas Carol' (the flying fish are completely awesome!), that might be fitting? Good idea?
- Game of Thrones. Definitely unsuitable to screen on campus, but I'm thinking maybe I can focus on one character (possibly Daenerys and her dragons) and show some clips that could be discussed? I really want to include GoT somehow.
1. Suggestions for critical essays or articles. So far I have Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", Ursula Le Guin's "The Critics, the Monsters, and the Fantasists", extracts from Rosemary Jackson's 'Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion', and an article on Harry Potter by Richard Bernstein.
2. Films to watch. So so many, so little time! I'm thinking Fellowship of the Ring, Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Neverending Story. Good/not good? Better options? Maybe The Hunger Games? PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl?
3. BOOKS. The Hobbit, Goblet of Fire (not sure about this one -- Philosopher's Stone may be better?), H G Wells' short story "The Inexperienced Ghost". Should I include Earthsea? Will 18-19 year olds be able to relate? Any suggestions for works/extracts from Gaiman? I want to include Philip Pullman, but His Dark Materials is too long to read/discuss as part of the course, and the film version of 'The Golden Compass' does very little justice to the book. Maybe just the first chapter of the book?
4. TV shows:
- I'm thinking maybe one episode each from Buffy and Merlin. Would the pilot episodes work? Or maybe there are better options among later episodes?
- Possibly SPN? Although all the good episodes I can think of need context to understand. "Roadkill" is a good one, right? Something people who don't know the show will still be able to appreciate (given the awesome twist at the end)? Possibly "Dead in the Water", since it's creepy and atmospheric enough for the genre, and has some wonderful characters as well as great writing? Any other suggestions?
- I know Doctor Who is sci-fi rather than fantasy, but I can think of a couple of episodes, such as 'Blink' and 'A Christmas Carol' (the flying fish are completely awesome!), that might be fitting? Good idea?
- Game of Thrones. Definitely unsuitable to screen on campus, but I'm thinking maybe I can focus on one character (possibly Daenerys and her dragons) and show some clips that could be discussed? I really want to include GoT somehow.