Thought some of you might want to see the next several weeks of the 200-level speculative literature (fantasy) course I’m teaching. (Previously posted the first four weeks.) This section continues to draw from Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer’s _The Big Book of Classic Fantasy_, which ends with Tolkien. In the last third of the course, we’ll move into their _The Big Book of Modern Fantasy_.
Note — I originally had two stories / class period, which at least half the class found overwhelming to read and keep track of. Have slowed the pace down for this 200-level class, with mostly just one story / class, which feels about right.
But there’s certainly enough material in this book that I could have easily assigned 10 weeks of worthwhile reading, with 2 stories / class — if I were teaching this at the 400-level, with a class full of English majors, I’d do something closer to that.
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Week 5:
M 2/5: “The Kingdom of Cards,” by Rabindranath Tagore
W 2/7: “The Fullness of Life,” by Edith Wharton AND “The Little Room,” by Madeline Yale Wynne
Friday 2/9: “The Princess Baladina” by Willa Cather
Week 6:
M 2/12: “The Reluctant Dragon,” by Kenneth Grahame
W 2/14: “Iktomi Tales” by Zitkala-Sa
F 2/16: “Dance of the Comets” by Paul Scheerbart
Week 7:
M 2/19: “Blamol,” by Gustav Meyrink
W 2/21: “Goblins: A Logging Camp Story,” by Louis Fréchette
F 2/23: “The Angry Street,” by G. K. Chesterton
Week 8:
Monday 2/26: “The Aunt and Amabel,” by E. Nesbit
Wednesday 2/28: “Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse,” by L. Frank Baum
Friday 3/1: “The Hoard of the Gibbelins,” by Lord Dunsany
Week 9:
M 3/4: “The Metamorphosis, Part 1,” by Franz Kafka
W 3/6: “A Visit to the Museum,” by Vladimir Nabokov
F 3/8: “Uncle Monday,” by Zora Neale Hurston
Week 10:
Monday 3/11: “The Debutante,” by Leonora Carrington
Wednesday 3/13: “Evening Primrose,” by John Collier
Friday 3/15: “Leaf by Niggle,” by J.R.R. Tolkien