Sharing My ENGL 217: Fantasy Fiction Syllabus

I've radically reimagined my Fantasy Fiction course the 2nd time I'm teaching it here at Fredonia.  In a nutshell, it's organized by trios of major novels from different periods that speak to each other in interesting ways.  We start with Alice, Dorothy, and September, move on to Middle-Earth, Narnia, and Lyra's Oxford, then go to magic school, and close by seeing if Samuel R. Delany, George R.R. Martin, and N.K. Jemisin can help us figure out what we think about "critical fantasy."  So happy that the September 1st issue of Time features Lev Grossman's essay on the 21st C fantasy boom.  My end-of-semester reward will be watching the 3rd movie in The Hobbit trilogy and finally reading the 3rd novel in his Magicians trilogy!  No spoilers in comments, please.

Neal on Neil and Neal

Hey folks, sorry for the long absence.  I'm going to be teaching a summer course on Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson this summer from May 28 through June 28 at SUNY Fredonia, so expect a lot more activity here soon!

Here's how I've been pitching it on campus.

Summer Session I

Bring on the "Ne(a/i)ls":

Bruce Neal Simon Will Be Teaching Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson

ENGL 427 Major Writers: Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson

During Summer Session I, we will examine a sample of works from the major fantasy fiction writer and the major science fiction writer of their generation: Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson. We will start by pairing some shorter works that made the writers' early reputations (for instance, Gaiman's Sandman: Season of Mists and Stephenson's "Mother Earth, Mother Board" from Some Remarks). We will then pair Gaiman's (and Terry Pratchett's) Good Omens with Stephenson's Snow Crash as hugely popular and influential experiments in narrative, humor, and apocalypse. Finally, we will pair Gaiman's American Gods with Stephenson's Anathem as mature and major novels. If we have the time (and are completely insane), we will also try to pack in their most recent novels, Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stephenson's Reamde--you know, for fun (these novels will be optional purchases)!

We will consider such questions as what makes a writer "major"? how do these very different writers speak to each other, to their own times, and to us? what connections and contrasts can we find between their characters and settings, characteristic themes and figures, central beliefs and values, writing styles and narrative strategies, and literary and political projects?

This course fulfills the "major author course" requirement for undergraduates majoring in English or English Adolescence Education.

Science Fiction in Schools

First, to clear the air, I am neither for or against Science Fiction, as I have very little exposure to it, which is not necessarily intentional. I suppose I find Science fiction to be limiting to some readers as it often can be rather technical or scientific; yet, this does not mean it should be banned from curriculums. However, many people want to legitimize Science Fiction and wish that it was taught in schools. Proponents feel that Sci/fi gets blacklisted and unfairly left out of high school English canonization. I'm here to throw in my opinion as to why it remains largely ignored in English classrooms.

First of all we grow up in a society where people are not necessarily proficient at their own language. One of the hardest subjects for students to pass, is their own language. Teachers struggle to get their students to read anything in classrooms. Need proof? How many of you have put on your facebook pages a joke about reading, or leave it blank? I see far too many. However, that is the very struggle teachers in high schools are faced with; what books do you teach that you hope to grab the most students attention with. Science Fiction fans need to realize their genre is competing against the best English writers in the history of the langauge; from Shakespeare to Orwell. That is hard for any genre to compete against. Teachers want to give the best representation of what the English language has to offer, and apparently, resondingly they feel Science Fiction is not a part of that. Don't be jaded, you're not the only genre to be left out. For what a High School teacher wants to teach their students, Science Fiction doesn't fit the bill apparently. As I said, I hold no bias; in fact I think it would be great for teachers to implement many different genre's, covering a broader spectrum. In doing so you can unlock the imagination of a few students, changing their lives forever. I used to hate reading, until my 7th grade English teacher made us read the Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. His book taught me that books can actually be fun, and not have to be boring or homework-related. However, playing the numbers, teachers must choose very carefully, when selecting their book selections. It can't be left out that they were probably taught the same authors they teach.