Spring 2010 Class: Serrato, Engl. 501

English 501 P. Serrato
Tu/Th 2-3:15 HH206

This edition of English 501 will be an ambitious one (is there any other way to design a class?) that will see us starting with some classics of children’s literature (Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) and sliding (by way of Pippi Longstocking, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) toward more contemporary fare (Prietita and the Ghost Woman, Me and the Pumpkin Queen). We will also spend some time with some less “distinguished”—yet still highly interesting and instructive—works such as The Adventures of Captain Underpants and Danger on Vampire Trail. While it goes without saying that my overarching aim is to facilitate a savvy acquaintance on your part with each of the assigned texts, I must note that I will be especially interested this semester in using each text as a medium for introducing a specific theoretical approach. By the end of the semester, you will have had some practice with, among other things, psychoanalysis, existentialism, Marxism, deconstruction, and Chicana feminism, and you will have an acquaintance with the work of scholars such as Robyn Wiegman, Lisa Lowe, James Moy, Annette Wannamaker, Joseph T. Thomas, Jr., Barbara Creed, and Carole-Anne Tyler.

Here is a preliminary list of the texts that we will cover. For a finalized list, feel free to email the instructor (pserrato@mail.sdsu.edu) over the break.

Readings
Hoffman, Struwwelpeter
Barrie, Peter Pan
Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking
Yep, When the Circus Came to Town
Dixon, Danger on Vampire Trail
Kennedy, Me and the Pumpkin Queen
Anzaldúa, Prietita and the Ghost Woman
Pilkey, The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Pilkey, Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets
Scieszka, Cowboy and Octopus
Alarcon, Angels Ride Bikes and Other Fall Poems
Collier, Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue
Reilly, Punch & Judy