ENG 3014 - Spring 2026 - Pascoe

"This course introduces issues and debates that inform contemporary literary studies. We will read a collection of theoretical and critical writings that have challenged established ideas and reoriented conventional thinking. We will use Mary Shelley’s story of a “hideous phantasm of a man” as a testing ground for thinking about literary theory. Shelley’s Frankenstein has inspired a proliferation of creative works (films, comic books, novels), and also a broad array of theoretical approaches. We’ll read iconic works of critical theory (likely including those of Claudia Rankine, Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler) to explore how these thinkers’ ideas can enrich our understanding of Mary Shelley’s novel and its adaptations. Grades will be based on short assignments (including discussion board posts and open-notebook quizzes), short papers, a final “closer look” paper, and a Frankenstein roundtable. "