crime & celebrity
This unit moves us from thinking about monsters in terms of fiction and mythology to thinking about monsters in more concrete and human terms, asking the question, can a person be a monster? Looking at "monsters" like Lizzie Borden and Charles Manson, emerging out of true crime narratives, the class will consider the ramifications of interpreting a person as a monster and will apply the thinking that arises out of this discussion to celebrities (like Michael Jackson) who have sometimes been understood as monsters.
Students will, again, be asked to share ongoing work on their individual research projects, this time on real-life "monsters" who challenge our sense of what it means to be human. Adding another dimension to our ongoing conversation, a special classroom visit from true-crime writer and America's Most Wanted producer Keith Elliot Greenberg, will invite us to consider the role of narrative, or deliberate storytelling, in the making of a monster.
[Pictured above: Engraving from the Illustrated Police News, October 6th 1888, showing Constable Watkins of the City of London Police Force discovering the body of
murder victim Catherine Eddowes.]
October
Wed 26: in-class research on Lizzie Borden
Mon 31: Vincent Bugliosi, Helter Skelter (excerpt: 235-50, 270, 300, 316-20); and
Paul O’Neil, “The Monstrous Manson ‘Family’” [not required, read online]
November
Wed 2:
10-11:50, Student-teacher conferences, ME G02
12-1:50, Extended office hours, CO626
2-3:50, visiting speaker: Keith Elliot Greenberg, HA 101
Mon 7: Susan Fast, “Difference That Exceeded Understanding”
writing assignment three: write about a real-life "monster" of your choice, showing both "human" and "monstrous" sides and arguing for a particular interpretation
Write a 4-5 page researched essay (1,000-1,300 words) about a real-life person in history or from our present time who has sometimes been understood as a "monster" (but NOT one of the figures we study in class).
Your essay needs to do three things:
- IDENTIFY. State clearly who the person is and briefly give the reader whatever background she needs in order to understand this figure as a "monster." Make sure the opening paragraph of your essay offers a one-sentence statement of your argument; this is your thesis. Don't worry about explaining all your reasons right away--just give the reader a heads up as to where the paper is going.
- NARRATE and COMPARE. Provide researched and documented background information on the figure; use source texts to illustrate specifics. Be sure to show your figure from at least two sides, the "monstrous" and the "human."
- ARGUE. Using evidence presented in your paper, explain how you think this figure should be interpreted, whether as monstrous, as human, or in some other more complex way. Imagine you are presenting evidence in court, either to convict or to exonerate your subject, or to influence a jury toward the kind of sentencing you think s/he deserves. It is permissable to work on the feelings of your audience, but most of your argument should be evidence based; rely on facts and quotations from your source material to persuade readers of your perspective.
requirements
The essay must use quotations from at least three college-level print sources. (You may use as many additional sources as you wish.) Print sources must be documented with MLA style in-text citations and you must include a list of works cited at the end, also in MLA style (see sample works cited page here).
Possible celebrity "monsters" you might want to research:
Adolph Hitler
Barack Obama
Casey Anthony
David Berkowitz
Fidel Castro
Idi Amin
Imelda Marcos
Jack the Ripper
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jocelyn Wildenstein
John Wayne Gacy
Joseph Carey Merrick
Joseph Stalin
Lady Gaga
Leona Helmsley
Mike Tyson
Osama Bin Laden
Pol Pot
Rafael Trujillo
Susan Smith
The Boston Strangler
The Zodiac Killer
Vlad Tepes
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