English 485
Mon/Wed 11:30-1:00, HH119
Victoria Lamont
Course Description
Many of the popular fiction and television genres we know today, from romances to police procedurals, developed in American pulp fiction magazines. Flourishing throughout the early 20th century, the pulps were made possible by social and technological developments that created both cheap magazines (made from “pulp” paper) and the readers to support them.
The advent of cheap fiction magazines was perceived as threatening by cultural elites, who feared its potential negative influence on the morals and work ethic of the people who read them. Produced primarily for pleasure and in quantity, the pulps violated literary ideals such as originality and complexity.
Denigrated and ephemeral, pulps were threatened with extinction until digital technology made it easier than ever to recover, study, and preserve pulps.
Rather than dismiss pulp as “trash,” a central concern of this course is to learn appropriate methodologies for recovering and studying pulps in ways that take seriously their contexts, producers, and readers.
Contact
Victoria Lamont, vlamont@uwaterloo.ca
HH226; In-person Office hours –MW 1:30-2:30 or virtually by appointment.
Communication
I will use Learn to communicate to the class regarding activities and assignments, or notify the class about a switch to remote learning. Please check Learn regularly.
In the event that we are required to meet remotely, meetings will be held on Teams.
Attendance
This is an in-person course. Attendance is expected except for the following:
- A documented medical or mental health emergency.
- Flu like symptoms (must be reported using the reporting tool on Quest, documentation not required)
- Requirement to self-isolate (must be reported as above).
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course you should be able to
- Describe the characteristics and components of pulp magazines.
- Summarize the history of American pulp magazines.
- Describe examples of pulp magazine genres, and make comparisons among them.
- Historically contextualize pulp magazines.
- Reconstruct pulp readerships as they are implied by advertising, reader departments, and other evidence.
- Critically evaluate the values and ideals constructed in pulp magazines through the interaction of fiction, advertising, and reader departments.
Required Texts and Resources
- Pulp Magazines Project(PMP). An open-source archive of digitized pulp magazines. I have found this to be a reliable source for many years; however, because of the unpredictability of web-based materials, I may have to assign alternative texts if this website becomes disabled. Suitable alternative texts will be announced in advance.
- Assigned readings available electronically via Course Reserves or hyperlinks in the schedule of classes below.
- A computer with internet access capable of managing large pdfs for class activities as well as assignments and projects.
Warning of offensive or harmful language
Mainstream American popular culture of the period we are studying privileged heteronormative whiteness and included normalized racism, sexism, and rape culture. Please do not hesitate to approach me with any questions or concerns you have about this. Take care when quoting content that is potentially harmful to members of the UW community in your classes and assignments. If you have questions about how to work with potentially harmful content in your assignments or class activities, please reach out to me.
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Covid 19 Contingency Planning
It’s great to be back in the classroom, but we don’t know what the virus has in store for us, so we need to be flexible and ready to improvise if we have to. Here’s how I plan to manage classes in the event of covid-related illnesses, outbreaks, or shutdowns:
In the event that the university has to shut down in-person activities, classes will shift to remote delivery via Teams, and seminars and activities will take place in a remote environment.
In the event that I am required to self-isolate, or there is an outbreak affecting a significant number of students in the class, we may have to switch to remote learning for one or two weeks. If this happens classes will be conducted on Teams.
If you are required to self-isolate because of covid exposure, please contact me as soon as you can to make arrangements for accommodations. Report your illness/isolation using the self-reporting tool on Quest. Accommodations may include assigning a note taker to help you catch up on missed classes, access to recorded lectures/class discussions (if technology permits), or extensions for assignments missed because of illness.
When preparing seminars, use materials and formats that can be readily adapted to a remote environment.
Schedule of Classes. Things may change; if they do, you will be notified one week in advance in class and on Learn.
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Topics and Assigned Readings (please read before class) |
Learning Activities |
Assignments |
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Week 1 (Sept. 7): Introduction to Course. What are pulp magazines? Why study pulp? Myths about pulp. •Browse the magazines in the Pulp Magazines Project |
Introduction activity |
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Week 2: (Sept. 12-14) A brief history of American pulp magazines. How to read a magazine.
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Discussion #1 |
Group project sign- up. |
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Week 3 (Sept. 19-21): Pulp contexts; the woman suffrage debate; reading in and out •”Mr. Garfield’s Matrimonial Experiment,” The Popular Magazine, Dec. 1908
Manchester UP, 1998, pp. 1-18. On e-reserve.
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Discussion #2 |
Finalize Groups |
| American Pulp Magazines, Fall 2022 3 | ||
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Week 4 (Sept. 26-28): The emergence of pulp genres; detective fiction; fear of the other in American popular culture; reconstructing readerships – pulp advertising.
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Discussion #3 |
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Week 5 (Oct. 3-5): Pulp genres – westerns; pulp fiction and American colonialism; reconstructing readerships – reader departments
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Discussion #4 |
Mid-term assignment due by Friday at midnight. |
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Reading Week: Oct 10-14 |
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Week 6 (Oct. 17-19): Pulp genres – romance; romance readerships; depression-era gender relations; pulp visuals; bibliographic codes
-scan contents, ads, departments, read “Extra Sheer.” |
Discussion #5 |
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Week 7 (Oct. 24-26): Pulp Genres - science fiction; technological change in the pulp era
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Discussion #6 |
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Week 8 (Oct. 31-Nov. 2): Pulp transgressions; Sherriff Minnie; Lesbian pulp of the 1950s
C.L. Moore, “Jirel of Joiry” (warning – depicts sexual assault)
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Discussion #7 |
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Week 9 (Nov. 7-9): Pulp makers; research tools for learning about authors, illustrators, editors.
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Discussion #8 |
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| American Pulp Magazines, Fall 2022 4 | ||
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•William F. Vassall, “The Sultana Crescent,” Detective, March 5 1916. Pulp Magazines Project. |
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Week 10 (Nov. 14-16): Digital tools for pulp analysis; distant reading Group Seminar 1 Readings TBA |
Discussion #9 (assigned by seminar group) |
Seminars |
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Week 11 (Nov. Nov. 21-23 Group Seminars 2-3 Readings TBA |
Discussion #10 (assigned by seminar groups) |
Seminars |
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Week 12 (Nov. 28-30) Group Seminars 4-5 Readings TBA |
Discussion #11 (assigned by seminar groups) |
Seminars |
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Dec. 5: Last Class. Final Projects Due. |
Assignments Summary
Details and rubrics for the following assignments will be provided on Learn.
Weekly Discussion Forum (10%)
Discussion questions/topics will be announced one week in advance on Learn. You can miss one without penalty. Post your response (150 words) and respond to 2 other posts (50 words each) by the deadlines announced on Learn. Each post will be marked out of 10. For full marks, your posts should show thorough preparation of assigned readings, insightful analysis, and concrete examples.
In-class Activities (10%)
Short learning activities to be completed in class. Each one is worth 1-3 completion points. You can miss 3 points worth without penalty.
Group Project (30%)
In groups of 4-5 you will give a seminar on one of five topics. See assignment document for details.
Mid-Term Assignment (20%)
A short analysis of a pulp story that applies concepts covered in the first half of the course.
Individual Project (30%)
2500-3000 words. An essay or creative project that explores in-depth any aspect of American pulp magazines from the Pulp Magazines Project or another issue approved by me. See assignment document on Learn for details.
Course and University Policies Extensions/Accommodations:
Negotiable for assignments and projects provided you make
arrangements before the due date. Not granted for seminars, discussions, activities except in the case of documented medical or mental health emergencies, or Covid case or isolation reported on Quest.
Academic Integrity
In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty,
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trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the Office of Academic Integrity webpage for more information.
Discipline
A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence and to take responsibility for his/her actions. Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.
Grievance
A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Appeals
A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.
Note for Students with Disabilities
AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AcessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.
Turnitin.com
Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented.
Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.
It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.
In English 485, I will use Turnitin if I suspect that an assignment is plagiarized. If you do not wish your assignment to be uploaded to Turnitin.com, you may instead submit to me your notes, research, previous drafts, and other evidence of originality. Please keep this material on hand in case I ask to see it.
Mental Health Services
Everyone struggles with mental health challenges at some point in their lives. Support is available to you both on and off campus. Please contact counselling services for more information.
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