Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Legged Beasties

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What happens after we die? This age-old question has fascinated and perplexed human beings throughout history. Cultures and religions through the centuries have created their own answers. This course will explore some of the ways in which literature has addressed this multi-faceted question. We will begin by looking at understandings of the afterlife from different cultures and time periods, reading myths and legends to help us see how humans have transferred their beliefs into literature. Students will look at the early roots of ghost stories in England, starting with a poem by Poe and a short story by Sir Walter Scott. We will then move into the “Golden Age of the Ghost Story,” a period between 1830 and the 1910s. Students will read and analyze Charles Dickens’ “The Signal-Man” and several other short ghost stories from the 19th and 20th centuries. We will investigate one of the greatest tropes of ghost stories – the haunted house. Students will read real-life accounts of haunted spaces, as well as read and analyze Shirley Jackson’s essential work of ghost fiction: The Haunting of Hill House. This course will not only offer a study of the euro-centric representation of ghosts--we will also look closely at Latin American culture and the Day of the Dead. Students will read the graphic novel Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier and will watch the Disney-Pixar film Coco to compare and contrast the representation of ghosts in these works and ones read earlier in the course. Finally, we will end the course by revisiting the question of why humans tell ghost stories.

Please note: In this course students will read stories that many find scary or frightening.

Please note: this course contains a final exam that will require the student to identify in advance an appropriate location as well as an adult proctor for the exam.

Students will:

• Investigate and interpret different perspectives on the afterlife.
  
• Read a variety of literature representing ghosts and will evaluate the differences among the interpretations of ghosts.
  
• Write in a wide variety of genres, including a literary essay.

Most materials will be available online, however students will need to obtain copies of:

• Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House
  
• Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel Ghosts
  
• Disney-Pixar's film Coco

These texts can be found at a school or local library or purchased online.

Click here to receive an alert when 2020-2021 registration opens