ENGL 187TD: Thinking Like a Detective

MW 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM | GIRV 1115
Tobin. Office Hours: MW 1-2, South Hall 2521

Course description:

The first use of the word “detective” as a noun first appeared in print in the middle of the nineteenth century. Since then, the idea of the detective, and the particular form of seeing the world involved in “detection” or “detecting” has captured the public imagination like few others. We read and watch detective stories not just to see that a case is solved, but to see how the detective solves it. The archetypal detective hero has a special kind of mind: ingenious, brilliant, out of the ordinary, and ultimately, crucially correct.

What makes the idea of the detective so compelling? What does it mean, in our fictions and myths, to think like a detective?

Requirements:

Attend every class and participate in discussions.
Complete and submit several writing assignments and exams.

Texts:

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Modern Library Classics edition
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Homes and The Memoires of Sherlock Holmes, Penguin Classics edition
Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. Modern Library Classics edition
Chandler, Raymond. The High Window. Vintage Crime edition

Grading:

Participation in class: 10%
Writing assignments: 30%
In-class exams: 30%
Final paper: 30%

Writing assignments:

Most weeks, half the class (depending on whether you are in Group A or Group B) will have a short response paper (500 words) due at 10 am on Monday.
Papers should be sent as email attachments to vtobin@english.ucsb.edu
Acceptable file formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf.
Late responses WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED at all, except with explicit prior permission. 10 am or nothing.
Be prepared to discuss your paper in class on the Monday that you turned it in.
For pity's sake, don't plagiarize.

Syllabus and schedule
Check back for additions, details, downloads and more.

1 Mar 28 Mar 30	Introductions The Idea of the Detective Slides: Wednesday
2 Apr 4 Apr 6	Read: Poe: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt”, “The Purloined Letter” Slides: Monday (Idea of the Detective, concluded) \| Wednesday (Poe lecture) Group A's assignment for Monday, Apr. 11 500 words: Find a passage or moment in which the nature of Dupin's mind/capacity for insight is presented in some surprising or otherwise interesting way. Provide a close analytic reading of that moment, demonstrating, with as much specificity as possible, why and how it is surprising, intriguing, interesting.	Group A will write on these readings for next week...
3 Apr 11 Apr 13	Read: Conan Doyle: All of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, plus “The Final Problem” Slides: Wednesday (Doyle lecture) Group B's assignment for Monday, Apr. 18 500 words: Find a passage or moment from any of these stories (one that we didn't discuss in class) in which the nature of Holmes' capacity for insight is presented in some way that you think is worthy of note. Provide a close analytic reading of that moment, demonstrating, with as much specificity as possible, why and how it is surprising, intriguing, interesting. Use lecture and discussion as your guide and starting point—how does your passage cast new light on the topics we've been discussing and/or a larger reading of these texts?	GROUP A assignment 1 (on Poe), due Monday 10am, email
4 Apr 18 Apr 20	Read: Jacques Futrelle, “The Problem of Cell 13,” (1905) online G. K. Chesterton, "The Blue Cross," (1911) online Slides: Wednesday (Futrelle & Chesterton)	GROUP B assignment 1 due Monday 10am, email
5 Apr 25 Apr 27	Mon: In-class exam Read for Wed: Collins, Woman in White, "The First Epoch" Slides: Wednesday (1st Collins lecture) Group A's writing assignment for Monday, May 2 500 words: Discuss some small passage or pattern in "The First Epoch" that strikes you as illustrating an interesting point of contrast or or similarity between Woman in White and the detective stories proper that we've read so far in this class.	No writing. Exam #1 Monday
6 May 2 May 4	Read: “The Second Epoch,” Woman in White Slides: Wednesday (2nd Collins lecture) Group B's writing assignment for Monday, May 9 500 words: Carrying the conversation onward: Discuss some small passage or pattern in "Epoch the Second" that strikes you as illustrating an interesting point of contrast or or similarity between Woman in White and the detective stories proper that we've read so far in this class. Think about complicating this question a bit, too. Do you, for instance, see ways that some same trope you recognize from another text is cashed out differently here?	GROUP A assignment 2 due Monday
7 May 9 May 11	Read: “The Third Epoch,” Woman in White Slides: Wednesday (Wrapping up Collins and prelude to Chandler) Group A's writing assignment for Monday, May 16 500 words: Find one small passage or moment in which the nature of Marlowe's detecting mind -- his modes and habits of thought, his capacity for insight -- is presented in some surprising or otherwise interesting way. Provide a close reading of that moment. Attend closely to the language and the internal logic of your passage, and discuss, with as much specificity as possible, why and how it is surprising, intriguing, interesting.	GROUP B assignment 2 due Monday
8 May 16 May 18	Read: Chandler, The High Window Slides: Wednesday (Chandler) Group B's writing assignment for Monday, May 23 500 words: As for last week, find one small passage or moment in which the nature of Marlowe's detecting mind -- his modes and habits of thought, his capacity for insight -- is presented in some surprising or otherwise interesting way. OR find a moment that you think is intriguing or surprising in light of "The Simple Art of Murder." (If you find a passage that is interesting in both regards, feel free to discuss the two in tandem.) In either case, provide a close reading of your chosen passage. Attend closely to the language and the internal logic of your passage, and discuss, with as much specificity as possible, why and how it is surprising, intriguing, interesting.	GROUP A assignment 3 due Monday
9 May 23 May 25	Read: Chandler, "The Simple Art of Murder" Monday: Finish discussion of Chandler, group B papers due Wednesday: In-class exam	GROUP B assignment 3 due Monday Exam #2 Wed.
10 Holiday Jun 1	Wednesday: In class screening and discussion

Final paper: 1500-2000 words. Due Monday, June 6 at noon, via email.

Expand on and rework material from one of your response papers, or take a related idea in a different direction. In either case, your paper MUST have a central claim, AKA a thesis. This will be an assertion about a pattern of interest IN THE TEXT. Focus on aspects of the text that have to do with the representation of minds, the logic of detection, the logic of knowability, and so on, as we've been doing throughout the course. No outside references.