EGL 244 3535 Mystery and Detective Fiction Prof. M. Kramer

MWF 10:00 a.m. office M3078

Office hrs. MW 1:30 – 2:00 p.m.; most off. phone 301-322-0578

Fridays, 12 – 1 p.m.; and by appointment kramermg@pgcc.edu

Required Texts:

Mansfield-Kelley & Marchino, The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction,

New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

Christie, A., Death on the Nile, New York: Berkley, 2004.

Chandler, R., The Big Sleep, New York: Vintage, 1992.

Mosley, W., Devil in a Blue Dress, New York: Pocket Books, 1991.

Grafton, S., ‘C’ is for Corpse, New York: Bantam, 1987.

Hillerman, T., Dance Hall of the Dead, New York: Harper,1990.

James, P.D., A Taste for Death, New York: Ballantine, 1998.

Syllabus Spring 2006

Monday	Wednesday	Friday
Jan. 23 The Game Is Afoot The rules of the game. Some definitions of mystery and detective fiction. Amateur detectives. Reading from Poe.	Jan. 25 Edgar Allan Poe Due: Anthology, pp. 25-28, and “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” pp. 54-81. Choices on oral report topics.	Jan. 27 Poe Due: Anthology, “Murder at Large,” pp. 11-24
Jan. 30 Arthur Conan Doyle Due: Anthology, “Silver Blaze,” pp. 81-101	Feb. 1 Sherlock Holmes in context Ratiocination: the science of detection. Oral report on England in the 1890s.	Feb. 3 Holmes on film Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes
Feb. 6 Agatha Christie Due: Anthology, “Witness for the Prosecution” pp. 101-118	Feb. 8 Agatha Christie Due: Anthology, “The Puzzle Game,” pp. 29-38	Feb. 10 Agatha Christie in context Oral report on England between the wars Due: Death on the Nile
Feb. 13 Agatha Christie Death on the Nile cont’d	Feb. 15 Hercule Poirot on film Selections from David Suchet’s Death on the Nile	Feb. 18 Test I First hourly exam
Feb. 20 President’s Day: No Class Smart people will start reading Chandler.	Feb. 22 Raymond Chandler Hardboiled private eyes Due: Anthology “Trouble is My Business,” pp. 254-294	Feb. 24 Raymond Chandler Due: Anthology, , “The Private Investigator” and “The Simple Act of Murder,” pp. 205-219
Feb. 27 Raymond Chandler Due: The Big Sleep	Mar. 1 Raymond Chandler in context The Big Sleep cont’d Oral report on America during the 1930s	Mar. 3 Philip Marlowe on film Selections from Humphrey Bogart’s The Big Sleep
Mar. 6 Walter Mosely Due: Devil in a Blue Dress	Mar. 8 Walter Mosely Devil in a Blue Dress cont’d.	Mar. 10 Walter Mosely in context Oral report on black Americans: post-World War Two
Mar. 13 Easy Rawlins on film Selections from Denzel Washington’s Devil in a Blue Dress	Mar. 15 Sue Grafton Due: Anthology, “The Parker Shotgun,” pp. 294-308	Mar. 17 Sue Grafton Due: Anthology, “From ‘Grafton’s Place,” pp. 219-228
Mar. 20 Sue Grafton Due: ‘C’ Is for Corpse	Mar. 22 Sue Grafton Corpse cont’d.	Mar. 24 Test II Second hourly exam
Mar. 27 Police Procedurals Due: Anthology, “The Police” and “The Police Novel,” pp. 337-357	Mar. 29 Tony Hillerman Due: Anthology, “Chee’s Witch,” pp. 411-419.	Mar. 31 Tony Hillerman Due: Dance Hall of the Dead Final exam novel choices due.
Apr. 3 Tony Hillerman in context Oral report on Zuni and Navajo culture: social customs and religion	Apr. 5 Tony Hillerman Dance Hall of the Dead cont’d.	Apr. 7 Tony Hillerman Dance Hall of the Dead cont’d.
Apr. 10 Spring Break Smart people will read A Taste for Death over spring break.	Apr. 12 Spring Break	Apr. 14 Spring Break
Apr. 17 P.D. James Due: A Taste for Death	Apr. 19 P.D. James A Taste for Death cont’d.	Apr. 21 P.D. James A Taste for Death cont’d.
Apr. 24 P.D. James in context Oral report on New Scotland Yard	Apr. 26 P.D. James A Taste for Death cont’d.	Apr. 28 P.D. James A Taste for Death cont’d.
May 1 Oral reports on novel comparisons.	May 3 Oral reports on novel comparisons.	May 5 Oral reports on novel comparisons.
May 8 Last Day of Class Semester review. Preparation for final exam.	May 10 Test III Final exam Third hourly exam 10:00 a.m. Written novel comparisons due at the beginning of the exam.	May 12 Case closed.