Professor
Allison Pease (click
here to learn more about me)
John Jay College, CUNY
Department of English
Office: 1239 North Hall
Hours: Tuesdays 3:45 - 5:00 pm & by appointment
Phone: (212) 237-8565
e-mail: peasekempler@rcn.com
Course
Description
Course Objectives
Required Texts
Recommended Texts
Course Requirements
Grades
Schedule of Classes
How to Prepare a Presentation
Tips for Writing Papers
Using Quotations in
Your Papers
Useful Links
see
photographs of Ibo cultural artifacts
This course explores the twinned themes of crime and punishment as seen through 19th and 20th-century novels and film. Through these texts you will learn how crime and punishment have been dealt with by various cultures, both institutionally and aesthetically. As we read these texts, questions that you should be thinking about are: What are the causes of crime? What motivates an individual to commit a crime? Who is responsible for criminal activity? Why is a criminal confession so important? What are the rationales for punishment? How does punishment measure against the need for human dignity? What roles do culture, class, and gender play in crime and punishment? What biases does an author have about these questions, and how does he/she present his or her views? What are the motivations to make art out of these subjects?
Reading literature should be an enriching and enjoyable experience, and this is the course's primary goal. However, I also hope that you come away from this course with a general knowledge of the basic theories of criminal justice as they play out in the literature we read and the films we watch, and a sharpened ability to read analytically, use evidence to form and communicate your ideas, and to communicate those ideas in a direct and effective manner.
Please be sure to purchase these editions as our class discussions will be based on them.
Truman Capote, In Cold
Blood (Vintage Books, 1993)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (Bantam Books, 1987)
Albert Camus, The Stranger (Vintage Books, 1989)
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Anchor Books, 1994)
For your class presentation and papers, you will be asked to call upon basic criminal justice theories. It will therefore be useful for you to have a criminal justice textbook on hand. I have put a copy of Crime and Justice in America, ed. Territo, Halstead & Bromley (West Publishing Co, 1992; third edition)on reserve at the Sealy Library. If you have taken a criminal justice course and have a different text that also contains the basic theories, that is fine too. Keep in mind that American criminal justice theories and practices will differ from those in most of the texts we study. I encourage you to research these ideas in depth, and to use any serious source that seems appropriate to you. This website contains links to several criminal justice sites that may also be useful.
30% of your grade will be
based on your paper and presentation
25% of your grade will be based on the five quizzes
20% of your grade will be based on the mid-term examination
25% of your grade will be based on the final examination
September 3 Course introduction
September 5 In Cold Blood, pp. 3-49
Topic: victims
September 10 In Cold Blood, pp. 50-110
Topics: police investigation, power and masculinity
September 12 In Cold Blood, pp. 110-165
Topics: Why do people commit crime? Choice Theory vs. Psychological Theory
September 17 no classes
September 19 In Cold Blood, pp. 165-230
Topic: poverty and crime (Social Structure Theory)
September 24 In Cold Blood, pp. 230-285
Topics: arrest and confession, the trial process
September 26 In Cold Blood,
pp. 285-343
Topics: the trial process, biological theories of crime, criminal responsibility,
capital punishment, racial bias and the death penalty
October 1 Crime and Punishment, pp. 1-83
Topics: poverty and crime, alcohol and crime, prostitution
October 3 Crime and Punishment, pp. 85-164
Topics: the criminal's conscience -- guilt
Papers on In Cold Blood due
October 8 Crime and Punishment, pp. 165-231
Topics: detection and confession, poverty and crime, the criminal's conscience
October 10 Crime and Punishment, pp. 231-308
Topics: the purpose of law, the individual and the law
October 15 Crime and Punishment, pp. 308-391
Topics: detection and confession; masculinity, capitalism, and power
October 17 Crime and Punishment, pp. 391-446
Topics: masculinity, capitalism, and power; suffering and redemption
October 22 Crime and Punishment, pp. 446-504
Topics: punishment, suffering and redemption
October 24 Dead Man Walking (watch together in class)
October 29 Dead Man Walking (watch together in class)
Papers on Crime and Punishment due
October 31 no classes held; work on mid-term essay
Appointments with me can be scheduled
November 5 Mid-Term Examination Due
The Stranger, pp. 3-39
Topic: are criminals less emotionally connected than others?
November 7 The Stranger, pp. 40-97
Topic: cultural conflict and crime, motivations for murder
November 12 The Stranger, pp. 98-123
Topics: the criminal trial, capital punishment
November 14 Things Fall
Apart, pp. 3-51
Topic: cultural values and crime: is crime in non-western countries different?
November 19 Things Fall Apart, pp. 52-94
Topics: how do cultures sanction murder?, domestic violence, tribal procedure
vs. Western criminal process
Papers on The Stranger due
November 21 Things Fall Apart, pp. 95-153
Topics: intention and responsibility for crime, exile as an alternative to prison
November 26 Things Fall Apart, pp. 154-209
Topics: Western concept of imprisonment, cultural conflict and crime
November 28 Thanksgiving
December 3 Shawshank Redemption (film in class)
Topic: the presumption of innocence and court procedure
Papers on Things Fall Apart due
December 5 Shawshank Redemption (film in class)
Topic: prison violence
December 10 Shawshank Redemption (film in class)
Topic: prison as reformation or punishment
December 12 course review and preparation for final examination
December X Final Examination
The in-class presentation is a ten-minute, directed discussion by you about a specific passage, or passages, in a text for which you have prepared a series of observations and questions related to the stated theme of the day as listed in the schedule of classes. For instance, if you have signed up to present on September 12, you will have read the assigned pages from In Cold Blood, researched the concepts of choice theory and psychological theory as reasons for committing crime, and you will have chosen a passage or passages from the book that seem to you to be reflecting on those theories, whether consciously or unconsciously on the part of the author. The presentation should help the class engage in a lively discussion about the texts and ideas we are studying. To make your presentation clear to the class, you should begin with a brief explanation of the criminal justice topic of the day. While the theories and schools of thought may be extensive, your job will be to decide what part of the theory is relevant to the book we are reading and to outline it for the class. You will then share the passage(s) from the text you think tells us something interesting about the book's relationship to the concept(s). Keep in mind that literature and films are rarely mouthpieces for one simple point of view, but instead aim to complicate ideas. How does your text complicate the theories you have researched? Does it clearly have a bias toward one way of thinking? What motivation does the author/director have for presenting characters and situations as he does? What do we learn about the chosen criminal justice concept(s) from this passage? To make your presentation clear to the class, you should introduce yourself, your topic and then:
A) Begin with a brief explanation of the criminal justice topic of the day. While the theories and schools of thought may be extensive, your job will be to decide what part of the theory is relevant to the book we are reading and to outline it for the class.
B) You will then share the passage(s) from the text you think tells us something interesting about the book's relationship to the concept(s). Keep in mind that literature and films are rarely mouthpieces for one simple point of view, but instead aim to complicate ideas. How does your text complicate the theories you have researched? Does it have a clear bias toward one way of thinking? What motivation does the author/director have for presenting characters and situations as he does?
C) Explain what we learn about the chosen criminal justice concept(s) from this passage, and about the author’s artistic representation.
In addition to providing a platform for class discussion, your presentation provides a separate outlet from your formal paper in which to develop your close-reading skills and construct literary arguments. Think of your presentation as a time to test your ideas before handing in a more complete, polished paper. Your responses to the texts are valid, but you need to make sure 1) that your opinions are not just observations, but arguments based on ideas; and 2) that your response is backed up with persuasive textual evidence. Consider this like solving a problem: describe the passage, point to instances where the language is particularly revealing or interesting, and suggest theories for what it means. In your effort to engage the class in a discussion, you must prepare one or two questions that the text(s) raise for you. Broad-based questions about specific complexities in the text(s) are more likely to facilitate discussion than, say, questions with definite answers (please no questions along the lines of "do you think capital punishment is a good thing?").
Papers are extended versions of your presentations, approximately five pages of double-spaced type in length. Before writing your paper, you must discuss your paper topic with me, either during my office hours, over the phone, or by e-mail. Discussing your paper with me is an important step -- my goal is to help you attain a higher grade on your paper by helping you develop a managle, thesis-driven argument. My intention is to be a friendly, helpful resource in this process, and, of course, to prevent plagiarism.
Any successful paper will include the following:
Why use quotations?
Quotations are the evidence you use to make your point. Without evidence, an argument is a windy, flimsy statement of one personís opinion. With evidence, an argument is grounded in facts and given shape. Evidence is the critical link that helps you prove your points.
When do I use quotations?
Use quotations when you
want to make a point about the text/individual you are writing about, and what
that text or person says is helpful in showing your reader what you mean.
How do I use quotations?
A quotation must always form part of your own sentence. It cannot stand alone. You therefore must (a) introduce the quotation, telling the reader what it is he/she is about to read, (b) include only that part of the quote that is vital to your argument, and (c) follow the quoted material with a sentence or two explaining what is significant about the language you have chosen in terms of your main point, or argument.
For example, if I want to argue that Ghandi thought modern (Western) civilization was bad specifically because of its promotion of material greed, I might do the following:
Ghandi sees modern civilization as a threat to the Indian people because it promotes an endless cycle of selfish want. He says, ěThe railways, machineries and the corresponding increase of indulgent habits are the true badges of slavery of the Indian peopleî (p. 118). He sees such modern technologies as the railway and machines as enslaving because they require money and labor to build, solely so that such things might exist. In Ghandiís mind, such things are not only unnecessary, they are unhelpful to a people. Happiness, he asserts, is ělargely a mental conditionî (p. 123). As such, it is unnecessary to acquire material goods.
(Note that in the sentences with quoted material I use an introductory phrase like ěHe says,î or ěhe assertsî to introduce the quote. The quote is therefore part of my own sentence. Note also that after the quotation I place the citation outside of the quotation marks and place the period following the citation.)
What if thereís more than one text?
If you quote from more than one text, be sure to include the title and date published of each text so that it is clear to your reader which text is being cited.
For example: Though Darwin argued that ěas more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must be a struggle for existenceî (Darwin, 1975, p. 40), his ideas have been adapted to the marketplace, as Galbraith has noted, and in the United States, social Darwinism has been one reason conservatives warn against ěanything which, in the name of welfare or compassion, might interfere with the free play of market forcesî (Galbraith, 1998, p.53).
References
Darwin, C. (1975). The Origin of the Species. New York: W. W. Norton.
Galbraith, J. K. (1998). The Affluent Society. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
The criminal justic site below is intended to get you started. It provides links to more specific sites, so you will have to do some searching once on a site. Keep in mind that if you know what you are looking for, it is often more efficient and more successful to look for books or articles in the library. The quality of information on the web should always be questioned. Make sure you know the source of the information, measure the information against other sources, and use your best judgment in determining the quality of the information.
Writing
John
Jay Writing Center
CUNY WriteSite
Criminal Justice Source Sites
Criminal
Justice Mega-Sites (a page containing dozens of links to other criminal
justice sites)
This examination is for
you to complete at home and to return to me in class on Tuesday, November 5.
I will not accept any late papers, and there will be no exceptions. If you are
unable to make it to class, you can leave your completed exam for me by 4:50
pm on November 5 in my box in the English Department (1258) on the first floor
of the North Hall.
You can choose to respond to one of the following questions. Your response should
be approximately five to six pages in length, typed, double-spaced. Every answer
needs to show a deep familiarity with the texts studied and use textual evidence
from those texts to support its argument. Be sure, in quoting from the text,
that you use appropriate citation format, including page numbers. Read my syllabus
on quotations before you begin to be sure you are doing it correctly. Also,
look at the graph on the last page of the syllabus to see how I will assess
your paper – you might want to assess it yourself before handing it in.
A) Western culture is committed to the idea that suffering, at least in part, redeems a criminal for his actions. Explain the role that the suffering of the criminal plays in Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood, and Dead Man Walking. In creating a thesis about suffering, you may want to consider the following questions: does the text itself seem to advocate, or enjoy, the suffering of the criminal? Is the suffering critical to a sense of resolution of the text, or sympathy on the part of the readers/viewers? Crime and Punishment chooses to show the murders at the beginning of the novel and Raskolnikov’s state-sponsored punishment at the end. In Cold Blood and Dead Man Walking place both the murders and the state-sponsored executions of the murderers together at the end. What beliefs about suffering might motivate these artistic choices?
B) What are the cultural expectations of men that foster a greater proclivity
to kill than women? Examine Dead Man Walking, In Cold Blood, and Crime and Punishment
for the role(s) that masculine ideals play in encouraging murder.
C) Theorists of crime typically endorse the idea that environment (for instance,
family, poverty, peer group, etc.) plays a key role in promoting or discouraging
criminal behavior. Discuss one or several of the theories of environmental impact
on criminal behavior and evaluate whether you believe the protagonists of In
Cold Blood, Crime and Punishment, and Dead Man Walking were influenced by their
environment in such a way that made them more likely to kill.
D) How does artistic style affect the way we think and feel about murder, murderers,
confession, or punishment? Choosing one or two scenes each from In Cold Blood,
Crime and Punishment, and Dead Man Walking, discuss the ways in which the author’s
or director’s specific stylistic choices influence the way we interpret
and feel about them.