Stephen King 101

[aintshesweet]

I was perusing books at a used book sale. I overheard a young girl telling her parents all of the classic books she wants to read in addition to her school required books.

If you taught an introductory educational course on Stephen King's prolific body of work, what would you choose to include in your syllabus? What combination do you think would give the master the introduction to novice SK readers that he deserves? Or, maybe we can create a whole "major" in Stephen King! I am curious to hear everyone's ideas!

 

[raggedyman79]

The Shining, 'Salem's Lot, Bag of Bones and Revival have the most literary value, IMHO. I would love to teach It, but the Patrick/Henry scene and the gangbang make that one a little tricky to actually work in a classroom. I mean, they certainly would inspire some provocative discussions, but I don't know if a college class could be mature enough to handle it.

 

[Dr V]

Oooh, good question. Part of me wants to say that the magic of SK's work does not lend itself to being taught any more than does religious belief. I have taught at university, including literature, and what a person might like or not like is so subjective that putting a book on the curriculum risks breeding aversion no less than enthusiasm. The other part of me, the one that's nostalgic for teaching, says let's make SK mandatory reading for all aspiring politicians. No possibility of being elected anywhere before you pass an exam on SK!

 

[Kurben]

If such a thing was done it would have to be books representing different sides of SK. One not really horror or supernatural (perhaps the green mile or Dolores Claiborne ), One early showing him handling classic horror themes (Salems lot), One showing how good he is with children (IT), and another from his later phase (Revival or perhaps MR. Mercedes ). Perhaps adding a collection to that.

 

[Pucker]

As an addendum to what Kurben just said, you could accomplish quite a lot of that by simply teaching Different Seasons.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...to do it justice, instead of a gloss over....it would have to be a several semester course....