Catherine Siemann | New Jersey Institute of Technology (original) (raw)
Papers by Catherine Siemann
HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to w... more HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to writing's rhetorical dimensions; they are asked to consider the purpose, audience, occasion, and genre that are called for in a variety of writing, speaking, or visual assignments. The course also focuses on the writing processes, asking students to brainstorm topics, to write drafts, and to revise their writing based on reflection and peer feedback. Writing and reading go hand-in-hand, so students are asked to read challenging articles, essays, and prose, and to consider paintings, films, or other visual compositions. Academic writing begins from the assumption that written, visual, and spoken texts can be in conversation with each other. Thus, the readings serve as both models of effective communication and as beginning places for students' own arguments and analyses.
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Dec 20, 2017
Course Format and Objectives HUM 101 is an introduction to academic writing HUM 101 is an introdu... more Course Format and Objectives HUM 101 is an introduction to academic writing HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to writing's rhetorical dimensions; they are asked to consider the purpose, audience, occasion, and genre that are called for in a variety of writing, speaking, or visual assignments. The course also focuses on the writing processes, asking students to brainstorm topics, to write drafts, and to revise their writing based on reflection and peer feedback. Writing and reading go hand-in-hand, so students are asked to read challenging articles, essays, and prose, and to consider paintings, films, or other visual compositions. Academic writing begins from the assumption that written, visual, and spoken texts can be in conversation with each other. Thus, the readings serve as both models of effective communication and as beginning places for students' own arguments and analyses. Prerequisites Permission of the Humanities Department is required. Entrance is determined by placement score or completion of HUM 099 with a grade of C or better. Course Goals During this course you will: Gain knowledge of writing's rhetorical dimensions Use writing as a tool for critical thinking and reflection Practice writing as a process by using various brainstorming, invention, revision, and editing strategies Write in several genres that utilize analysis, reflection, narrative, critique, and argument skills Practice using the conventions of written, spoken, and visual composition Practice writing and creating in digital environments Required Texts This course uses an OAT (Open Affordable Textbook). About OpenTextbook: An "open" textbook means that its authors have made it free to own, share, and adapt for non-commercial purposes. Instead of having to buy it, you can just read it online, download it to an electronic device (like a computer or e-reader), or print out some or all of it. The book for this course is Writer's Handbook.
Journal of Hepatology, 2012
In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll's Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogame... more In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll's Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, the controlled menace of the original is transformed into outright violence, insanity, and sexual threat; Wonderland becomes unsuitable for children. In order to negotiate this hostile terrain, Alice must grow up; she is portrayed as a teenager or a young adult. The removal of the actual child from this children's classic demonstrate the anxieties that move from the margins to the centre of the narrative and suggest much about contemporary preoccupations surrounding the perils of growing up in the new century, but the motivations and outcomes are not always the same. I will examine this trend in representative works in various media including film (Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland), videogames (the 2011 Alice: Madness Returns), and graphic novels (Raven Gregory's 2009-11 Return to Wonderland).
In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, t... more In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, the controlled menace of the original is transformed into outright violence, insanity, and sexual threat; Wonderland becomes unsuitable for children. In order to negotiate this hostile terrain, Alice must grow up; she is portrayed as a teenager or a young adult. The removal of the actual child from this children’s classic demonstrate the anxieties that move from the margins to the centre of the narrative and suggest much about contemporary preoccupations surrounding the perils of growing up in the new century, but the motivations and outcomes are not always the same. I will examine this trend in representative works in various media including film (Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland), videogames (the 2011 Alice: Madness Returns), and graphic novels (Raven Gregory’s 2009-11 Return to Wonderland).
Redefining Roles: The Professional, Faculty, and Graduate Consultant’s Guide to Writing Centers
Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ed. Rhonda V. Wilcox & David Lavery, 2002
Nineteenth Century Gender Studies, 8.2, Summer 2012., 2012
Steaming into a Victorian Future, ed. Julie Anne Taddeo and Cynthia J. Miller, 2013
In Victorian Britain, as novelists struggled with the relative lack of respect afforded to their ... more In Victorian Britain, as novelists struggled with the relative lack of respect afforded to their genre, the social problem novel helped to establish that prose fiction could have a serious purpose. As steampunk similarly finds itself dismissed as the latest fad, many of its most interesting manifestations to date can productively be categorized as steampunk social problem novels. In considering texts ranging from Gibson and Sterling's foundational The Difference Engine (1991), through China Mieville's Perdido Street Station (2000), to recent works by Stephen Hunt, Cherie Priest, and N. K. Jemisin, I will consider the elements that these disparate works have in common, and how these traits define the steampunk social problem novel. Through its combination of history and speculative fiction, steampunk is uniquely positioned to explore ideas that have their roots in our past, and to consider and critique social and technological solutions of past, present, and future alike.
Law & Literature, 24:3, 2012
In my analysis of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through t... more In my analysis of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), I demonstrate that the law is all-pervasive in Victorian culture, even in such unexpected places as children's literature. The distortions in time, space, and logic in the two imaginary countries through which Alice travels echo the anachronisms and specialized reasoning of the legal system. In Wonderland, Alice negotiates her way through a random and chaotic world, where the rules of law is represented by the harsh ancient regime justice of the Queen of Hearts. The book ends with a trial, where legal procedure is twisted to the ends of absolute power, but Alice's increasingly confident logic is able to disrupt its Wonderland counterpart completely. The chessboard world of the Looking-Glass country, on the other hand, is a totally rule-bound reflection of bourgeois society, where, as J. S. Mill has famously contended, laws and social strictures have combined together to eliminate individuality. Instead, there is all-pervasive order. In this world, Alice plays by the rules in the forlorn hope that the social mobility afforded by the game, which will reward her by making her a Queen if she succeeds, will also help her to make sense of the world in which she has found herself. But in the panoptical world of the Looking-Glass legal system, justice operates backward, and crimes are punished before they are committed. She can gain no vantage of understanding and thus no ultimate triumph.
HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to w... more HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to writing's rhetorical dimensions; they are asked to consider the purpose, audience, occasion, and genre that are called for in a variety of writing, speaking, or visual assignments. The course also focuses on the writing processes, asking students to brainstorm topics, to write drafts, and to revise their writing based on reflection and peer feedback. Writing and reading go hand-in-hand, so students are asked to read challenging articles, essays, and prose, and to consider paintings, films, or other visual compositions. Academic writing begins from the assumption that written, visual, and spoken texts can be in conversation with each other. Thus, the readings serve as both models of effective communication and as beginning places for students' own arguments and analyses.
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Dec 20, 2017
Course Format and Objectives HUM 101 is an introduction to academic writing HUM 101 is an introdu... more Course Format and Objectives HUM 101 is an introduction to academic writing HUM 101 is an introduction to college-level writing. In this course, students are introduced to writing's rhetorical dimensions; they are asked to consider the purpose, audience, occasion, and genre that are called for in a variety of writing, speaking, or visual assignments. The course also focuses on the writing processes, asking students to brainstorm topics, to write drafts, and to revise their writing based on reflection and peer feedback. Writing and reading go hand-in-hand, so students are asked to read challenging articles, essays, and prose, and to consider paintings, films, or other visual compositions. Academic writing begins from the assumption that written, visual, and spoken texts can be in conversation with each other. Thus, the readings serve as both models of effective communication and as beginning places for students' own arguments and analyses. Prerequisites Permission of the Humanities Department is required. Entrance is determined by placement score or completion of HUM 099 with a grade of C or better. Course Goals During this course you will: Gain knowledge of writing's rhetorical dimensions Use writing as a tool for critical thinking and reflection Practice writing as a process by using various brainstorming, invention, revision, and editing strategies Write in several genres that utilize analysis, reflection, narrative, critique, and argument skills Practice using the conventions of written, spoken, and visual composition Practice writing and creating in digital environments Required Texts This course uses an OAT (Open Affordable Textbook). About OpenTextbook: An "open" textbook means that its authors have made it free to own, share, and adapt for non-commercial purposes. Instead of having to buy it, you can just read it online, download it to an electronic device (like a computer or e-reader), or print out some or all of it. The book for this course is Writer's Handbook.
Journal of Hepatology, 2012
In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll's Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogame... more In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll's Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, the controlled menace of the original is transformed into outright violence, insanity, and sexual threat; Wonderland becomes unsuitable for children. In order to negotiate this hostile terrain, Alice must grow up; she is portrayed as a teenager or a young adult. The removal of the actual child from this children's classic demonstrate the anxieties that move from the margins to the centre of the narrative and suggest much about contemporary preoccupations surrounding the perils of growing up in the new century, but the motivations and outcomes are not always the same. I will examine this trend in representative works in various media including film (Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland), videogames (the 2011 Alice: Madness Returns), and graphic novels (Raven Gregory's 2009-11 Return to Wonderland).
In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, t... more In new interpretations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books in films, graphic novels, and videogames, the controlled menace of the original is transformed into outright violence, insanity, and sexual threat; Wonderland becomes unsuitable for children. In order to negotiate this hostile terrain, Alice must grow up; she is portrayed as a teenager or a young adult. The removal of the actual child from this children’s classic demonstrate the anxieties that move from the margins to the centre of the narrative and suggest much about contemporary preoccupations surrounding the perils of growing up in the new century, but the motivations and outcomes are not always the same. I will examine this trend in representative works in various media including film (Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland), videogames (the 2011 Alice: Madness Returns), and graphic novels (Raven Gregory’s 2009-11 Return to Wonderland).
Redefining Roles: The Professional, Faculty, and Graduate Consultant’s Guide to Writing Centers
Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ed. Rhonda V. Wilcox & David Lavery, 2002
Nineteenth Century Gender Studies, 8.2, Summer 2012., 2012
Steaming into a Victorian Future, ed. Julie Anne Taddeo and Cynthia J. Miller, 2013
In Victorian Britain, as novelists struggled with the relative lack of respect afforded to their ... more In Victorian Britain, as novelists struggled with the relative lack of respect afforded to their genre, the social problem novel helped to establish that prose fiction could have a serious purpose. As steampunk similarly finds itself dismissed as the latest fad, many of its most interesting manifestations to date can productively be categorized as steampunk social problem novels. In considering texts ranging from Gibson and Sterling's foundational The Difference Engine (1991), through China Mieville's Perdido Street Station (2000), to recent works by Stephen Hunt, Cherie Priest, and N. K. Jemisin, I will consider the elements that these disparate works have in common, and how these traits define the steampunk social problem novel. Through its combination of history and speculative fiction, steampunk is uniquely positioned to explore ideas that have their roots in our past, and to consider and critique social and technological solutions of past, present, and future alike.
Law & Literature, 24:3, 2012
In my analysis of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through t... more In my analysis of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), I demonstrate that the law is all-pervasive in Victorian culture, even in such unexpected places as children's literature. The distortions in time, space, and logic in the two imaginary countries through which Alice travels echo the anachronisms and specialized reasoning of the legal system. In Wonderland, Alice negotiates her way through a random and chaotic world, where the rules of law is represented by the harsh ancient regime justice of the Queen of Hearts. The book ends with a trial, where legal procedure is twisted to the ends of absolute power, but Alice's increasingly confident logic is able to disrupt its Wonderland counterpart completely. The chessboard world of the Looking-Glass country, on the other hand, is a totally rule-bound reflection of bourgeois society, where, as J. S. Mill has famously contended, laws and social strictures have combined together to eliminate individuality. Instead, there is all-pervasive order. In this world, Alice plays by the rules in the forlorn hope that the social mobility afforded by the game, which will reward her by making her a Queen if she succeeds, will also help her to make sense of the world in which she has found herself. But in the panoptical world of the Looking-Glass legal system, justice operates backward, and crimes are punished before they are committed. She can gain no vantage of understanding and thus no ultimate triumph.