ENG 528: Shel Silverstein: American Iconoclast
Tentative Schedule
Semester Overview
WEEK ONE: Jan 21
Introductions
WEEK TWO: Jan 28
Lisa Rogak, A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein
* Steve Pond, "The Magical World of Shel Silverstein" (from Playboy)
* Joseph T. Thomas, Jr., "Reappraising Uncle Shelby"
The Giving Tree
* Jean F. Mercier, "Publisher's Weekly Interviews Shel Silverstein
WEEK THREE: Feb 4
Playboy's Silverstein Around the World
* Shel Silverstein, "New St. Nick" (from Playboy)
* Shel Silverstein, "Silverstein's Zoo" (from Playboy)
WEEK FOUR: Feb 11
Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only (Paperback)
Shel Silverstein, The Devil and Billy Markham (Blackboard)
WEEK FIVE: Feb 18
Different Dances 25th Anniversary Edition (Hardcover)
* Perry Nodelman, from Words About Pictures
The Great Conch Train Robbery (Flying Fish Records) (1980)
WEEK SIX: Feb 25
An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein
* Werner Aspenstrom, "A Short Discourse on Short Plays"
* Richard Michell, "Simple Pleasures: The Ten-Minute Play, Overnight Theatre, and the Decline of the Art of Storytelling"
WEEK SEVEN: Mar 4
Shel's Shorts
WEEK EIGHT: Mar 11
Ned Kelly (1970 film)
Will watch film in class
& Soundtrack
Mid-term due for Group One
WEEK NINE: Mar 18
Things change : a screenplay / by David Mamet and Shel Silverstein
Will watch film in class. Read screenplay on reserve in library
Mid-term due for Group Two
WEEK TEN: Mar 25
No Class: Furlough Day!
WEEK ELEVEN:
Spring Break!
WEEK TWELVE: Apr 8
The Missing Piece (try listening without sound: the music on this little fan made film is horrid)
The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (again, press mute: bad, bad music for a cool, cool book)
Freakin' At The Freakers Ball (Columbia Records) (1972)
WEEK THIRTEEN: Apr 15
* Shel Silverstein, "Lafcadio the Lion Who Shot Back" (1963 Playboy version)
* Joseph T. Thomas, Jr. "A Speculative Account (with Notes) of the Development & Initial Deployments of Shel Silverstein's Persona, Uncle Shelby, with Special Care to Articulate the Relationship of Said Persona to the Question of Shel's Ambiguous Audience(s)."
Also, check out the children's book version on reserve at the library.
Hairy Jazz (Elektra Records) (1959)
Inside Folk Songs (Atlantic Records) (1962)
WEEK FOURTEEN: Apr 22
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings
Shel Silverstein
* Joseph T. Thomas, Jr. "Child Poets and the Poetry of the Playground"
* Joseph T. Thomas, Jr. from Poetry's Playground, Chapter Four: "Street Cries: Mother Goose, Urchin Poetry, and Contemporary U.S. Children's Poetry"
WEEK FIFTEEN: Apr 29
Falling Up (On Reserve)
A Light in the Attic (On Reserve)
* Anita Tarr, "Nonsense Now"
* X.J. Kennedy, "Strict and Loose Nonsense: Two Worlds of Children's Verse"
WEEK SIXTEEN: May 6
To Be Announced
WEEK SEVENTEEN: May 13
To Be Announced
WEEK EIGHTEEN: Final Exam Week