ENL 121: Intro to Literature (Vavra)
Pennsylvania College of Technology

Stephen Crane's
The Red Badge of Courage

Assignments are to the 3rd Norton Critical Edition, 1994.


Assignment One:

    Read Chapters 1 - 8 (pp. 3 - 40) 

Assignment Two:
    Read Chapters 9 - 16  (pp. 40 - 70) 

Assignment Three:
    Read Chapters 17 - 24  (pp. 70 - 98) 

Assignment Four:
    Read the essays by:
      Hungerford, Harold R. "That Was at Chancellorsville," 147-157.
      Stallman, R.W. "Stephen Crane: A Revaluation," 185-195.
      Hart, John E. "The Red Badge of Courage as Myth and Symbol," 195 - 204.

Assignment Five:
    Read the essays by:
      Rechnitz, Robert M. "Depersonalization and the Dream in The Red Badge of Courage" 223-234.
      Henderson, Harry B. "The Red Badge of Courage: The Search for Historical Identity," 234-243.

      On paper,
      1. quote the thesis sentence of Rechnitz's essay, and indicate the page number on which it appears.
      2. in a sentence or two, state the main idea of Rechnitz's essay.
      3. in a sentence or two, explain what Henderson means by "Historical Identity."
      4. in a sentence or two, explain why Henderson's essay should be of particular interest in view of the theme of this course.


Assignment Six:
    Read the essays by:
      Pizer, "The Red Badge of Courage: Text, Theme, and Form," 257-269.

      On paper:
      1. quote the opening words of the paragraph that contains Pizer's thesis, and indicate its page number.
      2. in a sentence or two, summarize the main ideas of Pizer's essay.

Notes on essays that were not assigned:
(Depending on your paper topic, you may want to read some of these.)

Walcutt, Charles C. "[Stephen Crane: Naturalist]," 204-211. Walcutt attempts to define Naturalism and explore how an understanding of Naturalism affects one's interpretation of the novel.

Fraser, John. "Crime and Forgiveness: The Red Badge in Time of War," 210-223. Taking both a social and moral perspective, Fraser, who was writing at the time of the Viet Nam war, attempts to explain how literature, and the Red Badge in particular, can not only help us understand life, but also increase our options in life.

Nagel, James, "Impressionism in The Red Badge of Courage," 243-257. This is essentially a study in point-of-view.

Kaplan, Amy, "The Spectacle of War in Crane's Revision of History," 269-294. Kaplan takes a social approach, placing the novel in its historical context. Her essay is an excellent example of how historical background information can clarify many aspects of a literary work. Of particular interest, not just to this novel, but to intellectual history and to the theme of this course, is her observation about a historical shift in the concept of "masculinity" during the 1890's: "This shift redefined masculinity in terms of aggressive and physical activism -- now opposed to effeminacy -- to supplant the older Victorian emphasis on self-discipline and responsibility -- opposed primarily to chldhood." (273) 

Halliburton, David, "Eternal Fact and Mere Locality: The Red Badge of Courage," 295-310.  This selection consists of three excerpts from a longer work. The discussions of "Color" and "Direction" provide some interesting observations. The discussion of "Endings" begins with some philosophical observations but ends in a somewhat confusing comparison of different versions of the text.

Cox, James, "On Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage," 310-325.  Beginning with observations on war, Cox wanders over a number of topics, primarily moral and social. The essay includes his perspective on Crane's color imagery and style. 

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