Erotica vs. Inspirational

For this final reading assignment, I want you to think about how the sub-genre elements (sex or religion) work with the elements of a romance novel (Regis's eight elements). How is each element affected by the fact that this book is primarily about either sex or religion?

The elements are:
1. Corrupt society
2. Meeting
3. Attraction
4. Barrier
5. Point of Ritual Death
6. Realization (of how to overcome barrier)
7. Declaration
8. Betrothal


For this blog post, discuss each element in your chosen book.

For the 1000 word paper for your chosen book, discuss one or two elements in depth.

Over the Edge

As you're reading through Suzanne Brockmann's Over the Edge, think about the violence in the book. There's the physical violence (the hijacking in the first place, the bombing and shooting, the rape, the final scene when the SEALs storm the plane), the mental/emotional violence (Sam and Alyssa, Helga's Alzheimer's, Teri's experiences with sexual harrassment, Ken's breakup with Adele), and of course the swearing. How does the violence in the book support the romance aspect of the book? Is the violence necessary to tell the story (general plot)? Is the violence necessary to tell the story of the romance between Teri and Stan? Does the violence heighten or detract from the romance? Does violence like this belong in a romance?

Virgin Slave, Barbarian King

I want you to read all the posts about Louise Allen's Virgin Slave, Barbarian King.

Here is the link to the original piece by Julie Bindel that started the whole debate.
Here is a link to the Harlequin page of the novel.
Here is a link to the first discussion on TMT about Bindel's article.
Here is a link to my discussion of happy endings and the hero's moral education.
Here is the link to the main TMT post that links to all the other analyses and reviews. Read all the analyses and at least the reviews from both Sarah and Candy at Smart Bitches, Jane and Jayne at Dear Author, and one other.
Here is a link to a TMT post deliberating about the difference between review and literary analysis.

And then comment here about what you think about everything! ;)

PCA 2008

The Popular Culture Association took place this past weekend. I'm posting summaries of the romance panels on Teach Me Tonight:

Romance I
Romance II
Romance III
Romance IV
Romance V
Romance VI
Romance VII
Romance VIII

Comment here or on the relevant panel posts Teach Me Tonight your thoughts on some of the panels.

Bet Me and Fairy Tales

What fairy tales do you notice in Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me? How does Crusie manipulate the symbolism of the original fairy tales? How do these fairy tales work over the course of the story?

Eventually, you'll need to choose one fairy tale and analyze the imagery and symbolism as it's used throughout the story, so begin to do this now in the comments.

Some places to look:
Crusie's own page about Bet Me.
Student created page on fairy tales in Bet Me.
.