This 495 course of study will focus on the use of folklore in literature over time and place. It is not a study of folkloric literature (ethnic stories, fables, mythology, etc.), but rather it is about how folkloric elements have shaped literature (and culture) in prose, poetry, and drama over time and space. My general thesis for the class is that though folklore would survive without written literature, written literature could not have been created without folklore, vernacular knowledge, and belief. Only one text is required (Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories), and one of the aims of the class will be to discuss and critique the thesis of the book we are using.