English Novel
English 419 A Dr. Rosemary A. Allen
Pawling Hall 115, ph. 8131 Office hours: Monday and Friday, 11-1; 3-4 and by appt.
Course Description (as printed in the college catalog): "The novel as a prose form, from its introduction to the beginning of the twentieth century."
Course Objectives: By the end of the semester, you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of the narrative craft of the novel, its history and development, and its relationship to the historical and artistic context in which it was written. You will have demonstrated your ability to read and analyze material through a series of short papers and through active participation in class discussion.
Textbooks: Defoe, Robinson Crusoe; Fielding, Tom Jones; Austen,
Pride and Prejudice; Shelley, Frankenstein; Bronte, Wuthering
Heights; Dickens, Great Expectations; Thackery, Vanity Fair; Hardy,
The Mayor of Casterbridge; Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway; Waugh, Brideshead
Revisited. I would prefer if you buy the editions stocked in the bookstore (all published by Penguin, except for
Mrs. Dalloway and Brideshead Revisited). If you use other editions, be sure that they are not abridged (or, in the case of
Robinson Crusoe, expanded!).
Course Requirements: Weekly reading quizzes; two exams; one short paper (on an assigned topic, to be distributed to the class); one 10-page paper.
Reading quizzes: Every week, you must have completed your reading of the novel by the beginning of class. For each week, you will have a quiz over your reading. Sometimes your quizzes will be take-home quizzes; sometimes they will be given in class. They will be designed to evaluate whether you have successfully completed the reading assignment.
The short papers will be assigned to provide background and context on the works. Due dates will vary depending on your assignment. These short papers should be no longer than two pages, single-spaced. You must duplicate enough copies of this paper to distribute to the class, and you must be prepared to discuss the material and act as the class expert on the topic you have been assigned. Graduate students will be expected to give a formal presentation on their topics.
The longer paper should examine some aspect of a major English novel, using critical sources to provide perspective on your insights. We will have draft conferences on your paper. It will be due early in April; I want you to propose your topic well before Spring Break. The papers of graduate students will be
slightly longer and will be held to a graduate standard for grading.
Class participation: A large segment of your grade is based on your active class participation. It is essential that you take the initiative to participate in class. I recognize that my evaluation in this area has the potential to be dangerously subjective. You should probably check with me on a regular basis to determine whether you are contributing sufficiently in class.
Evaluation: 25% each exam; 20% long paper; 10% short paper; 20% quizzes and class participation. All papers are evaluated on a 10-point scale; 90-100 is an A; 80-89.99 is a B; 70-79.99 is a C; 60-69.99 is a D; below 59.99 is an F.
Schedule of Assignments
Week
1 Introduction to the course and to the 18th Century Novel
2 Defoe,
Robinson Crusoe
3 Fielding,
Tom Jones (first half)
4 Fielding,
Tom Jones (second half)
5 Austen,
Pride and Prejudice
6 Shelley,
Frankenstein
7 Bronte,
Wuthering Heights
8 Mid-term Exam
9 Dickens,
Great Expectations
10 Thackery, Vanity Fair
11 Hardy, The Mayor of
Casterbridge
12 10-Page Paper due (no reading assignment; be prepared to discuss paper)
13 Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
14 Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
15 Summary and overview
There will be a final exam.
Short Paper: You will choose one from a list of short paper topics. Treat this paper as a teaching tool; you will be xeroxing it and distributing it to the class. Your paper should be properly documented; failure to do so will result in failure for this paper. Use MLA
parenthetical references, and use MLA format for the bibliography. Length: 2 pages, single spaced (front and back of one page) in 12-point Times New Roman type, 1" margins.
Long Paper: Design this paper as a well-focused thesis-driven argument on a reasonably narrow topic that you can discuss in some depth. I expect you to place your argument in the context of other critical writing on the work. I allow you to write your paper on one of the novels we will discuss in class, but I will also allow you to choose other English novels as long as you seek my approval first. However, do not submit a paper you have submitted or will submit in another class. If you do, I will fail the paper.
Your paper must have a clear, focused thesis. You must schedule a draft conference with me before the paper is due. You must use MLA documentation style, and you must use secondary sources in your argument.
Graduate Students: Students taking this course for graduate credit will have to meet these additional expectations: 1) They will make a formal presentation on their short paper topic to the class. Instead of writing and distributing a paper, they may create handouts that will help students learn more about the topic. 2) They will meet a higher (graduate) standard on their major paper, both in selection of topic and in development and execution of that topic. A draft conference on this paper is encouraged but not required. 3) I may elect to ask different questions on the graduate exams than I ask on the undergraduate exams. I will also expect a more sophisticated level of writing and analysis from grad students than I would expect from undergraduate students.