English 311 (a)--The English Novel (early period) D. Holborn
440 CCC
x-4333 (e-mail: dholborn@uwsp.edu)
Week 1 Course Introduction
Weeks 2-3 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels [260 pp.] (Norton , rental)--1726
Weeks 4-5 Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders [427 pp.] (Penguin)--first published 1722
(Paper #1 (literary paper) assigned week 5; due week 7)
Weeks 6-7 Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews [323pp.](Penguin) -1742
Weeks 8-9 Jane Austen, Persuasion [283 pp.] (NAL-Dutton)--1818
(Mid-term exam week 9)
Weeks 10-11 Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights [338 pp.] (Oxford)--1847
Weeks 12-13 Charles Dickens, Hard Times [314 pp.] (Norton)--1854
Weeks 14-15 George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss [522 pp.] (Oxford)--1860
Final exam: Wednesday, May 12, 2:45-4:45.
Observations
Novel classes require a lot of reading; there is no getting around it. You should be prepared for this at the start of the class. I will do all I can to help you understand these English novels, but there is no substitute for your reading them. In order for us to discuss them, you will have to read each novel by its scheduled appearance on the syllabus. To facilitate this, I will give a short quiz on each novel, usually on the second day we are discussing the book. These quizzes will have a significant effect on your grade (see below). The questions will simply test whether you have read the book, and not the depth of your understanding. Exams and papers will test this understanding.
Please keep in mind that these works are old classics of the English novel; many of the assumptions that their authors made about their readers do not apply to modern readers. We have to work a little harder to understand fully, but the effort usually pays dividends. Generally speaking, the books will get progressively easier to read as they get closer to our own time. We begin with a work published in the 1720's and end with one published in the 1860's.
Attendance Policy
I hope regular attendance will be necessary to do well in this course. I therefore strongly encourage it. I reserve the right to fail any student who misses more than eight classes (for any reason). While I believe absences even approaching the eight would be excessive, they will have no direct bearing on your grade. However, you are responsible for work missed and assignments made should you be absent.
Grading Policy and Requirements
I will determine your grade in this course on the basis of your performance on the quizzes (one-fourth), two papers (one-fourth), a mid-term exam (one-fourth), and a final exam (one-fourth). Classroom participation will be taken into account in the case of a borderline grade.
The two papers will be as follows. The first will be a paper directly related to a particular novel or novels; that is, it will be a typical literary paper. I will give you an assignment sheet with suggested topics when the time comes. The second paper will involve research on some topic of sociological or historical background to a novel. I will ask you to get together with one or two other members of the class to research this material and then present it to the entire class. Find a way to break up the material so that each person can report on a separate part of the topic and then submit a summary of this material in writing. I will judge the quality of your oral and written presentation and this will count for one of the two papers required in the class (both together count for one-fourth of your final grade). These reports and papers will be presented throughout the semester whenever we are dealing with your particular novel, with the written part submitted on the day you make the presentation.
The following is a tentative list of background topics. I will ask you very early in the semester to commit to a topic.
Gulliver’s Travels—18th C Travel Literature
Moll Flanders—Pickpockets and Thieves in late 17th and early 18th C England
Joseph Andrews—English Inns
Persuasion—Courtship and Marriage Customs (next)
Wuthering Heights—Characteristics of the Gothic Novel
Hard Times—Educational Theories and Practices under the Sway of Utilitarianism
The Mill on the Floss—English Social Class Structure (esp. as it sheds light on Mill)
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