| The Eighteenth-Century British Novel (3420) | |
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MWF 11:30-12:20 Bartley 116 office hours: M, W 1:30-3:00,
and by appointment This course will introduce students to the wicked and bawdy underbelly of early modern Britain as seen through the eighteenth-century novel. We will focus on the interaction between evolving narrative practices (for instance, a new emphasis on stories of ordinary lives) and changing cultural practices (such as new kinds of marriage and a developing commercial economy). By placing our readings within the social and historical context of the rapidly developing British nation and the exploding growth of the city of London, we will ask what purpose the novel served at its time, and consider how it was used as both a new social tool and a new form of entertainment. We will also, of course, think about the relationships between these early novels and later ones, as well as the connections between their world and our supposedly post-eighteenth-century one. Texts (available in bookstore): Requirements: 7 response papers (10%), 2 short papers (15%, 20%), 1 presentation (outline/notes handed in) (15%), final paper (25%), participation (15%) Participation: This is a discussion class. Come to class prepared to discuss the readings. (To do this, of course, you must come to class: attendance is required). All papers handed in to me or used for in-class workshops must be word-processed, double spaced, with normal margins and font. Response papers are opportunities for you to informally comment on any topic raised by the current readings or class discussion. They will not be graded individually, but you will get a grade at the end of the semester for the whole batch. They can be handed in anytime, but no more than one week after we’ve finished with the text or topic you’re commenting on. Drafts of short papers (3-4 pages) will be due before the final draft is due. We will discuss these drafts in class workshops. The final paper (8-10 pages) will involve independent research on a topic of your choice, and could include work on the literary, cultural or historical background to a novel, and/or recent criticism on it. I will meet with each of you to discuss these projects. Presentations will start class, and should raise issues for discussion. Please meet with me before your presentation. No exams, but possibly surprise quizzes. Plagiarism: Do your work, and do your own work. If you cheat, you fail. Period. week of: 8/23 (W) Swift, "Description of the Morning" (hand out) 8/30 (M) Eliza Haywood, Love in Excess (1719), pt. 1 9/30 (M) Labor Day: no class 9/13 (M) Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719), --p. 53 9/20 (M) Defoe, --p. 249 9/27 (M) Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740), --p. 151 10/4 (M) Richardson, --p. 380 10/11 (M) Richardson, --p. 516 10/18 fall break: no class 10/25 (M) Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742), bk 1 11/1 (M) Fielding, JA, bk 4 11/8 (M) Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey (1768), 11/15 (M) Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764), --p. 59 11/22 (M) workshop (proposal due) 11/29 (M) Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1818), --p. 73 12/6 (M) workshop (draft due) 12/13 (M) Austen, --p. 205 (paper 3 due)
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