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Dr. Laura L. Runge
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ENL 4122.001
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for students to enjoy reading long, British novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries;
for students to form and express critical opinions and interpretations of five British novels through discussion and independent writings;
for students to demonstrate a critical understanding of the themes of marriage and money in the British novel, and of the history of that genre from Defoe through Thackeray;
for students to demonstrate a critical understanding of the various techniques of fiction, including epistolary writing, realism, irony and social criticism
Required Materials
Daniel Defoe, Roxana ed. John Mullan (Oxford UP, 1996)
Henry Fielding, Tom Jones 2nd edition, ed. Sheridan Baker (Norton, 1995)
Frances Burney, Evelina ed. Stewart J. Cooke (Norton, 1998)
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice 3rd edition, ed. Donald J. Gray (Norton, 2000)
William Thackeray, Vanity Fair ed. Peter L. Shillingsburg (Norton, 1994)
Recommended
All students should have a handbook of literary terms, such as Holman and Harmon's A Handbook to Literature and a copy of the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research PapersAlso recommended:
Frank O'Gorman, The Long Eighteenth Century: British Political and Social History, 1688-1832 London: Arnold, 1997, reprint 2004
Electronic Media
For an general introduction to computing facilities and classes at USF, see USF Academic Computing Home Page.This class will be interacting with the Blackboard website for ENL4122.001 S06, to be located on your MY USF website. To register and log in, visit https://my.usf.edu .
You will find the discussion board for your weekly informal postings on this Blackboard site, and I will also post assignments, messages and further information about the class on this site. PLEASE CHECK IT FREQUENTLY!
My website: information on class, assignments and links to other important sites on literature, etc.
Other important websites will be listed in the schedule of reading and following the assignments.
Schedule
Please note: Links for each class date will be updated throughout the semester. You will find your discussion questions and notes on these pages, linked to the date on the syllabus.
Jan. 9 IntroductionJan. 11 Start reading Defoe's Roxana
Also read for discussion: Susan Staves, "British Seduced Maidens," Eighteenth-Century Studies 14 (1980-81): 109-34.
Jan. 18 Roxana pp. 1-111.
This is available through the electronic library database JSTOR. You can get access to this through the USF Library website, under databases.AND, also read Blackstone's Commentary on the laws of England: Chapter 15, which gives you a sense of how marriages were made and dissolved in the eighteenth century, as well as some of the legal consequences of marriage. Pay particular attention to the last paragraphs.
POST # 1 (Group A)
Post #1 (Group B)
Jan. 23 Roxana pp. 111-208.
Post #2 (Group A)
Jan. 25 Roxana pp. 208-330. THE END
Post #2 (Group B)
Jan. 30 Tom Jones Books I-III, through p. 98
Post #3 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Marguerite EdwardsFeb. 1 Tom Jones Books IV-VI, through p. 210
Post #3 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Michelle CareyFeb. 6 Tom Jones Books VII-IX, through p. 337
Post #4 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Alicia True and Clark CutchinFeb. 8 Tom Jones Books X-XII, through p. 442
Post #4 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Tony IncremonaFeb. 13 Tom Jones Books XIII-XV, through p. 540
Post #5 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Gregory SchmidtFeb. 15 Tom Jones Books XVI-XVIII, through then end
Post #5 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Kimberly Fielding-MaddisonFeb. 20 Supplemental Reading on Tom Jones: Johnson's Rambler #4 and selections from contemporary responses.
Post #6 (Group A)
Feb. 22 Evelina VoL. I, pp. 1-111
Post #6 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Nicole McCracken, Tucker Matias and Susan BuschFeb. 27 Evelina Vol. II, pp. 111-224
Post #7 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Joanna Wood and James ConnMar. 1 EvelinaVol. III, pp. 224-335
Post #7 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Emily DavisMar. 6 Supplemental Readings for EvelinaTBA
Post #8 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Autumn Exum and Sam SchumakerMar. 8 Supplemental Readings for EvelinaTBA
Post #8 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Priscilla Leonard and Lergia SastreMar. 20 Pride and Prejudice: Volume One, pp. 3-89
Post #9 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Megan HenneckeMar. 22 Pride and Prejudice: Volume Two, pp. 89-158
Post #9 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Anna Costanzo
Minidraft of Paper 2 DUEMar. 27 Pride and Prejudice: Volume Three, chs. 1-8, pp. 158-204
Post #10 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Robin Odell and Maguene JeromeMar. 29 Pride and PrejudiceVolum Three, chs. 9-19, pp. 204-254
Post #10 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Rachel Pina and Jenni DavisApr. 3 Supplemental Readings for Pride and Prejudice Richard Whatley, pp. 289-291; Alistair Duckworth, pp. 206-314; Claudia L. Johnson, p. 348-356
Post #11 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Rena Gardana and Guido ManiscalcoApr. 5 Vanity Fair: Intro - Ch 1- Ch XI (pp - 114) First 3 installments
Post #11 (Group B)
Historical Annotation:Apr. 10 Vanity Fair: ch XII- XXIV (pp 115-240)
Post #12 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Sara LollarApr. 12 Vanity Fair: ch XXV-XXXV (pp. 240-360)
Post #12 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Charlene Constantine Paper 2 DueApr. 17 Vanity Fair: ch XXXVI-XLVIII (pp 361-483)
Post #13 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Priscilla LovettApr. 19 Vanity Fair: ch XLIX-LIX (pp. 484-597)
Post #13 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Marie PhilemonApr. 24 Vanity Fair: ch LX-LXVII (pp 597-689) ending
Post #14 (Group A)
Historical Annotation: Sara SlaughterApr. 26 Review
Post #14 (Group B)
Historical Annotation: Joan Shaffer and Jamie DiehlMay 1: 10:30-12:30 pm Final Exam
Graded Assignments
Attendance/Participation/Quizzes 5%Weekly Posts (14) 20%
Paper 1: Historical Annotation (4 pp) 20%
Due: for class assignedPaper 2: Analysis Paper (5-7 pp) 30%
minidraft due March 22
Due April 12
This syllabus is subject to change. ** Students who anticipate the necessity of being absent from class due to a major religious observance must provide notice of the date(s) to the instructor, in writing, by the second class meeting.
Description of Graded Assignments
Attendance and Participation
See class policies.
Weekly Posts:
For general description and specific requirements of this assignment, see my webpage on weekly posts. Weekly informal writings will be due to be posted to the class discussion board on the Blackboard website. You are automatically registered for this site with your class registration. You can access this site by visiting https://my.usf.edu, logging in and clicking on the tab for “Courses.” Click on the link for ENL4122.001S06 British Novel Through Hardy. Click on the link for “Class Discussions” located on the left side bar, and click on “Weekly Posting.” Follow directions for reading and submitting posts from there.We will divide the class into Groups A and B, and you will be responsible for posting on the day your group is assigned. Posts MUST be received by midnight the night before the class on which it is due so that everyone will have an opportunity to read the posts on the morning before class. You are responsible for writing AND reading posts.
For each class I will supply discussion notes and questions on a webpage linked to the date on the syllabus. These should be available a week prior to the class. Choose a discussion question that interests you and write your informal response. Or, you may choose to respond to a post written by your classmate. Either way, you should engage the reading material for that class.
Historical Annotation Paper and Presentation:
For each class beginning with Jan. 25, a student from the class will present a short paper that explains or illustrates some point of historical interest in the text or answers a historical question raised by the story. For example, you might wonder what it means for "the Parish" to take care of the narrator's children in Roxana when she can no longer do so. Welfare as we know it did not exist in the eighteenth century. What methods did a society use to take care of its indigent? Ideally, your topic will be related to the novel we are reading, although it doesn't necessarily have to match the reading for the day. You will do some basic historical research, beginning with the endnotes in the text and the bibliography provided by the editor and the Bibliography for Annotation that I have provided, many titles of which are on reserve. You may also use the websites listed below. Using this historical information, write a short essay that explains this subject. Examples of topics include means of travel, dress, food, hygiene, illness, social etiquette, etc. There are further suggestions in the notes for each class. For an example of this type of paper written by a student in a previous class, see Sample Papers.Your audience is your class; you will be writing to explain this historical phenonmenon to them. You will have to cite your sources using proper MLA format, and you will be responsible for following the rules and guidelines for formal writings.
This paper should be no longer than four pages, and so you need not be exhaustive in your research. You may NOT rely solely on website information; the course bibliography and reference list will be a good starting point for print resources. Aim for clarity and conciseness and historical accuracy. You should submit your paper to me as a document in MS word or Word Perfect, or in RTF, by midnight the night before the class for which you are scheduled. I will post your paper to the documents section of our Blackboard site, so that you can use it for your class presentation. Alternatively, you can post it as an attachment to the discussion board for the class. Because we will be using a wired or "smart" classroom, I encourage you to use visual aids and alternative formats, such as Powerpoint.
While I don't expect you to read your paper to the class, your presentation of the information in the paper should reflect the content. Please prepare a bulleted list of points or "talking points" for your oral delivery prior to class and aim to finish your presentation in ten to fifteen minutes. You can, of course, read segments of your paper when appropriate.
Analysis Paper:
5-7 page formal writingMindraft due March 22
Final due April 12Objectives:
Students should demonstrate an ability to comprehend and analyze the literature from the class by writing a focused essay on a single topic. Students should demonstrate knowledge of a particular novel and author (Daniel Defoe’s Roxana, Henry Fielding Tom Jones, Frances Burney’s Evelina, or Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice). Students should demonstrate the ability to explain how certain effects of the literature are achieved by close representation of the text and analysis of its feature(s). Students should write clear, organized and persuasive prose. Description:
In The Happy Critic, Harvey Birenbaum writes: "Analysis examines ways in which the work achieves its particular effects, demonstrating its technical features" (11). He highlights questions of style, genre and conventions (pp. 31-39), but other issues of representation are also germane. Your goal in this paper is to articulate a reasoned response to one of the novels or part of a novel that involves analyzing how the effects were achieved.
You can begin the process of identifying your topic through general observation, such as: “The reader sees Evelina’s character immediately through her first-person correspondence with her guardian, Mr. Villars.” Then you would proceed to analyze what creates that effect in the novel, and you would structure a paper around the detailed analysis of examples and effects.
Or you might begin by identifying a theme or idea that you find interesting, such as “Fielding illustrates how difficult it is for innocent characters to see evil intentions.” Then you would work backwards to find out how he achieves that effect, discussing the way he characterizes Tom and Blifil for example, or how he structures the plot to depict Tom’s gradual loss of naivety.
Given our thematic interest in marriage and money, however, you may want to focus on some of the topics we have canvassed in class and analyze their representation in the novels. For example, drawing on Kristina Straub’s point that the representation of Mrs. Mirvan’s unhappy marriage offers a dramatic contrast to the happy-ever-after ending of Evelina, you might want to demonstrate how negative depictions of marriage in the novel undermine the fantasy of marrying prince charming. Or, you might want to analyze Defoe’s catalogues of goods and money in Roxana to demonstrate that financial security ultimately plays a more important role than romantic love in that heroine’s denouement.
You need to choose a topic and create a thesis, which is a point or conclusion drawn from analysis of textual evidence. You need to provide an interpretation, not simply a summary of the material. Recall the elements of critical thinking:
Representation: you represent the story/poem/play to the reader through paraphrase, summary and/or quotation
Interpretation: you say what you think it is about/what it means (the significance)
Analysis: you explain the significance through attention to the writer’s craft (conventions of style, language, genre, culture)
Inference: you draw conclusions about the significance based on the textual evidence
Evaluation: you assess the success of the writer’s craft/significance (how well does the artist/text achieve the effect / how important is the artist’s/text’s achievement)NOTE: For this assignment, no outside research is required or desired. You should demonstrate your ability to understand the literature and the conventions of the novel we have discussed in class.
Minidraft:
For March 22 you should have the following:
A statement of your topic (i.e. bad marriages in Evelina; coercive parents in Tom Jones; criticism of women’s role in marriage in Roxana) Identification of several textual examples to examine in the paper. Statement of the literary techniques to be analyzed: i. e. plotting of specific episodes; the language of characterization; things left unsaid; compared and contrasting scenes, characters, resolutions; conclusions; etc. A statement of your thesis or argument. A draft of a paragraph from the paper. Final paper
Observe rules and guidelines for formal writing (see above), including parenthetical citation of textual examples.
Include introduction, strong transitions and a conclusion that emphasizes the significance of what you have written.
Attach the draft with my comments to the final paper.
The paper should follow standard formatting rules (see above) and guidelines and NOT EXCEED seven pages.
It is due by class time on April 12.
Final Exam:
This will be a standard final; it is cumulative (i.e. it covers the entire semester), and it will be essay format.
Related Sites
VoS English Literature: English Literature Page A highly organized and extensive collection of web sources for literature; with search engine.
Eighteenth-Century Resources: Extensive collection of sites and text-databases related to all aspects of the eighteenth century; with search engine.
Eighteenth-century Novel Research Guide Maintained by Beth Jane Toren of University of Virginia, this site contains annotated bibliographies of reference works and bibliographies related to the eighteenth-century novel. It is UVA library users, but it still can provide useful information and links.
Jane Austen Info Page This is starting place for all Jane Austen internet searches.
Victorian Web: Extensive website of information on literature, history, art, religions and politics of the Victorian Age, originally created by Prof. George P. Landow of Brown University; this is highly reliable.
W. M. Thackeray Website from Victorian Web. Excellent resource on biography, background, literary criticism, etc. ALSO SEE WEBSITES CREATED BY STUDENTS FROM 1996:
Paisley Mason: Niceties and Courtesies
Description of manners customs and titles in nineteenth-century Britain, specifically related to Jane Austen, with links to various useful literary sites.Molli Gamelin: Going Postal with Jane Austen
The purpose of this web site is both to show readers how letters were delivered to Austen's characters as well as reveal other points of interest on the postal system that so many Austen characters relied on.
Students may contact me at any time by email: runge@cas.usf.edu