Course Description
The development of the British novel in the nineteenth century.
Athena Title
Nineteenth-Century Brit Novel
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ENGL 4520
Non-Traditional Format
This version of the course will be taught as writing intensive, which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline—for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will focus on a number of significant novels published in England during the 19th century. Students will sharpen their skills as critical readers in closely examining the narrative techniques deployed by various authors, including the aesthetic implications of serial publication. The class will consider the historical and cultural contexts of the society in which these works were produced and the ways in which certain themes(the fear of political revolution, the "woman question," the growing influence of the scientific and industrial revolutions) are inflected in these novels. Students will also develop their writing skills through frequent informal writing assignments (such as response papers or blogs) as well as through high-stakes critical writing (such as essay exams, argumentative essays, or research papers). Students will have opportunities to receive feedback on their writing and to revise it.
Topical Outline
Novels studied in this course will vary from instructor to instructor. A syllabus might include items such as the following: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice William M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss Charles Dickens, Bleak House Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge George Gissing, The Odd Women Topics and themes examined by way of nineteenth-century novels might include issues such as realism and romance; the "woman question"; faith and doubt; scientific and technological change; nationalism, imperialism, and colonialism; class and political representation; authorship, audiences, and publishing; narration and form.