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ENGL 4405: THE ENGLISH NOVEL I MWF 10:10-11:00 Pamplin 2002 Mr. Radcliffe (drad@vt.edu) Office Hours M-F 2:00-3:00 (email for an appointment to confirm, or to choose another time) |
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In this introduction to the English novel we will read a selection of works written in the eighteenth and early ninteenth centuries. It would be presumptuous to call this a survey, for a mere seven novels cannot give a very complete sense of the richness and diversity of prose fiction in this era. But our sampling of classic works can introduce some key figures, concepts, and literary forms important for the develoment of the novel and for its subsequent history in Britain, the United States, and in indeed in world literture. When Daniel Defoe published Roxana the novel was a minor form; when Emily Bronte published Wuthering Heights the novel had become to English literature something like what the epic was to Homer. How this came to transpire is an interesting story in itself. The course will be a mix of lecture and discussion. I will sketch in the background, a necessary business since novels then as novels now concerned themselves with manners and morality, and manners and morality have changed considerably. One can learn much about social and intellectual history from reading novels. But we'll also be concerned with the art of story-telling, which is something we're all familiar with, if only because we're all readers of novels. Together, we will draw connections between what the authors attempt to accomplish as storytellers, and the means by which they go about it. This is not such an easy thing to do, not only because the writers' intentions can be obscured by time and change, but because story-tellers tend to be a crafty lot, leaving much work for their readers to accomplish. Modern critics and literary historians do not always agree about what these works say, or why they say it, or how. The chief prerequisites for this course are time and a comfortable chair. There's no getting around the fact that there will be a lot of reading—not unpleasant I trust, but a lot of it. There will be much information, though not a lot to memorize; no elaborate technical terminology, though enough complexity to keep the curious on their toes. I expect students to come to class having done the reading; there's no way to have a reasonable discussion otherwise. I expect students to attend class regularly, and have assignments done on the day that they are due. Managing one's time well is really the key to success in a class like this one: you can read a play by Shakespeare in three or four hours, but a novel, particularly a long novel like Tom Jones, requires many sittings over days and weeks to read. There are three things that I hope you will take away from this course in the English novel. First, a sense of the breadth and sweep of social and political change during the era when England and Scotland merged to become Britain, and then (after the American colonies separated) Britain merged with Ireland to become Great Britain, and Great Britain, through its acquisition of colonies around the globe, became the most vast and powerful empire in world history. These were remarkable times, nor did such events transpire without a good deal of trauma for all concerned. Second, I hope that you will take away from this course a more sophisticated critical sense, so that you can speak and write about works of fiction as works of art, discussing why and how they are written, rather than (say) simply rehearsing the story or identifying heroes and villains. Third, I hope you will take away a love for these works, or if not love (for it can be hard to feel overly affectionate towards long books read under difficult conditions) at least an understanding of why they have been loved by so many readers over so many generations. It's sometimes difficult to develop aesthetic empathy for works of art written in more leisurely times, and moral empathy for works written in more hierarchical times. But developing these kinds of empathy is a not-unimportant step towards becoming an educated reader. Readings
(available at the bookstore): Course Requirements: I abide by the Virginia Tech Honor Code, and expect you to also. Schedule: |
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August 25-29 |
Dainel Defoe: Roxanna (1724) |
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September 1-5 |
Daniel Defoe: Roxanna |
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September 8-12 |
Henry Fielding: Tom Jones (1749) |
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September 15-19 |
Henry Fielding: Tom Jones |
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September 22-16 |
Henry Fielding: Tom Jones |
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Sept. 29-Oct. 3 |
Tobias Smollett: Humphry Clinker (1771) |
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October 6-17 |
Tobias Smollett: Humphry Clinker |
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Oct. 6: Paper Due |
Analytical Essay: 5-6 pages |
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October 20-24 |
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (1797; 1811) |
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October 27-31 |
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility |
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November 3-7 |
Maria Edgeworth: Castle Rackrent (1800) |
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November 10-14 |
Walter Scott: Waverley (1814) |
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November 17-21 |
Walter Scott: Waverley |
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November 24-28 |
Fall Break |
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December 1-5 |
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights (1847) |
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December 8-10 |
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights |
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Dec. 8: Paper Due |
Historical Essay: 10-12 pages |
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December 17 |
Final Examination 7:45 AM |