English 5/4106 Studies in Genre: Fiction

Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell

 

Spring 2005 TTh 9:30-10:45 Hum 225

Office: TLC 2235

Email: mmitchel@westga.edu

Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel

Phone: 678.839.4852

Office Hours: TTH 3-5, W 10-12 and by appt.

 

 

Course Description

As a genre, fiction may be said to present pretense as reality, thereby involving the reader in a temporary illusion. This course will consider the cultural and ideological function of this process. We will raise questions about what kinds of fictions arise from particular historical and cultural circumstances and consider the relationship between text and context. Some writers strive to close the gap between real and fictional worlds, producing fictions that mirror reality as closely as possible; others emphasize the constructed, textual nature of the worlds they have invented. We will read an eclectic assortment of short stories and novels that define and contest the boundaries of fiction, considering the relationship between form and content, representation and reality.

 

Required Texts

Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

Virginia Woolf, The Waves

Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist

Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus

Margaret Atwood, Wilderness Tips

Raymond Carver, collected stories

Selected critical readings

 

Requirements

This course requires a considerable amount of reading, and it is essential that you keep up with it. Classes will be largely discussion based, and I expect everyone to come to class prepared to participate. I will distribute reading questions in advance, and these will serve as taking-off points for class discussions. I strongly encourage you to take notes on the reading with these questions in mind, perhaps sketch out rough responses, and make a note of one or two passages in the text that strike you as relevant to the questions I have posed. I’ll expect you to be ready to bring specific passages to the attention of the class in order to focus and deepen our discussions. There will be frequent, unannounced quizzes and occasional in-class writing assignments. In the course of the semester, you will be expected to submit three 1 page formal responses to reading questions of your choice. You may select which questions to respond to (keeping in mind that some questions will be more suited to the assignment than others) and which texts you want to work with, but you must turn in one by the end of Week 5, another by the end of Week 10, and a third by the end of Week 15. Although they need only be a page long, these responses should be formally constructed, carefully organized around a central thesis and should work closely with the language of the text. You will also be required to write two longer critical essays for which you will receive a list of possible topics in advance; the first will be 5 pages and the second will be an 8-10 page research-based paper. Drafts are required, along with any workshops or writing exercises associated with each paper; failure to complete them will lower your overall paper grade. You may elect to revise (substantially) your first essay, in which case I will average the two grades. If you choose to rewrite, you must schedule an appointment to discuss your essay with me. There will also be a cumulative final exam.

 

Attendance:

Your active presence is essential to the success of the class. Quizzes and in-class writings cannot be made up regardless of the reason for your absence. Long papers will drop a third of a letter grade for each day they are late (from a B to a B-, for instance)—including weekends. Papers will be accepted only in class; please don’t email them to me or leave them in my mailbox. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be affected. There is no such thing as an excused absence. I assume that illness or other pressing circumstances may legitimately cause you to miss three classes in the course of the semester; I don’t need to know your reasons. Beyond that, however, absences will affect your grade, regardless of your excuse. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and arrange to obtain handouts or reading questions. If you miss 7 classes, you will not pass. (If you have truly extraordinary circumstances documented by the university, I will consider exceptions.)

 

Please come to class on time. If you are late three times it will count as an absence; lateness may also affect your ability to complete quizzes or in-class writings within the amount of time allowed. Please turn off cell phones and other potential sources of electronic disturbance before you enter class. If such a device does go off during class, I will mark you late.

 

If you have special needs of which I should be aware, please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss satisfactory arrangements.

 

Graduate students

Anyone taking the 5106 version of the class will be expected to fulfill these additional requirements: weekly response papers (guidelines forthcoming), a longer (15+ pages) research paper, and additional critical reading. I’ll also expect you to take a more active role in class discussion. Please come talk to me to work out the details.

 

Grading

20% Quizzes/In-Class writing

10% Participation

15% Response papers

15% Essay #1

25% Essay #2

15% Final Exam

 

Academic Honesty

Any form of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course; there may also be consequences at the university level. I take plagiarism very seriously, and there will be no exceptions to this policy. Whether the source is a book, a website, a friend, a classmate, or a parent, passing off someone else’s ideas or language as your own constitutes plagiarism. All outside sources must be properly acknowledged and documented. I will be glad to clarify any concerns you have about plagiarism.

 

Schedule*

 

Week One

1/11 Introduction

1/13 Dickens, OliverTwist 1-78

 

Week Two

1/18 Oliver Twist 78-177

1/21 Oliver Twist 177-248

 

Week Three

1/25 Oliver Twist 248-370

1/27 Finish

 

Week Four

2/1 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye 1-80

2/3 The Bluest Eye 81-131

 

Week Five

2/8 Finish (including afterword). Topics for essay #1 distributed.

2/10 Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient 3-65

Week Six

2/15 First draft of essay #1 due. Writing workshop. Also The English Patient, 69-106.

2/17 The English Patient, 107-178. Deadline for response #1.

 

Week Seven

2/22 Essay # 1 Due. The English Patient, 181-226

2/24 The English Patient, finish.

 

Week Eight

3/1 Virginia Woolf, The Waves 7-75

3/2 Last day to withdraw with a W.

3/3 The Waves 76-150.

 

Week Nine

3/8 The Waves 151-235

3/10 The Waves Finish.

 

Week Ten

3/15 Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist 1-87

3/17 The Intuitionist 87-159

Deadline for response #2.

 

Week Eleven

Spring Break

 

Week Twelve

3/29 The Intuitionist Finish

3/31 No class (attending conference)

Week Thirteen

4/5 Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus 1-91 Topics for Essay #2 distributed.

4/7 Nights at the Circus 95-157. Writing workshop: research. Details TBA.

 

Week Fourteen

4/12 Nights at the Circus 158-224. Essay proposals due (1 page).

4/14 Nights at the Circus Finish.

 

Week Fifteen

4/19 Atwood & Carver.

4/21 Rough drafts due.  Writing workshop.

Deadline for third response.

Week Sixteen

 

4/26 Atwood & Carver.

4/28 Atwood & Carver. Conclusion.

 

5/2 Essay #2 due.

 

Final Exam.

 

 

*This schedule is subject to adjustment or alteration. Changes will be announced in class.

 

 

Departmental Course Goals

Departmental Program Goals