English 4106: Fiction as a Genre
The Novel: Form and Feeling
Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell
Fall 2007 MW 12:30-1:45 Hum 209
Office: TLC 2235
Email: mmitchel@westga.edu
Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel
Phone: 678.839.4852
Office Hours: Office Hours: MW 3:30-4:30; T 10-11 and 1-4; by appt.
Course Description:
As a genre, fiction presents
pretense as reality, forges feeling into form. This course will consider the
aesthetic and ideological effects of these transformations. 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 trace
these conflicting impulses of the genre from the early 19th century to the
present, from the novel’s roots in domesticity and sensation to the literary
experiments of the 20th and 21st centuries. We will read
an eclectic assortment of novels that define and contest the boundaries of
fiction, inviting us to consider the relationship between form and content,
representation and reality.
Jane Austen, Pride and
Prejudice
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist
Mary Gaitskill, Veronica
Selected supplemental critical readings on fiction and form.
Requirements
It will be crucial that you keep up with the reading for this class. Frequent quizzes (very straightforward and fact-based) will ensure that you come to class prepared. If your cumulative quiz score falls below 65%, you will not pass the class. This policy is designed to reward those who do their work, and to eliminate the temptation to see if you can get by with a minimal amount of preparation. You owe it to your fellow students to come to class prepared to contribute informed, thoughtful insights to our discussions. I strongly encourage you to take notes on the reading: quizzes will be open-note, so any notes you take (NOT, however, the texts themselves) will be available to you as you take quizzes. I’ll also expect you to be ready to bring specific passages to the attention of the class in order to focus and deepen our discussions. You must bring the text(s) under discussion to each class. Under the assumption that everyone will have done this preparation, I may call upon you at any time. Because participation counts toward your grade, you should make a point of speaking at least once during each class. There will also be short in- or out-of-class writing assignments designed to develop your analytical prowess and work on writing strategies; I won’t accept these late. You will be required to write two longer critical essays for which you will receive a list of possible topics in advance (you’ll also have the option of developing your own topics); the first will be 5 pages and the second will be an 8-10 page research-based paper. Drafts are required, not optional, along with all process-based assignments associated with each paper. These will be graded as homework assignments, so failure to complete them (on time) will lower your overall grade. You may elect to revise (substantially) your first essay, in which case I will average the two grades.
Policies and Procedures
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. (Exception: if you know in advance that you will need to miss a class, contact me and we can arrange for you to make up the quiz or assignment for that day.) Essays 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 unless you’re specifically instructed to. You may miss three classes without penalty. 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 reasons. I will deduct half a letter grade for your fourth absence, another half for your fifth, and another half for your sixth. If you miss more than six classes you will automatically fail the course. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and arrange to obtain handouts, notes, or information. (If you have truly extraordinary circumstances documented by the university, of course, please meet with me to discuss your options.)
Please come to class on time. If you are late three times it will count as an absence; lateness will also affect your ability to complete quizzes or in-class writings within the amount of time allowed. If you arrive late, it is your responsibility to speak to me at the end of class so that I can mark you late, rather than absent; I won’t interrupt class to do this, and might otherwise not remember. Please turn off cell phones and other potential sources of electronic disturbance before you enter class and remove them from sight. If such a device does go off during class, or if I see you checking messages, etc., I will mark you late.
Assignments and information relevant to the class will be posted regularly on my website. It is your responsibility to check this.
I check my email regularly; this is always a good way to contact me. University policy dictates that we correspond via your westga email account rather than any email accounts you might have. Make sure to use your My Westga account when you write to me.
I expect you to preserve an atmosphere of courtesy, respect, and intellectual maturity in the classroom, to take your own work and that of the other students seriously. Very little is less respectful than napping: if you fall asleep, you will receive one warning; the second time you will be asked to leave and counted as absent.
If you have special needs of which I should be aware, please meet with me as soon as possible to discuss satisfactory arrangements.
Academic Honesty
Presenting the language or ideas of someone else as your own constitutes plagiarism--whether your source is a friend, a relative, or a critic; whether the uncredited material is a phrase, a paragraph, or an entire paper; whether it is a formal or an informal assignment; whether the language is exact or paraphrased. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the class; will be reported to the English Department, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Student Judicial Officer; and may have consequences at the university level. There will be no exceptions, no negotiations. “Accidental” plagiarism is plagiarism nevertheless. If you are ever concerned about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult me. You may also see the English Department website for more details and resources (see the link on my website).
Grading
Quizzes: 20%.
Short writing assignments: 20%.
Includes in and out of class writing as well as all assignments related to the writing process (outlines, drafts, etc. Graded on a 10 point scale.
Essay #1: 20%
Participation: 10%
Research Paper: 30%.
Schedule
W 8/15 Intro: Inventing the Novel.
M 8/20 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. To p. 101.
W 8/22 No Class. Intensive reading; work on response. Guidelines and critical excerpts for response.
M 8/27 Pride and Prejudice. To p. 303. Submit response.
W 8/29 Pride and Prejudice. Finish.
M 9/3 Labor Day. No class.
W 9/5 Critical reading: intro to D. A. Miller's The Novel and the Police (pdf). (Start reading Wilkie Collins).
M 9/10 Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White. To p. 247.
W 9/12 Critical reading, writing.
M 9/17 The Woman in White. To p. 397.
W 9/19 1-2 page response on content/form (details TBA)
M 9/24 The Woman in White, finish. Essay #1 assigned.
W 9/26 Writing workshop.
M 10/1 Rough drafts due: writing workshop.
W 10/3 ESSAY #1 DUE. Virginia Woolf, “Modern Fiction.”
M 10/8 To the Lighthouse To p. 124.
W 10/10 No class (I’ll be at a conference)
M 10/15 To the Lighthouse. Finish.
W 10/17 Continue Woolf, Modernism discussion.
M 10/22 Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient. To p. 158.
W 10/24 TEP, cont’d.
M 10/29 The English Patient, finish.
Response assigned; due Wednesday: 1-2 pages. Select one of the many references to reading in this novel Focus on a particular passage. Offer a close reading of your passage, examining how the concept of reading is represented in this particular moment, then open your discussion up to a consideration of how this particular representation of reading functions in the novel as a whole. Find a way to present your passage as a sort of key to the novel’s central ideas. What do you think Ondaatje is suggesting about reading—or textuality—in relation to the novel’s overarching concerns—history, war, humanity
W 10/31 1-2 page response on content/form.
M 11/5 The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead. To 162.
W 11/7 The Intuitionist. Finish.
M 11/12 Mary Gaitskill , Veronica. To 121.
W 11/13 Writing workshop: research paper.
M 11/19 Veronica, finish.
W 11/21 Thanksgiving break. No class.
M 11/26 Writing workshop.
W 11/28 Optional conferences.
M 12/3 Last day.
Research paper due