Studies in Genre: Fiction

ENGL 4/5106-01W:

MW 5:30-6:45 pm, Pafford 308
Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell

Office: TLC 2235

Email: mmitchel@westga.edu

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

Phone: 678.839.4852

Office Hours: MW 4-5; T 11:30-4:00; by appointment.

As a genre, fiction presents pretense as reality, forges feeling into form. This course will consider the aesthetic and ideological effects of these transformations. 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 and a collection of short stories that define and contest the boundaries of fiction, inviting us to consider the relationship between form and content, representation and reality. We’ll also read some theoretical essays that will provide a critical framework for our investigation of fiction as a genre.

Required Texts: Jane Austen’s Emma, Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son. Critical readings through electronic reserve.

Requirements: Active participation, reading quizzes, a short analytical essay and a longer research paper, short writing assignments, midterm, final.

M 8.17 Introduction.

W 8/19 Emma (Austen): 1-54.

M 8/24 Emma: though p. 207 (or Chapter 6, vol 2 or chapter 24, if you have a different edition) Consider what counts as virtue in this novel, & what kind of importance is assigned to this quality.

W 8/26 Critical reading (McKeon)--available through electronic reserve . Instructions. Short writing assignment due: One well organized paragraph on the following. Taking a question from McKeon: In Austen’s Emma, "what kind of social existence or behavior signifies an individual’s virtue to others?" Discuss a specific illustrative example from the novel. Make sure you’ve read McKeon first, so that you are certain how he is using these terms.

.

M 8/31 Emma (finish)

W 9/2 Critical reading. Swad. Essay #1 assigned.

M  9/7 Labor Day—no class

W 9/9 The Woman in White (Collins): to p. 195 (First Epoch). Notes for Essay #1 due.

M 9/14 The Woman in White.

W 9/16 Critical reading.

M 9/21 Flood day--class cancelled

W 9/23  Rough draft workshop, Essay #1

M 9/28  The Woman In White, D.A. Miller.

W 9/30. Essay #1 due. Last Woman in White discussion. Review for midterm.

M 10/5  Midterm.

*Tues. Oct. 6: Last day to withdraw with a W

W 10/7. Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf)

M 10/12 Mrs. Dalloway: finish. Continue to think about what structures the novel, and how this differs from the 19th C novels we read.

W 10/14 Mrs. Dalloway.

M 10/19 no class: read The Handmaid's Tale

W10/21 The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood)--to p. 140

M 10/26 The Handmaid's Tale--finish.

W 10/28 The Handmaid's Tale.

M 11/2 The Intuitionist. (Whitehead) Research paper assigned.

W 11/4 The Intuitionist.

M 11/9 The Intuitionist. Paper proposal due.

W 11/11  The Intuitionist.

M 11/16 Notes for paper due—workshop.

W 11/18 Research workshop: Working with criticism & theory.

M 11/23 Workshop: Intro.

W 11/25 no class—Thanksgiving break

M 11/30 Rough drafts: workshop.

W 12/2 Last day of classes.

Papers due 12/4, 5:00.

Final Exam.

Policies and Procedures

Your active presence is essential to the success of the class. Quizzes and in-class work cannot be made up regardless of the reason for your absence. (Exception: ONCE during the semester, 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). 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. Short writing assignments received late will not earn anything higher than a C. Process-based assignments (such as assigned notes or outlines) are mandatory, and you will receive credit for them based upon a ten-point scale. You may miss three classes without penalty (aside from missing whatever class work occurs on that day). 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 and another half for your fifth, at which point I will ask you to meet with me and discuss your standing in the class. If you accumulate six absences you will automatically fail the course. If you must 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.) Absence does not excuse failure to complete reading or other assignments for the following class. 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 assignments 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.

Grading

Short writing assignments/process assignments: 10%

Quizzes: 20%

Essay #1: 20%

Midterm: 10%

Research Paper: 30%

Final Exam: 10%

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, texting, etc., I will mark you absent.

If you fall asleep, I will ask you to leave and mark you absent.

 Assignments, detailed instructions, and information relevant to the class, including updates to the schedule, will be posted regularly on my website. (I will also announce them in class.) 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. In addition, I’d like you to address me properly (rather than as “Hey!”), write in complete sentences with conventional punctuation and capitalization, and sign your name. These are good habits to acquire: corresponding with your professors is not the same as corresponding with your friends.

You MUST bring any texts under discussion to class with you. If you don’t, I may mark you absent. You must also bring a notebook, and it should be open, on your desk, ready to receive your thoughts. Taking good notes will help you tremendously on the exams.

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. Anyone who does not comply with this expectation will be asked to leave: this is for everyone’s sake.

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).

Additional information regarding course outcomes, etc. can be found on the online version of the syllabus.