COURSE OUTLINE
 Spring 2004
AD 314, M W F 1:10-2:00 p. m.

Dr. Donna M. Campbell
Robinson House 213, 323-6676

Virtual office hours:
Send an instant message

E-mail: campbedm@gmail.com or campbedm@gmail.com

at any time I’m online to any of these addresses: drcampbell6676@aol.com

Office Hours: M W F 10-10:50; M 11-11:50 and by appointment

drcampbell6676@yahoo.com

drcampbell6676@hotmail.com

Course Description

This course explores the diverse themes, social contexts, and intellectual backgrounds of the American novel from its beginnings in romantic tradition through the realist and naturalist movements of the late nineteenth century.  The works listed below offer a rich opportunity to investigate issues not only of literary value but also of race, class, and gender in nineteenth-century America.  In addition to analyzing each work’s form and genre, we will ask the following questions: What accounts for the inclusion (or exclusion) of this work from the canon of American literature?  In what ways does the work reflect, critique, or ignore its social context? 

Required Texts

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne (Mark Twain). Pudd’nhead Wilson. 1894..
Harper, Frances E. W. Iola Leroy. 1892. In Three Classic African-American Novels, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Vintage, 1990.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.  The Blithedale Romance. 1852. New York: Penguin, 1983.
Howells, William Dean. The Rise of Silas Lapham.  1885.  New York: Penguin, 1986.
James, Henry.  The Portrait of a Lady. 1881, 1907-9. Norton Critical Edition. Second Edition. Ed. Robert D. Bamberg. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. 1851. Norton Critical Edition. Second Edition. Ed. Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002.
Wharton, Edith.  The Custom of the Country. 1913. New York: Bantam, 1991.

Recommended Text

Harmon and Holman, A Handbook to Literature. 9th ed. (Prentice Hall)

Note on Assignments

This schedule is a tentative guide to the assignments; it may change as the semester progresses.  Because good, in-depth class discussion is more important than keeping up with the schedule, you should not be disturbed if some selections are omitted or if we appear to fall behind. If you are absent, please check the assignment with me or with a classmate.

You should read all assignments carefully and come to class prepared to discuss them every day.

Course Site: http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl413/index.html

This site contains notes, author pages, and bibliographies on many of the authors and works covered in the course as well as links to selected sites with materials relevant to the work covered. Instead of printing out materials, I will refer you to this site.

You should also sign up for our Blackboard page at http://blackboard.gonzaga.edu  The Blackboard site will contain announcements, readings still under copyright, and other materials.

Week  Date                                                                Additional Assignments

1

1/14

Introduction

  
 

1/16

The Blithedale Romance, 1-57

Sign up for reports (in class)
 

2

1/19

Martin Luther King Holiday: No Class

  
  1/21

The Blithedale Romance, 57-127

  
 

1/23

The Blithedale Romance, 127-193

  
 

3

1/26

The Blithedale Romance, 193-end

  
 

1/28

Reports: Social and Literary Contexts

Reports: Social and Literary Contexts
 

1/30

 Moby-Dick , through chapter 16

  
 

4

2/2

 Moby-Dick, chapters 17-36

  
 

2/4

 Moby-Dick, chapters 37-53

  
 

2/6

Moby-Dick, chapters 54-77 

 
 

5

2/9

Moby-Dick, chapters 78-97

  
 

2/11

Moby-Dick, chapters 98-123

 
 

2/13

Moby-Dick, chapters 124-135

Revision Option Due Date
 

6

2/16

Presidents’ Day: No Class

  
 

2/18

Discussion: group presentations

Read criticism assigned to your group
 

2/20

 Reports: Realism and the Romance   Reports: Realism and the Romance
 

7

2/23

Portrait of a Lady  3-122

 Paper 1 Due
 

2/25

Portrait of a Lady 122-244

  
 

2/27

Portrait of a Lady 244-364

  
 

8

3/1

Portrait of a Lady 364-490

 
 

3/3

Discussion: group presentations

Read criticism assigned to your group
 

3/5

Exam 1

 
 

9

3/8-12

Spring Break: No Class

  
 

10

3/15

Rise of Silas Lapham, 1-125

  
 

3/17

Rise of Silas Lapham, 125-257

  
 

3/19

Rise of Silas Lapham, 258-365

  
 

11

3/22-26

No Class

 
 

12

3/29

 Reports: Race and Realism Reports: Race and Realism
 

3/31

The Rise of Silas Lapham continued

 Due date for posts on Howells
 

4/2

Pudd’nhead Wilson 53-110

  
 

13

4/5

Pudd’nhead Wilson 111-163

  
 

4/7

 PW 164-226  
 

4/9

No Class: Easter Holiday

 
 

14

4/12

 No Class: Easter Holiday

Revision Option Due Date
 

4/14

PW (continued); background on Domestic Fiction and the Slave Narrative

 Due date for posts on Twain
 

4/16

No Class: Reading Day

 
       

15

4/19

Iola Leroy 227-305

  
 

4/21

Iola Leroy 305-383

  
 

4/23

Iola Leroy 383-463

Paper 2 Due
       

16

4/26

Reports on Wharton

 Due date for posts on Harper
 

4/28

Wharton story "The Other Two"

 
 

4/30

Discussion

 Due date for posts on Wharton
 
 

Monday, 5/3

Exam 2, 1-3 p.m.

Exam date and time from the GU web.

Course Policies and Expectations

Attendance.  Attendance is required. According to Gonzaga University policy, after six hours of unexcused absences, or six class periods in a course that meets three times a week, students must receive a grade of "V," which is equal to an “F.”  Being 5 minutes late on three occasions or more than 10 minutes late on any one occasion will count as an absence.

Disability Support Services.  If you have a disability that affects your ability to access materials or information in this course, please contact Disability Support Services on the third floor of the AD building.

Class Participation.  Your participation in class discussions is important and is an essential part of your grade.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the use of another person’s words or sentence structures without acknowledging the source. Remember, materials from websites as well as printed matter must be cited properly. You cannot simply cut and paste quotations into your text without attribution.

   The MLA Guidelines published in the Bedford Handbook, MLA Handbook, and other sources will tell you how to cite materials, as will the MLA website guidelines for citing electronic materials.  All of these are available (free) online at the Writing Lab website: (http://www.gonzaga.edu/writinglab/index.html).

       

Gonzaga University subscribes to Turnitin.com, a service that takes your paper and matches it against materials in its database and on the web to check for plagiarism. Although I hope that no one in this class would plagiarize an essay, you should be aware that I will be submitting papers from this class to turnitin.com and that the text of your paper will become part of its database. (Note: Turnitin.com will never release your paper to another person without your approval.)

If you do not want your paper submitted to turnitin.com, you have the option to write a version of it as a 4-hour proctored essay instead; if you choose this option, please let me know well in advance so that a time can be arranged for you to write the essay.

Penalties for plagiarism range from a minimum of an F on the paper to an F in the course, suspension, or expulsion from the university, according to the rules set forth in Gonzaga University’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Written Work

Formal Papers or Web Project

Formal Papers. Students in English 413 will write two formal papers, a short (5-7 pages) analytical interpretation of a novel, and a longer analytical paper (8-10 pages) that will require some research. A list of paper topics will be handed out well before the papers are due. 

Format. Papers must be neatly typed and carefully proofread. Citations should follow MLA style as outlined in the MLA Handbook or other handbooks such as the Bedford Handbook.

For the second paper, you also have the option to create a web site (often of a single chapter of a novel) instead of writing a formal paper.Your hypertext would analyze images and themes, define words, provide an overall interpretation, and provide a brief bibliography of works consulted. Requirements:
1. The web site must be uploaded to the web and be available to everyone, not turned in on a CD.
2. The analysis should be detailed and insightful, just as it would be in a paper. About 75% of the grade will be based on the analysis.
3. The remaining 25% of the grade will be based on features of your web page: Does the presentation enhance the reader’s understanding of the story? Is it easy to navigate and attractive to view? Are relevant external links included?
4. Your group will also need to write and turn in a 2-3 page rationale explaining your analysis and choices of links and so forth.

Additional Policies on Papers

  • Late papers are penalized at the rate of one letter grade per class day late; missed papers receive a 0.
  • You are allowed one 48-hour extension per semester without penalty if you speak to me about it before the paper is due.
  • In addition to, or instead of, turning in your essays in paper form, you will need to send me (at campbedm@gmail.com or upload to Blackboard or to turnitin.com) an electronic version of your paper.
  • Option to Revise. I strongly encourage you to bring in drafts of your papers well before they are due so that we can confer about the subject and style of your paper.  Students also have the option to hand in papers early and to resubmit them for credit on the usual due date; the two grades will be averaged.

    • Reports or Weblogs

    You can choose either to present a short (5-7 minutes) oral report to the class or to keep an online reading journal--a weblog--for the semester.

    As part of your independent investigation into these novels, you'll either present a brief (5-7 minutes) oral report to the class or keep an online journal (weblog) of your reading this semester. For each one, you'll be expected to read and discuss at least one book or journal article. Both of these should be about the same amount of work.

    If you already know what you would like to do for your report, you may sign up using the online form. If you will be doing the weblog option, please send me the URL so that I can add it to our class site.

    1. Weblog Option. A weblog (or blog) is a way for you to keep an informal online journal recording your thoughts on the readings, questions, quotations, links to interesting materials, and so on. You do not need to have any knowledge about web pages to choose this option; the beauty of a weblog is that all the technical work is done for you. You simply type in your comments (or your links) and click on the "publish" button.

    Many free blogging sites are available; one of the best known is www.blogger.com. Another good one --in fact, a preferable site for our purposes--is http://www.motime.com; it keeps track of the numbers of visitors and has a comment feature so that visitors can add messages. It also allows visitors to "subscribe" to your blog so that they are notified when you post to it. Other well-known weblog sites include Livejournal, TypePad, and RadioUserland. LiveJournal has both free and paid subscriptions; the others cost from $4.95 a month to $40 per year.

    Class members who read your blog and post comments will receive class participation credit for doing so.

    To complete this option, you'll need to do the following:

    1. Write at least one entry on each of the seven novels in the course. These can be long entries (a few paragraphs, or about 300 words per entry) or a series of shorter entries as you work your way through the book.

    2. At least once during the semester you'll need to read a critical article or book section and write a post on that. (When you do so, please indicate that on your page.) Two or three people can also keep a blog as a group. If you do this, each member will have to read and report on a critical article at least once during the semester.

    Although most of your posts will probably be commentary on or analysis of the readings, this is the place to be creative in your response to the novels: you can discuss formal features such as themes, imagery, or structure; write alternative dialogues for the characters; parody the novels; ask questions; find contemporary analogues or references to the novels; write poems; try out ideas for your paper; and so forth.

    I will read the weblogs periodically throughout the semester and will post comments if your blog has a comments feature. You should write your entries when we're reading the novels; posting all the entries in the last week of class won't be acceptable.

    2. Report Option.

    The report you give for this class will combine an oral presentation with a “fact sheet” on the information you present.  This may take the form of an outline, summaries of critical articles, or a synopsis of your argument. You should include at least one critical article or book in preparing your report.

    Your presentation may focus on something you wish to work on for your paper. You may also want to work on one of the following:

    1. Additional information about the social, intellectual, and historical contexts for the works and authors assigned in class.
    2. Interpretations of other works by the same author.
    3. Presentation of a key critical work about the author or his or her era.
    4. Background about the social and intellectual connections among certain groups of authors.

    You may choose to collaborate with others and then to present the report as a group.

    These topics are very broad and will need to be narrowed.

    Quizzes and Other Work

    Brief multiple-choice or short-answer reading quizzes will be given frequently. The purpose of these is to reinforce careful reading and attention to specific details. Quizzes cannot be made up, but the lowest quiz grade will be dropped.

    Approximate Weights of Grades

    Paper 1    15%
    Paper 2 25%
    Report or weblog 15%
    Quizzes, in-class writings, group presentations, responses to critical readings, and class participation 15%
    Exams   30%