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Prof. Jim Garrett
Office: E & T A608
Office Hours: Monday 4:30-6:00, Tuesday 11:45-1:30, Thursday 11:45-1:30 (1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month only)
Phone:  (323) 343-4163
Email: jgarret@calstatela.edu
Course web site: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jgarret/446

Prerequisites Upper division standing is prerequisite to enrollment in English 446. ENGL 102 or its equivalent is prerequisite to all upper division English courses. Prerequisite for all literature courses: ENGL 250, or 200A, 200B or 200C.

Description The novel has been a vibrant form in Britain since the end of the seventeenth century, though i t w as not until well into the nineteenth century that this immensely popular form was considered “serious” by literary critics. In this course we will use this arbitrary divide between popular and serious to examine how novelists both respond to the public’s taste for the familiar and test the public’s acceptance of novelty.

Eighteenth and nineteenth-century novels are exciting, thought-provoking, and playful; they are also exceptionally LONG. Be forewarned: you should enroll only if you are prepared to keep up with the reading (an average of 300 pages per week) and with two-page response papers due nearly every other week. Because this is a lecture-discussion class rather than a formal lecture course, active and informed contribution to class discussion is expected from all students.

Objective The main objective of the course is to provide each student with a basic understanding of the novel as a literary genre, its position within British literary history, and its significant developments. In addition, we will work on becoming better readers, writers and thinkers through frequent discussions, examinations, presentations and writing tasks. Ultimately our goal is to work on improving our ability to think critically about texts (in whatever form we encounter them) and to communicate clearly our ideas.  Each of us must consider the acts of reading and writing as ways of making the world, of making it cohere or come apart, of inscribing it with purpose and meaning.

Course Requirements Since this class focuses exclusively on the novel, the assigned reading borders on overwhelming. I have attempted to alleviate some of the inherent difficulties of courses on the novel, but if you are not prepared to invest a significant amount of time each week to reading novels, then you should probably consider taking a different course. In short, you will need to be diligent about planning ahead and completing your tasks on time.  Listed below are the required assignments for this course:

1. Four Three reading responses (approximately 500-750 words in length)—NO LATE RESPONSES ACCEPTED. (7.5% 10% each; total of 30% of course grade)

2. Two reading responses on Middlemarch (approximately 500-750 words in length)—NO LATE RESPONSES ACCEPTED. (5% each; total of 10% of course grade)

3. A Dickens reading journal with an entry for each week of  Great Expectations reading assignments—due at the end of the fifth and tenth weeks. (10% of course grade)

4. A term paper (approximately six pages in length). (20% of course grade)

5. A final exam (short answer identification questions, one textual analysis, and one essay question). (25% of course grade)

6. Attendance and participation (discussion, oral close reading, pop quizzes (if any), in-class writing, presentations). (5% of course grade)

Please note that all assignments (the readings, the essays, the responses, and the exams) are required.  You must satisfactorily complete all assignments to pass the course.

Policies

Grading Policy: Course grades are based on standard percentages (i.e. 90% and greater is some version of an A, 80%-89% is some version of a B and so on). Plus and minus grades are used in the class.

Cell Phones and Pagers: Please turn off all cell phones, pagers, portable radios, televisions, computers, MP3/CD/Disc/Mini-disc players, and any other electronic communication and/or entertainment devices before coming to class.

Contacting the Instructor: Email is the most effective way of communicating with me outside of class and my office hours.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. I will take attendance at the start of every class. If you are not present I will mark you absent. Arriving late will count as half of an absence. You are allowed one absence without penalty. Each absence beyond the first one will reduce your course grade. If you miss more than four classes you will be disqualified from taking the final and therefore will fail the class.

Please read the assigned texts before class. Often I will offer some guidelines about future reading assignments in class. For example, I might tell you to focus on a particular text for the next class meeting. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting the assignment from a classmate.

Written Assignments: Please note the following carefully when preparing your written assignments for this class:

• Written assignments must be typed following standard formatting practices for college writing—use a readable type style (12 point type), indent paragraphs, double space between lines, and use one inch margins. Any style guide will contain information on formatting your written assignments for submission.

• Before handing in written assignments, edit and proofread your work carefully.

• Do not use plastic covers or report folders or title pages on your written assignments. Each assignment, though, should have your name, the course number, the date, and my name on separate lines (double-spaced) in the upper left corner of the first page. If the paper has a title, center it on the first page, after the above information.

• Use page numbers and place them in the upper right corner of the page. If you are uncertain how to have word processing software generate the correct page number in the header of your document, ask someone in one of the labs.

• MLA format and style conventions should be followed for all written assignments (essays and responses). For more information on MLA format and style conventions, see The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the appropriate section of a recent (published after 2000) writer’s handbook, or one of the many reputable online sources.

• Late papers are not accepted. The assignment due dates are distributed on the first day of class, and the assignments are made available often weeks before they are due.

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating: Collaborating with others is encouraged when you are planning your papers, reviewing each other’s work, preparing for presentations or for exams. Study or reading groups can be effective ways to study and learn. However, when you write your papers, the text needs to be your own.

You must carefully observe the standard rules for acknowledging the sources of words and ideas. If you make use of a phrase or a quote or if you paraphrase another writer’s words or ideas, you must acknowledge the source of these words or ideas telling us the source of these materials. APA and MLA style differ on the exact format of this attribution, but the simple version is the name of the author and the page number (if appropriate) in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the use of the source material. If you fail to acknowledge properly the source of your text, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Student Disciplinary Officer.

If you plagiarize or otherwise misrepresent the source of your work, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Student Disciplinary Officer.