This
course meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30-11:45 . Readings are listed
below on the syllabus. In addition to completing the weekly
reading, submitting the writing assignments, and attending
class regularly and participating in in-class discussion, you are
required to participate in asynchronous Blackboard discussions
every week. . |
This course is a broad survey of the nineteenth-century British novel. The purpose of the course is to introduce you to the range of novelistic discourse in the nineteenth century, to help you develop your critical interpretive skills, to assist you in improving your writing skills, and to help you develop your research skills. You need not have studied nineteenth and twentieth century British literature previously to take this course.
The readings range widely enough so that you will get the flavor of gothic fiction, sensation fiction, Realism, and the Dickensian novel. Assignments include 2 critical papers, 1 critical research paper, 1 final take-home exam, and regular participation in both Blackboard discussions and in-class discussions. You also have the option to revise and resubmit one of your first two critical papers for an additional grade.
|
| Assignment |
Where it can be found |
Due Date |
% of Final Grade |
| 1st critical paper, 3-5 pages in length* |
Topics in the "Writing Assignments" area
of Blackboard |
due in the Digital Drop Box on September 18, 11:59 PM |
15% |
| 2nd critical paper, 3-5 pages in length* |
Topics in the "Writing Assignments" area
of Blackboard |
due in the Digital Drop Box on November 6, 11:59 PM |
15% |
| 3rd paper: critical research paper |
Topics in the "Writing Assignments" area
of Blackboard |
due in the Digital Drop Box on December 10, 11:59 PM |
35% |
| Take-home final exam |
It will appear during exam week in the "Assignments" area of Blackboard. You will have two days to complete the exam. It must be typed. |
due in the Digital Drop Box on final exam day (December 16) at 11:59.59 PM. |
20% |
| weekly contributions to class discussion, on Blackboard
and in class; weekly quizzes on the reading |
"Discussion Board" area of Blackboard and
in class |
throughout; you will receive a final letter grade for attendance, class discussion, and Blackboard discussion contributions |
15% |
| Total |
|
|
100% |
*You have the option to revise and resubmit one of the two critical
papers for an additional grade. If you choose to do so, your
first draft grade will count for 7.5% of your final grade
and the
revision grade will count for 7.5%. Revisions
are due in the digital
drop box on the final day of class, December 9.
The first two papers should
be 3-5 pages in length. Topics can be found on Blackboard
by following the "Writing Assignments" link. These
papers are to be submitted to the digital drop box in Blackboard
no later than 11:59.59 pm on the due date. Grade will be
reduced one grade for every day the paper is late. Use MLA
Format for citations.
The Guidelines for paper grading can be found here: http://www.public.asu.edu/~dbivona/papers.html.
A note on getting started: Effective note-taking
on the novels is very important, because you will need to
use your notes to find the evidence to support the claims you make in your papers.
An effective literary thesis should assert something about
the meaning of the work that is not obvious to everyone who
has read it. Moreover, an effective literary thesis takes a stand on an issue of significant controversy over the meaning of the novel. The papers topics, which can be found on Blackboard in the "Writing Assignments" area, will provide you with question prompts. These are based on significant critical issues that the novels have engendered.
The final paper, a critical
research paper, should be 10-12 pages in length. You should
use at least three secondary sources. Again, topics will
be found on the course Blackboard in the "Assignments"
area.
Weekly contributions to online
class discussion: Everyone is required to pose at least 6 questions
to the group online over the course of the 16-week term.
In addition, every student is required to respond at least
once per week to other students' or my questions. You will
be graded both on the frequency of your contributions and
on the quality of them. The best strategy is to post at
least 2 or 3 thoughtful responses and/or questions per
week. Please be sure to make them thoughtful,
paragraph-long responses, not quick, two-word responses,
and be sure to observe the conventions of civil online
discourse (no flaming or personal remarks about other students
in the class). Questions
may deal with the previous week's reading or with the upcoming
week's reading. You
may ask questions or make responses that relate current
material to material introduced earlier in the course,
but please do not pose questions about a novel that the
rest of the class will not have read for two more weeks.
Questions and responses should be posted no later than 9 AM Tuesday of
each week to be counted for that week.
Topics raised in the the online discussions will be discussed in class as well.
Please note that
all work done for this course must be your original work.
If you make use of the insights of other writers, you must
cite them in your papers using MLA
citation format. Punishments for plagiarism can be
very severe and may include a permanent grade of "failure
with academic dishonesty" or suspension from the University.
If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism,
please ask me.
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- Start searches with the new ASU Library One Search (beta).
- Literature Online (database containing primary texts in British and American literature)
- Literature Resource Center (provides access to a variety of primary and secondary texts, principally in British and American literature)
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (biographies of British literary and historical figures)
- Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism (self-explanatory)
- JSTOR (large database of secondary sources in a variety of disciplines, some reaching back to the nineteenth century)
- Project Muse (large database of recent [1999-2008] secondary sources in a variety of disciplines)
- Periodicals Archive Online (large database of secondary sources, many from the nineteenth century)
- Nineteenth Century Masterfile (digital index: identifies locations of primary and secondary material; it is not a database of primary source material)
- Academic Search Premier (large database of principally secondary source material)
- MLA Bibliography (bibliographic index of secondary sources in modern language and literature)
N. B. All the above sources can be searched online through the ASU Library website. You must go through this site in order to be validated to use these sources.
*** The sites below can be searched directly through the internet:
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