Missouri Western State College




Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences




Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism




330:  Studies in the Novel




Instructor:




Class time and place:




Office:




Phone:




e-mail:




URL:




Catalog Course Description:  


ENG 330 focuses on literary fiction in the form of the novel from its beginnings


to the present day.  Emphasizing genres of the novel (Bildungsroman, romance,


stream-of-consciousness, historical, picaresque, etc.), the course will present


thematic issues endeavoring to understand human experience from selected times


and many cultures.




Prerequisite for ENG 330:  ENG 210 or 220




Required Texts:


        Barnes, Djuna.  Nightwood.


        Behn, Aphra.  Oroonoko.


        Bronte, Charlotte.  Jane Eyre.


        Byatt, A. S. Possession: A Romance.


        Melville, Herman.  The Confidence Man:  His Masquerade.


        Morrison, Toni.  The Bluest Eye.


        Nabokov, Vladimir.  Lolita.


        Ondaatje, Michael.  The English Patient.


        Roy, Arundhati.  The God of Small Things.


        Sterne, Laurence.  Tristram Shandy.




Other Required Supplies:


One three-ring binder (no larger than 1" spine) for submission of end-of-term


portfolio


60-minute clean encased audio-cassette tape


Access to word processor with spell-checker


It is helpful for the student to have a 3-ring binder and a supply of notebook


paper for class use.  Materials will be distributed to you already punched for


such a binder.




Supplemental Texts:


        Harmon and Holman.  A Handbook to Literature, 7th Edition.


        Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA Handbook, 4th Edition.


        Stull, Andrew T. and Emily Thiroux.  English on the Internet.




Web Sites:


        Aphra Behn Society:  Sites (Emory University)


                http://prometheus.cc.emory.edu/behn/sites.html


        The Shandean (University of Utrecht)

                http://www.let.uu.nl/~Peter.deVoogd/shandean/

        zembla (Penn State University)

                http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/zembla.htm

        Page for A.S. Byatt's _Possession_ (San Jose State University)

                http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/jwss.old/possession

        18th Century English Novel Research Guide (West Virginia University)


                http://www.wvu.edu/users/library/www/etcnovel.htm


        British & Irish Authors (Nagoya University)


                http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/UK-authors.html


        American Authors on the Web (Nagoya University)


                http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/AmeLit.html


        


Evaluation:


        Final grade is determined on the basis of a portfolio submitted at the date


        assigned.  Guidelines for the portfolio and a tentative scoring rubric will


        be distributed early in the semester.  Prior to portfolio submission, there


        will be opportunities to make minimal adjustments to the scoring rubric. 


 


        At the end of the semester, two class days will be taken for individual


        portfolio conferences to determine the grade.


 


        The portfolio may be revised and resubmitted on the date stated.  You may 


        resubmit the portfolio only once.




        Early in the class, I will arrange an individual 10-15 minute meeting with


        each of you to discuss your portfolio.


 


        Minimum class standards to receive a passing grade (D)


                1.  Portfolio submitted on the date required;


                2.  Attendance at the instructor-student portfolio


                        conference;


                3.  Credit and response for all paper assignments;


                4.  Four or fewer absences (which will constitute 2 


                        weeks worth of work);


                5.  Attendance at the final session of the class. 






Attendance:


Attendance is required in this class; attendance is taken on a regular


(though not daily) basis. The portfolio/course grade will be lowered


by excessive absences (4 or more), failure to prepare for class, or lack


of class participation.


More than six recorded daily absences will result in an F for the class.  A


student who does not attend and participate in the final session will receive an


F for the class.




Late and Missing Work:


Papers are scheduled so I can do three readings of your work and return


it at our next session.  If you do not meet the due date, I do not guarantee


return of the paper to you in a timely fashion.  




Policy on Students with Disabilities:


It is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor of


any disability which might prevent maximum performance in the course (a hearing


loss, for example) so accommodating procedures will exist.




Policy on Academic Dishonesty:


It is expected that all students will produce their own work.  Student


work which does not meet this criterion will be assessed under the penalties in


the Student Handbook.  




Course Objectives and Topics to be Addressed in ENG 330:


        1.      Students will be able to read and understand selected 


                        novels from all over the world and from the


                        beginnings to the present.


        2.      Students will be able to integrate these works with 


                        each other in larger webs of thematic meaning.


        3.      Students will obtain a knowledge of non-canonical 


                        novelists as well as canonical texts.


        4.      Students will hone their critical thinking abilities by 


                        writing about the texts and countertexts of the 


                        novel.


        5.      Students' skills in analysis the literary genres and work 


                        of the novel will be increased through close 


                        reading techniques and application of theoretical 


                        constructs to the works.


        6.      Students' ability to read and interpret texts will be 


                        increased through close and careful scrutiny of 


                        texts, integrated with the theoretical and 


                        historical backgrounds.


        7.      Students will become self-directed interpreters of, 


                        writers about and interactive participants in the 


                        literature by means of portfolio construction.