The English Novel

 The class will be structured around our reading and then discussing a history of the genre and a series of British novels. 

Additional information about course objectives can be found on the department webpage, http://libarts.mwsu.edu/english/.

Marks in ENGL 4893 will be created through a series of efforts:

 1) Members will be expected to come to class prepared and willing to participate.  Thus, everyone in class will be asked to keep a Participation Log listing your daily engagements with the discussions at hand.  The Log will be collected on 5 May and be worth 10%of your grade.  To receive full credit, the log will list fifteen responses (fifteen for ten points, fourteen for nine . . .).

 2)  In addition, we will write four exams, as indicated on the calendar.  Each will cover the unit of work we just have finished.  That is, Exam IV will not be comprehensive.  Each exam will have two parts: one written in class (short answers, blanks to fill, multiple-choice questions); one typed outside of class (an essay of four pages responding to questions you will be given about a week before the exam date).  Your exam grade average will create 75% of your final mark.  Sample questions will be handed out in class.

 3)  The remaining 15% of the final mark will be created by an in-class report offered during the last class days.  Each undergraduate class member will present a ten-minute response to a novel we have read, indicating how any one of the basic genre elements covered by Hawthorn (point of view, character, plot, setting, language, theme) affected the member’s reading of the chosen novel.  Specific requirements will be distributed in class.

Marks in ENGL 4893G will be created through the following efforts:

1) Members will be expected to come to class prepared and willing to participate.  Thus, everyone in class will be asked to keep a Participation Log listing your daily engagements with the discussions at hand.  The Log will be collected on 5 May and be worth 10%of your grade.  To receive full credit, the log will list fifteen responses (fifteen for ten points, fourteen for nine . . .).

2)  In addition, we will write four exams, as indicated on the calendar.  Each will cover the unit of work we just have finished.  That is, Exam IV will not be comprehensive.  Each exam will have two parts: one written in class (short answers, blanks to fill, multiple-choice); one typed outside of class (an essay of four pages responding to questions you will be given about a week before the exam date).  Your exam grade average will create 60% of your final mark.  Sample questions will be handed out in class.

 3) The final 30% of the grade will be determined through assembling a class project. 

 Please choose one British novel that we have not read in class and that was published before 1980.  Then, please prepare a ten-page (MLA style) essay that accomplishes the following: (a) analyze the novel's publication history--when did it appear, under what circumstances; (b) reconsider the novel's critical history--what have been the interpretations of this novel that seem most influential, over time; (c) discuss and synthesize your own observations about those structural elements that—you believe, as reader—most directly provoke a reader's response to the novel.  We will use elements discussed by Hawthorn, e.g., point of view, character, plot, setting, language, and theme.  During the preparation of the essay, please arrange to meet at least twice with the instructor in his office, to discuss your choice and your progress.  The topic will need to be presented in writing to the instructor by 22 February.  Project is due 5 May, accompanied by at least one earlier draft.

In this class, the following numerical equivalents for final grades are used: A = 100-90%; B = 89-80%; C = 79-70%; D = 69-60%; F = 59-0%.  For grade sources, see above, “Course Requirements.”

All essays will be submitted in MLA format.  Specific instructions will accompany each set of exam questions.

By enrolling in this class, the student expressly grants MSU a “limited right” to all intellectual property created by the student for the purpose of this course.  The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality and authenticity, and for educational purposes.

No late work can be accepted, unless arrangements have been made with instructor.

Regular attendance and participation will be expected.  After the first two cuts, each additional cut will lower the final mark one grade.  Two late arrivals count together as one cut.  Exceptions will be made ONLY for certifiable illnesses or for "authorized" absence, specifically as described in the university Catalog.

Please see first-day introduction.