Engl 565-01: American Genre (Novel)

Fall Semester 2006

Syllabus

TTh 11:00-12:15, Grubbs 312

Instructor: Dr. K. Nichols

Course Description:

This course surveys the development of the novel in America from the late eighteenth century to the present. We will study different types of novels--gothic, sentimental, realistic, modernist, and post-modernist are some of the standard sub-categories--and explore how they shaped and were shaped by the social, cultural, and historical forces characterizing the literary periods associated with them.

Although I have included several shorter-to-medium length novels on the syllabus, novels by definition are not short. Therefore, please adjust your schedules to accommodate the reading load for this course.

Textbooks:

Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland, or the Transformation (Prometheus Books)
Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter (Modern Library)
Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (Barnes & Noble)
Henry James, The Aspern Papers (Dover Publications)
Chopin, The Awakening (Avon)
Ernest Hemingway, Sun Also Rises (Scribner)
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (Vintage International)
Louise Erdrich, Tracks (Harper Perennial)
Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine (Fawcett)--LATE ORDER, should be available at bookstore in a couple weeks.

Grading:

2 Papers (5 pp. each)--40%. See Writing Assignments (online).
3 take-home exams--60%

You may e-mail papers or exams to me at knichols11@cox.net, but make sure they are attached as a .doc file.

NOTE: All major assignments must be completed to pass the course.

Absence Policy:

Regular attendance is required. Everyone has three pre-excused absences for those difficult times in life that interfere with class attendance, so you do not need to clear absences with me, but it is a good idea to check with me (or a classmate) to make sure an assignment was not changed while you were gone. Students who miss more than four classes may be dropped from the roster for "excessive absences."

Late Work Policy:

Late papers and exams will be graded down one letter grade for each day they are late.

Course Web Pages:

You can always access my home page (which links to all my web pages) by going to the PSU home page and then clicking on "Arts and Sciences," then "English Department," then "faculty"and then scrolling down to my name and clicking on the link. However, the following addresses will give you more direct access to our online syllabus and class resources:

Engl 565: Am. Novel: http://arcadiasystems.org/academia/novel.html
Nichols Home Page: http://arcadiasystems.org/academia/nichols.html

Plagiarism Policy:

I strongly support the policies of the English Department and the University on plagiarism. Undocumented use of someone else's material (including "borrowing" their language or their ideas) will result in an F on the paper or for the course--or worse for the most egregious cases.

See me if you have questions about what is or is not plagiarism. I'm always happy to help students who are making a good-faith effort to do things right.

Instructor's Office Hours:

Grubbs Hall 450:
MWF 11:00-12:00; 2:15-3:30;
TTh 10:30-11:00; 1:30-2:00;
or by appointment