English 362: Modern Novel

Required Texts: 

· Surfacing, Margaret Atwood

· My Sister’s Hand in Mine, Jane Bowles

· If on a winter’s night a traveler, Italo Calvino

· As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

· Faces in the Water, Janet Frame

· A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

· Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway

· Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

· Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Course Description: A study of representative novelists of the 20th century designed to acquaint the students with the themes, techniques, and artistic problems of the modern novel and the relationship of the latter to the basic issues and concerns of modern people.

Requirements: 

Response Papers	20%
Discussion Group Presentation	10%
Essay	30%
Paper Presentation	10%
Participation	10%
Final Exam	20%

Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required. You should be prepared for class, and you are expected to participate. For each class, your participation will be assessed, using the following scale: +, √, -, or 0. Periodic quizzes will test your preparedness for class. This is a reading intensive class, so please make sure your schedule allows you sufficient time to read the required materials.

Response Papers: Over the term, you are required to write five short response papers. The response papers will be limited to two pages, and you should discuss an aspect of the text you find interesting. You should also incorporate other sources, including critical studies. Cite sources using the MLA Style Guide. Additional parameters will be given during class. In the calendar, a response paper due date is indicated by RP.

Discussion Group: For each novel, except Mrs. Dalloway and Moveable Feast, there will be a discussion group that manages the final class discussion. Each group will present some background information (biography and criticism). After the five to ten minutes introduction, the discussion group will lead the class discussion. Additional parameters will be given during class.

Essay: For this class, you will be required to write an eighteen page research paper, citing sources using MLA Style Guide. You will have to use at least three critical sources. The paper is due on Friday, May 1^st at the start of class. Before you begin writing, you must get your thesis approved. A draft of the paper is due on April 3^rd. For the paper, you must use as a foundation one of the texts from the course. The length should be 15-20 pages. If you need assistance generating a topic, please visit with me during my office hours.

Paper Presentation: In eight minutes or less, you will present your paper to the class. While you can use powerpoint, powerpoint is not required. You are required, however, to distribute a one-page handout that aids your presentation.

Honor Code: This class has an honor code. Each student agrees that all examinations, papers and other course requirements submitted by the student to the instructor are solely that student’s work, unless agreed to otherwise in advance by the instructor. Plagiarism, the use of another individual’s material without explicit acknowledgement of the source of that material, is a violation of the honor code. A student who plagiarizes will automatically fail the course since plagiarism is contrary to the ethos of higher education.

Disabilities: If you require academic accommodations because of a learning, processing or cognition related disability, you will need to submit an accommodation request form (available from Disability Support Services) and one or more of the following documentation: A high school Individual Education Plan (IEP), a 504 Plan and/or a psycho-educational evaluation.  These documents must be less than five years old and verify the nature of your disability, the functional limitations it imposes, and the need for a specific accommodation.  Please contact Disability Support Services at 5453 if you have questions or need assistance providing this information.

Calendar: You should complete each assignment prior to class. Turn in hardcopies of the assignments on the day they are due; late assignments will not be accepted (without prior arrangements). Any changes to the calendar, including additional critical studies, will be posted to my webpage.

Week One, ending Friday, January 16^th

M: Course Introduction

W: Woolf, 1-48

F: Woolf, 48-103

Week Two, ending Friday, January 23^rd

M: No Class: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

W: Read: Woolf, 103-end

F: Read: Hemingway, 1-38

Week Three, ending Friday, January 30^th

M: Read: Hemingway, 39-96

W: Read: Hemingway, (RP, Hemingway)

F: Read: Hemingway, 97-end

Week Four, ending Friday, February 6^th

M: Discussion Groups, workday

W: Discussion Groups, workday

F: Discussion Groups, workday

Week Five, ending Friday, February 13^th

M: Read: Joyce, 1-108

W: Read: Joyce, 109-158

F: Read: Joyce, 159-end (RP Joyce)

Week Six, ending Friday, February 20^th

M: Discussion Group, Joyce

W: Faulkner, 1-57

F: Faulkner, 58-164

Week Seven, ending Friday, February 27^th

M: Faulkner, 164-end (RP, Faulkner)

W: Discussion Group, Faulkner

F: Library Research

Week Eight, ending Friday, March 6^th

M: Bowles, 1-111

W: Bowles, 112-201(RP, Bowles)

F: Discussion Group, Bowles

Week Nine, ending Friday, March 13^th

M: Frame, 1-124

W: Frame, 125-end (RP, Frame)

F: Discussion Group, Frame

Week Ten, ending Friday, March 20^th

Spring Recess

Week Eleven, ending Friday, March 27^th

M: Calvino, 1-139

W: Calvino, 140-end (RP, Calvino)

F: Discussion Group, Calvino

Week Twelve, ending Friday, April 3^rd

M: Atwood, 1-91

W: Atwood, 92-end (RP, Atwood)

F: Discussion Group, Atwood

Due: Draft of Essay

Week Thirteen, ending Friday, April 10^th

M: Conferences

W: Conferences

F: Conferences

Week Fourteen, ending Friday, April 17^th

M: Marquez, 1-47

W: Marquez, 48-end (RP, Marquez)

F: Discussion Group, Marquez

Week Fifteen, ending Friday, April 24^th

M: Paper Presentations

W: Paper Presentations

F: Spring Weekend Recess

Week Sixteen, ending Friday, May 1^st

M: Paper Presentations

W: Paper Presentations

F: Paper Presentations

Due: Essay

Week Seventeen, ending Friday, May 8^th

Final Exam: Monday, May 4, 2009 at 12:00 PM