ENGL 300
Critical Conversations: Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins
Spring 2007
Instructor: Dr. Maria K. Bachman Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 2:00-3:00; Wed 10:00-2:00
E-Mail: mbachman@coastal.edu and by appointment
Website: http://ww2.coastal.edu/mbachman
Course Description
This course will offer a lively and intensive study of two of the most significant novels of the nineteenth centuryÑCharles DickensÕs Bleak House (1853) and Wilkie CollinsÕs The Woman in White (1859). Over the course of the semester, we will have the unique opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in these two novels, reading them slowly and carefully so as to fully engage in the reading process and the work of literary analysis. While both novels are driven by secrets and lies, crime and corruption, mystery and mayhem, at the same time, they are illustrative of mid-nineteenth-century fiction and its larger social concerns. Thus, we will devote a good deal of time situating these works in their social, political, and aesthetic contexts in order to better understand and appreciate the richness and complexity of the Victorian literary and cultural scene.
Required Texts
Charles Dickens, Bleak House (Penguin)
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (Broadview)
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (Penguin)
Wilkie Collins, Blind Love (Broadview)
Format
We will conduct class in a seminar format and everyone will be responsible for facilitating class discussions in turn. After all, the study of literature is a conversation (subject to endless interpretation) that has been carried on for centuries, and the classroom is a vital setting in which this conversation can productively occur. Each of us brings a unique experience, mind, and sensibility to a literary work, so presumably the classÕs interpretation of a textÑthe combination of many studentsÕ reactions and insights (perhaps even confusion)Ñshould be more illuminating and rewarding than simply reading in isolation. The achievement of such breadth, depth, and richness is one of the important values of class discussion and one of the reasons why enthusiastic and engaged class participation is every studentÕs privilege and responsibility.
Requirements
Discussion Questions (10%)
You will collaborate with a classmate to create four discussion questions about the day's assigned reading. These should be complex , provocative questions for which there are no simple or objective answers and which may, in fact, raise further questions. You will type these, make enough copies for everyone (about 25), and bring them to class.
(Note: If you have signed up for a Bleak House-related presentation, then you are responsible for discussion questions on The Woman in White, and visa versa.)
Response Papers on Oliver Twist or Blind Love (40%)
You will write four (4) informal response papers, approximately 3 pages each that attempt to connect your outside-of-class reading (Oliver Twist or Blind Love) to our in-class study of Bleak House and The Woman in White. These response papers may perhaps use class discussion questions or group presentations as a starting point or may also introduce a new topic/issue/concern. These response papers should be rich in content and demonstrate your ability to draw complex connections between two novels. I do not expect a single, formal thesis that you will prove. Rather, I expect you to identify a particular scene, character, conflict, theme, motif, etc. in one novel that you find interesting or puzzling and to explore its resonances or reverberations in the other novel. You should consider these papers to be exploratory, not necessarily argumentative, in nature; they will be evaluated for detail, clarity, complexity, and creativity.
Research Presentation (20%)
In pairs, you will give one presentation on a socio-historical topic relevant to Bleak House or The Woman in White. The formal presentation should be no more than 10 minutes, followed by a 20-minute discussion. Your goal should be to provide some helpful information, not to exhaust your subject, and to engage as many people as possible in a lively discussion. You will sign up on January 16 for a presentation topic and date. If you and your partner wish to change topics, see me in advance for approval. After your presentation, each presenter will submit a one-page self-assessment addressing the following questions. Where was your presentation the strongest? What share of the work did you do? How might your presentation have been more successful? What did you learn in doing it? (Note: If you have signed up for discussion questions on Bleak House, then you are responsible for a presentation on The Woman in White, and visa versa).
Critical Essay (20%)
You will write a comparative literary analysis (5-7 pages) that is the outgrowth of one or more of your Response Papers. The topic is wide open so that you can develop and pursue an original line of inquiry that is exciting to you.
Reading Quizzes (10%)
As an "enticement" to not fall behind in the reading, pop quizzes will be given at the beginning of selected class periods.
"BBC Thursdays" (optional)
The multi-part BBC film adaptation of Charles Dickens's Bleak House will be shown on selected Thursday afternoons in January and February in EHFA 137 at 4:30 pm.
Attendance
Stated simply, you are expected to attend each class session. On-time attendance is required at all class meetings unless you have obtained permission in advance. Students with more than three absences (or repeated late arrivals) will be penalized one-full letter grade.
Important Note: There are NO make-up quizzes, discussion questions, reading responses, or presentations.
I will use e-mail as the primary means to correspond with you outside of the classroom. You are responsible for checking your e-mail on a regular basis for updates or changes to the schedule of assignments and for any announcements. (Be certain that I have your correct e-mail address). Any e-mail posting to me should also include ÒENGL 300Ó in the subject line. Please begin your message with an appropriate salutation and include your full name at the end of the message. I will attempt to respond to any and all e-mails in a timely fashion between the hours of 9:00 and 5:00, Monday through Thursday.
Etiquette
All cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class. Text messaging, playing video games, reading the newspaper, having private conversations with other students, sleeping, or any other form of "checking out" of class will not be tolerated.
Calendar of Assignments
| Thursday | Jan 11 | Introduction |
| Tuesday | Jan 16 | Bleak House, Chapters 1-7 (13-113) |
| Thursday | Jan 18 | Bleak House, Chapters 8-10 (114-164) |
| RESEARCH METHODS (Meet in Kimbel Library, 2nd floor) | ||
| Tuesday | Jan 23 | Bleak House, Chapters 11-16 (165-264) |
| PRESENTATION: Chancery, Equity and the Inns of Court | ||
| Thursday | Jan 25 | Bleak House, Chapters 17-19 (265-314) |
| PRESENTATION: London Geography | ||
BBC THURSDAY: Bleak House (film viewing) EHFA 137 4:30 pm |
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| Tuesday | Jan 30 | Bleak House, Chapters 20-22 (315-365) |
| DUE: Response Paper #1 | ||
| Thursday | Feb 1 | Critical Article on Bleak House |
| Tuesday | Feb 6 | Bleak House, Chapters 23-29 (366-468) DUE: Comparative Fairy Tale Essay |
| PRESENTATION: Dickens's Life | ||
| (Wednesday) | (Feb 7) | Charles Dickens's Birthday! |
| Thursday | Feb 8 | Bleak House, Chapters 30-32 (469-519) |
| PRESENTATION: Pollution, Slums, Vagrancy | ||
| BBC THURSDAY: Bleak House (film viewing) EHFA 137 4:30 pm | ||
| Tuesday | Feb 13 | Bleak House, Chapters 33-38 (520-619) |
| Thursday | Feb 15 | Celebration of Inquiry |
| Tuesday | Feb 20 | Bleak House, Chapters 39-46 (620-718) |
| PRESENTATION: Marriage, Couples, Parenting | ||
| Thursday | Feb 22 | Bleak House, Chapters 47-49 |
| PRESENTATION: Fallen Women | ||
| BBC THURSDAY: Bleak House (film viewing) EHFA 137 4:30 pm | ||
| Tuesday | Feb 27 | Bleak House, Chapters 50-56 (768-865) |
| PRESENTATION: Detectives, the Police, and Prisons | ||
| Thursday | Mar 1 | Bleak House, Chapters 57-59 (866-915) |
| PRESENTATION: Colonialism and Philanthropy | ||
| BBC THURSDAY: Bleak House (film viewing) EHFA 137 4:30 pm | ||
| Tuesday | Mar 6 | Bleak House, Chapter 60-end |
| PRESENTATION: Contemporary Reviews of Bleak House | ||
| DUE: Response Paper #2 | ||
| Thursday | Mar 8 | No Class (Professor will be attending the Nineteenth Century Studies Association Conference) |
| Tuesday | Mar 12-16 | SPRING BREAK |
| Tuesday | Mar 20 | The Woman in White, Nos. 1-6 (49-141) |
| Thursday | Mar 22 | The Woman in White, Nos. 7-9 (149-190) |
| PRESENTATION: Wilkie Collins's Life | ||
| Tuesday | Mar 27 | The Woman in White, Nos. 10-17 (191-294) |
| PRESENTATION: Marriage and 'the Woman Question' | ||
| Thursday | Mar 29 | The Woman in White, Nos. 18-21 (295-349) |
| DUE: Response Paper #3 | ||
| Tuesday | Apr 3 | The Woman in White, Nos. 22-26 (349-420) |
| PRESENTATION: Mesmerism | ||
| Thursday | Apr 5 | The Woman in White, Nos. 27-29 (421-455) |
| PRESENTATION: Lunacy and False Incarceration | ||
| Tuesday | Apr 10 | The Woman in White, Nos. 30-34 (456-519) |
| Thursday | Apr 12 | The Woman in White, Nos. 35-37 (519-551) |
| PRESENTATION: Fosco, Pesca, and 'the Italian Question' | ||
| Tuesday | Apr 17 | The Woman in White, Nos. 38-end |
| DUE: Response Paper #4 | ||
| Thursday | Apr 19 | Critical article on The Woman in White (xerox) |
| PRESENTATION: Contemporary Reviews of The Woman in White | ||
| Tuesday | Apr 24 | DUE: Critical Essay |
| Thursday | Apr 26 | Last Day of Class |