This seminar is designed to provide English majors with intensive and closely supervised work in critical reading and writing. Although sections of the course may address any literary question, period, or genre, they all provide an introduction to critical and methodological problems in literary studies.

Focusing on the Victorian novel, this course will examine why it emerged as the dominant literary form in nineteenth-century Britain. What made the novel so popular, and in what ways did the novel shape—and was shaped in turn—by the prevailing social, political, and aesthetic preoccupations of the time? What accounts for the Victorian novel’s abiding hold on us today? In addressing these questions, we will read different genres of the Victorian novel, the bildungsroman, the “industrial” novel, the sensation novel, and the fin de siècle gothic. In doing so, we will also focus on enhancing our analytical skills: close reading, developing a thesis, and structuring an argument. Course assignments will include a couple of short assignments culminating in a final paper that will be due at the end of the semester. Readings include the novels listed above and materials in bCourses.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills