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Courses & Schedules
English 189 - Spring, 2018
Seminar in Literary Studies
Topic: The Novel Goes Underground: Stories of Buried Treasure and Extraction Ecology
Class Information
Instructor:
Miller, Elizabeth
CRN:
61812
Time:
TR 4:40-6:00
Location:
248 Voorhies
Description
Buried Treasure: Extraction, Ecology, and Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century
With readings that range from treasure-hunting adventure stories to realist novels and travel writing, this class will focus on ecology and extraction – the mining of underground resources – in the literature of the long nineteenth century. Industrialized mining for gold, coal, diamonds, and other underground resources had a major impact on nineteenth-century environments, and this class will strive to think broadly about the corresponding role of extraction in nineteenth-century narrative. While the majority of our literary texts are British or American, we will also reach beyond the Anglo-American world to think about frontier, empire, and global capitalism. We will read texts set in Latin America, in Africa, and, finally, in San Francisco, ending the class with a reflection on how the frenzy for underground riches shaped the environment and culture of California.
Grading
Students will be graded on two major paper assignments, one shorter response paper, a final exam, as well as active participation and attendance.
Texts
Soldiers of Fortune
, Richard Harding Davis
King Solomon’s Mines
, H. Rider Haggard
Sons and Lovers
, D.H. Lawrence
McTeague
, Frank Norris
The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
, Mary Seacole