English 155A - Fall, 2012

18th Century British Novel

Class Information

Instructor: Johns, Alessa
CRN: 43452
Time: MWF 10:00-10:50
Location: 106 Olson

Description

The Eighteenth-Century British Novel: Fostering Austen

In this course we will begin with Jane Austen and then study British writers who were her precursors and inspirations, including Eliza Haywood, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Samuel Johnson, Frances Burney, and Ann Radcliffe. We will consider the kinds of texts that influenced the emergence of the novel—for example, newspapers, conduct literature, model letters, polemics, and travel accounts—and we will address socio-cultural, economic, and political issues arising at a time of enormous change in the literary marketplace. Which historical factors enabled the development of this new literary form? Who were its readers and patrons? How, with time, did it come to gain prominence over other prestigious literary genres? What were the predominating themes? How did women contribute to the “rise of the novel”? How did bookselling practices affect the genre’s formal characteristics? Indeed, how do we best discuss formal characteristics in a literature so new and experimental? What did Austen inherit, and how did she alter this popular genre?

Grading

Grades will be based on quizzes and in-class assignments (15%), papers (30%), a midterm (20%), a final (20%), and attendance/participation (15%). There will be an extra credit option.

Texts

Fantomina, Eliza Haywood
Mary and Maria, Mary Wollstonecraft
Evelina, Frances Burney
Rasselas, Samuel Johnson
Clarissa, Samuel Richardson
Roxana, Daniel Defoe
The Italian, Ann Radcliffe
Emma, Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen