English 159 - Fall, 2021

Topics in the Novel

Topic: American Gothic

Class Information

Instructor: Hulbert, Annette
CRN: 32330
Time: TR 4:40-6:00
Location: 207 Wellman
GE Areas: Writing Experience

Description

This class charts the development of the American Gothic from its inception as a popular form of literature in eighteenth-century England to its role in America's early nationhood and through the nineteenth century. We will read Gothic stories set abroad in Italy and in pre-Revolutionary War America as we consider the Gothic as a transatlantic genre. As we read, we will consider what the Gothic novel has to say about historical accuracy and nostalgia, race and slavery, gender and sexuality, and politics and culture.

Grading

Paper 1: (4-5 pp) 25%
Paper 2: (6-8 pp) 35%
Discussion posts and quizzes: 30%
Final reflection: 10%

Texts

The Italian, Radcliffe
Wieland, Brown
The House of Seven Gables, Hawthorne
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Poe