English 28C

English 28C (Lecture A): Realism and Romance

Race and Community in the American Novel

Fall 2002

Instructor: Scott Kaufman

Office Hours: WF (TBA)

Mailing List: 21016-F02@classes.uci.edu

E28C is designed as a survey course which provides a general introduction to the categories of realism and romance within the larger genre of narrative fiction. We will begin the course by attempting to establish working definitions of both realism and romance. Characteristically, realism has been seen as a mode of writing that attempts to depict things as they are, or as they appear to be, sticking as closely as possible to the reality which the author apprehends. Romance, by contrast, is commonly thought to rely more heavily on what is imagined or the fantastic. Romance narratives, for example, draw on the exotic, the adventurous and tend to give more importance to feeling than to reality. The tension between the two terms centers around the question of mimesis, or how a text is or is not a representation of reality. It is often assumed that realism is a more or less direct representation of reality, while romance is at best an indirect representation of reality, if it is a representation of reality at all. We, however, will attempt to put in question this assumption – can the borders separating realism from romance be rigorously drawn, or will there always be a strange interpenetration of the two, such that no text simply exemplifies one mode or the other? We will attempt to answer these questions by examining the representation of communities in these novels, focusing on the part race plays in these dramas of representation.

Course Requirements:

· Papers: Essay #1 (4-5 pages), Essay #2 (4-5 pages), Essay #3 (6-7 pages)

These papers are formal essays and must follow the conventions of academic essays. They must be printed in 12-point font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins. All formal essays, including drafts for peer editing, must be typed and should adhere to MLA format. (Please refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.) Essays should have a proper heading, appropriate title, pagination, and, if appropriate, a Works Cited page. Your final drafts are due at the beginning of class on their respective due dates. Late work will not be accepted unless you have cleared it with me at least one class period prior to the due date.

General Paper Guidelines

· You must have a thesis that makes an arguable claim and that organizes and controls the essay. Summary is only useful insofar as it helps to advance your claims.

· All of your arguments should be firmly rooted in an analysis of the details of the text at hand (this is what is meant be “close reading”). Avoid broad, abstract gestures like “Since the beginning of time. . .” or “Like most of us, the characters in the book are looking for freedom. . .” Whenever possible, your argument should try to account for details that might weaken your argument. Do not simply ignore or gloss over these details. Use these challenges to complicate and nuance your position.

· Define the terms that you use. Avoid using vague or misleading terms. Many writers have a tendency to hide behind jargon or elevated language in order to make their arguments “sound” more interesting than they would otherwise be. Unfortunately, this technique does not actually make their arguments more interesting, and it usually indicates that the writers have not been able to work out the concrete steps in their arguments.

· Organize your paper in a way that will help the reader understand and follow your argument. Remember that your goal as an essayist is to convince your reader to consider or believe the claims of your thesis. Keep that goal in mind as you organize your paper.

· Stylistically, you are expected to master the conventions of academic writing. Avoid being overly colloquial or “chatty.” Understand and use the vocabulary appropriate for your topic. Write in well thought out, complete sentences (unless there is a very good reason to deviate from grammatical conventions). Use well organized paragraphs that develop a single thought or a tightly intertwined set of ideas.

· Reading Responses (2 pages each): You will be required to write and turn in a reading response paper for each of the five novels we will read. These responses are not formal essays. Instead, they should indicate how you reacted to the work – what issues of content or form it brought to mind – and what in particular interested you in the novel. The purpose of these responses is to insure that you have read the texts, to help you engage the texts in ways that will help you participate in class discussions, and to help you beginning thinking through possible essay topics. I will also use your responses to adjust some of our class discussions to match your interests. Reading Responses are due on the days indicated in the schedule below.

· Final Exam: The final exam will require you to demonstrate your mastery of terms and concepts discussed in class, and write short essays that show your own thinking concerning the texts and ideas discussed in class. The exam is cumulative.

Attendance: Woody Allen once said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." Accordingly, my attendance policy requires that students regularly attend class; your success in this course largely depends upon it. I do take attendance every class, and it is your responsibility to make sure that your presence is duly noted. Missing more than 3 classes will negatively affect your final grade. Not showing up for more than 5 classes – the equivalent of 2 weeks, or twenty percent of the course – will result in automatic failure of the class.

Participation: Most people hate being ignored. They spend their entire lives just trying to be noticed. So why is it that students continually try to avoid being noticed by their instructors? Learning is not a passive endeavor: you have to read, write, and talk about your reading and writing. Only through active participation and engagement in your education will you benefit from your education. Intense classroom dialogue is one of the single most educational experiences you will have while here at Irvine. You often learn from yourself as you speak, and you will frequently produce ideas and theories in class by building on and occasionally challenging each other’s comments. Therefore, since I envision this course as more of a discussion than a lecture, you should commit yourself to speaking regularly and provocatively in class.

Grading:

Responses (2 pages): 10%

Essay #1 (3-4 pages): 13%

Essay #2 (4-5 pages): 23%

Essay #3 (5-6 pages): 28%

Final Exam: 10%

Class Participation: 16%

Course Policies:

Add/Drop Policy: Add/Drop Policy for all Humanities Courses: A student may add or drop a course in the School of Humanities up to the end of the second week of classes with the instructor's signature. Requests to add or drop after the second week will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as using another person's ideas or words without proper acknowledgement, and, depending on the seriousness of the offense, will result in automatic failure of the paper or of the course. Note that plagiarism may have further consequences as well, including expulsion from the university. Please be sure you have read the "Academic Dishonesty" policy found in UCI's Schedule of Classes.

· Assignments: All written work should be typed (printed). All assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the due date. Late work will not be accepted unless you have cleared it with me at least one class period prior to the due date. If you must miss class when a written assignment is due, turn in your assignment before the due date or have a friend bring it to class. Do not drop it off in the English Department unless you have made prior arrangements with me. Do not email assignments to me.

Required Texts:

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847)

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

William Faulkner, Light in August (1932)

Sinclair Lewis, Kingsblood Royal (1947)

Richard Wright, Native Son (1941)

M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms

Schedule:

You must complete the week’s reading assignments (indicated parenthetically) before the beginning of the week for which they are assigned.

Week One: Wuthering Heights (ch. 1-12)

Tuesday:

Thursday: Read “The Novel” and “Realism” in Abrams

Prompt for Essay #1 provided

Week Two: Wuthering Heights (ch. 13-34)

Tuesday: Read “Point of View” and “Persona, Tone, Voice” in Abrams

Response Paper for Wuthering Heights due

Thursday:

Week Three: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (13-150)

Tuesday: Essay #1 due

Thursday:

Week Four: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (151-296)

Tuesday: Response Paper for Huck Finn due

Thursday:

Week Five: Light in August (1-286)

Tuesday: Read “Modernism and Postmodernism” in Abrams

Prompt for Essay #2 provided

Thursday:

Week Six: Light in August (287-507)

Tuesday: Response Paper for Light in August due

Thursday:

Week Seven: Kingsblood Royal (1-155)

Tuesday: Read “Satire” in Abrams

Essay #2 Due

Thursday:

Week Eight: Kingsblood Royal (155-321)

Tuesday: Response Paper for Kingsblood Royal due

Thursday:

Week Nine: Native Son (7-92)

Tuesday: “How Bigger was Born”

Thursday:

Week Ten: Native Son (93-392)

Tuesday: Response Paper for Native Son due

Thursday:

Final Exam: Tues, December 10^th, 10:30 - 12:30 p.m.