The Eighteenth-Century English Novel

English 349, Autumn 2001

Jack Lynch

Course Description

Hours: Thursday, 2:30-4:00, and by appointment (appointments are best).

Home: (609) 882-4642 (before 10:30 p.m.!).

E-mail: jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu (the best way to reach me).

Listserv: lynch349 @ andromeda.rutgers.edu (for the whole class).

Course Requirements

• Written Assignments: There will be two papers, the first of around 1,500 words (six pages), the second of 2,000 (eight pages). There are also four short "OED Exercises," in which you'll provide brief reports of your discoveries in the Oxford English Dictionary (we'll discuss these in class).
• Final Exam: A final examination will include identification of quotations, close reading, and short essays.
• Attendance: Almost any excuse, given in advance (in person, by phone, or by E-mail), will receive my blessing. Absences not excused in advance will be frowned upon, and your final grade will be lowered by half a grade for each unexcused absence after the second. The same policy applies to late papers: I'll grant extensions, but only if you talk to me before the due date.
• Class Participation: Regular and active class participation (including doing the readings) is essential, and counts for a large part of your grade.
• Computing: Some essential information will be available only electronically. All students therefore must have an E-mail account by the end of the first week of classes, and must be able to use the World Wide Web. Participation in the mailing list (lynch349 @ andromeda.rutgers.edu) will count toward the class participation grade. I'll provide any computing help you need.
• Plagiary: It should go without saying, but all work in this class must be your own. Handing in someone else's work as your own will result in an F for the course with no second chance, and may result in disciplinary action. I encourage you to use outside sources, but you have to cite anything you didn't write yourself. If you have even an inkling of a doubt about what's legitimate or how to cite something, see me before handing in the paper.
• Readings: All the books are available from New Jersey Books; many are also available on-line. Classroom discussion is easier if you use the editions I've ordered, but if you own the novels in other editions, you needn't buy new copies.

Schedule of Class Meetings

Tuesday, 4 Sept.:

Introduction (class business, &c.).

Thursday, 6 Sept.:

Thomas Malory, "Syr Launcelot du Lake," from Le Morte Darthur (c. 1475).

Tuesday, 11 Sept.:

Eliza Haywood, "Fantomina" (1725); Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 1 ("Realism and the Novel Form").

Thursday, 13 Sept.:

Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders (1722), pp. 1-105. OED Exercise 1 (on Malory or Haywood) due.

Tuesday, 18 Sept.:

Moll Flanders, pp. 105-89; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 2 ("The Reading Public and the Rise of the Novel").

Thursday, 20 Sept.:

Moll Flanders, pp. 269-343; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 4 ("Defoe as Novelist: Moll Flanders").

Tuesday, 25 Sept.:

Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740), pp. 1-98.

Thursday, 27 Sept.:

Pamela, pp. 98-219; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 6 ("Private Experience and the Novel").

Tuesday, 2 Oct.:

Pamela, pp. 221-367.

Thursday, 4 Oct.:

Pamela, pp. 367-503; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 5 ("Love and the Novel: Pamela").

Tuesday, 9 Oct.:

Henry Fielding, Shamela (1741). OED Exercise 2 (on Defoe or Richardson) due.

Thursday, 11 Oct.:

Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742), Book I; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 8 ("Fielding and the Epic Theory of the Novel").

Tuesday, 16 Oct.:

Joseph Andrews, Book II; Samuel Johnson on Richardson and Fielding (photocopy).

Thursday, 18 Oct.:

Joseph Andrews, Book III.

Tuesday, 23 Oct.:

Joseph Andrews, Book IV. FIRST PAPER (5-7 pages) DUE.

Thursday, 25 Oct.:

Tobias Smollett, Humphry Clinker (1771), vol. 1.

Tuesday, 30 Oct.:

Humphry Clinker, vol. 2.

Thursday, 1 Nov.:

Humphry Clinker, vol. 3.

Tuesday, 6 Nov.:

Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771).

Thursday, 8 Nov.:

The Man of Feeling. OED Exercise 3 (on Fielding, Smollett, or Mackenzie) due.

Tuesday, 13 Nov.:

Matthew Lewis, The Monk (1796), vol. 1.

Thursday, 15 Nov.:

The Monk, vol. 2.

Tuesday, 20 Nov.:

The Monk, vol. 3.

Thursday, 22 Nov.

No class: Thanksgiving break.

Tuesday, 27 Nov.:

Frances Burney, Evelina (1778), pp. 1-132 (volume 1).

Thursday, 29 Nov.:

Evelina, pp. 135-225 (through vol. 2, letter 19).

Tuesday, 4 Dec.:

Evelina, pp. 225-323 (through vol. 3, letter 10).

Thursday, 6 Dec.:

Evelina, pp. 324-406; Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, chapter 10 ("Realism and the Later Tradition: A Note"). OED Exercise 4 (on Lewis or Burney) due.

Tuesday, 11 Dec.:

Conclusion. FINAL PAPER (8-10 pages) DUE.