Major British Novel, 1660-1914

• Anna Weamys, A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia, handout (receive in class)
• Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, Oxford World's Classics Ed.
• Samuel Richardson, Pamela, Penguin Ed.
• Jane Austen, Emma, Penguin Ed.
  
• Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
  
• Bram Stoker, Dracula, Penguin Ed.
• Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, Harvest/HBJ Ed.

Papers
There are four papers due in this class, which are intended not only to give you the opportunity to explore the books we are reading, but also to give you practice with some of the critical skills necessary for the study of the British novel. All of your papers should tell your audience something they didn't already know about the text(s) in question--no plot synopses or chapter summaries allowed. In addition, remember that characters in a novel are just that: fictional creations with no ability to choose a path beyond that which the author allows them. Therefore, be sure to avoid arguments that treat the characters like real people. Essays should generally restrict themselves to one novel; students who want to read one book against another should get my approval first (having a tightly focused thesis will help here). Brief accounts of the four essays follow; you'll be given more detailed instructions on each one at least two weeks prior to its due date. See the Class Home Page for some helpful tips on paper writing. I'm happy to talk to you about your paper at any stage of the process, either is person or through email.

• Paper 1 (due 02/09/01, 3 pages) This short writing assignment asks you to use resources including the Oxford English Dictionary to write about one word in either Weamys's A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia or Defoe's Moll Flanders. You'll want to identify a word that Weamys or Defoe uses in a way that strikes you as unusual, track its use in the novel, investigate it using outside sources, and write a short paper describing what you've found.
• Paper 2 (due 03/09/01, 4-6 pages) This assignment asks you to write a critical paper on an article about either Richardson's Pamela or Austen's Emma. Much has been written about both of these novels, and your first step will be to locate an article about which you have something to say. Your paper will need to have an argument, but one that addresses the critical article you've found, rather than the novel directly.
• Paper 3 (due 04/02/01, 4-6 pages) The goal of this paper is to help you do some historical research on the 19th century, and then apply your research to Dickens' Great Expectations. The critical question for you to answer is: "How does the research I've done help us better understand Dickens' novel?" A successful paper will be one in which the research creates an impact on your understanding of at least part of the novel. Simply quoting from an encyclopedia is not enough. What will make or break this paper will be what you do with what you've found. I'm looking to be impressed by your interpretation of Great Expectations (or a part of Great Expectations) based on your research.
• Paper 4 (due 04/25/01, 4-6 pages) For this assignment, write an analytical essay about either Stoker's Dracula or Woolf's To the Lighthouse. You're not required to make use of either primary or secondary sources, but you should feel free to use such materials as needed. A strong paper will use close reading to investigate and make an argument about an aspect of the novel that interests you.

E-Mail Instigators
The listserve is a place for all of us to ask questions and continue discussions begun in class, but there will also be a more formal component to the list. Twice during the course of the semester, I will ask each of you to set the tone for a given day's discussion by sending an instigator post to our class listserv. This instigator should be a 250-word paragraph (approximately) that will prompt discussion on the reading assigned for that day. It can take several different forms: a detailed question that you would like the class to address, comments on a problematic passage in need of interpretation, or a sample reading presented for evaluation. Keep in mind that these paragraphs are not papers--their prime purpose is to open up ideas for discussion rather than make a specific argument. The instigators give you a chance to shape the agenda for the course and to do so in a forum (the class listserv) that isn't directly controlled by the instructor. For this reason, I'd like to encourage those of you not posting on a given day to respond to the "official" instigator with your own opinions and thoughts about the reading assignment. Instigators offer you a space in which to have fun and be creative (or even quirky); I hope you take advantage of that opportunity. The instigator assignments will begin when we start reading Moll Flanders and run through the rest of the semester. Once you sign up for an instigator slot, you're responsible for posting your remarks to the class listserv by no later than 5 p.m. on the day prior to the class discussion you're instigating, or bringing copies to class if you do not have email access. Once the population of the class has settled, we'll create a schedule for the instigators. I'll also ask each of you to respond at least twice on the listserv to instigator posts written by your classmates. These responses will be unscheduled, but will be counted as part of your participation grade.

Class Participation
I expect everyone to take part in class discussions. We can all benefit from what others in the class have to say, and I anticipate learning a lot from each of you. The classroom is a place to test out ideas and comments that may find a place in a paper later on, so speak up! Class participation will figure into your final grade.

Quizzes
We'll have a short quizz for each of the books we read starting with Moll Flanders. These quizzes should be easy for anyone who has finished the reading. If for some reason you miss a quiz, you have one chance this semester to write an insightful two page paper on some aspect of the last 50 pages of the novel covered by the quiz. This paper is due in at the start of the class period following the quiz. You can only do this once during the semester, however.

Late Papers
I will subtract 2/3 of a letter grade for each day, including weekend days, that papers are late. So if your paper ends up at "B" quality, but you hand it in a day late, you will receive a C+ for that paper. There are no exceptions to this policy without prior arrangements. If you are having any trouble meeting any deadline in this class, please contact me.

Tardiness, Attendance
Please be on time for each class. Attendance is required. Because I know that emergencies and accidents do occur during the semester, I allow you two absences. Your final grade will drop by 1/3 of a letter grade for each absence beyond the first two. More than 12 absences will constitute failing the course. If you have extreme emergencies--such as a death in your immediate family, or an extended illness requiring hospitalization or more than 10 days of bedrest--please contact me. For every class missed, you are responsible for finding out what you missed and making up the work. Please see me if you have any questions about these policies.

Plagiarism
All writing submitted for this course is expected to be original. All borrowed material must be acknowledged, including materials found on the web, or ideas that I or your classmates bring up in class or on the listserv. Neglect to acknowledge indebtedness for facts, ideas, or expression will be interpreted as plagiarism. The University of Pennsylvania requires that any paper containing plagiarized material receive an F. There are no exceptions to this rule. Be sure, therefore, that you know exactly what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. If you are unsure about whether or not you need to acknowledge a source in your writing, make sure that you ask me in advance. As Penn's Code of Academic Integrity states, "If a student is unsure whether his action(s) constitute a violation of the Code of Academic Integrity, then it is that student's responsibility to consult with the instructor to clarify any ambiguities." Please see the Class Home Page for further explanation of the Plagiarism Policy. I take this issue very seriously, and will not only give an "F" to any paper that has been plagiarized, but will fail a student for this course in an extreme case.

E-mail and the Internet
It will be necessary for you to have an e-mail account to participate in this class. If you already have an account, then you have probably been automatically subscribed to the listserve for this class (jacobson60@english.upenn.edu). For those of you who have not been automatically subscribed, you need to get an e-mail account and subscribe right away (see me). You are responsible for checking your e-mail regularly, as there might be announcements about changes in the assignments. I will always post such announcements by 5:00 p.m. the night before a class. More importantly, the list is intended for discussions. When replying to a message that was sent to the whole group, please make sure that you indicate whether you are sending your mail to the whole group or to the individual who sent the message. (Often, we don't want everyone to see a private reply.)

Grading
All of your papers will receive letter grades. There will also be a letter grade for class participation, based on the quality and the extent of your involvement in the classroom and on-line (your e-mail instigators and any other messages you post), and a cumulative quiz grade. As mentioned above, absences after the two "freebies" will lower your final grade. Here is the break-down of the final grade (all percentages are approximate):

• Class and Listserv Participation = 20%
• Quizzes = 10%
• First Paper = 15%
• Other Papers = 55% (18% each)

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January		17:  First Class, Introduction
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		22:  Weamys (all)
		24:  Weamys, OED Introduction
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		29:  Moll Flanders (to pg. 202, "I must say . . .")
		31:  Moll Flanders (all, quiz)
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February:	5:  Moll Flanders
		7:  Moll Flanders
		9:  FIRST PAPER DUE, 4 PM
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		12:  Pamela (all of Vol. I)
		14:  Pamela (all, quiz)
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		19:  Pamela
		21:  Pamela (MLA Bibliography Introduction)
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		26:  Emma (skip intro, Vols. I, II)
		28:  Emma (all, quiz)
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March:		5:  Emma 
		7:  Emma
		9:  SECOND PAPER DUE, 4 PM
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		12:  Spring Break
		14:  Spring Break
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		19:  Great Expectations (Vols. I, II)
		21:  Great Expectations (all, quiz)
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		26:  Great Expectations
		28:  Great Expectations
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April		2:  THIRD PAPER DUE at start of class
		4:  Dracula (to the end of Cpt. XIV)
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		9:  Dracula (all, quiz)
		11:  Dracula
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		16:  To the Lighthouse (Section 1, "The Window")
		18:  To the Lighthouse (all, quiz)
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		23:  To the Lighthouse
		25:  Last Day of Class
       		     FOURTH PAPER DUE at start of class
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