Time Schedule:
Lauren M Grant
ENGL 242
Seattle Campus
Critical interpretation and meaning in works of prose fiction, representing a variety of types and periods.
Class description
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
In their essay collection, "The Ideology of Conduct," Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse argue that “…the literature of conduct and the conduct of writing known as literature share the same history. Both literature and conduct books, especially those written for women, in particular, strive to reproduce, if not always revise, the culturally approved forms of desire” (1). Our in class discussion of eighteenth and nineteenth-century British novels will use this claim as both a starting point, and an argument to be tested out throughout the quarter. What kind of woman is represented as ideal, or natural, in our novels? What kind of woman do our novel authors present as desirable? And what kind of man desires this ideal woman? What are the “culturally approved forms of desire” that this literature constructs?
Our primary texts will include selections from Eliza Haywood’s short fiction, Daniel Defoe’s "Moll Flanders," Samuel Richardson’s "Pamela," Jane Austen’s "Mansfield Park," and Charlotte Bronte’s "Villette." Our secondary readings will be available in a course pack.
In addition to a heavy reading load, this course requires significant student participation in our daily class discussions, and an in-class final exam. This course meets the “W” requirement. Students will write three short response papers and revise one into a longer, 5-7 page paper at the end of the quarter.
