Winter 2007
English H590.06:  The Modern Period
Focal issue: The Modernist Bildungsroman
MW 3:30 - 5:18
Denney Hall 245
Instructor:  David Herman
Office: 409 Denney (office hours MW 2:15 - 3:30 and 5:30 - 6:00; also by appointment)
Phone: 292-6123; e-mail: herman.145[at]osu.edu

Web address for this syllabus: http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/herman145/ENG59006.html

Course Description:

Welcome! This course focuses on the modernist Bildungsroman, or novel of development. This form originated in Germany in the second half of the 18th century, and early practitioners used the novel of development to explore how the historical unfolding of a self is shaped by psychological, familial, institutional, and more broadly social forces. Self, psychology, family, institutions, society—all became contested notions during the modernist period, and our course will examine how writers such as Oscar Wilde, Kate Chopin, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston, and others created new narrative forms to capture altered understandings of the nature of “development.”
    Although focusing on the modernist Bildungsroman in particular, the course is designed to improve your ability to appreciate, analyze, and write coherently and persuasively about all sorts of texts, equipping you with interpretive skills that will assist you in your lifelong practice of reading.

Required Texts (Available at SBX):
 *When reading Joyce's Portrait, you may wish to consult Don Gifford's Joyce Annotated, which is on reserve in the Sullivant reference stacks under call number PR6019.09Z5335. This volume contains information about historical and political events mentioned in Joyce's work, place names specific to Dublin, etc.

In addition, a number of other required readings are available on electronic reserve via Carmen (http://carmen.osu.edu). Click here for a list of all these readings, and check the Course Schedule below for information about when in the quarter these e-reserve items are assigned.
 Course Requirements:

Please note that I use a +/- system of grading and a 10-point grading scale.  Your grade for the course will be determined by the following factors:
1. Attendance and active class participation. I expect this class to be a collective endeavor, and your attendance and participation are crucial. You will get more out of each class if you come having done the assigned reading and prepared to discuss it. More than two unexecused absences will lower your participation grade by one whole grade: for example, from a B to a C. Five or more unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course.
2. A collaborative oral presentation. Each student will team up with several classmates to present a research report on one of the novels we are reading this term. The dates of the reports are indicated on the Course Schedule below. You will sign up for a group during the second week of the quarter; in the meantime, check the guidelines for presentations by using the above link. Presentations should be about 15-20 minutes long (maximum) and should be shared by all of the students in the group.
3. Three papers. Three expository essays, word-processed and submitted in hard copy, not by e-mail. The first essay is to be 500 words and is due Monday, January 29. The second essay is to be 1000 words and is due on Wednesday, February 14. The third essay is to be 1,500 words and is due by noon on Friday, March 9, in my faculty mailbox in Denney 421. Please use your word-processing program to do a word count for each assigned paper, and type in the number of words at the end of your paper. Paper topics will be distributed well in advance of the due dates for your essays, and specific details will be discussed in class. In the meantime, for general guidelines concerning how to compose and format your papers, click here. 
    These papers must represent your own work; all cases of suspected plagiarism will be reported, in accordance with university rules, to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses at OSU and will be reported to the appropriate officers of the university. Plagiarism is the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own; it includes unacknowledged quotations as well as paraphrases of someone else's words or ideas. Penalties may range from failure of the particular assignment, to failure of the course, or worse.
4. A take-home final examination. I will distribute on the last day of class one or more questions that you will respond to in your take-home final. You are free to use reference works, online sources, etc. while completing your exam, but please do not consult with your classmates about your responses to the exam questions. A hard copy of your exam is due in my mailbox in Denney Hall 421 by noon on Monday, March 12.

Grading:

Attendance, general participation, and oral presentation: 20%
First paper: 15%
Second paper: 20%
Third paper: 25%
Final: 20%

Completing Assignments:

All assigned readings must be read before the date listed on the syllabus. All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of class. If an emergency arises and prevents you from turning in your assignment on time, always call me and leave a message on my voicemail if I am not there. In the absence of any previous consultation with me, work handed in late will be graded down, normally one letter grade for each day that it is late.

Other Policies:

Cellphones:

Please make sure that cellphones, pagers, etc. are turned off before you enter the classroom. 

Special needs:

Anyone who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Anyone with such needs should also be aware of the the Office for Disability Services in room 150 Pomerene Hall (614-292-3307) which provides services for students with documented disabilities.

The Writing Center:

All members of the OSU community are invited to discuss their writing with a trained consultant at the Writing Center.

Writing Center consultants hold one-to-one writing tutorials
In addition, you can
Go to http://www.cstw.org or call 688-4291 to make an appointment.

Course Schedule:

The following is tentative course schedule. Depending on the actual pace at which we proceed during the quarter, we may have to make adjustments to the syllabus as we go.
    Also, since Goethe's novel is our first text of the quarter, I have broken it up into parts that we'll focus on during the three days we discuss it. With all the other works, you should make every effort to read each novel in its entirety before we begin our discussion of that text in class.

January

W 3 Introductions; read Boes + McCarthy (on electronic reserve) in preparation for this class meeting

M 8 Goethe (Books I - IV)

W 10 Goethe (Books V - VI); also read Jeffers

M 15 Martin Luther King Day Holiday

W 17 Goethe (Books VII - VIII); Wilde 

M 22 Wilde; also read Moretti; presentation by Group I

W 24 Wilde; Chopin 

M 29 Chopin; also read Abel, Hirsch, and Langland; FIRST ESSAY DUE

W 31 Chopin; also read Fraiman +  Rosowski; presentation by Group II

February

M 5 Joyce; also read Seret; presentation by Group III

W 7 Joyce

M 12 Joyce; Fitzgerald

W 14  Fitzgerald; also read Pearl; presentation by Group IV; SECOND ESSAY DUE

M 19 No class: instructor away at conference

W 21 Fitzgerald; Woolf

M 26 Woolf; also read Abel; presentation by Group V

W 28 Woolf; Hurston

March

M 5  Hurston; also read Raynaud; presentation by Group VI

W 7 Hurston; also, pick up take-home exam. A hard copy of your exam is due in my mailbox in Denney Hall 421 by noon on Monday, March 12.

F 9  THIRD ESSAY DUE