Instructor: Merritt Moseley Class meeting: TR 3:05-4:20, KH 243
251-6583
moseley@unca.edu
Office hours: MWF 9-10:30 and TR 1:30-3:00 in KH 239
TR 9-11 in KH 140

Introduction to the class:

Henry James, writing in about 1907, commented on the big nineteenth-century novel (particularly, in this case, three books by Alexandre Dumas, Anthony Trollope and Leo Tolstoy): ". . . but what do such large loose baggy monsters, with their queer elements of the accidental and the arbitrary, artistically mean?"
James was an influential critic, and he spoke for many twentieth-century readers and critics who have seen the classic 19c novel as something of a mess: sloppy, inartistic, confused about its own claims to realism, committed to multiple topics and thematic disunity. Like great figgy puddings, they contained good things, perhaps; but the cost was artistic naivete and slack construction.

We shall spend this semester examining the claims of three major long, ambitious 19c novels and conclude with an examination of a recent novel in that same tradition.

Class operations: This is a small group. The size of the class should permit us to operate informally and collaboratively. It does mean that every member of the class has to be a contributor. Come to class prepared; be aggressive, imaginative, daring, even noisy.

We are taking our time with these books; this should allow us to ramify in various directions. I don't want you to feel the annoyance that usually arises from reading too fast and too mechanically to meet a deadline, or the embarrassment and insecurity that arise from not having read the book at all.

I admire these novels-I admit that I admire the baggy monster tradition-and I hope that the way we are doing this will permit each of you at least to do justice to them even if you do not come to love them.

Among the aims of this course are

Reading, discussion, criticism and (where possible) appreciation of three important, "classic" novels
Using those books as occasions to interrogate critical theories about realism; plot; artistic unity; self-consciousness in fiction; the relationship between literature and life, and other topics
Exploring the society in which these classic novels were written and to which they bear some relationship
Joining a community of readers and critics that has been reacting to these books for up to a century and a half and adding our voices to theirs
Investigating the viability of the continuation of the nineteenth-century tradition of big, authoritative, often multi-plotted novels in the late twentieth century.

Course requirements:

1. Attendance. You are expected to be at every class. Unexcused absences may lower your grade, even the point of failure. More than three unexcused absences mean a lowering of the final grade by as much as one letter grade per absence. If it snows: when classes are cancelled, or the university is on a delayed schedule, obviously we'll be governed by that. If classes are not cancelled I will be here and class will proceed. If you have a long or otherwise unsafe drive, use your own judgment about whether to attend.

2. Academic honesty. You are of course expected to do all your own work. No plagiarism or any sort of cheating will be tolerated; the punishment for it is failure on the assignment or for the course, depending entirely on my discretion. If you are even in any doubt about the honesty or acceptability of any practice, ask me.

3. Every student must have an email account. If you don't have an account, and you don't know what is necessary to get one, let me know. If you do not use your UNCA account (on bulldog, for instance), you should set it up to forward to the one you do use. Everyone should also be at least minimally familiar with the WorldWideWeb. My syllabus and other materials will be on the web (at http://rocky.unca.edu/~moseley) and I will discuss ways of using the Internet to access materials which will enrich this course. If you're new to this, identify yourself and I'll help you get up to speed.

4. Assignments: Each student will have one assignment due for each of the three 19c novels. I will provide these as soon as I know the exact membership of the class. Some of them, though probably not all, will include an oral presentation component. There will be no hour test, though there will be a final examination.

Special Needs:

If you have any sort of condition that requires special accommodation, please let me know privately and we will make all necessary arrangements.

Reading assignments

Ideally all of us would have read each book in its entirety before we began talking about it. Particularly with books of this length that is unlikely. I have given interim assignments. These are minimal: that is, be sure that you have read AT LEAST up to the point given on the syllabus by each class period. Reading more is fine.

Texts: Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, or, The Whale (Signet Classic)
George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life (Penguin Classic)
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (Signet Classic)
Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance (Vintage)
(other editions will contain the same words--though a different translation, in the case of Tolstoy--but different page numbers. It will be BEST if we can all work from the same editions.)

Aug 16 Introduction Begin reading Moby-Dick!

21 more background
23 Introduction to Melville, Transcendentalism, etc

28 Moby-Dick at least through chapter 28
30 --chapter 54

Sept 4 --chapter 94
6 to the end

11 Begin reading Middlemarch!
13

18 Middlemarch, intro, backgrounds, etc.
20 through book I

25 --books 2 & 3
[Sept 26 is the last day to drop this class with grade of W]
27 --books 4 & 5

Oct 2 --books 6 & 7
4 --book 8 and Finale

9 Begin reading Anna Karenina!
11 NO CLASS: FALL BREAK

16 Anna Karenina, intro, backgrounds, etc.
18 --part I

23 --part II
25 --part III

30 --parts IV and V
Nov 1 NO CLASS

6 --parts VI and VII
8 --part VIII

13 Begin reading A Fine Balance!
15

20 Begin A Fine Balance
22 NO CLASS: Thanksgiving break

27 at least through chapter IV
29 --chapter X

Dec 4 to the end
6 Summing up, taking stock, benediction, etc.

13 3:05-5:35 p.m. FINAL EXAMINATION