Week 1__________________________
Tuesday, January 9
In Class
- Class Introduction
- Introduce Novel Groups (includes novel list)
Thursday, January 11
Readings (available under “Readings” tab–Password = ENGL356):
- Lawrence Buell: “The Unkillable Dream of the Great American Novel”
- Rita Barnard: “Modern American Fiction,” from the Cambridge Companion to American Modernism
In Class
- Blog Demo
Due
- Group Survey:
- Open survey and fill out to rank the order of your choices for the novel on which you want to focus for your major paper in this course. Note that group numbers also relate to you blogging assignment schedule.
Week 2__________________________
Tuesday, January 16
Reading
- Edith Wharton, House of Mirth, Book 1, Chapters 1 – 9 (5-109)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 2 & 3
Thursday, January 18
Reading
- Edith Wharton, House of Mirth, Book 1, Chapters 10-15 & Book II, Chapters 1-2 (109-203)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 4 & 5
Week 3__________________________
Tuesday, Jan. 23
Reading
- Edith Wharton, House of Mirth, Book II, Chapters 3-14 (203-320)
Due
- Blog Posts from Group 6
- Group 1 Presentations
Thursday, January 25
Reading
- Willa Cather, My Antonia, “Introduction” and Book 1 (“The Shimerdas”, 1-69 in the Dover edition)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 7 & 3
Week 4__________________________
Tuesday, January 30
Reading
- Willa Cather, My Antonia, Book II (“The Hired Girls”)
In Class: Three Questions for Cather
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 4 & 5
- Group 1 Drafts Due
Thursday, Feb 1
Reading
- Willa Cather, Book III-V (“Lena Lingard,” “The Pioneer Woman’s Story,” and “Cuzak’s Boys”)
Due
- Blog Posts from Group 6
- Group 2 Presentations
In Class:
Week 5___________________________
Tuesday, February 6
Reading
- John Dos Passos, 42nd Parallel, USA Prologue (xiii-xiv) and pages 1-103.
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 7 & 4
- Group 1 Final Papers
Thursday, February 8
Reading
- John Dos Passos, 42nd Parallel, 104-214
Due
- Group 2 Drafts
- Blog Posts from Groups 5 & 7
Week 6___________________________
Tuesday, February 13
Reading
- John Dos Passos, 42nd Parallel, 214-323
Due
- Group 3 Presentations
- Blog posts from Group 6
Thursday, February 15
Reading
- Nella Larsen, Passing,
Part 1 (9-47)
Due
- Group 2 Final Papers
- Blog posts from groups 1 & 5
Week 7___________________________
Tuesday, February 20
Reading
- Nella Larsen, Passing, Parts 2 and 3 (51-114)
Due
- Group 4 Presentations
- Group 3 Drafts
- Blog posts from group 6
Thursday, February 22
Reading
- William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (3-74)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 7 & 1
Week 8_________________________
Tuesday, February 27
Reading
- William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (75-179)
Due
- Group 3 Final Papers
- Group 4 Drafts
- Blog posts from groups 2
Thursday, March 1
Reading
- William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (179 – 261)
Due
- Group 5 Presentations
- Blog post from groups 6
Week 9_________________________
Tuesday, March 6–Note Schedule Change
Reading
- Class Choice Discussion: Please re-read the Buell’s article “The Unkillable Dream of the Great American Novel” (“Readings” password = ENGL 356) and be ready to discuss both an expanded criteria you might consider for choosing our class-choice novel, and also specific ideas for such a novel. Given our “Aftershocks” theme, I’m open to any novel published post-1965 as long as it has an important relationship to conversations we might have about the GAN tradition.
- Note that the readings from Giovanni’s Room have been moved to week 10, as have the blog posts for groups 1 and 2 that were originally due on this day.
Due
- Group 4 Final Papers
Thursday, March 8
Activity
- In place of class, which is cancelled due to conference travel, please complete the “class choice” survey.
Due
- Group 5 Drafts
Week 10_________________________
Tuesday, March 13
Reading
- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (3-71)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 1, 3 & 4
- Fill out the Class Choice Survey
Thursday, March 15
Reading
- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (75-169)
Due
- Group 6 Presentations
- Group 5 Final Papers
- Blog posts from group 7 & 2
In Class
- Discuss and vote on “class choice” novel
Week 11________________________
Spring Break–no class Tuesday, March 20 & Thursday, March 22
Week 12______________________
Tuesday, March 27
Reading
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (3-105–Prologue and Chapters 1-5)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 1 & 2
Thursday, March 29
Reading
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (136-195–Chapters 6-9)
Due
- Group 6 Drafts
- Blog posts from group 3 & 4
Week 13_________________________
Tuesday, April 3
Reading
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (196-332–Chapters 10-15)
Due
- Blog Posts from Groups 5 & 1
Thursday, April 5
Reading
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (333-444–Chapters 16-20)
Due
- Group 7 Presentations
- Group 6 Final Papers
- Blog posts from group 2
Week 14________________________
Tuesday, April 10
Reading
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (445-581–Chapters 21-Epilogue)
Due
- Blog post from group 3
Thursday, April 12
Readings
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1-83)
Due
- Group 7 Drafts
- Bonus Post
Week 15_________________________
Tuesday, April 17: Final Exam Preview and Prep
Readings
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (84-184)
- Final Exam
Due
- Bonus Post
Thursday, April 19: Final Novel Discussion and Course-Instructor Evaluations
Readings
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (184-244)
Due
- Group 7 Final Papers