Description
We will read 6 British novels by men and women authors from throughout the "long eighteenth century," with works ranging from 1688 to 1794. There will be stories about subjects including romance, race, libertine women, virtuous youth, paranoia and persecution.  We will read only complete works by each author. We will discover what made this new genre named only after its novelty enduring enough to last and controversial enough to create paper wars over its provenance and propriety.  Who could write novels? What could they be about? How should they be read? What makes a good one? These are the primary questions of this course. The answers will be up to you to formulate and revise as you read and think more about them.

Learning Outcomes:

• recognize the features of this eighteenth-century genre
• express literary interpretations independently in focused, coherent writing
• develop a creative project about an eighteenth-century novel or novels
  apply appropriate literary theory and criticism to novel reading
  

Required Texts: all are at the NCSU Bookstore. Be sure to buy them all in the first month, because they will start shipping unsold copies back well before midterm.

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave. Bedford St. Martins, 2000.
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Norton, 1998.
Haywood, Eliza. Love in Excess.  Broadview, 2000.
Richardson, Samuel. Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Oxford, .
Fielding, Henry. The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews  / Shamela. Broadview, 2001
Inchbald, Elizabeth. A Simple Story. Oxford, 1998

Course Requirements

Attendance:
You are allowed 3 absences. If you are absent, unexcused, more than 3 times over the course of the semester, your absences will count progressively against your final grade. Every 2 unexcused absences beyond the allowed 3 loses you a half letter grade off the final grade. Anyone who misses the first two classes can be immediately dropped from the class. NCSU definition of an unexcused absence

Assignments
It is essential that you pace yourself on the readings. You'll need to average about 75 pp. a session. By all means read ahead.
The work is balanced between papers, exams, a project, and daily participation as follows:

• Paper 1 close-reading interpretation. 5 pages (15%)
• Paper 2  review of/response to published criticism on one novel. 5 pages (15%)
• Creative Project & Proposal. (15%)
• midterm exam (15%)
• final (25%)
• participation and quizzes (15%).

Expected participation: come to class on time, with the appropriate texts, having read and thought about them enough to have something specific and intelligent to say or write about them. There will be quizzes to check that you are doing the readings.

Late papers are accepted only one class late, and with full grade penalty. Any papers arriving later than that will not be accepted. Papers are due in class, printed out on paper.

How I Figure Your Grades
You must complete all the required work to pass the class. No opting out of assigned work.  I will grade plus/minus.

Percentages for each required graded category are figured via a percentage of a 12-pt. scale in which an A+ =12 and
an F=0 points. For example, a B+ on paper 1 would net you 9 x .15 or 1.35 points toward the final 12.  Or, a C in participation nets you 5 x .15 or .75, an A on the final earns you 12 x ..25 or 3 points.
I then add up the percentage points for each required category to determine your grade from 0 to 12.  For example, an 8.2 final score = B for the class.

Academic Integrity Assumption
Universities are unique communities committed to creating and transmitting knowledge. They depend on freedom - individuals' freedom to explore ideas and to explore and further their own capabilities. Those freedoms depend on the good will and responsible behavior of all the members of the community, who must treat each other with tolerance and respect. They must allow each other to develop the full range of their capabilities and take full advantage of the institution's resources.

Further Reading and Research

Works Cited format for paper 2

In addition to these sources also see:

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