Greenville College
English 451:
The English Novel—Post-Colonial Novels
in English
Fall Semester,
2004
Thursday, 6:30 – 9:20 p.m., Studio B, Library
Pre-requisite: English 101
Dr.
Donna J. Hart
225
Hogue Hall
Office
Phone: 664-6805; Home Phone: 664-3863. (Please
feel free to call my home.)
Office
Hours: 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., MWF
Email: Donna.Hart@greenville.edu
Required
Texts:
From New Zealand: The Bone People, by Keri Hulme. 450 pp. Viking Press, 1986. ISBN:
0-140-08922-5 .
From Nigeria: Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. 209 pp. Anchor Books, 1994. ISBN: 0-385-47454-7.
From India: The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. 321 pp. HarperPerennial,
1998. ISBN: 0-06-097749-3.
From Canada: The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret
Atwood. 320 pp. Anchor Books, 1998. ISBN: 0-385-49081-X.
From Egypt: The Map of Love, by Adhaf Souief. 516 pp. Anchor Books, 2000. ISBN: 0-385-72011-4.
From Ireland: The Butcher Boy, by Patrick
McCabe. 240 pp. Picador, 2001. ISBN: 0-330-32874-3.
From Trinidad, West
Indies: Salt, by Earl Lovelace.
266 pp. Persea, 2004. ISBN: 0-892-55235-2.
451
Course Description:
This course examines novels produced in nations that were part of
the former British Empire/Commonwealth. These
post-Empire or “post-colonial” novels in English, from all parts of the world
and primarily from the last half century, will help us ask and answer several
important questions. How, for example,
do plot, conflict, setting, character, theme, style, and language differ in
these novels from the “typical” British novel from England itself? Do these novels tend to revert to pre-colonial
qualities, have they morphed into something that combines various aspects
of their history and experience, or do they share the same set of assumptions
and characteristics with all other British novels? Does the experience of colonialism always affect
the nature of these novels, no matter where or when? Can they even be called British novels or English
novels if they are written in English, but not by English persons and in England?
Course
Objectives: This
course will enable students to--
1. develop
a working knowledge of British political and literary history, particularly
the colonial and post-colonial periods, as they relate to the development
of the novel in English. (IO A 1; ELAO 1, 4, 11, 12; TEO 1)
2. name some
of the important novels and novelists from both Britain and
the post-colonial nations. (IO C 8;
ELAO 11; TEO 1)
3. understand and describe the characteristics and techniques
of each novel. (IO A 2; ELAO 10; TEO 1)
4. identify
and describe the sub-genres within the novel genre (i.e., sentimental novel,
bildungsroman, magical
realism, etc.). (IO A 2 C8;
ELAO 11; TEO 1)
5. understand, describe, and compare the cultural characteristics
of the nations which produced the novels. (IO B 4, 6; ELAO 11; TEO 1)
6. discuss
the similarities and differences between various writers and their literary
works. (IO A
2; ELAO 1, 10, 11, 12; TEO 1, 5)
7. know the
devices and functions of the literary language employed in those literary
modes. (IO A 2 C 8; ELAO 1,
3, 4, 7, 10, 11; TEO 1)
8. read closely an unfamiliar literary text of varying difficulty with good comprehension
of its cultural context, its literary and language techniques, its structural
characteristics, and its themes. (IO A 1, 2; ELAO 1, 5; TEO 1, 5 )
9. value literary analysis, research of secondary sources, and the discussion of
ideas as worthy pursuits in and of themselves. (IO C 8; ELAO 1, 5, 6, 7,
8, 12; TEO 1, 5, 9)
10. judge the artistic significance of writings (including both their communication
of meaningful human concerns as well as literary merit). (IO A 2; ELAO 1, 5, 18; TEO
1)
11. examine and, hopefully, enhance their understanding
of, expression of, and hope in their own Christian faith as they listen to
other witnesses, some Christian and some not.
(IO C 9; ELAO 1, 18, 19; TEO 11)
12. find the resonance between humanity as expressed in great literature
and their own human condition. (IO
A 1 B 4 C 9; ELAO 1, 18, 19; TEO 11)
Assessment
Activities:
1.
Objectives 1 – 12 are assessed through
daily, in-class discussion, online Blackboard discussions, quizzes, impromptu
in-class essays, short papers, and two essay tests.
Additional
Information:
For information regarding the College’s—and
MY—policies about writing standards, portfolios, and academic honesty (plagiarism),
go to the College website at http://www.greenville.edu/academics/aa/assessment/syllabi/texts.shtml#writing .
My Basic Assumptions:
This is a course that
demands that you demonstrate:
Perspicacious Reading.
Articulate Speaking.
Persuasive Writing.
In regard to prejudices:
We all start with a set of presuppositions--Christians do (various
varieties of Christians do), Hindus do, the KKK does, the NAACP does, men
do, women do, children do. Everything we read, speak, write, or think gets
filtered through those presuppositions.
I intend to teach
this class through the filter of what we at Greenville College call John Wesley's "quadrilateral,"
partly I suppose, because this is a Free METHODIST institution and partly
because such an approach to academics and to life seems BALANCED to me--avoiding
extremes, either to the "right" or to the "left."
The "Wesleyan
Quadrilateral" suggests that we make judgments based on REASON, EXPERIENCE, SCRIPTURE, AND TRADITION.
(R.E.S.T. will help you remember them). These are the 4 supports
I want you to use
So
what do we mean by the elements of this "Wesleyan Quadrilateral”?
To be REASONABLE means
that you must objectively consider all the spoken and written evidence. You
must be attentive (give your whole attention) to a variety of viewpoints,
whether they align with yours or not. Anger,
ridicule, ignore(ance)--none
of these responses allows you to be attentive or reasonable.
To use your EXPERIENCE means to ask yourself how being what you are (as in my case, a
Christian--Southern Baptist turned Free Methodist and married to a Roman Catholic,
a white woman, a farm girl, a mother, a remarried divorcee) informs your view
of the world. What does your experience of the world tell you that some of
your classmates may not know? What does your personal experience with God
through Jesus Christ tell you?
To use SCRIPTURE means to consider carefully what God has said through His prophets
and apostles. Of course, this means you must really seek to know WHAT HE SAID
and not just what a particular denomination (such as the Free Methodist or
the Baptist) says He said. It will take your getting back to the Hebrew or
Greek and to the context in which it was written. The Religion Department
can help you do that.
To respect TRADITION means that you do not reinvent the wheel. What have the Church
Fathers (and Mothers), Catholic and Protestant, said about this issue? What
have historians, sociologists, economists, psychologists, teachers--all
scholars--said about this issue in the past? What are wise people saying about
it now? How do all these voices stand up under the scrutiny of your own reason,
experience, and Scripture?
Such an approach calls
for your listening to a multitude of voices--your own and others--and sorting
through what makes sense to you in the lights of reason, experience, Scripture,
and tradition. As Andrea Lunsford and
John Ruszkiewicz, assert, "It is not a tennis
match of ideas, one that will yield winners and losers. Rather, we are interested
in how we all come to know and to take positions on various issues, how to
nurture open and realistic exchanges of ideas" (The Presence of Others xvii). Nonetheless,
I agree with John Henry Newman, nineteenth century British theologian and
educator, that we listen to all these voices--our own and others--to arrive
at "the attainment of truth, which is their common end" (PO
40).
Attendance Policy:
You can best meet
the course objectives by attending and participating in class. We cannot share
information and views if you are not here. Your education depends not only
on your compliance with reading a certain number of pages or turning in a
stipulated number of papers; it also depends on the interaction between your
voice and others' voices. Thus, I will allot 2 points toward an "attendance
grade" for each MWF class session and 3 for each TR session. So,
for example, if we were to meet 3 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible
points would be 90, which would about equal a test grade. If we were
to meet 2 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible points would still
be 90. Of course, the total will actually be just a bit less than that,
because we will dismiss class on some occasions for research, etc. Whenever
you are not in class, you will not earn the points.
ATHLETES:
All athletes are excused for all games. See me about your makeup work
ahead of time. Don't expect absences on top of your games; save
your absences for your games.
***As far as
tardiness is concerned, I do not intend to play that game. If you are
repeatedly late, I'll just start counting you absent.
Grading Criteria:
I designate a certain number of points to every assignment I grade, fewer
points for daily assignments or quizzes and more points for major papers.
Your grade will be based on the percentage you earn of the total number of
points possible. The percentages will be as follows: 90%
= A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; less than 60% = F. Thus, for example, if you earn 8 points
out of a possible 10 on a quiz, you have 80%, or a B-.
Your grade for this course depends on your performance on periodic reading
quizzes, in-class impromptu essays, Blackboard discussions, expository essays,
unit tests (not applicable to ENG 101), and a research paper.
As far as your major essays go, after several readings, I determine
a "letter" grade for your paper. This grade reflects
how it compares
with what you might have done with the assignment (in the best of all
possible worlds)
how it compares
with an “ideal” performance on the grading matrix (which I will hand out to
you)
how it compares
with the papers completed by your classmates
how your paper compares to my "Eight C's" of
expectations (which I will hand out to you).
Once I decide your letter grade, I assign your paper a number of points
to reflect the "percentage" your letter grade represents.
***While I cannot realistically assign a certain percentage worth
to your class participation, that factor is always important.
Late Papers:
Papers are due no
later than 4:00 p.m. on their deadline date, unless otherwise indicated on the syllabus.
Study
Time Expectations:
College students should, realistically, expect to spend two hours
outside of class for every hour they spend in class. Frankly, when you have a test to study for or
a research paper to complete, it will take you more time than that.
Tentative
Assignment Schedule:
Week
One: (September 2)—
Introduction
to the class. History of the development of the novel. Critical ways of reading the
novel.
The Bone People. Reading quiz. The text itself.
Week
Two: (September 9)—
The Bone People. The text itself. The critical responses.
Week
Three: (September 16)—
Things
Fall Apart. Reading
quiz. The
text itself.
Week
Four: (September 23)—
Things
Fall Apart. The critical
responses.
Week
Five: (September 30)—
The God of Small Things. Reading quiz. The text itself.
Week
Six: (October 7)—
NO CLASS.
MY SON IS GRADUATING FROM HIS MARINE TECHNICAL BASIC SCHOOL IN QUANTICO, VA, ON OCTOBER 7. I WILL ATTEND THAT.
Online
discussion of The God of Small Things. Take-home test. Post to the Digital Drop Box on your class’s
Blackboard site.
Week
Seven: (October 14)—
The Handmaid’s Tale. Reading quiz. The text itself.
Week
Eight: (October 21)—
The Handmaid’s Tale. The critical responses.
Week
Nine: (October 28)—
The Map of Love. Reading quiz. The text itself.
Week
Ten: (November 4)—
The Map of Love. The critical responses.
Week
Eleven: (November 11)—
The Butcher Boy. Reading quiz. The text itself.
Week
Twelve: (November 18)—
The Butcher Boy. The critical responses.
Week
Thirteen: (November 25)— Thanksgiving Break. No Class.
Week
Fourteen: (December 2)—
Salt. Reading quiz. The text itself and the critical
responses.
Week
Fifteen: (December 9)—
EXAM.