How better to consider the dimensions of the English novel in the 19th century than to concentrate on three mulit-plot novels, each in its way demonstrating fiction’s focus on both the large social and political issues and the predicaments of ordinary and extraordinary individuals. The respective subtitles of VF (“A Novel Without a Hero”) and MM (in original parts, “A Study of Provincial Life”), and Dickens’s prefatory claim (“In BH I have purposely dwelt upon the romantic side of familiar things”) help explain my reasons for using these texts. Please obtain (new or used) the Norton Critical Editions of these novels. At the start of a quarter we will develop a series of discussion topics that you will lead and sustain through our work with each text. As soon as I have a list of enrolled students I will suggest some general discussion areas, and I encourage you to add your own. Because I will be out of the country for most of September before classes start, I will provide you with as much as I can by the end of August. Richard Dunn (dickd@u.washington.edu.)