Close readings of modern-fiction classics, with special emphasis on artistic method and the transformation of the novel as a genre. Topics include: modernity and the quest for meaning; the crisis of public and private values; authority and point of view; irony and ambiguity; modes of consciousness; temporal and spatial structures; self-reflexive language and stylistic experiment. Texts and Editions (in alphabetical order): Conrad, The Secret Agent (Oxford World’s Classics); Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground (Vintage); Flaubert, Madame Bovary (Norton Critical Edition); Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Signet); Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Dover Thrift). You can use other editions but you’ll have to you read the critical materials (essays, letters, prefaces, introductions, etc.) printed in the editions listed above (copies of them will be placed on reserve). The course has a moderate load: we’ll read five medium-length/short novels all of which require heightened attention to detail and much reflection. Requirements and Grading: final = 50% of your grade; short assignments (one on each novel), attendance and participation contribute the remaining 50%. All students should have read Madame Bovary before the first meeting.