Or vampires, or souvenir tea towels, or Keira Knightley. You could make an interesting course out of the modern Jane Austen industry, but maybe it’s time to see what she actually wrote. It can be very surprising. This course therefore offers an intensive reading of Austen in her words and in her time—text and context, but especially text. We will be reading four of the five major novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion. Students will develop a close familiarity with these works and their nuances of expression and meaning, as well as some knowledge of their vital place in the history of the novel. Response papers, reading quizzes, exams, critical paper.