This course is technically meant to be a survey of over 200 years of literature, so we’ll narrow our field by focusing on British literature, mainly novels, emerging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This abbreviated time range highlights some of the literary trends of each century but also allows us to focus in on several important works from the period. We’ll divide our time between close-reading and investigating cultural and historical context. Even in the midst of dramatic changes like industrialization, imperialism, and war, we can also read these novels for clues about how the home and the countryside adapted to the 20th century. In addition to some poetry, short stories, and background material in a Course Pack, we will likely read novels/novellas by Elizabeth Gaskell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, Rebecca West, and Virginia Woolf. This course requires regular attendance and participation, a group presentation, essays, and exams.

Texts:

• Elizabeth Gaskell. North and South.
• R.L. Stevenson. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
• Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness.
• E.M. Forster. Howards End.
• Rebecca West. The Return of the Soldier.
• Virginia Woolf. Between the Acts.

Course Pack: some Dickens, two stories by Katherine Mansfield, some poetry