This course will introduce you to several exemplary early novels: Don Quixote by Cervantes, Robinson Crusoe by Defoe, Gulliver’s Travels by Swift, Pamela by Richardson, Joseph Andrews by Fielding, and Tristram Shandy by Sterne. (We’ll also take a brief look at selections from Rabelais and Bunyan.) We’ll study the shape, sources, and purpose of the primary texts, and the esthetics of early novelists. Discussions will focus on the poetics of the novel as a literary genre (types of plots and character; forms of narration; aspects of realism, allegory, satire, parody; the role of print), and the problems associated with its emergence in England. 329 is an upper-level course with a heavy reading load (required novels and course pack add up to more than 2,500 pages): before the first meeting all students must have read Don Quixote and at least two of the following: Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Pamela (Vol. I). Requirements and grading: brief assignments on each major novel, quizzes, and attendance (30% of your course grade); midterm (30%); and final examination/paper (40%).