University of Tennessee
English 253
Introduction to Fiction
Spring 2003
HSS 112
MWF 10:10-11:00
Dr.
Jonathan P. Eburne
In
this course we will read and think critically about a selection of important
novels from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries
in order to better understand the nature of what we call Òfiction.Ó The term Òfiction,Ó derived from the
Latin word for fashioning or making, suggests that the form of writing it
describes is intimately connected to ideas about how things are made. This is why we will begin the course by
reading Robinson Crusoe, a novel that reveals much about the work of
fashioning useful objects out of basic materials, the work of building a ÒnewÓ
society on a seemingly deserted island, and the work of inventing the novel
form itself.
This
does not mean that the stories weÕll be reading this term are merely Òmade up,Ó
invented and fabricated by authors in order to entertain, frighten, or
disorient their readers. Rather,
it suggests that the act of writing and reading fiction is a kind of
production, in which texts are built, fashioned and re-fashioned by their
readers as well as by their writers. This class will explore what it means to be a reader
of fiction. What is our role as
readers? What does fiction tell us
about the world, about history, and about our own habits as readers and
thinkers?
Required
Texts:
Course
books are (or will be) available at the UT Bookstore; alternatively, I include
the ISBN numbers in case you wish to order the texts individually online
(through Amazon, etc.).
Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (1719) (Norton
Critical) 0393964523
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818) (Broadwell) 155111308
Joris Karl Huysmans: Against Nature (1884) (Oxford)
0192823671
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
(Penguin) 0140437843
Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth (1905)
(Oxford) 0192835793
Franz Kafka: The Trial (1914; pub. 1925)
(Schocken) 0805209999
Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)
(Vintage) 0679722645
Haruki Murakami: The Wild Sheep Chase (1989)
(Vintage) 037571894X
Course
Requirements
There will be four brief (2 pp) writing
assignments due during the course of the semester, each of which will require
you to respond critically to one of the texts weÕve been reading. Each assignment will constitute 10% of
the course grade. There will be
two exams: an in-class mid-term (10%) and an in-class final on the last day of
class (15%). Also, the final
paper, a more sustained essay project whose topic you will develop yourself
during the course of the semester, will be worth 25% of the course grade. Finally, the remaining 10% of the
course grade will be based on attendance and participation. This is a discussion-based class: your
ideas are essential to its intellectual project, and the expression of your
ideas will be crucial to your involvement in the class. I heartily encourage you to speak up in
class and take part in the discussion.
Reading Journals: I cannot stress enough the
importance of keeping a reading journal.
It is one of the most singularly useful tools in literary study. The actual form of the journal itself,
and the writing style you use in it, can be as formal or as informal as you
like. The important thing is that
you keep a record of the most noteworthy quotations, unusual details, and
interesting ideas from the texts you read. More importantly still, it should force you to write down
questions, insights, or even chains of association that arise as you read, and
to take a moment to reflect after you read as well. Keeping a rigorous journal of your responses to the texts
will not only help prepare for exams and individual class discussions, but it
will dramatically benefit the process of coming up with paper topics as
well. It only takes a few minutes
each time you read, but the results are truly impressive.