Mod. Euro. Novel Fall 2006

Prof. W. C. Nielsen

The Modern European Novel: Authoring the Experimental Self (Fall 2006)

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912, Oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art)

ENLT 376-01 (15149)
MR, 2:30-3:45 PM in University Hall 3010
<http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/novel06.html>
<http://english.montclair.edu/>

Prof. Wendy Nielsen
Dickson Hall 324
Office Hours: Mondays 10-11:30, Thursdays 1-2:30, & by appt.
nielsenw@SPAMGUARDmail.montclair.edu

Texts available at University Bookstore:

Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (Norton Critical Ed., 1989, trans. Coulson, ISBN: 0393956237)

Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf: a Novel (Picador)

Andre Breton, Nadja (Grove)

Franz Kafka, The Trial (Schocken, 1999 edition: ISBN: 0805209999)

Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Perennial)

Supplemental texts available via web page

Course description:

Satisfies: 1c (other literature), 3 (genre), 4a (multinational), and 4d (gender studies); General Humanities major “Comparative Literature” requirement

The title of this course is “The Modern European Novel: Authoring the Experimental Self.” Before it was known as World War I, the so-called Great War left writers, thinkers, and individuals reeling from uncertainty, doubt, and fear. The great Modernist novels written between 1910 and 1930 thus depict a common struggle across Europe: to self-author an “experimental self” free from traditional trappings. We will read and discuss characters who find themselves caught between things—between two world wars, between individualism and society, between male and female identity, between national borders, and between desire and reason. Students will leave this course with a profound appreciation for the ways in which the novel has evolved from 1866 to 1984. In order to understand the past and future of Modernist novelists (Hesse, Breton, and Kafka), we will read their predecessors (Dostoevsky) and successors (Kundera).

Requirements:

Close Literary Analysis of Crime and Punishment (25%)

Oral participation, discussion questions, attendance, and in-class writing projects (15%)

Midterm, Unit I (25%)

1-page Report: My Modernism (10%)

Final exam, cumulative, with emphasis on Unit II (25%)

Grading Rubric: 98-100 A+; 93-97 A; 90-92 A-; 87-89 B+; 83-86 B; 80-82 B-; 77-79 C+; 73-76 C; 70-72 C-; 67-69 D+; 63-66 D; 60-62 D-; 0-59 F

Policies:

Attendance policy: Students must attend a majority of class sessions in order to pass the class; long-term and repeated absences are unacceptable. Your first 3 absences are automatically excused and need no explanation please. Beyond that, you will need a note from your physician or the Dean of Students in order to excuse an absence for medical reasons or family death. Attendance is a part of your Participation Grade, which is also determined by your active and enthusiastic participation in class discussions; original and thought-provoking discussion questions; and informal writing assignments. Please make a friend in class to cover material missed while absent.

Papers should be no longer or shorter than the length assigned and submitted on time. Use twelve-point type, in Times New Roman or CG Times (or 10 pt. in Veranda, etc.). 2 points are deducted from formal writing projects for every class day they are late.
Late homework assignments (discussion questions, all ungraded writing assignments, etc.) cannot be accepted, but you may include these in an optional Participation Portfolio at the end of the semester.
To teach students to avoid plagiarism, lectures will also include instruction in MLA documentation of all work. This course engages in questions of authorship, including web authorship (online link: web.html). Submitting work and words that are not your own will result in failing this course and disciplinary action by the Dean of Students.
Accommodations are always arranged for students with documented disabilities. Please call, email, or see the instructor personally, as well as Services for Students with Disabilities (Linda A. Smith in Morehead Hall 305, X5431).

Turn off and put away cell phones, blackberries, and related electronics in class please; laptops should be used to write lecture notes only.

Tentative schedule subject to change; please check your Montclair email and <http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/novel06.html> for updates

Date	Class Activities	Reading / Homework Due
1. R 9/7	Course/student introduction; What is the novel? Modernity In-class writing: Class? Timeline; Close Reading Exercise	Monday's reading assignment is in the cell below
2. M 9/11	Dostoevsky Bio, Discussion Questions, & Close Interpretation; Writing Group sign-up	Dostoevsky 1-64 [through Part 1, Ch. VI]
3. R 9/14	Review of Week 1; Essay I: Close Reading assigned; Writing Groups Assignment; Social Utopianism and Nihilism	Dostoevsky 64-111 [through Pt. 2, Ch. III]; DISC. #1: Write 3 discussion questions (either ones you would pose as an instructor of the class, things you are confused about in the reading, or a mix between the two) and bring them to class (will be collected). The purpose of discussion questions is to open a dialogue between you and me; to make this a student-centered classroom; and to help students become better writers by becoming critical thinkers, or people who question what they read. Discussion questions are evaluated on a check (average, show you did the reading), check plus (insightful, original, possibly brilliant, probably shared during class), or check minus (you didn't do the reading or simply copied questions discussed in class) basis. Discussion questions are not mandatory but are taken into consideration for your Participation Grade. See also note in Policies above.
4. M 9/18	Review; Student Discussion Questions;	Dostoevsky 111-65 [through Pt. 2, Ch. VII]; DISC. #2: Write 3 discussion questions and bring to class.
5. R 9/21	Review; Close Reading Exercise; Utilitarianism and the Woman Question	Dostoevsky 166-227 [through Pt. 3, ch. 5]
6. M 9/25	Review; Party Game; Directed Questions	Dostoevsky 227-80 [through Pt. 4, ch. 4]; DISC. #3: Write 3 discussion questions and bring to class.
7. R 9/28	Review; Dostoevsky as Drama; Evaluation of Essay I	Dostoevsky 280-330 [through Pt. 5, ch. 2]; Analyze 3-5 sentence passage closely and write 1 page about it; bring 3 copies to class and post to Blackboard/Discussion
8. M 10/2	Keywords in C&P; Writing Group A: Editing via keywords;	Dostoevsky 330-90 [through Pt. 6, ch. 2]; Group A posts essay to Bb and brings essay to class (3 copies)
9. R 10/5	Writing Group B	Dostoevsky 390-433 [through Pt. 6, ch. 6]; Group B posts essay to Bb and/or brings essay to class (3 copies)
10. M 10/9	Raskolnikov on Trial	Dostoevsky 433-65 [finish]; Finish Revising Essay
11. R 10/12	Hermann Hesse Revised Essay I: Close Reading due; 1-page Report: My Modernism assigned	Hesse 1-66
12. M 10/16	Review; Faust and Goethe; Student Questions; Modernism; Dada, Surrealism, and Existentialism	Hesse 66-102; DISC. #4: Bring three discussion questions to class
13. R 10/19	Images from the novel; Who are Hermine and Pablo?; Structural elements in Steppenwolf; War?; Dancing and Sexuality	Hesse 102-80
14. M 10/23	Group Discussion: Immortals, Mozart, and the Magic Theater; Midterm review	Hesse 180-218
15. R 10/26	Midterm--No make-up dates--Be there or be out of luck!	Study for midterm; Bring books (open-book exam)
Unit II: The Experimental Novel
16. M 10/30	Breton Bio; Surrealism and Breton; Surrealist Manifesto; Second Manifesto; Ques. about Manifesto	Read the Surrealist Manifesto and skim the Second Manifesto
17. R 11/2	Review; Translations; Disc. Ques.; Reminder: 1-page Report: My Modernism	Breton 11-59; Post to Blackboard/Discussion: Your plans/experience with 1-page Report: My Modernism
18. M 11/6	Surrealism and the Occult; In-class writing: Manifestos; Map of France	Breton 59-130; DISC. #5: Bring 3 discussion questions to class
19. R 11/9	Summary: the Modernist Novel	Breton 130-60
20. M 11/13	Kafka's The Trial	Kafka 1-79; DISC. #6: Bring 3 discussion questions to class
21. R 11/16	Review; Authority and Gender in Kafka	Kafka 80-130; Post 1-page drafts of your "My Modernism" reports to Blackboard/Discussion
22. M 11/20	Student Reports: My Modernism	1-page Report: My Modernism due; Bring cue cards and/or visuals to class to present Report on "My Modernism"
23. M 11/27	Review (Modernism); Make-up Date for Reports on "My Modernism"	Kafka 131-65
24. R 11/30	End of The Trial; 1-page Report: My Modernism returned	Kafka, 166-231
25. M 12/4	Kundera and the Novel: Biography and Existential Codes	Kundera 1-78
26. R 12/7	Timeline; Prague Spring; Your Questions; Love, Death, and Kundera; Socialist Realism	Kundera 79-127; DISC. #8: Bring 3 discussion questions to class
27. M 12/11	Unbearable, Oedipus, and Narration	Kundera 131-278
28. R 12/14	Free Write: ULB?; Final assigned; Course summation	Kundera 281-314: Optional: Participation Portfolio due (discussion questions, in-class writing assignments, homeworks, etc.); Last day to turn in late formal writing assignments
Final Exam Week	Take-home Exam: Deliver to 324 Dickson no later than R 12/21 @ 3pm--Early submissions encouraged and welcomed!

Wendy C. Nielsen, "Modern European Novel" on WCN Home, <http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/novel06.html>, Oct. 2006