English
545/445: Major Authors—Henry James & Joseph
Conrad
Spring 2015
Updated
May 7, 2015
Blackboard Access
Assignments
Useful
Links
Richard
Ruppel
Meetings: Thursdays, 4-6:50 pm. Smith Hall, 217
Office:
428 N.
Glassell, 101
Phone:
(714) 997-6754
(Office)
Office Hours:
Monday &
Wednesday, 1-2:30pm, & by appointment
Course Description & Goals:
Henry James (1843-1916) and Joseph
Conrad (1857-1924) are often linked.
James, identified most often as a literary realist, anticipated
modernism, and Conrad, an early modernist, took up many of James’s themes and
techniques. They knew and admired each
other’s work; Conrad called James his “master.”
Our goal will be to explore four novels and several novellas and stories by James and Conrad, more-or-less in chronological order. We’ll analyze their major themes: the clash of cultures; modern alienation; the limits of knowledge; the difficulty of communication and intimacy between people, and other themes a long-time reader might have missed. As an artist, James is known for his trans-Atlantic novels and stories, and for his wonderful (and sometimes painfully detailed) explorations of consciousness. Conrad is best known for his work with certain literary techniques: the unreliable narrator, a form of impressionism known as “delayed decoding,” and, especially, his elaborate explorations of epistemology, of how we know what we know. I'm at work on a book concerned with neuroscience and literature, so I'll be especially interested in what we learn about our authors’ representations of memory, of consciousness, of how the body expresses thoughts and emotions, and of the ways James’s and Conrad’s techniques mimic and reveal particular mental processes.
To understand their ideas and art,
we’ll need help, so we’ll consult the extensive criticism devoted to their
work, along with biographies and histories.
Required Texts:
Henry James
Major Stories and Essays. Library of America
The Portrait of a Lady. Norton
The Bostonians. Penguin
Joseph Conrad
The Portable Conrad. Penguin
Lord Jim. Norton
Attendance: Please make
every effort to attend class. Missing more than two sessions will
adversely affect your grade, and students who miss three or more classes will
fail the course.
Communication: Whether online or in class, please be courteous and
constructive. I receive a large number of emails, so when emailing,
please identify the course (445/545), your last name, and the subject in the
subject line. I will respond promptly to your emails; please respond
promptly to mine.
Essays: We will discuss criteria for the essays, and I will
provide an essay description with suggested topics several weeks before the due
dates. These essays should be submitted in hard copy and electronically, sent directly to my
email address: ruppel@chapman.edu
(Please don't use the Blackboard Drop-Box.)
Both essays must include citations to at least two secondary sources.
Late
essays will receive reduced grades, and I will not accept papers submitted more
than a week late unless you provide a convincing explanation. To pass ENG 445/545, you must complete
both essays. If you are
having difficulty completing a paper or a Blackboard post, let me know.
I
will accept a revision of one of your essays, but you must schedule a
conference with me to discuss that revision before you submit it. I will
average the grade of the original paper and the revision.
Before each
paper is due, graduate students will be asked to discuss their research and
conclusions with the class.
Grades:
Participation *: 20%
**Essay 1: 25% (5-7
pp. for UG, 8-10 pp. for Grad) Due March 19
**Essay 2: 30% (6-8 pp. for UG, 10-12 pp. for Grad) Due May 14
Final: 25%
**Students who do not submit both essays will fail the course.
*The “Participation”
grade is primarily your grade on responses to the Blackboard Discussion
assignments. Here are my criteria for evaluating your responses:
1. The response should
respond as specifically as possible to the prompt (or you should indicate why
you’re modifying the prompt).
2. The response should reveal close engagement with the work(s) under
discussion.
3.
The posting should contribute to the discussion, so later postings should not
simply repeat earlier postings, and they should reflect some engagement with
earlier postings.
4. Responses should be substantive.
Computers in class: If you use a computer to take class notes, you may use a
computer in class. Computers may only be used for class purposes.
Otherwise, they should stay closed.
English Literature Program Learning
Objectives: English 445
is one of the electives you may take to fulfill the English literature,
creative writing, or journalism majors and minors. In the discussion
board responses, formal essays, and essay exams, you will have the opportunity
to develop and demonstrate the English Literature Program Learning Objectives
listed below:
1. Skill in
critical reading, or the practice of identifying and interpreting the formal,
rhetorical, and stylistic features of a text
2. Ability
to identify and compare key literary movements and genres
3. Ability
to explain and apply significant theoretical and critical approaches in the
field of English studies
4. Skill in
writing grammatically, coherently, and persuasively
5. Skill in
finding, analyzing, and utilizing secondary sources (including the appropriate
methods of citation)
6. Skill in
crafting a compelling thesis-driven essay, with substantiating evidence
Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy:
Chapman
University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility
of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are
responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will
be subject to sanction by the instructor and referral to the university's
Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions up to and
including dismissal. (See the "Undergraduate Catalog" for the
full policy.) We will discuss the proper way to incorporate sources into
your writing as you prepare the first essay.
Chapman's Students with Disabilities
Policy:
In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any
condition, either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to
perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning
of the term. The University, through the Disability
Services Office, will work with the appropriate faculty member who is asked to
provide the accommodations for a student in determining what accommodations are
suitable based on the documentation and the individual student needs. The
granting of any accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the
academic standards or integrity of the course.
Please see me if you have ANY concerns about completing any of the requirements
of this course.
Chapman’s Equity and
Diversity Policy:
Chapman
University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing
diversity. Students and professors are reminded to show respect at
all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Any violations of this policy should be discussed
with the professor, the Dean of Students and/or otherwise reported in
accordance with this policy.
Course Outline*:
Week
1: February 5 – Introductions and course business.
Week 2: February 12 – Daisy Miller
(1878)
Week 3: February 19 – The Portrait
of a Lady (1881)
Week 4: February 26 – The Portrait of a Lady
Week 5: March 5 – The Turn of the
Screw (1898)
Week 6: March 12 – The Bostonians
(1886)
Week 7: March 19 – The Bostonians [Essay 1 due, 5-7 or 8-10 pages.]
Spring Break!
Week 8: April 2 – The Nigger of the
‘Narcissus’ (1897)
Week 9: April 9 – Heart of Darkness
(1899)
Week 10: April 16 – Lord Jim
(1900) (no
class –
I’ll be at a conference)
Week 11: April 23 – Lord Jim
Week 12: April 30 – The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (1907)
Week 13: May 7 – The Secret Agent
Week 14: May 14 – Short
Stories, course wrap-up and preparation for the final. [Essay 2 due, May
14. 6-8 or 10-12 pages.]
Week 15: Final. Thursday, May 21,
4:15-6:45pm.
*We may decide to alter this schedule. I will make any changes online and give you plenty of notice.
February 12: Read Daisy Miller, pp. 3-60 in James’s Major Stories and Essays. Respond to the Blackboard question by 11am
February 12.
February 19: Read the
first volume of James’s The Portrait of a
Lady (pp. 17-253). By 11am Thursday,
respond to one of the questions in Blackboard.
February 26: Finish The Portrait of a Lady and “The Preface to
the New York Edition,” and respond to the Blackboard Discussion question by
11am Thursday.
March 5: Read The Turn of the Screw and by 11am
Thursday, respond to one of the Blackboard questions.
March 12: Read the
first 23 chapters of The Bostonians
(through page 173). Bring your ideas for
your first essays, due March 19.
March 19: Finish The Bostonians. Bring hard copies of your essays (5-7 pages
for undergrads, 8-10 for grads). Please
send me an electronic copy as well.
April 2: Read The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’ (53-176 in
The Portable Conrad). Answer the question in Blackboard, which asks
that you make one observation and raise one question about the novella’s
politics.
April 9: Read Heart of Darkness (277-363). Answer the question on Blackboard, which asks
you to make one observation and raise one question about the novella.
April 16: Read Lord Jim. Answer the question on Blackboard, which asks
you to make one observation and raise one question about the novel.
April 23: Respond on
Blackboard to one of your classmate’s questions and to one observation.
April 30: Read The Secret Agent and respond to the
Blackboard question by 11am on the 30th.
May 7: Bring ideas
for your second essay.
May 14: Develop two
exam questions, one each on James and Conrad, and post these on
Blackboard. Graduate students: develop a third on both. Read one Conrad short story and be prepared
to discuss it in class. Send an electronic copy of the second essay to me, and
bring a hard copy to class.
Useful Links:
·
Leatherby Library
Literature
Databases
HENRY JAMES
Daisy
Miller
·
IMDb Daisy Miller
(1974)
·
A comparison of the
texts of the 1879 and 1909 versions of Daisy
Miller, by Richard Hathaway.
The
Portrait of a Lady
·
Gutenberg Volume I.
·
Gutenberg Volume II.
·
The Homepage
of the Cambridge Edition.
·
IMDb The
Portrait of a Lady (1996). Trailer.
The
Turn of the Screw
·
E-text
from the University of Virginia.
·
Brad Leithauser’s fine
analysis
of the story for The New Yorker.
·
Edward Parkinson’s history of the criticism of the
story, which is also a history of literary criticism.
·
Scene from the 1999 BBC television
adaptation, with Colin Firth and Jodhi May.
·
The Innocents, the
entire 1961 adaptation with Deborah Kerr as the governess – a much admired
film.
The
Bostonians
·
IMDB The
Bostonians (1984) Trailer.
·
Gutenberg online Vol I Bostonians. Volume II.
·
Alice James
(1848-1892) and Katharine Peabody Loring (1839-1943),
likely models for Verena and Olive.
Miscellaneous
Sites
·
A timeline
of James’s life.
·
The Henry James Scholar’s Guide to Web Sites.
· James’s tragic, homoerotic tale of a boy and his tutor: “The Pupil
JOSEPH CONRAD
The
Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’
·
Full
text of Jerome Buckley's William Ernest Henley: A Study of the
"Counter-Decadence" of the 'Nineties. Henley edited The
New Review, where Conrad first published The Nigger of the
"Narcissus."
Heart of Darkness:
·
A
history
(timeline) of the Congo Free State – 1876-1908
·
Charles
Stokes (the missionary/trader hanged in the Congo Free State in 1895).
Lord Jim
·
Wreck
Report of the Jeddah, the ship on
which Conrad based the Patna.
The Secret Agent
·
Article
in Slate
about references to The Secret Agent
after the World Trade Center bombings.
·
Trailer from the 1996
film.
General
·
Conrad’s
tragic, homoerotic tale of an older man being blackmailed: “Il Conde.”
· Nearly all of Conrad's texts are available online. Check this Gutenberg site.
· "Conrad First: The Joseph Conrad Periodical Archive." A remarkable resource created and maintained by Stephen Donovan at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Featuring photographs of the periodicals and books where Conrad's works first appeared. Approximately 40,000 pages of text.
· The Joseph Conrad Society of America.
· The Joseph Conrad Society, UK. Including resources for students.
· "Conrad under California Skies" conference.