English 347—Cognition & the Novel
Spring 2025
Meetings:  Monday & Wednesday, 1-2:15 Smith Hall 106
Professor Richard Ruppel
Office Hours: 8:30-9:30, Mondays and Tuesdays. 
Updated February 12, 2025

Assignments
Useful Links
Canvas

Course Description & Objectives:  Neuroscience has infiltrated all the arts and art criticism: music, theatre, art, film, and literature. This course will introduce ways to read through a cognitive lens: drawing our attention to consciousness and the unconscious, narrative identity, human autonomy, the connection between emotion and cognition, trauma and traumatic memory, neurological illness and cognitive disabilities, and other matters related to neuroscience and the brain.  The emphasis of the course will be on literary analysis, but we will also explore both historical and scientific components, the ways these novels responded to the understanding of cognition in their day and how contemporary scientists are grappling with these same issues.

This course satisfies the Artistic Inquiry requirement of Chapman’s General Education program: “Students compose critical or creative works that embody or analyze conceptually an artistic form.”  The course involves significant reading and writing, both informal (on our discussion board) and formal (essays and essay exams).  Through our reading, discussion, and writing, we will develop an understanding of how the study of cognition can inform and enrich our reading.

Novels

The Portrait of a Lady. (1881) Norton Critical, 3rd edition.
Dracula
, Bram Stoker. (1897) Norton Critical, 1996. 
The Secret Agent
, (1907) Joseph Conrad.  Penguin, 2007.
To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf. (1927) Norton Critical, 2021 
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner. (1930)  Norton Critical, 2022. 

Essays & Stories: 

I will make these available in the Modules section of Canvas or via links. 


Course Requirements: 

Attendance: Please make every effort to attend our classes.  Missing more than three sessions will adversely affect your grade, and students who miss five 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 (347), 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. Both essays must include citations to at least two, authoritative secondary sources.  By the due-date, send an electronic copy directly to my email: ruppel@chapman.edu.  If possible, send it as an MS Word document.  Other text (“page” documents from Macs) documents will work as well.  Please do NOT send me a link to a Google doc. 

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 347, you must complete both essays.  If you are having difficulty completing a paper or a Canvas 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, and I may require you to meet with a Writing Center tutor before our conference.  I will average the grade of the original paper and the revision. 

Grades

           Undergraduates: 
                 Participation: 15%
                 Minutes: 10%  (Beginning Week 2, two students will take class notes)
              **Essay 1: 20% (Due March 19) 5-7 pages (1750-2500 words)
              **Essay 2: 25% (Due May 14) 6-9 pages (2100-3150 words)
                 Final: 30%

**Students who do not submit both essays will fail the course. 

The “Participation” grade is primarily your grade on responses to the Canvas 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. 

The ”Minutes” assignment requires you to take class notes twice in the semester: one week of notes one week, another week of notes a second week.  You’ll work with a partner, so you will take the notes and then collate them before sending them to me.  I’ll post them in the Modules section of Canvas. 

One final note on grades: I will post grades in Canvas, but I keep the official grades in my gradebook and average your grades based on a four-point scale (A= 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, etc.). In the past, there have sometimes been differences between students' Canvas cumulative grades and their actual grades. I think I've fixed this, but I calculate your final grades; the Canvas final grades are not official grades. If you have any questions about your grades, don’t hesitate to ask me. 

English Literature Program Learning Objectives: English 347 is one of the electives you may take to fulfill the English literature, creative writing, or journalism majors.  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

Course Student Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this course, students will

1.             Demonstrate insight into and awareness of the many connections between cognitive studies and prose fiction

2.             Demonstrate understanding of the terms and concepts associated with cognitive studies

3.             Engage in literary critical analysis (oral and written)

4.             Find, analyze, and use secondary sources


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.  Though I am not requiring you to submit your essays via Turnitin, I am an expert at finding online and other sources, so I will notice if you make unacknowledged use of someone else’s work.  If I have doubts, I will submit your work to Turnitin myself.  So please save both of us from trauma and write your Canvas Discussion posts and essays yourself. 

 

ChatGPT and other Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots:

1.  Typing a prompt into an LLM chatbot, copying the response, and then submitting that response for an assignment is an obvious form of academic misconduct.  Don’t do it. 

2.   Chatbots are often inaccurate.  When I asked ChatGPT for a biography of Richard Ruppel, a Chapman English professor, I found that I was born in Fairview (false), had been an expert on the Holocaust (mostly false), had graduated from Yale and Harvard (false), and was now dead (demonstrably, I hope, false).  People in the field describe these errors as “hallucinations,” but they are presented with supreme self-confidence. Hallucinations are not uncommon. 

3.   If I suspect that you have pasted in a response produced by an LLM, I will check the various services that can detect this.  If those services confirm my suspicion, I will call you in for a conference. 

4.  Chatbots can be inaccurate, but they do offer clear, useful information which users should check.  These are early times, but through this semester (and through your academic career) we will all discover ways to help you use them to enhance your learning. 

 

The following discussion of the use of LLMs in academic settings was developed by Dr. Nora Rivera, a professor in Chapman’s English department: 

 

Acceptable Uses of LLMs

Not Acceptable Uses of LLMs

·       To improve your work

·       To brainstorm

·       To explore potential counterarguments

·       To fine-tune research questions

·       To draft an outline to organize your thoughts

·       To check grammar and style

·       To check format

·       To translate words and phrases

·       To replace your work

·       To cheat on the writing & research process

·       To obtain answers to assessments

·       To generate a full draft of your work

·       To generate large chunks of text with little or no input from you as an author

 

·       Students must cite AI technologies when appropriate (e.g., when using images generated by AI technologies, when referencing an answer provided by AI technologies, et cetera)

·       Copying works entirely generated by AI technologies and submitting them as original content is considered an academic integrity violation

·       Always revise your work before submitting it. You are responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit regardless of whether it originally comes from you or an AI model.

 

In-Class use of laptops, tablets, and phones:

You may use a laptop to take class notes only when you are one of the week’s note-takers.  Otherwise, laptops and tablets must remain closed, and you may not consult your phone during class. I will give you five minutes at some point during class to check your phones or leave class. If you have a reason to consult one of these devices during class, you must receive my permission to do so beforehand.  If I see you consulting your phone or using a laptop for any unauthorized reason during class, I will mark you absent. 


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 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 3-5 – Course business, an introduction to cognitive literary study, and “Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nabokov. 
Week 2: February 10-12 – Introduction continued, first chapters of Terence Cave’s Thinking and Literature: Toward a Cognitive Criticism. 
Week 3: February 17-19 – The Portrait of a Lady.  
Week 4: February 24-26 – The Portrait of a Lady.
Week 5: March 3-5: Dracula. 
Week 6: March 10-12 – Dracula.  
Week 7: March 17-19 – The Secret Agent. [Essay 1 due March 19, 5-7 pages (1750-2500 words)]

Spring Break!

Week 8: March 31-April 2 – The Secret Agent.
Week 9: April 7-9: To the Lighthouse.  
Week 10: April 14-16– To the Lighthouse. Paul Armstrong will Zoom in on the 14th, and we will read one or two of his essays on cognitive literary studies beforehand. 
Week 11: April 21-23 – As I Lay Dying.
Week 12: April 28-30 – As I Lay Dying.
Week 13: May 5-7 – Catch-up week.   
Week 14:  May 12-14 –
Wrap-up and preparation for final.  [Essay 2 due May 14, 6-9 pages, (2100-3150 words)] 
Week 15: Final Exam: Tuesday, May 20, 1:30-4pm. 

*We may decide to alter this schedule.  I will make any changes online and give you plenty of notice. 


Assignments

Monday, February 3: Read over the syllabus and bring questions, comments, and concerns to class.

Wednesday, February 5: Read Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nabokov. If you can’t read this on The New Yorker Web pages, it’s in the Modules section of Canvas. 

Monday, February 10: Read the first chapter (1-11) of Terence Cave’s Thinking with Literature: Toward a Cognitive Criticism. (Chapter 1 is in the first pdf., Chapter 2 is in the first and second pdf.).

Wednesday, February 12: Read the second chapter (12-31) of Terence Cave’s Thinking with Literature: Toward a Cognitive Criticism.  Respond to the Discussion Board question by 10am Wednesday, February 12th.  Begin reading The Portrait of a Lady. 

Monday, February 17: Continue reading The Portrait of a Lady.  See if you can have the first volume read – through 208. Respond to the prompt on our Discussion board in Canvas asking for your initial thoughts about the novel.  How is it interesting from a cognitive studies perspective? (This isn’t due until the 19th.)

 

Wednesday, February 19: Continue The Portrait of a Lady, and respond to the Discussion Board question by 10am Wednesday, February 19. 

 

Monday, February 24: Finish The Portrait of a Lady.  Give yourself a day or two and then begin Dracula, though be sure not to read past midnight. 

 

 


Useful Links

Scientific

·       Theory of Mind:  Alvin Goldman’s extended discussion from the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Cognitive Science (2012).

·       Embodied Cognition:  From Scientific American. 

·       William James on the concept of embodied cognition.  James’s Mystical Body in the Light of the Transmarginal Field of Consciousness,” by Michel Weber. 

·       Anil Seth, “How Does Your Brain Construct Your Conscious Reality?” (17 minute TED).  This is mind-blowing. 

Literary

·       The Victorian Web:  A rich collection of pages devoted to all things Victorian, sponsored by Brown University. 

Henry James

·       Gutenberg The Portrait of a Lady.  Volume 1.  Volume 2. 

·       Brilliant introduction to The Portrait of a Lady in a New Yorker review of Michael Gorra’s The Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece (2012).  

Bram Stoker

·       Project Gutenberg, online version. 

·       1931 Dracula adaptation, probably the best. Trailer. The 1992, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Entire (and entirely over-the-top) version. 1992 trailer.  NBC’s series, 2013. What We Do in the Shadows, trailer.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

·       How did Dracula become the world’s most famous vampire?  By Stanley Stepanic, at the University of Virginia.  

·       Dracula, the First Modern Vampire.  By Emily Zarka, at Arizona State University.

Joseph Conrad

·       Gutenberg The Secret Agent:  A Simple Tale. 

·        Article in Slate about references to The Secret Agent after the World Trade Center bombings. 

·       Trailer from the 1996 film. 

·       The Death of Marat, Jacques Louis David. 

·       The ‘Born Criminal’? Lombroso and the Origins of Criminal Psychology.” Diana Bretherick.  An introduction to Lombroso.

·       Video:  A quick defense of Lombroso (alluding to his theory of left-handedness and crime).  By Nat Robertson at Emory University. 

·       The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, modeled himself after the Professor in The Secret Agent.  A Washington Post analysis.  A Brigham Young University graduate student first saw the connection with The Secret Agent before Kacyznski was identified.  

Virginia Woolf

·       To the Lighthouse, online via Gutenburg. 

William Faulkner

·       As I Lay Dying.  From The Internet Archive. 

·       C-SPAN’s Famous Writers Series, on Faulkner.  Two hours total. 

Just for Fun

·       Pilobolus Dance Company. 


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