The Armchair Adventurer:
Popular and Literary Fiction at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Prof. Stephanie Kuduk Weiner
Downey House, #300; X3634; sweiner@wesleyan.edu
Office Hours: Mondays 10:15-11:15, Fridays 11:30-1:00
Course description: At the turn of the twentieth century, stories of travel, action, and adventure
enjoyed enormous market success and cultural prominence. This course examines the interaction
between the adventure stories told in popular genre fiction--science fiction, seafaring tales, historical
fiction, adventure stories, detective novels, romance, children's literature, etc.--and their 'high' literary
cousins. In the first half of the course, we will read classic works of genre fiction in order to
understand the appeal of these stories and storytelling modes, for both writers and readers, and to
identify their generic structures, plots, and premises. In the second half of the course, we will turn to
four works of literary fiction that emerged in a close conversation with these popular forms: Joseph
Conrad's Lord Jim, E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, Henry James's The Ambassadors, and
Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.
Course Requirements: class participation (10 pts.); five writing assignments (4 pts. each); three essay
drafts (8 pts. each); three essay revisions (8 pts. each); two grammar and style revisions (4 pts. each);
final paper (14 pts.)
Policies:
 No computers are allowed in class.
 Please prepare carefully for class. “Preparation” is not an abstract ideal but a series of concrete
steps. Mark up your books—jot notes in the margin of the text, circle key words, chart characters
and chronologies, brainstorm connections and questions. Read actively, generating ideas for
class discussion and your next essay. You are expected to read carefully all of the course
materials and be prepared to discuss them. This includes texts posted on moodle, which you must
print, read, and bring to class with you. Repeated failure to bring all necessary materials to class
will reduce your participation grade. Class discussion is a central element of the course; you will
be expected to make a meaningful contribution to each class session.
 No extensions will be granted except in cases of medical emergency. There are no exceptions to
this rule. Late papers will be penalized three points per day beginning the day they are due.
 Please be on time. Please do not leave in the middle of class. More than two absences or
instances of tardiness will lower your grade.
 Please save copies of your graded papers with my comments on them. Should you ever ask me
to write a letter of recommendation for you, I will need to see them.
 If you require disability accommodations in this course, please see me during the first two weeks
of class.
 You are not expected to do outside research for this course. Your essays are an opportunity for
you to explore the texts and issues in the class, and your writing should center on your own
insights and ideas. If in your written work you use any materials that do not appear on the
syllabus, you must cite those sources in a footnote. It constitutes academic dishonesty to present
as your own any ideas or insights you have gained from others. If you consult works that you do
not end up using directly, you must nevertheless list them in a “Works Consulted” page. If you
have any questions about plagiarism and academic dishonesty, please see me or consult the
discussion in the student handbook at www.wesleyan.edu/studenthandbook/plagiarism.html.
Armchair Adventurer, p. 2
Course Outline
Mon. Sept. 1: Introductions
Wed. Sept. 3:
 King Solomon’s Mines: Dedication, Quartermain’s Introduction, ch. 1-6
Fri. Sept. 5:
 King Solomon’s Mines: ch. 7-12
 Lang, “Realism and Romance” (moodle)
Mon. Sept. 8:
 King Solomon’s Mines: ch. 13-end
 WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE
Wed. Sept. 10:
 The Time Machine: section 1-5
Fri. Sept. 12:
 The Time Machine: section 6-12, Epilogue, and Wells’ 1931 Preface
 start reading Kidnapped
Mon. Sept. 15:
 Kidnapped: Dedication, ch. 1-11
 WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE
Wed. Sept. 17:
 Kidnapped: ch. 12-23
Fri. Sept. 19:
 Kidnapped: ch. 24-30
 James, “The Art of Fiction” (moodle)
 Stevenson, “A Gossip on Romance,” “A Humble Remonstrance” (moodle)
Mon. Sept. 22:
 A Study in Scarlet: Part 1
 WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3 DUE
Wed. Sept. 24:
 A Study in Scarlet: Part 2
Fri. Sept. 26:
 Hornung, “The Ides of March,” “Gentlemen and Players,” The Amateur Cracksman (moodle)
Armchair Adventurer, p. 3
Mon. Sept. 29:
 Piccadilly Jim: ch. 1-8
 WRITING ASSIGNMENT #4 DUE
Wed. Oct. 1:
 Piccadilly Jim: ch. 9-17
Fri. Oct. 3:
 Piccadilly Jim: ch. 18-25
Mon. Oct. 6:
 Hardy, “Barbara of the House of Grebe” (moodle)
 Nesbit, “Hurst of Hurstcote” (moodle)
Wed. Oct. 8:
 Frye, “The Mythos of Summer: Romance” and “The Mythos of Spring: Comedy,” Anatomy
of Criticism (moodle)
 Bakhtin, from The Dialogic Imagination (moodle)
 King Solomon’s Mines, The Time Machine, Kidnapped, A Study in Scarlet, The Amateur
Cracksman, Piccadilly Jim, “Barbara of the House of Grebe,” and “Hurst of Hurstcote”—
bring all to class
Fri. Oct. 10:
 Lord Jim: ch. 1-6
Mon. Oct. 13:
 Lord Jim: ch. 7-12
 WRITING ASSIGNMENT #5 DUE
Wed. Oct. 15:
 Lord Jim: ch. 13-20
Fri. Oct. 17:
 Lord Jim: ch. 21-30
Wed. Oct. 22:
 Lord Jim: ch. 31-38
Fri. Oct. 24:
 Lord Jim: ch. 39-45 and “Author’s Note”
Mon. Oct. 27:
 A Room with a View: ch. 1-5
 PAPER ONE DRAFT DUE
Wed. Oct. 29: no class: individual writing workshops
Fri. Oct. 31:
 A Room with a View: ch. 6-10
Armchair Adventurer, p. 4
Mon. Nov. 3:
 A Room with a View: ch. 11-15
 PAPER ONE REVISION DUE
Wed. Nov. 5:
 A Room with a View: ch. 16-20
 Meredith, “On the Idea of Comedy and of the Uses of the Comic Spirit” (1877) (moodle)
Fri. Nov. 7:
 The Ambassadors: books 1-2 (don’t read the “Preface” yet)
Mon. Nov. 10:
 The Ambassadors: books 3-4
 PAPER TWO DRAFT DUE
Wed. Nov. 12:
 The Ambassadors: books 5-6
 GSR #1 DUE
Fri. Nov. 14:
 The Ambassadors: books 7-8
Mon. Nov. 17:
 The Ambassadors: books 9-10
 PAPER TWO REVISION DUE
Wed. Nov. 19:
 The Ambassadors: book 11-12 and “Preface”
Fri. Nov. 21:
 Kim: ch. 1-4
Mon. Nov. 24:
 in-class workshop
 PAPER THREE DRAFT DUE
Mon. Dec. 1:
 Kim: ch. 5-9
 PAPER THREE REVISION DUE
Wed. Dec. 3:
 Kim: ch. 10-12
 GSR #2 DUE
Fri. Nov. 5:
 Kim: ch. 13-15
Sat. Dec. 13, 5:00 p.m. : FINAL PAPER DUE