Dr. Shumaker
English 724: (Re)fashioning the Victorians-Nineteenth-Century Novels and their Modern Offshoots
Mondays at 3:30-6:10, Fall 2013
Office Hours, San Diego—2-3:20 Mondays; & in Calexico, Wed. 3:45-5:15 and Th. 2-4
jshumake@mail.sdsu.edu or 760-768-5524
Why do Victorian novels spawn contemporary novels and films that re-work or continue
them? In other words, why do we revive Victorian ghosts? Are we nostalgic for realist
and Gothic fiction? During this seminar course we will examine several Victorian
classics and the twentieth-century novels they inspired. Readings will include C. Bronte's
Jane Eyre and J. Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea; Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Alasdair
Gray's "Poor Things"; Dickens' Great Expectations and Peter Carey's Jack Maggs; Henry
James' "The Turn of the Screw" and John Harding's "Florence and Giles"; and a
steampunk fantasy, Marie Brennan's With Fate Conspire.
Students will type a weekly Informal Writings page of ideas and questions, and will draft
two ten-page papers or one twenty-page paper. In addition, each student will present a
twenty-minute oral report on a novel not read by the other students.
Required Books
BRENNAN, Marie. WITH FATE CONSPIRE (TOR BOOKS)
BRONTE, Charlotte. JANE EYRE (DOVER)
CAREY, Peter. JACK MAGGS
DICKENS, Charles. GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DOVER)
GRAY, A. POOR THINGS
HARDING, John. FLORENCE & GILES (HARPER COLLINS UK)
JAMES, Henry. THE TURN OF THE SCREW
RHYS, Jean. WIDE SARGASSO SEA (NORTON)
SHELLEY, Mary. FRANKENSTEIN (DOVER)
Grading
Essay #1 (about 3,000 words)
30%
Essay #2 (about 3,000 words)
30%
Oral report / discussion leading
15%
Journal / in-class writing/ participation
25%
Essays
Your essays (or essay) should make an argument about a central theme in one or
more of our assigned readings. Citing at least four scholarly sources per ten-page essay
(or eight for the twenty-page essay) is required. Utilizing a theoretical or historical
perspective is recommended. Use MLA style to cite sources. Write to me as an informed
audience; don’t include plot summary.
You must participate in one of the two peer review sessions or the grade on one of
your essays will be lowered by one letter.
Weekly Informal Writings/ Participation
Informal writings will not be accepted late. This will reward those students who
manage to keep up with the reading and attend class regularly, despite the many
disruptions that life presents.
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Oral Report/ Discussion Leading
Your oral report and discussion leading session should last 20-30 minutes, with at
least fifteen minutes devoted to the report, and about five to discussion. Minimize plot
summary, instead talking about themes and comparisons between your assigned text and
other texts. Establish eye contact with the other students. Speaking conversationally is
more effective than reading from notes. Turn in a Works Cited list when you present your
oral report.
The discussion questions that you bring may deviate from your talk’s focus if you
prefer to raise issues in the assigned reading, or your questions may follow up your report
(or you may do both). Rescheduling of oral reports must be done in advance of the
scheduled date to avoid a grading penalty of one letter grade for a late oral report.
Late Papers, Plagiarism, Grading Standards, Electronic Devices
The first ten-page paper will be accepted up to one week past the due date, and
the second paper up to three days late, but such papers’ grades will be lowered by one
letter (ie a B paper gets a C), unless the lateness results from a documented third-party
excused absence. Missing class is no excuse for not turning in a paper on time (at the
beginning of that class period); start work on the assignment well in advance and email it
to me if you must (including sending it to me within an email message in case I can’t
open your attachment).
Be sure to document all sources in your essays using MLA style to avoid a charge
of plagiarism (which could result in your failing the course and being suspended from
SDSU).
Please turn off computers, iPads and cell phones before class begins.
A grade of C on an assignment means that you have competently completed it,
whereas a grade of A denotes an outstanding performance in terms of content,
organization, and style. Getting B- or better means you exceeded the assignment’s
requirements. Grammatical correctness, decent spelling, and clean copy are required for
passing grades.
In terms of equivalency with the 4.0 campus grading scheme, 3.85 and higher is
an A; 3.5-3.84 is an A-; 3.15-3.49 is a B+; 2.85-3.14 is a B; 2.5-2.84 is a B-; 2.15-2.49 is
a C+; 1.85-2.14 is a C; 1.5-1.84 is a C-; 1.15-1.49 is a D+; .85-1.14 is a D; .5-.84 is a D-;
0-.49 is an F.
Resources
A relevant journal on our topic that is sponsored by Swansea University in Wales
is at http://www.neovictorianstudies.com/
Useful journals include Victorian Studies, Nineteenth-century Literature, Dickens
Quarterly, Dickens Studies Annual, Bronte Studies, The Henry James Review,
Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, Victorian Literature and
Culture, Nineteenth-century Contexts, and Gothic Studies.
You will find excellent background information at www.victorianweb.org
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Assignment Schedule (Changes TBA on Blackboard or in class)
8/26 Introduction to the course and each other. Romanticism and the Gothic.
9/2 Holiday—no class
9/9 Discuss Frankenstein, referring to your Informal Writing page.
9/16 Discuss Poor Things, referring to your Informal Writing’s questions and comments.
9/23 Discuss the first half of Jane Eyre; bring Informal Writing.
9/30 Discuss the second half of Jane Eyre, drawing on Informal Writings.
10/7 Discuss Wide Sargasso Sea, assisted by Informal Writings.
10/14 Peer review of ten-page paper, if you choose to write it; bring three copies of your
essay.
10/21 Discuss the first half of Great Expectations, using Informal Writings.
10/28 Final draft of ten-page essay due. Discuss the second half of Great Expectations.
If you turned in a paper, you don’t need to bring an Informal Writing, too.
11/4 Discuss Jack Maggs, referring to Informal Writings.
11/11 Discuss The Turn of the Screw, using Informal Writings.
11/18 Discuss Florence and Giles, drawing on Informal Writings.
11/25 Peer review of second ten-page essay or of sole twenty-page essay: bring three
copies of your essay.
12/2 Discuss With Fate Conspire, with the help of Informal Writings.
12/9 Final draft of 2nd ten-page essay or your sole twenty-page essay due. Class party:
dress up as a character from one of our novels and we will guess who you might be.
12/16 Meet with me individually in my office where you pick up your paper.
Oral Report Topics List
9/9 Havisham by Ronald Frame (Great Expectations)
9/16 March by Geraldine Brooks (Little Women)
9/23 Affinity by Sarah Waters (James, Poe, Wilkie Collins, Stoker—epistolary novel)
9/30 The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
10/7 Possession by A.S. Byatt (Pre-Raphaelite poets such as the Rossettis)
10/14 Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Oliver Twist)
10/14 Drood by Dan Simmons (Dickens’ Mystery of Edwin Drood)
10/14 Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (lengthy, orignal fantasy)
10/21 The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber (Dickensian echoes)
10/28 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Young Adult Steampunk)
11/4 The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (John Clare, Tennyson)
The Mulberry Empire by Phillip Hensher (postcolonial, Afghanistan)
11/11 A Quiet Adjustment by Ben Markovits (Byron)
Rites of Passage by William Golding (C. Bronte—flawed minister)
11/18 The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (Indian mutiny of 1857)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Tristram Shandy, 18C)
11/25 The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions by Robert Rankin
(Steampunk)
12/2 River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (postcolonialism)
In the Red Kitchen by Michele Roberts (Freud)
12/9 Wanting by Richard Flanagan (Dickens)
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
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