The Great American Novella
Course Time: MW 3:30-5:20
Instructor: Morgan Day Frank
Email: emdfrank@stanford.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Margaret Jacks Room ---Why is it important that Americans write great novels, and what would it mean to think of
American novellas as being great, too? Can a novella even be great? Why are novellas more
likely to be “startling,” as The New Yorker described Philip Roth’s “Goodbye, Columbus,” or
“shimmering,” as The Seattle Times called Teju Cole’s Every Day is for the Thief, or pretty much
ignored, as Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno was for decades after its publication. In this class
we will study the internal mechanics of the novella, considering how formal categories like
“character” and “plot” operate in a genre that is out of whack with our normal sense of narrative
scale. We will also think about how external conditions in literary culture have influenced the
production of novellas, such as the emergence of magazine culture at the end of the nineteenth
century, and the rise of the creative writing program after World War II. This course, in short,
examines five great American novellas in the hope of gaining a better understanding of
American literary history, the novella as a genre, and “greatness” as a label of critical and
institutional consecration.
Primary Texts:
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno (1855)
Henry James, Daisy Miller (1878)
Gertrude Stein, “Melanctha” (1909)
Philip Roth, “Goodbye, Columbus” (1959)
Teju Cole, Every Day is for the Thief (2007)
Possible Secondary Texts:
John Guillory, Cultural Capital (1993) (excerpts)
Lawrence Buell, The Dream of the Great American Novel (2014) (excerpts)
Mark McGurl, The Program Era (2009) (excerpts)
Graham Good, “Notes on the Novella” (1977)
Assignments:
Presentations You will deliver two presentations over the course of the quarter. In the first
presentation, you will pick out a single passage or motif or thematic in one of our primary texts
and explain how this passage/motif/thematic illuminates the larger concerns of the primary text - a “close reading.” In the second presentation, you will select a single critical essay that makes
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an argument about the novella we are reading in class. You will then summarize the essay,
explain what evidence the scholar marshals, and assess the strengths/weaknesses of the scholar’s
argument.
First Assignment A short paper (500-750 words) where you will refine the analysis made in the
close reading presentation and present your analysis alongside an argument made in a critical
essay.
Annotated Bibliography In preparation for the final paper, I would like you to produce an
annotated bibliography, consisting of short summaries (2-3 sentences) of 10 secondary sources.
You won’t necessarily have to read every word of every secondary source cited in the
bibliography. The goal of this assignment is to teach you how to research literary texts, how to
find and evaluate the most relevant secondary sources on the topic(s)/text(s) that most appeal(s)
to you.
Survey of Criticism A paper (1250 words minimum) where you will do an in-depth analysis of 23 secondary sources on the text(s)/topic(s) that you plan to pursue in your final paper. Most
likely these sources will be hewed from the annotated bibliography assignment. My hope here is
that you will begin to understand the conventions of academic writing and see the ways scholars
speak to each other and build off of each other’s arguments. Although this paper won’t be thesisdriven in the traditional sense, and you won’t be expected to present your own argument about
the primary text(s)/topic(s) under discussion, I will push you at this point in the quarter to start
thinking concretely about how your ideas engage with the criticism you are reading.
Final Research Paper The final research paper (3000 words minimum) is the most important
assignment in the class, and all the other assignments will be geared towards developing and
refining the arguments that will be presented in it. The parameters of the assignment are pretty
flexible. You can choose any novella or methodological issue, as long as it relates to the topics
under discussion in class.
Grade Breakdown
Participation (including presentation) 20%
First Assignment 15%
Annotated Bibliography 10%
Survey of Criticism 20%
Final Paper (including a grade on your first draft) 35%
Late submissions incur a 1/3-grade deduction per day (e.g., A- to B+, B+ to B).
Students with Documented Disabilities
Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must
initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional staff will
evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and
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prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is
being made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed
to coordinate accommodations.
OAE contact information:
563 Salvatierra Walk
650-723-1066
http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae
Honor Code
The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity written by students in 1921.
It articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing and maintaining the
highest standards in academic work:
The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:
that they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or receive
unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other work that is to
be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;
that they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as well as
themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code.
The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by refraining from
proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and unreasonable precautions to prevent the
forms of dishonesty mentioned above. The faculty will also avoid, as far as practicable, academic
procedures that create temptations to violate the Honor Code.
While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic requirements, the students
and faculty will work together to establish optimal conditions for honorable academic work.
Class Schedule
Week 1
March 28th
Introductions
March 30th
Graham Good, “Notes on the Novella” (1977); Buell, The Dream of the Great
American Novel -- Introduction, Chapter 1
Week 2
April 4th
Benito Cereno
April 6th
Finish Benito Cereno
Week 3
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April 11th
Essays on Benito Cereno
April 13th
McGurl, The Program Era -- Preface and Introduction
*** Close Reading Assignment due Sunday, April 17th ***
Week 4
April 18th
Daisy Miller Chapters 1 and 2
April 20th
Finish Daisy Miller
Week 5
April 25th
Essays on Daisy Miller
April 27th
Guillory, Cultural Capital -- Preface and Part One
*** Annotated Bibliography Due Sunday, May 1st ***
Week 6
May 2nd
Melanctha
May 4th
Finish Melanctha
Week 7
May 9th
Essays on Melanctha
May 11th
“Goodbye, Columbus” -- Chapter 1 - 4
*** Survey of Criticism assignment due Sunday, May 15th ***
Week 8
May 16th
Roth, “Goodbye, Columbus” -- Finish
May 18th
Essays on “Goodbye, Columbus”
Week 9
May 23rd
Every Day is for the Thief -- Chapter 1 - Chapter 13
May 25th
Finish Every Day is for the Thief
*** Draft of Final Paper due Friday, May 27th ***
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Week 10
May 30th
Memorial Day (No class)
June 1st
Reviews of Every Day is for the Thief
*** Final Paper due Tuesday, June 7th ***
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