.

Texts:

Howells, A Modern Instance  [1882]. Ed. Nordloh. Penguin, 1982.
James, Portrait of a Lady [1881]. Ed. Edel. Houghton Mifflin, 1963.
Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [1885].  Eds. Fischer and Salamo. U of Cal. P, 2002.
Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars [1900].  Penguin, 1993.
Freeman, A New England Nun [1887] and Other Stories. Penguin, 2000.
Howells, Three Short Plays [The Mousetrap, 1886]. Feedback, 1994.
Crane, Red Badge of Courage [l895] and Other Writings. Ed. Chase. Houghton Mifflin, 1960.
Alger, Ragged Dick [1868].  Ed. Bode. Penguin, 1885.
Hopkins , Contending Forces [1900]. Oxford U P, 1988.

Collateral Required Reading —On Reserve:

Hopewells, Criticism and Fiction [1891] and Other Essays. Eds. Kirk and Kirk. New York U P, 1959.  (2 copies)

James, Henry.  “The Art of Fiction” [1884] in Henry James: The Critical Muse. Ed. Gard. Penguin, 1987; in The Art of Criticism. Eds. Veeder and Griffin . Chicago U P, 1986; in The American Tradition in Literature. Eds. Bradley, et al. Norton, 1974; and in Henry James: Selected Literary Criticism. Ed. Shapira. Heinemann, 1963.

James, Henry.  “The Real Thing,” in Complete Stories, 1892-1898. Lib. of America , 1996; in The American Tradition in Literature. Eds. Bradley, et al. Norton, 1974; and in The Henry James Reader. Ed. Edel. Macmillan,1965.

Twain, “Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses” [1895] in The Portable Mark Twain. Ed. DeVoto. Viking, 1946; in   Collected Tales.... Lib. of America , 1992; in Selected Shorter Writings of Mark Twain. Ed. Blair. Houghton Mifflin, 1962; and in Mark Twain at his Best. Ed. Neider. Doubleday, 1986.

Objectives:

This course examines the literature of the United States from the Civil War to World War I, when the dominant genre was fiction and the new, influential literary philosophies and techniques were realism and naturalism. Works by representative writers will be studied in their historical, intellectual and aesthetic contexts.  In this course, as in the literature of this time, special emphasis will be devoted to perspectives on race, caste, and gender.

Requirements:

Attendance is required.  Missed classes must be explained beforehand when possible or promptly afterwards for sure (please provide a note with date, or use e-mail).  Though this does not excuse the absence, it shows seriousness about your work in the course; failure to account for an absence jeopardizes the grade. The quality of coursework (hence, the grade) will suffer significantly if classes are missed.

More than mere attendance is required for a high quality performance, however.  Participation in class discussions is strongly encouraged, and extra credit is awarded for good and consistent participation.

The writing project for the course will produce a paper, 7-9 pages, that extends beyond the class discussions and exhibits intellectual independence.  It may be critical or historical (it may entail research paper, but that’s not necessary).  It must be presented in the manner appropriate for an academic essay in an upper-division English course according to the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers.  The paper may not be on a work studied in the course.  It must treat some facet of American literature, 1860-1920.  I will help you develop your topic.  It is best if a statement of the topic, or (best of all) a thesis statement, along with a brief outline are submitted in writing and approved.  This will help the paper be of higher quality.  The writing (and research, if included) needs to be appropriate in quality and quantity for a course of this level.  The due dates for approval and for the paper are marked on the course outline.  Late papers are penalized.  Papers must be submitted in print, not online.

All works are to be read by the day they are assigned.  As a policy, missed work cannot be made up.

Student Reports:

There will be an opportunity for some students to give a brief oral report in class on each of our authors.  These will be in small groups of 2 or 3, and will be for extra credit.

Around the middle of the semester, we will undertake a special Writing Realist Fiction project.  This optional effort will entail your writing a short piece of fiction that accords with the realist fiction we’ll be studying in the course.  These will be marked and graded, both by a fellow student and by me.  Along with the written comments, the grades, though they will not count, will give you an idea of the quality.

Grading:

Final course grades will be determined from the midterm, the paper, and the comprehensive final, as well as from class participation (including student oral reports and the fiction writing project, for those who volunteer for them). Consistent class participation of a high quality will count favorably; weak class participation will be counted negatively.  Both the midterm and the final will be composed of a combination of short answer (35%) and essay (65%).  The midterm (±25%) and the paper (±30%) will count less heavily than the final (±35%); class participation will count 10%.