Module Code and Title:        LIT205 Evolution of the Novel

Programme:                          BA in English Studies

Credit Value:                          12

Module Tutor:                      Sunil Kumar (Coordinator), Paromita Manna

General objective: This module will introduce students to the novel from its genesis in the seventeenth century to the realism period of the nineteenth century. They will become familiar with the conventions of a number of sub-genres of the novel, including Gothic, Bildungsroman, Picaresque, Epistolary, and the social realism. Students will be able to relate the texts studied to broader literary periods and movements, including Romanticism, Victorianism and Realism.

Learning outcomes – On completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Trace the evolution of the novel from 17^th to 19^th
2. Differentiate the sub-genres of novels from the 17^th to 19^th
3. Explain how the novels comment on the periods in which they were produced.
4. Analyse how the periods in question contributed to the production of specific types of novel.
5. Engage in critical and theoretical debates around the novels studied.
6. Discuss the styles and significance of the authors studied in the module.
7. Facilitate and lead a class discussion on a prescribed novel.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

1. Written assignment: 25%

Students will write an analytical essay of 800 to 1000 words on critical and/or theoretical debates around a novel. The first draft will be marked out of 10%, and the final draft out of 10%, and an additional 5% percent will be allotted to specific improvements made on the feedback received on the first draft. Students will be expected to refer to at least two academic secondary sources.

Both the drafts of the assignment will be assessed on the following marking criteria:

Argument and Analysis: 40 marks

Knowledge Skills and Understanding: 40 marks

Presentation and Referencing: 20 marks

The improvement on feedback on first draft will be assessed on the following criteria:

Marginal Improvement: 0 – 49 marks

Satisfactory improvement: 50 – 59 marks

Significant and appropriate improvement: 60 – 74 marks

Significant improvement beyond feedback given: 75 to 100 marks

1. Student-Led Discussion: 15%

Students will be divided into groups of 4 - 5, and each group will be assigned a novel. They will choose one aspect of that novel, which might be theme, feature of its style, or an element of the plot for example. They will devise and run close reading activities to illustrate this aspect to the rest of the class. The group will also have two pre-discussion meetings (assessed out of 2% and 3% respectively) with the tutor to discuss the direction and progress of the work. The facilitation of the student-led discussion is assessed on 10%.

The pre-discussion meetings will be assessed on the following marking criteria:

Preparedness of the members: 10 marks

Plan for the discussion: 15 marks

Quality of questions: 15 marks

The student-led discussion will be assessed on the following marking criteria:

Analysis and argument: 30 marks

Individual contribution: 25 marks

Quality of discussion questions: 15 marks

Facilitation: 15 marks

Participation of all team members: 15 marks

1. Class Test: 10%

A test of 45 minutes will be held within class hours before mid-semester. This will test students' knowledge and understanding of sub-genres of novels.

1. Class participation and preparedness: 10%

Students will be expected to participate substantially in class discussions, with contributions reflecting adequate preparation for topics under discussion. 5% will be graded before mid-term, and the remaining 5% post midterm.

1. Midterm Examination: 10%

Students will take a written exam of 1.5 hr duration covering topics up to the mid-point of the semester. This assessment is comprehensive and summative in nature, and will comprise structured questions from all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and will follow the programme’s blue-print for Midterm Examination questions.

1. Semester-End Examination: 30%

Students will take a written exam of 2.5 hr. duration encompassing all the subject matter covered in the semester. This assessment is comprehensive and summative in nature, and will comprise structured questions from all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and will follow the programme blue-print for Semester-End Examination questions. 

Overview of assessment approaches and weighting

Pre-requisites: None

Subject matter:

1. Unit I: Tracing the development of the novel in England from the 17^th century
   • Distinguishing features of the novel
   • Introducing the sub-genres of the novel
     • The Gothic novel
     • The Bildungsroman novel
     • The Künstlerroman novel
     • The Picaresque novel
     • The Epistolary novel
     • The Social Realism novel
   • A brief introduction to some of the earliest written novels
2. Unit II: The rise of the novel: Charting the socio-political and cultural impact on the novel
   • Increasing literacy and its implications
   • The impact of the printing press
   • Other social and cultural conditions related to the rise of the novel
3. Unit III: Picaresque tradition: Close reading and analysis of Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews
   • Social and political context
   • Criticism of the manners of the 18^th century English society
   • Narrative technique and genre
     • Features of the Picaresque novel
     • The novel as a parody of Richardson’s Pamela
     • Fielding’s definition of “comic epic poem in prose”

4. Unit IV: The Romantic novel: Close reading and analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
   • Social and political context
     • Scientific progress
     • The political climate following the French Revolution
     • The political stance of the Romantic writers
   • Narrative technique and genre
     • Features of the Gothic novel
     • Features of the epistolary novel

5. Unit V: The Victorian novel: Close reading and analysis of Charles Dickens’ Hard Times
   • Social and historical context
     • The status of women
     • The portrayal of the working class
   • Features of social realism
   • The novel as social protest

Reading List:

Essential reading

Dickens, C. (1885). Hard times. Maple Press Pvt. Ltd.

Eagleton, T. (2005). The English novel: An introduction. Blackwell.

Fielding, H. (2004). Joseph Andrews. A Wildside Classic.

Shelley, M. (2013). Frankenstein (3rd ed.). Dover Publications.

Additional reading

Bakhtin, M. M. (2018). Discourse in the novel. The Dialogic Imagination. https://fdocuments.net/document/bakhtin-discourse-in-the-novel.html.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1990). Epic and novel. The Dialogic Imagination. https://people.duke.edu/~dainotto/Texts/bakhtin.pdf.Moretti, F. (2008, July-August). Franco Moretti, the novel: History and theory, New Left Review, 52. https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii52/articles/franco-moretti-the-novel-history-and-theory.

Watt, I. (2001). The rise of the novel. University of California Press.

Date: June 2022