Syllabus for

Selected Topis  

The Works of Charles Dickens

ENG 443 // Sec. 1

Credit: 3 Hours / CHPL 203

Spring 1996/ M-W-F.

Time: 9:10 - 10:10

Instructor: Dr. Anderson M. Rearick III

Dr. Rearick's Office: Founders Hall 214

(Within 219: Lit., Lang., & Comm. Dept.)

Office Hours: MWF 8:00-9:00 / 1:50-2:50 & T-Th. 11:30-12:30 / 1:50-2:50

or by appointment

Home Phone 392-3738 (but please do not call after 8:00--Lil' Andy hopefully in Bed)

Office Ext. 3508

email: arearick@mvnc.edu

Course Description:

The purpose of ENG 443, Selected Topics/ The Works of Charles Dickens, is to expose students to the works, personality and times of Charles Dickens. Special emphasis will be laid on Dickens expectations on himself as an artist in relation with his culture.

Class Procedure:

ENG 443, Selected Topics/ Dickens, will meet three times a week to discuss the development of Dickens' ideas using the below reading list as raw material. Some points which will be especially emphasized is Dickens' realism verses the fantastic, the influence of Christianity on Dickens' art, Dickens' method of description, and the relevancy of Dickens social consciousness today. This class can only function as an introduction, not an exhaustive study. Students will be expected to keep an on-going journal of their responses to both the reading and the class discussion. There will be a tests, a mid-term and final (both of which will use essays). And there will be one major paper to be handed in towards the end of the semester

Class Objectives:

  1. To develop in students the ability to listen receptively, think critically, reason clearly, evaluate objectively, and communicate clearly while examining the world and works of Charles Dickens..

  2. To encourage students toward acquiring attitudes within the study of Dickens which stimulate awareness of self and environment, enabling them to respond creatively and positively

  3. To encourage students through their readings and discussion toward the maximum development of communication skills and abilities.

  4. To promote within students the vision and ability to apply communication skills and knowledge to enhance personal relationships, human society and God's kingdom.

  5. To enable students to improve written communications through directed experience in their journals, their papers and exams.

  6. To acquire a knowledge of the assigned content matter

Tools:

One Loose-leaf Notebook divided into three (3) parts:

A-Handouts, B- Class-notes, C-Journal

Required Texts

Evaluation:

Each student must produce four writing exercises which will lead to a final paper. There will be a mid-term and a final which will include essay questions. Students will also maintain an on-going journal. Finally student attendance and participation will be noted as part of the final grade.

Journal 10%

Tests 20%

Writing Project 20%

Class Participation 10%

Mid-term 20%

Final 20%

Journal:

Each week you should make about two entries (2) into your journal. Each entry should be at least half a page written out. For thirteen weeks this should add up to 26 entries. Be sure to number your entries as the semester proceeds and include the date. Extra entries beyond 26 will be taken into consideration for border-line grades. Your progress will be checked periodically during the semester by either a peer or the instructor at any time. Therefore you should bring your journal to every class.

Your journal is your personal repository for what you think about the works you are reading and about the material being covered in class. You should write in it regularly. It is not necessary to finish a work to have an interesting idea come into your head, so keep your journal handy while you are reading. (Some of us write in the margins--such side notes could develop into a good entry.)

Your journal is NOT for your notes; they are to be kept in a different section of the loose-leaf. Your journal is also NOT a diary. I do not want to hear what you had for lunch unless it somehow relates to the class or the readings ("Please Sir; I want some more!").

Beyond the simple number of entries and your work's appearance, your journal comments will be graded on how much they interact with one another, and their development. Questions you might ask yourself are "Do I like or dislike this novel and why?" Don't ever say this is boring without trying to analyze what makes it boring. Remember somebody somewhere liked the work enough to get it published and read. You might also ask "Is this work important enough to be included in a class of literature?" or "Where have I read or seen (on TV or in the movies) these themes treated before?" "Would this make a good film?" JOURNALS WILL BE COLLECTED TWICE DURING THE SEMESTER AND ASSIGNED A JOURNAL GRADE. THEY WILL BE AVERAGED.

The Writing Project:

The writing project grade is actually a combination of the process and the final product of a literary research paper.

The Paper

You will be asked to analyze a novel either by gender issues, class structure,

historical elements, or some other mechanism. Your work should prove your idea by quoting from the text, histories and or critical articles. Your paper will be 12 to 15 pages long with a least four sources besides the actual work.

The Process

To be certain that individuals do not find themselves trying to pull this together at the last minute, students will submit elements of the paper in progress.

Each stage of the above process will be graded so that the process will account for 40% of the Writing Project grade and the finished paper will account for 60%.

Class Participation:

Attendance:

The most effective way of learning, as Socrates long ago discovered, is by trying one's ideas out on another and seeing what the response is. Since expressing your ideas is vital to do well in this class, you are expected to attend all class sessions. Three un-excused absences will mean three points off your final grade. The pattern will continue if the absences continue until the student has reaches seven. At that point the student may be asked to drop the class.

Discussion:

If a student sits like a silent lump of protoplasm there is no way for the other class members, the professor, nor the student him or herself to realize what insights the student has. Do not be surprised when I call on the quiet ones. Pragmatically I need the input to create an accurate grade, but it's also part of the fun of this class.

Remember, swimming is a joy, but you have to sometimes flounder a bit before you develop a strong stroke.

Class Etiquette

As a meeting of adults, the class is to be personified by respect for one another and for the instructor. Behavior which is excessively disruptive (private talking, passing notes, chewing gum like a cow, etc.) will not be tolerated. Also no hats will be worn during class sessions--this is not a ball park. "When I was a child I thought as a child but when I became a man (or woman) I put away childish things." Individuals who are not able to abide by these guidelines will be asked to drop the class.

Tests

There will be four tests given during the semester covering the assigned readings.

They will be usually 20 to 25 questions multiple choice, true or false, or identify the speaker. More tests will be given if discussion indicates lack of preparation.

Readings:

The student should try to read a third of the novel by the first date assigned. I know that this is not always possible, but the instructor shall go on faith that the student will read the novels in their entirety. If it becomes clear that there is rampant ignorance of a book, there very well could be an unannounced test.

Final Grading Scale:

A== 91 -- 100%

B== 83 -- 90%

C== 70-- 82%

D == 60 -- 69%

F == 00-- 59 %

Some Web Sites You May find Interesting:

http://humwww.ucsc.edu/dickens/index.html

http://www.helsinki.fi/kasv/nokol/dickens.html

http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Dickens.html

http://twine.stg.brown.edu/projects/hypertext/landow/victorian/dickens/dickensov.html

http://twine.stg.brown.edu/projects/hypertext/landow/victorian/victov.html

http://fmc.utm.edu/nvsa/index.htm

Actual Works we are reading on the Web

There are other works by Dickens which can be found on the web which I have not included since we will not be covering them this semester. However, the above pages will also give links to those if you are interested:

The Text for The Pickwick Papers

http://www.mk.net/~dt/Bibliomania/Fiction/dickens/Pickwick/index.html

The Text for Nicholas Nickleby

http://www.mk.net/~dt/Bibliomania/Fiction/dickens/Nickleby/index.html

The Text for Great Expectations

http://www.mk.net/~dt/Bibliomania/Fiction/dickens/greatexp/index.html

The Text for A Tale of Two Cities

http://www.mk.net/~dt/Bibliomania/Fiction/dickens/TaleOf2Cities/index.html

Spring Semester Schedule for Dickens

Week One Feb 05-07

Wed. Feb. 5 Intro. A Christmas Coral

Fri. Feb.7 Cricket on the Hearth

Week Two Feb. 10- 14

Mon. Feb. 10 Pickwick Papers

Wed. Feb. 12 Pickwick Papers

Fri. Feb. 14 TEST # 1 & Pickwick Papers

Week Three Feb. 17- 21

Mon. Feb. 17 Topic for Paper Due / Pickwick Papers

Wed. Feb. 19 Pickwick Papers

Fri. Feb. 21 Pickwick Papers Mid-Winter Christmas Party at 210 E. Burgess

Week Four Feb. 24- 28

Mon. Feb. 24 Oliver Twist

Wed. Feb. 26 Oliver Twist

Fri. Feb. 28 TEST #2 Oliver Twist

Week Five March 03- 07 Spring Revival

Mon. March 3 Hand in Journals (10 entries due) Nicholas Nickleby

Wed. March 5 Hand in Annotated Bibliography Nicholas Nickleby

Fri. March 7 Nicholas Nickleby

Week Six March 10- 14

Mon. March 10 Nicholas Nickleby

Wed. March 12 Nicholas Nickleby

Fri. March 14 Nicholas Nickleby

Week Seven March 17- 21

Mon. March 17 Thesis Due

Wed. March 19 Midterm & Last day for 1st Half Extra Credit Due

Fri. March 21 Spring Break hath started Spring Break

Week Eight March 24- 28

Mon. March 24 Spring Break

Wed. March 26 Spring Break

Fri. March 28 Spring Break

Week Nine March 31- April 04

Mon. March 31 Spring Break

Wed. April 2 No Class Junior / Senior testing & Faculty Meetings

Fri. April 4 David Copperfield

Week Ten April 07- 11

Mon. April 7 First two pages of paper due David Copperfield

Wed. April 9 David Copperfield

Fri. April 11 David Copperfield

Week Eleven April 14- 18

Mon. April 14 David Copperfield

Wed. April 16 TEST #3 David Copperfield

Fri. April 18 David Copperfield

Week Twelve April 21- 25

Mon. April 21 Great Expectations

Wed. April 23 Great Expectations

Fri. April 25 Hand in Journals (20 entries due) Great Expectations

Week Thirteen April 28- May 02

Mon. April 28 Tale of Two Cities

Wed. April 30 Tale of Two Cities

Fri. May 2 Tale of Two Cities

Week Fourteen May 05- 09

Mon. May 5 Bleak House

Wed. May 7 Bleak House

Fri. May 9 Last Day for 2nd Half Extra Credit to be handed in

Week Fifteen May 12- 16

Mon. May 12 Term Paper Due Bleak House

Wed. May 14 Hand in Journals (26 entries due) Bleak House

Fri. May 16 Bleak House

Week Sixteen May 19- 23 FINAL EXAM WEEK

Mon. May 19 Dickens Final Exam 8:00 - 9:50

Tues. May 20

Wed. May 21

Thurs. May 22

Fri. May 23

Dickens Final Mon. May 19 8-9:50

A Chronology of Dickens' Life:

Dickens, clerk, Navy Pay Office, son of butler and housekeeper, Crewe Hall. Mother:

Elizabeth Barrow, daughter of senior clerk, Navy Pay Office. Brothers and sisters living to

adulthood (two d. in infancy): Frances ("Fanny"), b. 1810; Letitia, b. 1816; Frederick, b.

1820; Alfred, b. 1822; Augustus, b. 1827.

John Dickens transferred to London 1814, to Chatham (near Rochester) 1817, back to

London late 1822. CD at school in Chatham 1821-22. Family settles winter 1822-23 at

Camden Town, northern suburb of London.

John Dickens imprisoned for debt during spring; family (except CD) joins him in Marshalsea

Prison lodgings.

Day pupil at Wellington House Academy, London.

Solicitor's clerk; studies shorthand.

Free-lance reporter at Doctors Commons courts. Regular reader at British Museum from

eighteenth birthday for several years. Meets Maria Beadnell (1830). Studies acting.

Shorthand reporter of Parliamentary proceedings for Mirror of Parliament (from 1831 or

early 1832). Reporter for evening newspaper True Sun March-July 1832. Bad cold

prevents theater audition. Beadnells send Maria to finishing school in Paris 1832.

December (eight more publ. in Monthly Magazine January 1834-February 1835.)

Furnival's Inn, Holborn.

monthly parts April (continues through November 1837). CD marries Catherine Hogarth 2

April; sixteen-year-old sister Mary Hogarth comes to stay with them at Furnival's Inn. Plays

produced: The Strange Gentleman and The Village Coquettes. Leaves Morning

Chronicle November, accepts editorship of new monthly Bentley's Miscellany. Sketches

by Boz (second series) publ. December. First meeting with John Forster December.

completion of serial publication; mention omitted hereafter). Son Charles Culliford Boz born

6 January (other children and birthdates: Mary 1838, Kate Macready 1839, Walter Landor

1841, Francis Jeffrey 1844, Alfred Tennyson 1845, Sydney Smith1847, Henry Fielding

1849, Dora Annie 1850 [d. 1851], Edward Bulwer Lytton 1852). Oliver Twist begins

monthly in Bentley's Miscellany February (continues through April1839). CD moves to

house at 48 Doughty St. April (now Dickens House, home of Dickens Fellowship). Mary

Hogarth dies 7 May; PP and OT suspended one month.

Nicholas Nickleby begins in monthly parts April (continues through October 1839). OT

publ. in 3 vols. November (before completion of serial publication).

BM in January. Planning begins July for weekly periodical edited by CD. Kate born 29

October. CD moves to 1 Devonshire Terrace, York Gate, Regent's Park December (family

home until1851).

MHC 25 April (continuously from 16 May through 6 February 1841). MHC, vol 1, publ.

October.

MHC 13 February (continuing weekly through final part 27 November). MHC, vol.2, publ.

April. CD travels in Scotland with Catherine June-July; decides (September) to visit United

States. One-vol. editions of

1842 CD travels with Catherine in United States and Canada January-June. Catherine's

fifteen-year-old sister Georgina becomes permanent member of CD household. American

Notes publ. in 2 vols. October.

November CD tells Forster of intent to go abroad for extended period. A Christmas Carol

publ. December.

periodical (spring). CD family to Italy July, settling in Genoa. CD travels in Italy November;

in London December to read The Chimes to friends. The Chimes (Christmas book) publ.

December. CD leaves publishers Chapman and Hall for Bradbury and Evans.

weekly periodical (title The Cricket) July. Manages and performs in amateur production of

Jonson's Every Man in His Humour September. Alfred born 28 October. CD agrees

November to edit new daily newspaper. The Cricket on the Hearth (Christmas book)

publ. December.

Pictures from Italy publ. May. CD family goes abroad May, settling at Lausanne,

Switzerland, moving to Paris November. CD begins writing Dombey and Son June. D&S

begins in monthly parts October (continues through April 1848). The Battle of Life

(Christmas book) publ. December.

provides active advice and superintendence for establishment by heiress Angela

Burdett-Coutts of Urania Cottage, for helping prostitutes begin new lives abroad. (CD

collaborates with Miss Coutts in this and many other welfare projects for the next dozen

years.) Cheap Edition of CD's works begun (in weekly numbers and complete volumes).

Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Sister Fanny (Mrs. Henry Burnett) dies of

TB September. The Haunted Man (last Christmas book) publ. December.

through November 1850). Letters to Times November protesting public hangings. The Life

of Our Lord written for CD's children (unpubl. until 1934). Thinking again of weekly

miscellany toward end of year.

Heavy editorial work becomes part of CD's life from now on. (Subeditor W. H. Wills

manages CD periodicals until ill health forces resignation 1868). Dora Annie born 16 August.

Amateur theatricals November at home of novelist Bulwer-Lytton, with whom CD promotes

Guild of Literature and Art.

poor health from Annie dies April. CD moves to Tavistock House November (family home

until 1860). Begins writing Bleak House November.

Bulwer Lytton (Plorn) born 13 March. CD works with Miss Coutts on low-income housing.

Amateur theatricals.

History of England September (running in HW since early 1851). Tours Italy with Augustus

Egg and Wilkie Collins October-December. Gives first public reading (a benefit) from his

novels December in Birmingham. CHE publ. complete December.

continues through 12 August. CD family in Boulogne summer and early fall.

meet. CD begins writing Little Dorrit May. Amateur theatrical production of Collins's The

Lighthouse June. CD family to Paris October. Little Dorrit begins in monthly parts

December (continues through June 1857).

August). Hill Place near Rochester. CD returns to London April, family to Boulogne in June (until

CD-Collins collaboration on play The Frozen Deep completed October.

performed January in Tavistock House. Gad's Hill renovated; CD family to Gad's Hill for

summer. Hans Christian Andersen visits CD June-July. Son Walter (age sixteen) to India as

cadet in East India Co. regiment July. The Frozen Deep revived in July, special performance

for queen; Ellen Ternan joins cast for August performance in Manchester. CD to Scotland

with Collins September. Letter to Forster (August/September) discusses incompatibility of

CD and Catherine. CD considers public readings for pay.

Catherine, with considerable publicity and bitterness. Quarrel with Thackeray. First

provincial readings August-November, more London readings begin 24 December.

April, closes HW down 28 May. Breaks with Bradbury and Evans, returns to Chapman and

Hall. A Tale of Two Cities (begun in AYR opening number) continues weekly through 15

November. Public readings October and at Christmas.

naval cadet January. Daughter Kate marries Charles Collins (Wilkie's brother) 17 July.

Brother Alfred dies 27 July. September: CD sells Tavistock House, moves to Gad's Hill;

burns quantities of personal letters; begins writing Great Expectations. Begins publishing

GE in AYR 1 December to stem fading circulation.

husband (Henry Austin) dies October. Public readings in provinces begin October (some

readings canceled December on Prince Albert's death). Son Charles marries Bessie Evans

(daughter of CD's former publisher) November.

against Australian reading tour. To Paris October.

September. CD agrees late September to begin new novel in the spring. Reconciled with

Thackeray a week before Thackeray's death December. Son Walter dies in India 31

December.

publishing in monthly parts May (continues through November 1865). CD's health poor;

suffering from lameness (probably gout) at end of year.

Ternan, returning from Paris holiday, in train wreck 9 June; CD badly shaken up.

Brother Augustus dies in Chicago October.

Ireland January-May; Agrees September to American reading tour. Farewell dinner in

London 2 November. CD sails 9 November. American tour opens in Boston December.

CD's health worsens. Plans another tour in England for fall 1868.

Profits total nearly19,000. CD returns to England April. Bad health forces subeditor Wills's

retirement summer; CD takes over AYR duties. Son Edward emigrates to Australia

September. Son Henry to Cambridge University October. New series of readings begins 6

October. Brother Frederick dies October. CD gives sensational new reading (death of

Nancy in OT) to private audience 14 November.

provincial series discontinued 20 April by doctor's orders. CD draws up will in May. Begins

writing Mystery of Edwin Drood late summer-early fall.

mid-March. Mystery of Edwin Drood begins in monthly parts April (continuing as far as

written through September). Work and social life as usual in May. CD directs private

theatrical production late May-early June. Suffers stroke 8 June at Gads Hill after full day's

work. Dies 9 June. Buried West Minster Abbey 14 June.

This extract is taken from Harland S. Nelson, Charles Dickens [Boston: Twayne

Publishers, 1981]

Dr. Rearick found this chronology on The Dickens Page

http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/CD-Chro.html