English 463
Contemporary Novel in English
Spring 2001
Dr. Gass
Office:  UH440
Office Hours:  M 3:00-4:00, W 3:00-4:00, and T 1:30-2:30
Office Telephone: 278-2713
e-mail: jgass@fullerton.edu 
fax: 714-895-5751 

Syllabus 

Required Texts:  (All books are available at the Little Professor Book Center on Placentia Ave. in the Kinko=s center.) 

Byatt, A.S.  Possession. Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679735909 

Coetzee, J. M.  Foe. Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 014009623X 

Cunningham, Michael.  The Hours.  Picador USA; ISBN: 0312243022 

DeLillo, Don.  Underworld.   Scribner; ISBN: 0684848155 

Desai, Anita. Clear Light of Day.  Houghton Mifflin; ISBN: 0618074511 

Ducornet, Rikki.  The Fan-Maker's Inquisition: A Novel of the Marquis De Sade. Ballantine Books (Trd Pap); ISBN: 03454410 

Head, Bessie.  When Rain Clouds Gather.  Heinemann; ISBN: 0435909614  
 
Kincaid, Jamaica.  The Autobiography of My Mother. Plume; ISBN: 0452274664  
   
Naipaul, V. S. A Way in the World. Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679761667

Ondaatje, Michael.   The English Patient.     Knopf; ISBN: 0679416781                     

Roth, Philip. American Pastoral. Vintage Books; ISBN: 0375701427  

Rushdie, Salman. The Ground Beneath Her Feet

 

Course Description: The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following as its first definition of the adjective “contemporary”:  Belonging to the same time, age, or period; living, existing, or occurring together in time.  This semester, I've decided to take the Oxford English Dictionary at its word, so to speak, and to focus this course on contemporary novels--meaning those written in English during your lifetimes--not mine; we'd have to go back too far!! Therefore, I've chosen novels written in English and published in the last twenty years. I have tried to include examples of contemporary fiction from most of the English-speaking world; you will find novels from South Africa, India, England, the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada. Obviously, I've left out many important authors and their works. For example, there is no novel from Australia or New Zealand. Philip Carey, Colleen McCullough, and Patrick White--all Aussies--have been left out. If we had "world enough and time," we'd have many others.  I haven't even necessarily chosen the most famous authors, best-reviewed novels, or the best-selling ones.  I've chosen, in some cases, authors of towering stature, like Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, and Salman Rushdie. But I've also chosen lesser-known writers like Rikki Ducornet, Jamaica Kincaid, Michael Cunningham (whose The Hours actually is a best seller), Anita Desai, and Michael Ondaatje. I've also chosen authors not known to you but ones whose worldwide stature is unquestioned--Bessie Head, J.M. Coetzee (pronounced Kurtzie), V.S. Naipaul, and A.S. Byatt. 

 

It has been said that a work of art is a metaphor for the “real” world. I’m willing to accept this statement, and I’d like for our class to spend its time asking ourselves how these novels represent, metaphorically, our contemporary world.  Why, for example, do some novelists write about other novels, or other times? What role does history play in this work which is, ostensibly, a metaphor for our times?  Novelists who set their works in our contemporary times make it easier for us, perhaps.  

Course Requirements:    

1.  Read the assigned materials before class discussion.  This is, after all, a reading course, and you will be doing a lot of reading, so be prepared.   

2.  Be prepared to participate in discussion of the readings every day.  Ask questions; contribute ideas; challenge assumptions.  Your responses are important; there is no such thing as a stupid question.  

3.  Take three take-home written essay examinations (two mid-terms and one final).  Examination questions will be handed out one week before they are due.  

4.  Make one substantial presentation to the class in which you teach the novel to the class. Included in the presentation should be information pertinent to the background, culture, history, etc. of one of the novels. You and your group must decide how you are going to approach teaching us the novel you have chosen.  You will be working with a small group on this project.  Groups will be formed and novels assigned the first class meeting. Group presentations will begin in the 10^th week of class with American Pastoral, then Underworld, and, finally, The Ground Beneath Her Feet.  Since I have scheduled two weeks for each novel, each group will have plenty of time to make its presentations. If the class is large, we will have two groups per novel. Once you have signed up for a group, I suggest that you start reading, a bit at a time, the novel you’ve chosen along with the other class reading.  

5.  Attend class regularly.  

Attendance Policy:  Regular attendance is essential to your success in this course.  If you miss six (6) or more class hours, you cannot receive a grade higher than a 'C' in the course, no matter how well you do on examinations and presentations.  One third of your grade is comprised of class participation, which includes regular attendance.  A warm body in the classroom is worth about 100 points; you must earn the other 100 points.