American Realism & Naturalism

Does realistic fiction represent the world as we know it, or does it imagine it as we think we'd like to see it? Many who have looked into the literature of the American Realist era (ca. 1875-1920) have sought to determine what manner of world Realist and Naturalist fiction tries to imagine and, hence, present to its readers. Some have read these ostensibly real (re)presentations of the world as bearing suggestions of a liberating possibility, while others (more recently) have interpreted the fictions of this era as promulgating a stifling social order based on class, privilege, and economic determinacy. This course will take up these questions in both their historical and theoretical dimensions, by examining eight representative texts of the Realist era: Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady (1881); Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885); William Dean Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes (1889); Stephen Crane, Maggie (1893); Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896); Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899); Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie (1900); and Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence (1920). Each of these novels deals in a variety of ways with issues familiar to American realism, issues that will serve as the basis for our in-class discussion: the representation and inscription of difference (class, cultural, racial, gender); marriage and social status; gender politics and the making of the man; the theatricality of culture; the authenticity and representability of “the real”; and, of course, the formal and stylistic features that make these novels so interesting to read.

Requirements: active participation in class discussion, presentations, research paper.

photo credit

Required Texts (available at the WMU Bookstore):

• Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, ed. Jan Cohn (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001).
• Mark Twain, Adventures of Hucklebnerry Finn, ed. (Berkeley: U of California P, 2001).
• William Dean Howells, A Hazard of New Fortune, ed. David J. Nordloh (NY: Modern Library, 2002).
• Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, ed. Thomas A Gullason (NY: Norton, 1979).
• Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs (NY: Signet, 2000).
• Kate Chopin, The Awakening, ed. Margo Culley (NY: Norton, 1994)
• Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie, ed. Donald Pizer (NY: Norton, 1991).
• Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, ed. Carol J. Singley (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000).

  For your research, you may wish to start with the following bibliography of secondary materials.

Course Requirements and Grading:

• Final research project (incl. one-page proposal) . . . . . 35%
  • UG students: 10-page research paper
  • Graduate: 15-page research paper.
• Annotated Bibliography . . . . . 20%
  • UG students: minimum 5 entries
• G students: minimum 10 entries.
• This assignment asks you to compile a bibliography of printed secondary sources that will be useful to you in pursuing your proposed research project.
• Four short (2 pp) papers . . . . . 15%
  • For each assigned novel I will be handing out a reading/directed writing question. Over the course of the semester you are responsible for writing four (4) 2-page papers in response to these questions. These are due and will only be accepted on the day we discuss the novel.
• Panel Discussion Group . . . . . 15%
  • Each Tuesday's discussion will be initiated and conducted by a panel of respondents. This panel will come to class with at least five discussion questions prepared and typed out in advance. The presentation of material may include bits of historical context for the text in question and also initial interpretations of the reading or a section of the reading. No one is exempt from this requirement.
• Preparedness, Attendance, Participation . . . . . 15%

The Fine Print:

• Regular attendance is expected, since there will be fascinating and informative interpretations available nowhere else (i.e., no "lecture notes" beyond those you take yourself). Each absence beyond 3 will result in the lowering of one's final grade by 3 points.
• All written work for this course must be typed or word processed. Papers must be double-spaced, printed in 12 pt. Times-Roman or similar typeface, with one-inch margins and a snappy, makes-me-want-to-read-more title.
• Late assignments will lose one third of a grade (i.e., from A- to B+) for every calendar day late. You need to complete all assigned work in order to receive a passing grade.
• All work submitted in this course must be your own and must be written exclusively for this course. The use of sources needs to be properly documented, using the standard MLA format. You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures that pertain to Academic Integrity (UG Catalog 268-70; Graduate 24-26). These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.