ENGL 250

Spring 2022 Part of Term 1

Part of Term 1
Jan 18-May 4

Nineteenth-Century American Fiction

SHOW FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Credit: 3 hours.

Nineteenth-century fiction gave us some of the most iconic images in American culture--the scarlet letter, the white whale--and some of the most captivating works about American life and society. This course will explore how fictional texts articulated the problems of nineteenth-century democracy, including the crises over slavery leading to the Civil War, and the rise of large-scale capitalism and urban modernity later in the century. We will look at such literary movements as sentimentalism, sensationalism, realism, and naturalism, among others. Writers studied might include Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, Mark Twain, Pauline Hopkins, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, and many others.

Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2022 for:

Cultural Studies - Western

Humanities – Lit & Arts

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ENGL 250 class schedule data for spring 2022
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	32064	Lecture-Discussion	E	1:00PM -1:50PM	MWF	137 Henry Administration Bldg	Henningsen, K	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/18/22-05/04/22 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course. Section Info: SP22 ENGL 250 - Theme: Bodies, Books, Genders, and Genres. This course explores how fictional texts articulated sex/gender and race through representations of print culture and material practices in the nineteenth century. Over the course of the semester, we will map a constellation of relationships between bodies, books, genders, and genres by asking: how are material practices such as letter writing, reading, and printing depicted in fiction and what do these representations tell us about the construction of sex/gender and race in the nineteenth century? Likewise, what can the formation of particular genres—from the seduction novel to the cross-dressing plot—teach us about sex/gender and race? How did books and their materiality contribute to the consolidation of white cisheteronormativity by the end of the nineteenth century? To answer these questions, we will read a range of texts including novels and short stories alongside readings in Book History. Course readings, discussions, and writing assignments will also be supplemented by visits to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Krannert Art Museum, and a “Material Texts Lab” where students will be able to explore the relationship between material practices and sex/gender and race by making a variety of objects using nineteenth century methods (no art or craft skills required).