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REQUIRED TEXTS
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
The Last Man
Lodore
Valperga; or The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca
Coursepack (Mathilda & Transformation)
OPTIONAL
Bennett, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: An Introduction
The Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851)
The Journals of Mary Shelley (1814-1844)
Shelley, Collected Tales and Stories
Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of our Ideas of the
Sublime and Beautiful
Kant, The Critique of Judgement
Week I 1/9 Introduction: Mary Shelley as Romantic Novelist & Romantic Quest Romanance
Week 2 1/14 Frankenstein
1/16 Frankenstein
Week 3 1/21 Frankenstein
1/23 Frankenstein
Week 4 1/28 Valperga
1/30 Valperga
Week 5 2/4 Valperga
2/6 The Last Man
PAPER #1 DUE
Week 6 2/11 Shelley Circle Special Collections (Barchas room, Special Collections, Green Library)
2/13 The Last Man
Week 7: 2/18 The Last Man
2/20 The Last Man
Week 8 2/25 Mathilda
2/27 Mathilda & Transformation
PAPER #2 DUE
Week 9 3/4 Lodore
3/6 Lodore
Week 10 3/11 Lodore
3/13 Lodore
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Class participation: spoken involvement in seminar discussion (20%)
The success of this seminar will depend on your ability to work together as a group to discover the exciting paradoxes and complexities of Shelley's fiction, so being a silent auditor is not an option. (If you are shy, this is your chance to come out!)
2) Two 2-3 pp. Context Papers (2 total: 20% each)
The objective of these context papers is to integrate some aspect of the cultural context for Shelley's fiction into a discussion of the text. The goal is to use this material as windows into, or opportunities to illuminate, the narrative in a unique way. Your paper should consider how a particular site in the text can be opened up when viewed in the light of the literary, scientific, social, historical, political, or philosophical concerns of the day.
The paper will be presented in class as a guide to discussion, and so should conclude with broader questions about the novel that grow out of the topic.
2) One final 8 pp. paper due by 4:30pm, Friday, March 15, in my mailbox 460-422
(40%)
This paper is an opportunity to pursue innovative, cutting-edge work on Mary
Shelley. It may be an expansion of one of your context papers (though it need
not be limited to this if you have another idea you prefer). A paper conference
is advised, as well as an early start!