Reading

Below is a list of required books available at the College store:

Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret (Broadview, ISBN 9781551113579/1)
Bronte, Jayne Eyre (Norton, 978-0393975420)
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (Oxford, 978-0199536252)
Hardy, Jude the Obscure (Norton, 978-0393972788)
Lunsford, Ed., The St. Martin’s Handbook (Bedford/St. Martins 978-0312602932)
Murfin and Ray, Eds., The Bedford Glossary of Literary and Critical Terms (Bedford, 978-0312461881)
Shelley, Frankenstein (978-0393927931)

There’s no way around the fact that the novels we’re reading are long.  In class, we’ll talk about that and other challenges presented by these texts.  I will also ask you to think (and often write) about what you’re doing as you read.  What strategies have you devised for keeping track of things?  How long are your reading sessions?  How frequent?  Get in the habit of marking the text as you read so that you have an initial record of what you noticed.   (The “annotated passages” assignments will give you practice with these kinds of questions, too.)

It is important that everyone in the class have the same editions so that, during discussion, we can all turn quickly and easily to the same page.  In addition, although some of our course texts are available in other editions, not all editions are reliable.  And some provide better textual notes (better for the purposes of our class) than others.  I had all of these issues in mind when I selected the books for this course.  If you do not buy your books at the College Store, please check the ISBN numbers to be sure you have the same edition.  Wherever you buy your books, be sure you have them in time to fully prepare for class.  Remember that the College Store returns texts around midterm.

Finally, I expect you to bring to every class whatever texts are up for discussion (including handouts and any assigned writing); should you forget (it happens), be sure to sit next to someone with whom you can look on.  And if you notice the person next to you without a book, please offer to share.