The module will introduce students to a variety of forms of prose fiction in the period 1740-1830. The module will give students an understanding of how the novel developed in the century following the earliest British examples.

(LO1) Substantial knowledge of prose fiction in the latter half of the 'long eighteenth century'

(LO2) Understanding of some central issues and options in genre and in narrative form and their consequences.

(LO3) Understanding of the uses of 'realism' and its contraries, in an important phase of the development of the novel.

(LO4) Understanding of such concepts as sensibility, 'sense' and 'prudence', the gothic the supernatural, and understanding some of their uses.

(S1) Information skills - Critical reading

(S2) Research skills - All Information skills

The Novel: 1740-1830 is a course for anyone interested in the novel. If you enjoyed Romantic and pre-Romantic literature, you might like this, as it covers much of the same period, but with an emphasis on novels rather than poetry. If you studied Milton to Johnson, this picks up the story of what happened to the novel after Defoe and Richardson. If you took Victorian Literature, this is the story of how the novel got to the point where writers such as the Brontës and Dickens could appear. Topics covered will typically include prose fictions from the period 1740-1824, with particular attention to the interwoven issues of realism and counter-realism, genre and narrative, sensibility, education, the gothic and the supernatural.

Teaching Method 1 - Online workshop
Description: Students in a larger group hearing about and discussing the set reading for the week in question
Teaching Method 2 - Tutorial
Description: Students in a smaller group discussing about the set reading for the week in question