Reading Pamela and Tom Jones

In this course we are going to read two of the most important novels of the eighteenth century: Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones. As the two novels represent two opposing positions about novel writing (one more introvert and emotional, the other more extrovert and partly satirical), they are ideal test cases to train your skills for analyzing and interpreting narrative texts. Moreover, as critical literature on the two books is abundant, they provide a good basis for your first steps towards writing a term paper: there is enough material to probe your skills in bibliography and, especially, your ability to position your own paper within already existing research results. Our analyses and interpretations will be concerned with formal aspects (such as character or point of view) as well as with how the two authors engage with topics of their time (such as gender, class, politics or the role of literature in society). Within Modul 2 (Methoden) of the new BA-LKM programme, this course is complemented with the course -Points of View: Analysing Narrative Texts”. It is therefore highly recommended that students of the new BA-LKM take these two courses together, as that course is going to provide the methodological foundations for the term paper. Participants must BUY the following editions of Pamela and Tom Jones (and ONLY THESE!) Samuel Richardson, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. Ed. Margaret Ann Doody. Penguin Classics Edition. London: Penguin, 2003). Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Eds. John Bender and Simon Stern. Oxford World’s Classics (Oxford: OUP, 2008) Seminar für Anglistik BA-LKM neu: Modul 1 abgeschlossen BA-LKM alt: Module 1-3 abgeschlossen Lehramt (alt): Zwischenprüfung 2 LP and 3 LP Studienleistung: active participation in class (which includes reading the texts) PLUS six contributions on the novels and on research methods to the moodle forum, PLUS short oral presentation. If the number of participants exceeds the number of presentation slots, a short written assignment (1.000-1.500 words) can be handed in as alternative to the oral presentation (Deadline: 8 July 2012) 5 LP: active participation in class (which includes reading the texts) PLUS six contributions on the novels and on research methods to the moodle forum, PLUS short oral presentation with visualization and written elaboration (2.000-3.000 words) to be handed in by 12 August 2012 7 LP: active participation in class (which includes reading the texts) PLUS six contributions on the novels and on research methods to the moodle forum, PLUS oral presentation session with visualization PLUS written term paper (3.500-4.500 words) to be handed in by 9 September 2012 3 LP Modulabschluss (new BA): written term paper (3.500-4.500 words), to be handed in by 9 September 2012 Universität Siegen SoSe 2012 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja