Tuesday, February 2nd
“Company at Play, plate 8 from Comforts of Bath, 1798” by Thomas Rowlandson
Northanger Abbey (Volume I, Chapters 1-15, pp. 38-137). Blog post on Austen’s 1809 letter to Crosby & Co.
Excerpts on narrative techniques: James Wood, from How Fiction Works (pdf), Jonathan Culler, from Literary Theory: a very short introduction, “Narrative” (pdf), and class notes (pdf)
Free Indirect Discourse: “the way, in many narratives, that the reports of what a character says and thinks shift in pronouns, adverbs, tense, and grammatical mode, as we move — or sometimes hover — between the direct narrated reproductions of these events as they occur to the character and the indirect representation of such events by the narrator” (from Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms)
“Discourse that is represented, rather than directly related, to the reader . . . in which the thoughts, statements, and even dialogues engaged in by the characters are recounted to the reader” (The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms)
Weekly Writing Prompt:
Drawing upon the critical reading for today, apply at least two or three concepts to the first volume of Northanger Abbey.
Thursday, February 4th
Northanger Abbey (Volume II, pp. 137-239)
Watch approximately the first 10 minutes of two adaptations:
Northanger Abbey. Directed by Giles Foster, performances by Katharine Schlesinger, Peter Firth, and Robert Hardy, British Broadcasting Company, 1987. (1 hour and 28 minutes). Available for viewing at the UGA library and streaming for free on Amazon Prime.
Northanger Abbey. Directed by Jon Jones, screenplay by Andrew Davies, performances by Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, and Carey Mulligan, Granada Television and ITV Productions, 2007. (2 hours). Available for free streaming with PBS Passport, as are most of the BBC adaptations. Available for rent on other platforms.
Presentation: Catherine Morland’s World / Savannah Thornton
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Jane Austen’s House in the village of Chawton, Hampshire, UK. Now the Jane Austen House Museum.
Chawton House, one of Edward Austen Knight’s homes. Now a library dedicated to the work of women’s writing, as well as a restored home and garden open to visitors.
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Tuesday, February 9th: Multimedia Presentation first draft due
Sense and Sensibility (Volume I)
Definitions of Sense and Sensibility: sense_sensibility
Weekly Writing Prompts due by Thursday, the 11th:
- Using the definitions above, provide evidence for the ways in which Elinor represents “sense” and Marianne “sensibility” in the first volume of the novel.
- Can it also be argued that Elinor reveals “sensibility” and Marianne “sense” in Volume I?
Screenshot of movement in the novel
Link to The Jane Austen House Museum and Chawton House. A video celebrating Austen’s bicentenary in 2017.
Thursday, February 11th
Sense and Sensibility (Volume II, Chapters 1 through 8)
Viewing:
Sense and Sensibility. Directed by Ang Lee, screenplay by Emma Thompson, performances by Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, and Alan Rickman, Columbia Pictures, 1995. Available for viewing at the UGA library and for rent on Amazon Prime, streaming on STARZ and Hulu.
Sense and Sensibility. Directed by John Alexander, screenplay by Andrew Davies, performances by Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, Janet McTeer, and Dan Stevens, British Broadcasting Company, 2008. (2 hours and 54 minutes). Streaming on Amazon Prime and other platforms.
Presentations:
Wills and Primogeniture / Hunter Green
Class in Austen’s England / Ashley Cook
Women’s Education in the Age of Jane Austen / Abigail Yori
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Tuesday, February 16th: We will not meet today but please use the class time to finish view either a complete Sense and Sensibility adaptation, or clips from another. We’ll discuss the novel and criticism on Thursday
Sense and Sensibility (Finish the novel)
Online Austen: Mary Poovey, from “Ideological Contradictions and the Consolations of Form” [from The Proper Lady and the Woman Writer]
Weekly Writing Prompts:
- Choose one or two sentences from Mary Poovey’s chapter excerpt that you feel best summarize her essay’s main argument.
- Argue either for or against Poovey’s thesis. Make sure that you support your argument with direct evidence from the text.
- I’ll be looking at your use of MLA parenthetical citation here. I’d also like to see you practicing Works Cited citation, so for this prompt you will need to provide 2 citations: i.e. the novel and Poovey’s chapter excerpt.
How to properly cite novels and excerpted works posted on Online Austen: Works Cited Example.
Instructional Break on Feb. 17th
No office hours today. Please contact me if you’d like to
set up a meeting during the week.
Thursday, February 18th
Discuss Sense and Sensibility, the Poovey article listed above, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, “Jane Austen and the Masturbating Girl”
Presentation: Evening Fashion in the 1790s and early 1800s / Amber George
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Tuesday, February 23rd
Pride and Prejudice (Volume I)
Weekly Writing Prompts:
1. The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is one of the best known in British literature, but what does it actually mean and whose voice is it? “Who speaks?” here? Support your assertion with direct evidence from the text.2. In Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney suggests that dance can be seen as a metaphor for marriage. If that is true, what do the dancing (and non-dancing) scenes in the first volume of Pride and Prejudice suggest about the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy?
How rich was Mr. Darcy? A BBC “More or Less” podcast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvq3g
Viewing:
Pride and Prejudice. Directed by Simon Langton, dramatized byAndrew Davies, performances by Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, BBC Television and BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc., 1995. (5 hours and 23 minutes) Available on Amazon Prime to rent, Hulu and HBO Max with subscription.
Pride and Prejudice. Directed by Joe Wright, screenplay by Deborah Moggach, performances by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden, Focus Features, 2005. (2 hours and 9 minutes) Available on Amazon Prime to rent, Hulu, Showtime with subscription, as well on other platforms.
Presentations:
Dance / Abigail Maschino
Everyday Fashion: what did the Bennet sisters wear during the day? / Mallorie Mitchell
Thursday, February 25th
Pride and Prejudice : We will continue discussing Volume I but please read the first four chapters of Volume II
Middle-Class London: where did the Gardiners live? / Ryan Hernan
Viewing:
Trailer for the 1940 Pride and Prejudice
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