Well, the grades

are finally in; they are wending their way through the datatel system and should be available shortly. If they aren’t, email me and I can give you yours.

Thank you all for your patience.

There are a couple of you with work that is either outstanding or has gone astray. If your mark looks suspiciously low yet you turned everything in, contact me.

I didn’t write much on the papers in the interests of time, but am more than happy to meet with any (or all!) of you individually to sit down and go over it. The papers will be in the Hum & Lang. office Monday.

I enjoyed reading your papers and exams; things really seemed to come together there and it was good to see. I wish you all the best in your courses this term.

 

Exam reminders

The sit-down exam is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 02:00PM in HH239. You will have three hours, though I doubt most of you will need that long. You are allowed to bring in one piece of paper, 8½ x 11 “, written or printed on one side.

If you are doing the take-home, it needs to get to me, either a hard copy or electronically, by the beginning of the sit-down exam.

I have posted the presentations I have received. If you have one to share, please send it to me as a plain PPT file, or as a PDF file. My Macintosh does not like zip files, for some reason.

Best of luck with this, and your other, exams!

 

The presentation

from the Evelina group is now up; I know you are all busy but if you have a moment you might want to give your colleagues some feedback.

I think I have posted all the presentations I have received; if any of you have others, please send them on.

 

As you will know

by now, I canceled class. Hearing on the radio that the schools, UNBF, and NBCC have all closed for the day, plus just looking out the window at my unplowed driveway and knowing that many of you have to come a lot further than I do, made it seem like a prudent idea.

And prudence, as you will know, was an important value in the eighteenth century.

I am sorry that we are missing the final class, and particularly that Beth, Gil, and Kerry will not be able to present their work (they will, however, send on their PPT and I will post it to the schedule).

The take-home questions are posted, below. If you can, I would appreciate it if you could drop me a line and let me know whether you will be doing the take-home or the sit-down exam.

A few notes on the sit-down:

It is scheduled for Tues. Dec. 11 at 2pm in HH239. You will have three hours. The exam will offer a choice of questions, and will (probably) consist of a combination of longer and shorter essay questions.

Any questions, comment on this post or email me.

See you soon.

Dr. J.

 

Take-home questions

Choose four texts from those we have read. Choose texts by four different writers, and only include material you have not written on for your paper (though other texts by a writer you have treated are fair game). Choose one of the following approaches and write 5-6 pages:

1) Discuss how the texts act in conversation with each other, either explicitly or by implication.

2) Discuss in which ways the texts prefigure the modern novel, and in which ways they draw on existing or previous literary forms.

3) During this period the novel and related forms lacked critical gravitas. As such, they were accessible to writers from marginalized groups who might not have so easily been able to participate in high literary culture. Discuss the ways in which the concerns of such groups or individuals are refracted through the texts.

4) Discuss the texts in relation to the literary marketplace (the ways in which the texts were produced, published, distributed, and/or received).

 

Final class

 [this is a copy of an email message just sent out]:

Hello folks,

If today wasn’t the final class I would probably cancel it here and now, given the weather. But it is the final class and three people are due to present and so I would like to hold off making that decision until later this morning. I will understand if some of you cannot wait to hear, because of getting rides and whatnot, and I will also understand if some of you choose not to risk the drive even if we do end up holding the class.

If we do end up canceling, those due to present can make their notes available to me and discuss some options, such as posting material for the class to their blogs and/or the course blog.

(Further to that, most but not all of you have sent me your presentation notes to post; if possible, could the rest of you do so?)

I will get back to you by 11:30 this morning with final word.

Ah the joys of a bracing Canadian Autumn!

 

Presentations

One person (thanks, Meaghan!) has sent in a PowerPoint and I linked it from the schedule. If anyone else finds theirs (!) and sends it in, I will continue to do the same.

 

Tuesday

If anyone is going to F’ton to the rally and march, I will not be taking attendance and will be more than happy to meet and go over what you missed later in the week.

 

Class cancelled on Tuesday Nov. 20

This will no doubt be crushing news, but I am canceling class on Tues. Nov. 20 because the Graduate Students’ Assn. in F’ton is having a demonstration at noon and I i) want to allow you to attend if you are able; and ii) have agreed to speak at it myself. Since we have two classes on Evelina, we will fold that discussion into one. So, the Gothic next week, and the final week on Evelina.

Second thing: if any of you would like to sign this letter, please drop me a line. No pressure, either to sign or to attend the demo.

See you next week!

 

Bonus marks!

You can earn 1% extra on your final grade by attending a performance of Dracula at the Imperial this weekend (proof required: either a programme or bite marks on your neck). Earn another 1%, for a total of 2%, by writing a brief review.

Don’t say I never gave ya nothin.