Home > Courses > Engl 660: Dickens and Thackeray

Spring 2004
Professor Naomi Wood
Office: 128 English/Counseling Services Building (formerly Lafene)
Office Hours: TU 4-5 and by appointment
Phone: 532-2159

This semester we'll experience two of the most important writers of the Victorian period, Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray. Dickens, of A Christmas Carol fame, is famous for his combination of sentiment and hard-hitting social commentary; while Thackeray, whose "breakthrough" work was called The Book of Snobs, privileges detached analysis. Contemporaries and, to a certain extent, rivals, Dickens and Thackeray allow us to compare two attitudes towards fiction: the one seeks to move emotionally through an appeal to emotion and sensation, while the other asks us to analyze, reflectively and ironically. There are many other points of comparison, but their novels are terrific: funny, heart-rending, expansive.
 
My goals for this class:
 
         * To read and enjoy their writing
         * To respond to and analyze the different aesthetics of each author
         * To develop a sense of each author's historical and literary context
         * To develop an ongoing interest in these authors and through them, this period
 
Student activities related to class goals
 
            * Read the selections for each week by the beginning of that week
            * Complete homework and take quizzes
            * Write 2 essays
            * Write 2 exams
 
Books (Available at Claflin Books and Copies. Paperback edition if not otherwise noted.)