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The English Novel: Interdisciplinary Approaches

By Prof. Smita Jha, Prof. Aruni Mahapatra   |   IIT Roorkee
Learners enrolled: 1631   |  Exam registration: 650
ABOUT THE COURSE:
The novel is the paradigmatic genre of our times—or is it? On one hand, it is what most readers understand as literature. First year college students often mistakenly write “novel” when they mean “literary text,” and publishers report highest sales figures for novels. On the other hand, more people have seen the films or TV shows than have read the texts of the most well-known novels of our time. In this course students will study six powerful English novels by focusing on both the print version and the film adaptation of the same. Students will learn how to approach novels from the perspective of authorial backgrounds, narratology, adaptation theory, and new work in literary theory, including environmental and medical humanities. By completing this course, students will be equipped with the most sophisticated and innovative skills of interpreting novels, and a critical appreciation of some of the most frequently studied novels in English literature classrooms all over the world.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:
This course will appeal to the following audiences:
1. Individuals engaged in the formal study of English Literature at the UG, PG, and Ph.D level.
2. Individuals pursuing their study of English Literature from their own interest.
3. General readers who have read classic English novels on their own, and wish to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the history, context, and theory of the English novel.

PREREQUISITES: Ability to read and write English prose.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT:
All industries today value key critical thinking skills that can be gained from literary studies:
  1. Textual Analysis and Linguistic and textual analysis
  2. Clear and persuasive writing
  3. Persuasive communication through effective writing
  4. Decision making
  5. Leadership
  6. Emotional Intelligence
  7. A wide range of soft skills including interpersonal relations
Summary
Course Status : Completed
Course Type : Elective
Language for course content : English
Duration : 8 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points : 2
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 22 Jul 2024
End Date : 13 Sep 2024
Enrollment Ends : 05 Aug 2024
Exam Registration Ends : 16 Aug 2024
Exam Date : 21 Sep 2024 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

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Course layout

Week 1:  Why study a Novel? 
  1. “The Art of Fiction”
  2. Classical Narrative Theory
  3. Rhetorical Narrative Theory
  4. Adaptation
  5. “How to Read a Novel”

Week 2: The Novel After Literary Theory
  1. Gender
  2. Class
  3. Environment
  4. Disability
  5. Race

Week 3: Pride and Prejudice
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Week 4: Jane Eyre
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Week 5: Dracula
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Week 6: Mrs Dalloway
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Week 7: Atonement
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Week 8: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
  1. Background (author and context)
  2. Theme, form, and style
  3. Scholarly Debates
  4. Textual Analysis
  5. From print to screen

Books and references

Freedgood, Elaine. Worlds Enough: The Invention of Realism in the Victorian Novel. 
Price, Leah: The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel
Sutherland, John. The Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives.
Armstrong, Nancy. Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
Stoker, Bram. Dracula.
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway
McEwan, Ian. Atonement
Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Instructor bio

Prof. Smita Jha

IIT Roorkee
Prof. Smita Jha is currently working as faculty of English language and literature in the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. She has done M.A. in English (Gold Medalist) from Bihar University, Bihar. She has done Post graduate diploma in teaching English from CIEFL, Hyderabad. Prof. Smita Jha has more than 23 years of teaching experience both at UG and PG level. She has developed course on Neurolinguistics for the first year B.Tech students, She is running Linguistics as elective for the 3rd and the 4rd year B.Tech students. She has published more than 50 papers in refereed journals. She has also written books on divers topics like nativization of English prose, partition literature etc. Her research areas are Linguistics, Indian writing in English, World Literature, Contemporary Literary Theory, ELT. She has supervised seven research scholars on various aspects of literature. She has done a diploma course in Neurolinguistic from Middlesex University, London, UK.


Prof. Aruni Mahapatra

Prof. Aruni Mahapatra is currently Assistant Professor of English at IIT, Roorkee. Prior to joining IIT Roorkee, he was Assistant Professor of English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. He has a Ph.D in English from Emory University, and Masters degrees in English from Emory University and the University of Delhi. His teaching and research has been recognized by multiple organizations, including Harvard University, and the Andrew Mellon Foundation, USA. His writing has appeared in multiple peer-reviewed volumes, including Cambridge University Press and the Taylor and Francis Group.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 21 September 2024 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Roorkee. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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