Dickens in the Digital Age

Engl. 183, Spring 2013, San Jos State University Dr. Katherine D. Harris Email: katherine.harris@sjsu.edu Website: www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris Office: FO 220 Phone: (408) 924-4475 Office Hours: TBD + online tools Twitter: @triproftri Google Chat: dr.katherine.harris

COURSE DESCRIPTION Charles Dickens (1812-1870) became one of the most prolific novelists of the nineteenth-century by marketing his writing through new forms of print. His serialized fiction appealed to the popular masses from England to America, a popularity that was strengthened by Dickens' willingness to perform to live audiences. Along with his serials, magazine essays, editorial duties, political essays, Dickens also appealed for international copyright surely inspired by the piracy of his novels but also in recognition that authorship was a commercial endeavor and a form of intellectual property. In this course, we will explore Charles Dickens' writings in the context of nineteenth-century print culture, a rising industrialized nation, and that nation's imperialist ethos. In addition to reading physical facsimiles of a few of Dickens' serialized novels, participants will research Dickens' enduring impact on the nineteenth-century and beyond; participants will also engage in lively discussions with Dickens experts from the UC Santa Cruz Dickens Universe and our own local Dickens scholars. Our concluding project will involve creating a digital scholarly edition of the original Hard Times serials currently held in the SJSU Special Collections. With the help of the Special Collections Director, Dr. Danelle Moon, and with the support of the Dean of King Library, Dr. Ruth Kifer, the resulting project will become a part of public scholarship about this internationally-renowned author. (Technical ability requirements: know how to email!) COURSE RATIONALE & ADDITIONAL STUDENT LEARNING GOALS This course will provide an interdisciplinary experience with History, Film, Communication, and Library Science students in addition to exposing students to cutting edge digital tools. Students will establish digital literacy and technical proficiency with a number of (freely available) computer programs (Google Docs, screencasting, video production, dynamic timelines, concordance creators, linguistic analytics) as well as learn to collaborate productively. We will focus on establishing visual and information literacy by considering the relationship between visual culture and literary texts. With the overwhelming amount of information about Dickens (e.g., three movie adaptations of Great Expectations in the last 15 years!), students will learn to become discriminating researchers and will articulate the value of multi-media resources through a series of writing assignments. The final collaborative project will also imbue students with the ability to practice and comment upon the preservation of cultural materials. In the end, the goal of this project-centered course is to encourage students to create open access materials that will become public scholarship.

Instructor Experience I have employed this type of scaffolded final project in the TechnoRomanticism course where students created a digital version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Each student created a website about an individual chapter; the final projects were allowed to move between scholarly and experimental. The most interesting was a project about current Frankenstein-style creatures/monsters in today's media (with Lady Gaga as the prime example). From this project, I learned that I needed to scaffold the assignments more clearly and to insert a few exercises about analyzing visual materials (such as engravings, movies, photographs) from a scholarly point of view. I have also used the timeline assignment successfully in another version of the TechnoRomantics course (available here: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris/TechnoRom_F09/RomanticTimeline.htm). For this course on Dickens, we will populate the timeline and then incorporate it into the final digital project. All of the digital projects and skills intended for this course inherently alter the learning strategies; however, the literature is still the primary focus of this course: the tools help students gain experience in researching, writing, analyzing materials. By encouraging students to build in a digital environment, we teach the skills that enhance their critical thinking and provide them with an opportunity to learn collaboration that will demonstrate their collective learning to a larger audience. ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students shall achieve the ability to write complete essays that demonstrate advanced proficiency in all of the following: 1. Read closely in a variety of forms, styles, structures, and modes, and articulate the value of close reading in the study of literature, creative writing, or rhetoric. 2. Show familiarity with major literary works, genres, periods, and critical approaches to British, American, and World Literature. 3. Write clearly, effectively, and creatively, and adjust writing style appropriately to the content, the context, and nature of the subject. 4. Develop and carry out research projects, and locate, evaluate, organize, and incorporate information effectively. 5. Articulate the relations among culture, history, and texts. REQUIRED BOOKS & MATERIALS A Tale of Two Cities Oliver Twist American Notes Old Curiosity Shop The Pickwick Papers Great Expectations Hard Times Email & Turnitin Accounts Suggested (most on Reserve in King Library): A Research Guide for Undergraduates in English & American Literature. MLA, 2006. Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. 2

Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference (or other writing handbook) GRADE DISTRIBUTION 10% Class Discussion, Participation, Keywords Glossary & Blogging (SLO 1) 10% Discussion Forum Posts & Character Analysis Glossary (SLO 3,4,5) 20% Collaborative Research Presentation & Timeline (SLO1,2,3,4,5) 20% Serials Presentation & Short Essay (SLO1,2,3,4,5) 40% Final Collaborative Project (SLO 3,4,5) Class Discussion & Participation This course studies the writings and impact of a single author. His career was varied, complicated, far-reaching, and representative of all that was both good and bad about industrialized, imperial England. Since we will build on our characterization of Dickens, England, and print culture from the first day of class, your participation in each class meeting is imperative. Our meeting space is the technology-rich environment of the Incubator Classroom where we will respond to each other in online forums, evaluate electronic resources and share strategies, successes and failures in our scholarly adventures. The technology, though sometimes daunting, will actually enhance our discussions and has the capability to improve research as well as writing skills. (We will host a technical skills lab every few weeks for tutorials in digital tools.) It requires a commitment to participating, though. Each participant will demonstrate her/his preparedness by raising questions, sharing interesting materials and presenting effectively, among other things. For further tips on performing well in class, see below. A students participation is assessed by his/her contribution throughout the semester. Use the following as guidelines for this portion of your final grade: To earn a "C," do the minimum: read and prepare assigned readings so you are never at a loss if you are asked a question, but speak only when called upon, do "ordinary," plainvanilla presentations and responses. This is the "bottom line" for getting a "C" in this part of the course. To earn a "B," prepare assigned readings thoroughly, initiate discussions about them by asking good questions or suggesting ways to interpret readings, do presentations that reveal that you have done good additional work that you can make both interesting and meaningful to our discussions, and participate actively in those discussions. For an "A," take it up another level entirely: prepare readings thoroughly, find and talk about connections among them and among other aspects of culture (then and now), take a real leadership role in class discussions, including working actively to get others involved in the talk, make your presentations and responses "sparkle" by bringing to them something really special in terms of your own contributions, interests, skills, and abilities to think in broad even interdisciplinary terms. Most of all, remember that an "A" indicates the very best grade a person can get; that should tell you what sort of work you need to do to earn the grade of "A."

If you miss class, contact a classmate for notes, reading assignments and handouts or, better yet, check our Course Website.

Keywords (Defining Print Culture) Glossary & Blogging Our Moodle offers each participant the space to blog. I encourage you to use this blog space to keep notes, ideas or random thoughts about the class perhaps youd like to remind yourself to check on an interesting digital resource or check on some publication history. On particular days throughout the semester, I will ask you to blog during class. Though I will read your blog entries, they will not be graded since blogging is such an informal medium. Because we will discuss various types of novels and literary devices, it is necessary to provide keywords at the outset of each class. Each week, I will add the keywords to a Defining Print Culture glossary. It's up to you to define the keywords based on the discussions and lectures. This is an ungraded exercise intended to help you keep track of our various literary terms. When defining a term, be sure to include your name. We will visit the glossary often throughout the semester, sometimes even providing a star rating for entries. Both of these exercises will be rolled into your Participation grade. Discussion Forum Posts & Character Analysis Glossary The first graded writing will be your Intellectual Autobiography (300 words) posted to your Moodle profile. Every week, we may spend the first 10-20 minutes of a class session writing a Discussion Forum post to an assigned question about the current reading assignment in effect, the Forum acts as a warm-up for class discussions. Each post will receive a grade based on the quality of your response. Since this is posted to our public Discussion Forum, everyone will be able to read and respond to each others posts. We will discuss what makes an effective response. On the final day of any reading, we will work on a Character Analysis Glossary. On these days, prepare 300 words about any character in the novel and post to the Glossary prior to the start of class. (If there is already an entry for your character, add yours to that entry or edit the other entry. However, be sure to put your initials at the conclusion of the entry!) During class, we will review, discuss and possibly rate the entries. There will be no make-up for these in-class writings; you simply receive a zero for that essay. The lowest post and glossary entry grade will be dropped. Collaborative Research Presentation & Timeline In preparation for our final collaborative project, students will be divided into Research Presentation groups. This Collaborative Presentation, a group of students will research the production, illustrations, reviews, etc. of a novel and present those findings on that novels first day (20 mins). A brief piece of writing (300 words) will be submitted to mark the groups presentation. Each Research Presentation will be graded on its effectiveness and clarity. To enhance your presentation, you may use handouts, digital information or dramatic performance. Further instructions will be distributed. Serials Presentation & Essay One of the greatest inventions during the nineteenth century was the serialized novel. To adequately understand this reading experience, each student will read, present on and write an essay (600 words) about a serial installment of one of Dickens novels (serials will be supplied). Post your essay to the Serials Presentation Discussion Forum prior to the start of class on the day that you present. Detailed instructions will be provided later. 4

Final Collaborative Project For our final project, we will produce a digital scholarly edition of Charles Dickens' serialized novel, Hard Times. Currently, SJSU Special Collections holds these original serials. After spending some time reading them, we will collaborate on digitizing, annotating, scanning, creating the digital interface, and writing essays about these particular serials. All previous work throughout the semester is meant to be used for this final project. For instance, think about your serials assignment as a first draft to writing about serials. In the end, students will take on different roles according to their strengths, e.g., perhaps one student is best at general editor responsibilities while another has good project management skills and yet another wants to be in charge of over-seeing the scanning. SJSU Special Collections will provide the labor of scanning the serials and the digital platform (most likely Omeka) is user-friendly and freely available online. The entire project will be scaffolded with several assignments that will help us gauge our progress and handle the workload. We will learn some digital skills during this project, but the primary focus will be on becoming scholars of Dickens' work then and now. Collaboration will become part of the grade in this project. Collaboration differs from group work in that the project requires that all participants assign roles based on individual strengths. Just as with any professional scholarly endeavor, we will hold brainstorming days to discuss the best possible way to represent our research and these serials in a digital realm. From these discussions, the project deepens its intellectual pursuit. (Group work is typically more about divide and conquer a class project; we won't do this.) As with any project, the rubric for assessment will be provided at the outset of the project. And, similar to any professional environment, participants will occasionally provide feedback for each other. GRADING POLICY The Department of English reaffirms its commitment to the differential grading scale as defined in the official SJSU Catalog (The Grading System). Grades issued must represent a full range of student performance: A = excellent; B = above average; C = average; D = below average; F = failure. In English Department courses, instructors will comment on and grade the quality of student writing as well as the quality of the ideas being conveyed. All student writing should be distinguished by correct grammar and punctuation, appropriate diction and syntax, and wellorganized paragraphs. For your final grades, 100-90 is an A, 89-80 is a B, 79-70 is a C, 69-60 is a D, and below 60 is an F. Pluses and minuses are the middle of each range. In calculating the final grade, a set number will represent each letter grade; for example, B+ is 87.5, B is 85, and B- is 82.5.

COURSE POLICIES Late Assignments/Essays If you cannot meet an essay deadline, you must contact me at least 48 hours prior to our class meeting to discuss the situation. If this is not done, for every day that an essay is late, you will be penalized one grade step: A becomes A-, A- becomes a B+, etc. The weekend will count as one day. Unless you have prior permission or the assignment specifically requests it, absolutely no assignment will be accepted via email. Classroom & Online Environment Respect your fellow students and I: Arrive on time (excessive tardiness will effect your participation grade) and do not partake in disruptive behavior. We will all be respectful of each other in both our face-to-face and online communications. If you are late, wait for an appropriate moment to enter so you do not disturb the class. Turn off cell phones or put them on silent mode during the class period. You are welcome to use your laptop with the caveat that it is used to enhance our discussions. Email Protocols, Office Hours & Online Contact Email is the best possible way to contact me (9am-5pm) and has the added bonus of recording our conversations. When emailing me, please consider it a formal communication: include the appropriate salutation, your name, your question/comment, and be aware of tone. Know that long conversations over email are not fruitful merely because of the limitations of technology. If you have an extended question or dilemma that cannot be answered by our online materials, please visit me during office hours, schedule a phone conference, or arrange for an online chat/video chat. If Im in my office, I will usually turn on Google Chat. You might also be able to get my attention on Twitter. I will amass a class email list and will occasionally send out information regarding our meetings or the readings. Please provide an email address that you check daily. Google Chat ID: drkatherineharris Skype ID: katherinedharris Twitter ID: triproftri GENERAL INFORMATION & ACADEMIC POLICIES (The usual stuff inserted here but left out because it makes this proposal too long!)

SCHEDULE OF READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS (This is a sketch of the semester; scaffolding assignments will be done with the final schedule if this course is approved) Week 1 Intro to 19th C Print Culture: making serials & selling the book Intro to Print Culture Glossary & first entries (will be done weekly) Intro to Discussion Forum Posts (will be done weekly) Intro to Character Analysis glossary (make selections) Timeline Tutorial for Collaborative Presentation Skills Lab, Group Membership Readings: A Tale of Two Cities & A Child's History of England Dickens, Biological Determinism & Imperialism Readings: Oliver Twist & anti-semitism Special Guest: expert on 19th-century colonialism Dickens & America Readings: American Notes Dickens & Other Genres Readings: Sketches by Boz, Sunday Under Three Heads, Drama, Opera, Poetry (2 in Keepsake) Serializing Dickens: Reading practices in 19 th C Culture Readings: Old Curiosity Shop in All the Year Round 19th Century illustrations & engravings Exercises on reading visual culture using online databases Read & Present about Dickens serials Readings: choice of Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, Hard Times

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4: Week 5:

Week 6: Week 7: Week 8:

Weeks 9 & 10:Dickens, Social Issues, and the Picaresque Novel Readings: Great Expectations Week 11: Remixing, Reusing, Revising Great Expectations Watch films that revise Great Expectations & integrate various conclusions to the novel

Weeks 12-16 Final Project: create digital edition of Special Collections Hard Times project

Dr. Katherine D. Harris Dickens (Engl. 183) Spring 2013

Name:_______________________________ E-mail:_______________________________ STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE Please respond using complete sentences

1. Indicate if you are an English major, minor or other. Are you a sophomore, junior or senior? 2. Have you taken any pre-1900 literature courses or post-1900 literature courses? Have you taken Engl. 56A (British Survey to 1800), Engl. 56B (1800 to Present) or Engl. 144 (Shakespeare)?

3. Do you have access to a computer at home? Yes No (If not, become familiar with SJSU's computer labs.)

4. Briefly summarize the important policies presented on this syllabus.

5. Write one or two sentences defining plagiarism.

6. Write a brief paragraph explaining what literature means to you.

7. Write a brief paragraph about Charles Dickens (what do you know already?).

8. What kind of technical/digital skills do you already have? (email, texting, social networking, blogging, editing?) By signing below, the individual acknowledges receiving (and reading) a copy of the class syllabus that details the schedule of work, participation requirements, grading criteria and other 8

important information. The individual also acknowledges understanding of plagiarism and its consequences. Name:_________________________ Signature:_________________________