This module will focus closely on a selection of novels in order to explore the genre, some of its properties and its cultural value. The novels will allow us to consider the issues raised by reading novels in a historical, social and cultural context. We will relate the readings to themes such as class, gender, race, and the country and city.

Students will read and prepare notes on set materials for the lecture and seminar. Students will work in seminars on close readings of the set texts in relation to the contextual material. Students will complete an essay.

OHP/VCR/DVD

Mary Gaskell, North and South (1854)
D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers (1913)
Ian Fleming, Dr No (1962)
David Lodge, Nice Work (1988)
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2001)
David Lodge, The Art of Fiction (1992)