Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course.
“There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life,” said Sherlock Holmes, “and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.” Holmes was likely thinking of this course when he wrote those stirring words!
How to get the most out of The Victorian Detective (Victorian Classics) with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson:
- Read the course materials below ("The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and Chs. 1-15 of Bleak House) before the first class meeting and before all subsequent class meetings. IF YOU DON'T READ THE MATERIALS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE CLASSES!!
- Take the "pledge" that you won't disclose plot points beyond the assigned reading for each week.
- Take the first identification quiz (#1) before Class 1. Refresh your memory on plot/character points you might have missed. Take the quiz a second time if you need to!
- As you read, note down themes or questions you might have and bring your notes with you when you view the class recordings.
- You do NOT need to take notes during class unless it helps you focus!
- As needed, review the PowerPoint from class.
- Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
- Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.
IF planning on the optional literary-critical writing assignment:
- Contact the Instructor early to discuss possible topics and your proposed timeline for composition and completion.
- As you read, mark or otherwise identify passages that might be useful in developing your paper.
- Be prompt with your deadlines.
Special notes: Includes optional writing component.
Total Classes: 12
Duration: 55 minutes
Prerequisite: Willingness to read and openness to enjoying the works. Read "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and Chapters 1-15 in Bleak House before Class 1.
Suggested Grade Level: 9-12
Suggested Credit: One full semester Literature or Victorian Literature
Instructor: Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
Instructor Email: ebnicholson@protonmail.com
Course Description: “There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life,” said Sherlock Holmes, “and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.” Holmes was likely thinking of this course when he wrote those stirring words! Follow the greatest of nineteenth-century detectives in unraveling the bloody history of Victorian mystery fiction. Discern the early strands of modern mystery fiction in these pioneers of analysis. Learn the art of evidence, and the detective’s use of deductive and inductive reasoning. Alongside C. Auguste Dupin (the detective hero of Edgar Allan Poe), Sergeant Cuff (the idiosyncratic genius of London police concocted by Wilkie Collins), Sergeant Bucket (Charles Dickens’ homicide investigator), and the incomparable Holmes, we will tackle the bloody, messy problem of the murder mystery and its enduring fascination for readers. (We will also adjudicate the longstanding debate of who is truly the creator of detective fiction—Edgar Allan Poe or Wilkie Collins.) In addition to cultivating artistic appreciation and a love of reading, this class facilitates the development of critical reasoning, the disciplined use of the imagination, and a strong knowledge of historical and literary context.
Course Outline:
Week 1: Introduction; "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841)
Week 2: Bleak House (1853), Chs. 1-15
Week 3: Bleak House, Chs. 16-32
Week 4: Bleak House, Chs. 33-49
Week 5: Bleak House, Chs. 50-67
Week 6: The Moonstone (1868), Prologue and "First Period" (Gabriel Betteredge's Narrative, through Ch. 12).
Week 7: The Moonstone, "First Period" (Gabriel Betteredge's Narrative, Continued to End).
Week 8: The Moonstone, "Second Period" (First, Second, and Third Narrative")
Week 9: The Moonstone, "Second Period" (Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Narrative, with Epilogue)
Week 10: A Study in Scarlet (1887)
Week 11: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-2), Chs. 1-9.
Week 12: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chs. 10-15; Review & Conclusion
Course materials:
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” will be provided free by the instructor as a PDF file.
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles
Penguin, Oxford, or Dover editions recommended; other editions accepted. Project Gutenberg (free online) versions of each are also available.
Homework: 3 hours reading per week, 1 identification quiz per week; miscellaneous small assignments. This course relies heavily upon in-class participation and completion of the small assignments (Moodle-based). A literary-critical writing project opportunity is available for extra credit.
- Teacher: Eleanor Nicholson