This course introduces British novels. We will first explore an extensive contrast between film and novel through watching the film adaptation of and reading the text of Never Let Me Go. You will learn the formal and stylistic conventions of literary and cultural texts of the novel by comparing the similarities and differences between film and novel. Questions such as what a novel is or what it does will take the center stage of the first section of the semester. The remainder of the class will be devoted to a very brief history of the British novel. You will read Jane Eyre and Lord Jim, and investigate the complex relationship of the self with language. Jane Eyre was extremely popular right after it was published and culturally its narrative also contributes to shaping women in new contexts. Then you will study narrative innovations in Lord Jim and learn the indispensable role of mediation language plays in the understanding of the self. In addition to class lectures, we will rely much on peer collaboration and self-initiated learning, and a substantial part of each session will be a group discussion and a group report. Toward the end of the class, students are expected to familiarize themselves with the British novel’s history and the continuous attention to the issues related to the self and language in this history.