Throughout this course, we have read a variety of texts that have explored the realm of what makes a novel. There is little change I would make to the definition I had provided at the beginning of the course, as it was, I believe, fairly inclusive to a variety of styles, including the texts that were examined in this class
In terms of specific opinions concerning the ranking of the novels we read, I will be basing my opinion of the following criteria:
1- Is the story compelling?
2- Does the text resemble a novel?
According to these criteria, the best of the novels we read in class was Evelina. This novel was easy to read, the divisions of the letters were long enough to contain compelling events but not so long that they dragged on in terms of pacing. The story it told was interesting, the characters were pleasant, ridiculous and relatable, the events that take place are exciting, nicely paced and blend moments of high drama with those of mundanity. Overall, the text gives the reader the sensation that they are reading a cohesive, self-contained story that presents a world that makes sense to the reader.
The worst of these books was Pamela. This text, although not completely horrible, was highly problematic for multiple reasons. There were many elements with which I did not agree in terms of action, such as Mr. B's treatment of Pamela, the text presented many obstacles in terms of readability due to the format. The text, although presented as letters between Pamela and her parents, these letters are excruciatingly long and break the sense of realism within the text. The length of these letters not only a hindrance to the mimesis, but also detracts from the pacing of the text. The long, uncut passages slow the narrative to a crawl and it is difficult to find the desire to press through the long, slow-moving, repetitive narrative. While the text does give the impression of a novel, it could have been far shorter and could have greatly benefited from some heavy editing.