Novels, Expectations, and other Miscellania

In the spirit of sort of wrapping things up as the semester comes to an end, I thought I'd make a post about the various threads and themes I've assimilated this semester. I think I've
learned a lot not only about the material we've been studying, but how it relates more personally to how I approach the novel. I suppose it's been established that I have a very gendered approach to assimilating material. In earlier classes, I think I viewed that as more of a detriment than an asset, in that every time I approached a piece of literature, I would invariably find myself interpreting it from a gendered position, in terms of exploring language, power, and gender relations without the literature. Now, however, I feel that that is rightfully the focus of my approach, rather than a "rut" that I'm stuck in.
Also, I feel like I understand how important it is to acknowledge audience expectations in interpreting literature. In saying that the pieces we've been examining do or do not conform to the expectations of the novel, we are not so much making a quantitatively true statement about the novel as we are making a statement about our expectations for the novel. I think understanding that is the key to exploring the genre and its development.
Soooooooo, I feel that this class has helped me not only refine (and accept) my own particular viewpoint, and understand how my expectations affect how I understand literature.
As this relates to what we're discussing in class, Emma, as I mentioned in my presentation, conforms more to my expectations of the contemporary novel than the other works we've read (this would be logical, given the class's focus on exploring the development of the genre). However, as it does, I find myself evaluating the work as I would any novel- is it exciting? Am I engaging with the characters? Am I relating to any of the characters? Which I think is a rather dangerous approach for me to take, as it negates the historicity of the novel, and doesn't allow for the placing of the novel in its appropriate historical context. So, I am attempting to focus on Emma without expectations for how I will react to it.