E336 Twentieth-Century British Literature Syllabus, Fall 2005

SYLLABUS FOR E336 TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, FALL 2005

*2023 Note. Most hyperlinks and some procedural information have been removed from this archival version of the syllabus, leaving mainly the required editions and the reading schedule.

COURSE INFORMATION. English 336. Thursdays 4:00 – 6:50 p.m., Beckman 202. Office hours: Thurs. 2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Cyber Café. Email: e336_at_ajdrake.com. Catalog: “Examines the impact of modernism and post-modernism on Britain’s literary tradition.” Units (3).

REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

Abrams, M. H. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed., Vol. 2C. New York: Norton, 2000. ISBN 0393975703.

Achebe, Chinua. Anthills of the Savannah. New York: Anchor, 1987. ISBN 0385260458.

Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. ISBN 019283620X.

Waugh, Evelyn. A Handful of Dust. Boston: Little, Brown, 1934 (repr. 1999). ISBN 031692605.

Library Reserve: Antonin Artaud, Ezra Pound. Library Reserve Packet.

COURSE RATIONALE AND ACTIVITIES

FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES. We will study texts from around the beginning of the twentieth century through Chinua Achebe’s 1987 novel Anthills of the Savannah. Lectures will provide an understanding of the works’ historical context, structures, and themes, while classroom discussion will center on attention to key points in the texts. The purpose of a survey is to introduce a variety of texts within a given period or set of periods; it is not necessarily (or usually) to pursue a narrow theme or even to claim that a restricted set of ideas governs the period/s covered. Many, though not all, of our texts fall within the time frame of Modernism (roughly 1910 – 1930s), a period of intense experimentation in the arts, culture, social affairs, and even politics. We will, therefore, discuss relevant texts in the context of this period and its dynamic, at times unsettling, character.

ACTIVITIES. In class, there will be a mix of lectures, student presentations, whole-class and smaller-group discussion, occasional quizzes, an essay, and a final exam. I encourage questions and comments—class sessions improve when students take an active part. Outside class, do the assigned readings before the relevant discussion dates, complete your journal sets as outlined below, start planning and drafting your essay early, and work on your presentation drafts. In literary studies, the aim is to read and discuss actively and thereby to develop your own voice in response to the texts you read. Insightful interpretation and the ability to make compelling connections are central goals. The essay, discussions, presentations, and journal-keeping should combine to help you work towards these goals.

HOW YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE EVALUATED

COURSE POLICIES. Please review the course policies page early in the semester since it contains important information about attendance, missing or late work, and a number of other matters.

PRESENTATIONS REQUIREMENT. Students will sign up for three 3-5-minute informal presentations. On the first day, students will choose authors; I will add specific questions and post a schedule at Requirements / Presentations. Each session will feature several presentations, my comments, and class-wide discussion. Before presenting, contact me to discuss your ideas. (25% of course grade.)

JOURNALS REQUIREMENT. Responses to a choice of questions on each author. Due in class Weeks 4, 8, 12, exam day. Electronic format strongly suggested. (25%)

PAPER REQUIREMENT. Rough draft suggested, final draft (5-7 pages u-grad, 10-15 grad) due by exam day. Follow MLA guidelines. Research is optional. (25%)

FINAL EXAM REQUIREMENT. The exam will consist of substantive id passages, short questions requiring 1- or 2-paragraph responses, and one comparative essay. There will be more choices than required responses. Books and notes allowed for all sections. Exam date Thurs. 12/15, 4:15-6:45. (25%)

QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALS AND PRESENTATIONS

*2023 Note. Visitors can download the following questions in PDF format: MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE.

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED

WEEK 1

Th. 09/01. Introduction to C20 British Literature: post-Victorian, WWI, Modernism, and After. (Reminder for your other classes: Monday, September 5 is Labor Day; University will be closed Monday.)

WEEK 2

Th. 09/08. Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness (1957-2016). Read also Chinua Achebe’s “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (2035-40).

WEEK 3

Th. 09/15. A. E. Housman, WWI Voices Section. Housman’s “The Loveliest of Trees” (2042); “When I was One-and-Twenty” (2042); “To an Athlete Dying Young” (2042); “On Wenlock Edge” (2043); “Terence, This is Stupid Stuff” (2044); “The Chestnut Casts his Flambeaux” (2046). WWI Voices Section, All: Brooke, Thomas, Sassoon, Gurney, Rosenberg, Owen, Cannan, Jones (2048-84).

WEEK 4

Th. 09/22. William Butler Yeats. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” (2092); “Easter 1916” (2104); “The Second Coming” (2106); “Sailing to Byzantium” (2109); “Leda and the Swan” (2110); “Among School Children” (2111); “A Dialogue of Self and Soul” (2113); “Byzantium” (2115); “Crazy Jane… “ (2116); “After Long Silence” (2117); “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” (2120); “Under Ben Bulben” (2121); from Reveries over Childhood and Youth and The Trembling of the Veil (2124-31). Journal Set 1 Due.

WEEK 5

Th. 09/29. Ford Madox Ford. The Good Soldier. (Separate text.)

WEEK 6

Th. 10/06. Virginia Woolf. A Room of One’s Own (2153-2214).

WEEK 7

Th. 10/13. James Joyce. “The Dead” (2240-69); from Ulysses (2269-2309); from Finnegans Wake (2310-13). NOTE: I will be at a conference, so there’s no class on this date, but next week we will discuss these Joyce selections.

WEEK 8

Th. 10/20. James Joyce. “The Dead” (2240-69); from Ulysses (2269-2309); from Finnegans Wake (2310-13). Journal Set 2 Due.

WEEK 9

Th. 10/27. T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound. Eliot’s The Waste Land (2368); “The Hollow Men” (2383); “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (2395-2401). Pound’s “The Seafarer,” “In a Station of the Metro,” “The River-Merchant’s Wife: a Letter,” and from The Cantos, 1. (See library reserve packet for Pound selections.)

WEEK 10

Th. 11/03. Evelyn Waugh. A Handful of Dust.

WEEK 11

Th. 11/10. D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Jean Rhys. Lawrence’s “The Odour of Chrysanthemums” (2313-30), “Why the Novel Matters” (2341-45). Mansfield’s “The Daughters of the Late Colonel” (2408-23). Rhys’s “Mannequin” (2437-42).

WEEK 12

Th. 11/17. Robert Graves, W. H. Auden. Graves’ “Down, Wanton, Down!” (2445); “Love Without Hope” (2446); “The Cool Web” (2446); “The Reader Over My Shoulder” (2446); “To Juan at Winter Solstice” (2447); “The White Goddess” (2448); “The Blue-Fly” (2449); “A Slice of Wedding-Cake” (2450). Auden’s “Petition” (2501); “On This Island” (2502); “Spain 1937” (2502); “Musee des Beaux Arts” (2505); “In Praise of Limestone” (2509); “The Shield of Achilles” (2511). Journal Set 3 Due.

WEEK 13

Th. 11/24. Thanksgiving Holiday (Recess begins Wednesday; University closed Thursday-Friday).

WEEK 14

Th. 12/01. Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett. Artaud’s Ch. VI “No More Masterpieces” from The Theater and Its Double (library reserve packet). Beckett’s End Game (2471-2500).

WEEK 15

Th. 12/08. Chinua Achebe. Anthills of the Savannah.

FINALS WEEK

Final Exam Thursday, Dec.15th, 4:15 – 6:45 p.m. Also due: Paper and Journal Set 4. I must turn in grades by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 21.

SYLLABUS FOR E336 TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURECHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, FALL 2005