ENGL 4155/5155—British Modernism

Fall, 2005

Dr. Angela Insenga

Office: 319 Pafford

Office phone: 678-839-4864

Website: http://www.westga.edu/~ainsenga/

E-mail:  ainsenga@westga.edu

Cell: 770-378-2387

Office hours:  MWF, 7-8 a.m., 9:15-9:45 a.m., 12-1, and by appointment

 

The House that Modernism (Un) Built

·         Course Description:

After "eminent Victorian" Sir Leslie Stephen's death in 1904, Virginia, Vanessa, and Thoby Stephen repaired to 46 Gordon square in Bloomsbury. In a 1921 address, Virginia Woolf remembered this exodus from her childhood home at Hyde Park Gate saying, "We were full of experiments and reforms. We were going to do without table napkins, we were to have large supplies of Bromo instead; we were going to paint; to write; to have coffee after dinner instead of at nine o' clock. Everything was going to be new; everything was going to be different; everything was on trial." In their quest to "make it new," the Bloomsberries and other British artists of the early to mid-twentieth century put into play revolutionary artistic principles and created art objects reflective of their own historicity. Our course will focus on the artist-architects who built—and “unbuilt”--the Modernist era in Britain. Up for discussion will be both "major" and "minor" texts in multiple genres and the socio-economic and political positioning found in them.  We will also investigate the effects of World War One on artists’ work, the creation and application of key aesthetic principles across genre boundary lines, the advent of modern psychoanalytical theory, and artistic renderings that focus on Britain’s practice of imperialism.

 

·         Course Objectives:

  • Students will achieve a detailed understanding of selected twentieth-century British texts.
  • Students will become familiar with the cultural and political milieu of twentieth-century Britain.
  • Students will recognize the implications of different critical and theoretical readings as culturally invested products.
  • Students will understand how literature may be approached in an interdisciplinary manner.
  • Students will demonstrate in both oral and written work a discipline-specific critical facility through convincing and well-supported analysis of related material.
  • Students will display their command of academic English and of the tenets of sound composition by means of thesis-driven analytical prose, including at least ten pages of research-based writing.
  • Students will learn to use discipline-specific computer technologies related to the study of language such as listservs, word-processing, and Internet research.

 

 

·         Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Delineation:

Students are required to take two WAC courses for an undergraduate degree in the College of Arts and Sciences. This course fulfills a WAC requirement.  WAC accepts as a guiding principle the idea that writing is a valuable tool for learning and communication.  Therefore, the writing components of any course so designated are designed to help you learn the material and communicate what you have learned. 

 

Course activities include both “Writing to Learn” and “Writing to Communicate” assignments.  Your specific WTL assignments include your eight Reading Responses, annotated bibliography, and elements of your oral presentation. Your WTC assignments, specific to this discipline, are the major critical analysis/research paper and elements of your oral presentation.  See specific description of these assignments below.

 

 

·         Course Texts:

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness.
Forster, E.M. Howard's End.
Garratt, Chris; Rodrigues, Chris. Eds.  Introducing Modernism.
Joyce, James. Dubliners.
Lawrence, D.H. Sons and Lovers.
Mansfield, Katherine. The Garden Party and Other Stories.
Synge, J.M. Riders to the Sea.

Ward, Candace. Ed. World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others.
Woolf, Virginia. Between the Acts.
Yeats, W.B. Easter, 1916, and Other Poems.

·         Course Assignments and Percentage Breakdown:

  • 15 unannounced reading quizzes over the course of the semester; 15%; WTL
  • 15-20 minute presentation (20-25 minutes for graduate students); 15%; WTC and WTL
  • Eight two-page reading responses, MLA format required ; 20%; WTL
  • Annotated bibliography (five sources—eight for graduate students); 10%; WTC and WTL
  • Critical analysis essay (10-12 pages—12-15 for graduate students); 40%; WTC

 

·         Course Assignments Explained:

 

·         Reading quizzes:  Each unannounced quiz will test your comprehension of what you have read for a particular class period.   You can expect five plot-based questions per quiz.  There may also be quizzes in which you are asked to focus on a specific quotation and explain its significance.

 

·         Reading Responses:  for each two-page reading response, you will need to choose a theme, idea, or passage and create a clearly structured two-page response that illuminates a major point.  I will leave the ideas for each of your responses up to you, but I suggest that you write about narrowed-down topics that can be analyzed using textual references.  You may find it productive to compare/contrast works as we explore them, though I ask that you focus on proving a main point in your response instead of performing a simple comparison/contrast.  When I grade, I will look for your purpose/argument in the first paragraph of your response and discussion/support in the body of the response.  MLA format is required, and the rules of current Standard English apply.  Avoid undue summary (what you’ve read) in favor of analysis (how you’re reading it). Responses that go beyond the minimum length requirement are not a problem, but responses that don’t meet minimum length requirements will receive lowered grades for lack of development.  We will focus on appropriate topics for Reading Responses as we discuss the material, especially in the first few class meetings.

 

·         Oral Presentations: each of you will sign up for a specific presentation topic by the end of the first week of classes.   All 15-20 minute presentations should include the following information:  a reading of the primary text that stems from a secondary essay you choose (you should look up at least one article using the databases in the library; I suggest MLA for starters); a separate reading/ interpretation of the text that you create and substantiate; a complete, correct bibliographic record of all sources you use. As you discuss the secondary source’s argument, bulleted lists that provide the major premises/types of support the author uses would be helpful.  You may also use this format as you present your reading of the text. You will furnish this information on a handout for the class.    Connecting your presentation to our ongoing discussing of how Modernism was built (or unbuilt) would also be helpful for the class. You may find it advantageous to use specific quotations and/or visual aids as you relay article contents and your own interpretation to the class.  Your base goal is to elucidate and interpret the primary text using a secondary text and your own separate reading.  Essentially, your presentation should offer a foundation of interpretation on which to build class discussion.  It is also required that you communicate with others who may be presenting on the same topic so that you can avoid anyone choosing the same secondary sources.  This communication should be done as soon as possible to avoid any mishaps.  Students will not be permitted to report on the same secondary sources.

 

·         Critical Analysis Essay:  For the long project, you are to choose either a text we’ve read this semester or a separate text by a Modernist author.   You may complete one of three options with this text:   You may create a compendium of critical response to the text over time and then create a significant argument about one of the schools of thought you encounter. This essay will be written in parts.  Part One will be the compendium of criticism, and Part Two will be your interpretation of the text at hand using one of the critical stances from the compendium.  Connecting your interpretation in Part Two back to a major tenet of Modernism and/or delving deeper into one of the schools of thought surrounding the text you’ve chosen will work well.  Secondly, you may complete a reading of the text you’ve chosen using a major critical school of thought.  For example, you might utilize psychoanalytical criticism to discuss Between the Acts or Post-Colonial criticism to perform a reading of Heart of Darkness.  Finally, you may examine a text and create a definitive argument about how it works as a “Modernist text.”  Thinking about our ongoing discussion about how Modernism was built will help you to construct a significant claim.

 

·         Annotated Bibliography: You will find information about this assignment at the following URL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/glannotatedbib.html  Carefully follow the guidelines set down on this site.  Your annotated bibliography is due with your final paper, and you must annotate a minimum of five secondary sources.  You should use more than five sources for your research paper, but at least five secondary sources must be annotated.  Please see the detailed examples at the site above. I suggest annotating articles and/or book chapters, as they will be easier for those of you who are writing an annotated bibliography for the first time.

 

·         Course Procedures/Policies:

 

·         Attendance: Our course is discussion-based.  Therefore, you must be present in order to reap the full benefit of said discussions. You are allotted four absences over the course of the semester.  I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences, and you need not tell me when/if you will be absent from class.  After four absences, you will be dropped from the course.  If your fourth absence occurs after the drop date, you will receive an FA.   Three tardies equal one absence, and you are tardy if you arrive after I’ve closed the door.

 

·         Late Work/Make-Up Work:  Students may not make up missed reading quizzes because of absence or tardiness.  Reading responses turned in after the class period in which they were due are considered late, and I will take off one letter grade from the response’s final grade per weekday until the work is turned in to me. Because you have the entire semester to work on your major project/annotated bibliography, I will not accept these assignments late under any circumstance. 

 

·         Special Needs:  Any student who has a special need should inform me during the first week of class.  We will then set up a conference to discuss the specifics of the official paperwork you have from the appropriate department. 

 

·         Plagiarism:  From the English Department’s website:  “The Department of English and Philosophy defines plagiarism as taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are presented in electronic, print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit sources in all assignments. An equally dishonest practice is fabricating sources or facts; it is another form of misrepresenting the truth. Plagiarism is grounds for automatically failing this course.  The University policies for handling Academic Dishonesty are found at the following internet URLs:  the Faculty Handbook at http://www.westga.edu/~vpaa/handrev/   and the Student Uncatalogue: "Rights and Responsibilities" http://www.westga.edu/handbook/” 

 

·         Administrivia:

·         I reserve the right to amend this document with further handouts.

·         The best way to contact me is through e-mail. 

·         Turn off cell phones and/or pagers when you enter our classroom.

·         Not coming to class prepared with textbooks and necessary materials is an automatic absence.  No exceptions.

 

·         Course Daily Syllabus

August 22

Course Introduction

“(Un) Building”:  Modernism

For next class:

Read the bulk of Introducing Modernism (at least three fourths of it)

Choose presentation topic

Review course policies/procedures

 

August 24

Discuss Introducing Modernism

For next class:

Read Heart of Darkness, p. 1 to the end of the large paragraph on 35

Finish Rodrigues if you haven’t already

Choose presentation topic

 

August 26

Discuss Conrad

Deadline for signing up for presentations

For next class:

Read Heart of Darkness, pgs. 35-100

 

August 29

Reading Response One due

Discuss Conrad

Presentation One: Heart of Darkness, topics up to page 100

For next class:

Finish Heart of Darkness

 

August 31

Finish discussion of Conrad

Presentation Two:  Heart of Darkness, topics covering the whole text

For next class:

Read Yeats, “The Wilde Swans at Coole,” “To a Young Girl,” “The Scholars,” “On Being Asked For A War Poem,” “The Cat and the Moon,” and “The Double Vision of Michael Robartes”

 

September 2

Discuss Yeats

Presentation Three:  “The Wilde Swans at Coole”

For next class:

Read Yeats, “Michael Robartes and the Dancer,” “Easter 1916,” and “A Prayer for my Daughter”

 

September 5—Holiday, no classes or office hours

 

September 7

Discuss Yeats

For next class:

Read Yeats, “The Second Coming,” “Sixteen Dead Men,” “A Meditation in Time of War,” and “To Be Carved on a Stone at Thoor Ballylee”

 

September 9

Finish discussion of Yeats

Presentation Four:  “The Second Coming”

For next class

Read Sons and Lovers, chapters 1-4

 

September 12

Discuss Lawrence

Presentation Five:  topics found in chapters 1-4

For next class:

Read Sons and Lovers, chapters 5-6

 

September 14

Reading Response Two due (you may write about either Yeats or Lawrence)

Discuss Lawrence

For next class:

Read Sons and Lovers, chapter 7

 

September 16

Discuss Lawrence

Presentation Six:  topics found in chapters 1-7

For next class:

Read Sons and Lovers, chapters 8-9

 

September 19

Discuss Lawrence

Presentation Seven:  topics found in chapters 1-9

For next class:

Read Sons and Lovers, 10-11

 

September 21

Discuss Lawrence

For next class:

Read Sons and Lovers, 12-13

 

September 23

Discuss Lawrence

Presentation Eight:  topics found in chapters 1-13

For next class:

Finish Sons and Lovers

 

September 26

Reading Response Three due

Finish discussion of Lawrence

Presentation Nine:  topics found throughout the whole text

For next class:

Read Dubliners, “The Sisters,” “An Encounter,” “Araby,” and “Eveline”

 

September 28

Discuss Joyce

Presentation Ten:  “Araby” and/or “Eveline”

For next class:

Read Dubliners, “After the Race,” “Two Gallants,”  “A Painful Case,” and “The Boarding House”

 

September 30

Discuss Joyce

Presentation Eleven:  “The Boarding House” and/or “A Painful Case”

For next class:

Read Dubliners, “The Two Gallants” and “The Dead”

 

October 3

Finish discussion of Joyce

Presentation Twelve:   “The Dead”

For next class:

Read all of Riders to the Sea

 

October 5

Reading Response Four due (you may write on either Dubliners or Riders to the   Sea)

Discuss Synge

Presentation Thirteen:  Riders to the Sea

For next class:

Read World War One poetry:  Rupert Brooke “Peace,” “Safety,” “The Dead,” “The Dead,” and  “The Soldier”; Charles Hamilton Sorley “To Germany”; Isaac Rosenburg “Break of Day in the Trenches,” “Louse Hunting,” “Returning, We Hear the Larks,” and “Dead Man’s Dump”

 

October 7

Discuss World War One poetry

For next class:

Read World War One poetry:  Wilfred Owen “Greater Love,” “Dulce et Decorum Est,” “Mental Cases,” “Futility,” “Disabled,” “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” “Strange Meeting,” and “Apologia Pro Poemate Meo”

 

October 10

Discuss World War One poetry

Presentation Fourteen:  Wilfred Owen’s War Poetry with a focus on “Dulce et Decorum Est.”

For next class:

Read World War One poetry:  Siegfried Sassoon “In the Pink,” “A Working Party,” and “‘Blighters’,”; Robert Graves “To Lucasta on Going to the War—For the Fourth Time,” “When I’m Killed,” and “Letter to S. S. from Mametz Wood; Alice Meynell “Summer in England, 1914”; Rudyard Kipling “The Mine-Sweepers”; May Wedderburn Cannan “Rouen”

 

October 12

Reading Response Five due

Finish Discussion of World War One poetry

Presentation Fifteen:  Female World War One Poets with a focus on Meynell and Cannan

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 1-5

 

October 13 (Mid-term—last day to drop with a “W”)

 

October 14

Discuss Forster

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 6-10

 

October 17

Discuss Forster

Presentation Sixteen:  topics found in chapters 1-10

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 11-14

 

October 19

Discuss Forster

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 15-22

 

October 21

Discuss Forster

Presentation Seventeen:  topics found in chapters 1-22

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 23-26

 

October 24

Reading Response Six due

Discuss Forster

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 27-36

 

October 26

Discuss Forster

For next class:

Read Howard’s End, chapters 37-40

 

October 28

Discuss Forster

For next class:

Finish Howard’s End

 

October 31

Finish discussion of Forster

Presentation Eighteen: topics found in the whole text

For next class:

Read GP and Other Stories, “At the Bay,” “The Garden Party,” “The Daughters of the Late Colonel”

 

November 2

Discuss Mansfield

For next class:

Presentation Nineteen:  “The Garden Party”

Read GP and Other Stories “Life of Ma Parker,” “Marriage a la Mode,” “The Voyage,” and “Miss Brill.”

 

November 4

Reading Response Seven due

Discuss Mansfield

Presentation Twenty:  “Life of Ma Parker” and/or “Miss Brill”

For next class:

Read GP and Other Stories, “Mr and Mrs Dove,”  “The Young Girl”

 

November 7

Discuss Mansfield

For next class:

Read GP and Other Stories, “Her First Ball,” “The Singing Lesson”

 

November 9

Discuss Mansfield

Presentation Twenty-One:  Mansfield and Woolf (see me for some advice about this topic)

For next class:

Read GP and Other Stories, “The Stranger”

 

November 11

Finish discussion of Mansfield

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, page three to the second paragraph on page 43

 

November 14

Discuss Woolf

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, pgs. 43-the second full paragraph on page 74

 

November 16

Discuss Woolf

Presentation Twenty-Two:  topics up to page 74

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, pgs. 74-the break on page 118

 

November 18

Reading Response Eight due

Discuss Woolf

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, 118-middle of 154

 

November 21

Discuss Woolf

Presentation Twenty-Three: topics up to 173

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, 154-middle of 173

 

November 28

Discuss Woolf

For next class:

Read Between the Acts, 173-middle of 201

 

November 30

Discuss Woolf

For next class:

Finish Between the Acts

                                                                           

December 2

Finish discussion of Woolf

For next class:
Bring all of your major project research to class for workshop

 

December 5
In-class workshop for major Critical Analysis Essay (research, databases, annotated bibliography, claims, etc.)

 

December 7

Conference Day (no regular class)

 

December 8—Last day of classes

Evaluations

Course wrap-up

 

December 14

Final Critical Analysis Essay and Annotated Bibliography due at my office by 2 p.m.