English 4155-01W: Twentieth Century British Literature
Dr. Maria Doyle
Fall 2009: MW 12:30-1:45, Hum 206
Office and Phone: TLC 2-248, 678-839-4853
Email: mdoyle@westga.edu
Office Hours: M 10:15-12:15, 3:30-4:30, W 11:15-12:15,
3:30-4:30 and by appt.
Virtual Office Hours: T 9-12 (log in to CourseDen and use
the chat function)
Website: http://www.westga.edu/~mdoyle
Course Description:
Early in the twentieth century, W.B. Yeats asserted in ÒThe
Second ComingÓ that Òthings fall apart; the centre cannot hold.Ó By the
centuryÕs end, Tom StoppardÕs play Arcadia would posit: ÒWe shed as we pick up,
like travelers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall
will be picked up by those behind.Ó The movement from modernist disillusionment
to postmodern fluidity will serve as a framework for our discussion of a
century engrossed in the question of how things fall apart even as they move
forward. Exploring anarchist bombers and evening parties, existential
wastelands and postmodern fairy tales, this course will ask how the shifting
currents of history – including the breakup of the British Empire, the
politics of World Wars I and II and the rise of the British welfare state
– have also fractured literary time, cultural meaning and the definition
of Britishness itself. Classes will explore a variety of literary forms
including short stories, plays, novels and poems from across the period.
A catalog description and learning outcomes for this course
can be found online at http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/fr/CourseGuid/4155.html.
All handouts will be posted to the CourseDen course site, so
be sure to check there if you miss a class, since, "I wasn't in class the
day we discussed X" will not be considered an acceptable excuse for not
keeping up with material or for turning in work late. Students should use their
university email accounts or the CourseDen email function to correspond with
the professor. Students who have questions or want to consult about assignments
are also welcome to attend office hours or to use the virtual office hours on
Tuesdays.
As a "Writing Across the Curriculum" course, this
class will engage students in a variety of formal and informal writing
activities. Students must have completed 6 hours of WAC credit to graduate. For
more information on WAC goals and outcomes, see
http://www.westga.edu/~wac/wacpolicy_rev10-04.htm
Requirements:
Short Paper (10%): Guidelines for this short (4-6 page)
thesis-driven essay will be handed out in class. Students will be given the
option of revising the finished paper; revisions will be due one week after
essays are returned and the final grade for the project for those wishing to
revise will be the average of the two grades.
Research project (40% total [30% final paper, 10%
preparatory materials]): Students will complete an independent research project
on a topic of their choosing for this course. This final product of this
project will be a formal 9-11 page paper with an annotated bibliography of at
least six secondary sources. To help students develop their project ideas, this
final project will be preceded by two components: (1) a 300-500 word proposal
that outlines the project idea, your rationale for exploring this question and
the materials you will use to do so and (2) an oral presentation of the project
in-process to be given in class in the last month of the course. I will provide
students with written feedback and suggestions on their proposal; each
presentation will be followed by student questions so that you can also receive
peer feedback as you work on the finished product.
Quizzes (20%): Students will complete several online quizzes
over the course of the semester. Quizzes will spot check your understanding of
the historical and literary issues discussed in the preceding weeks and will
include a mix of paragraph and multiple-choice questions. All quizzes are open
book and note. Dates when quizzes will become available are listed on the
syllabus: quizzes will open at 12 noon on the date listed (always a Thursday)
and will close at noon on the following day (Friday). Instructions for each
quiz will indicate how much time you have to complete the quiz once you begin
it (generally this will be 20-30 minutes). I will drop your lowest quiz grade
at the end of the semester. In addition to graded quizzes, students will be
required to complete a course policy quiz at the beginning of the semester in
order to be able to access other course assignments and materials.
Final Exam (20%): The final exam will ask students to
identify and discuss passages, define terms, discuss significant events/stages
in 20th century British literary development and analyze specific themes and
ideas as they appear in the literary works on the syllabus. Students should
also be able to discuss the historical and theoretical contexts covered in
class. The exam will include short response and essay sections. No makeup exams
will be scheduled, and students who arrive late to exams will not be given
extra time.
Participation (10%): Class participation – your
preparation for class meetings and your willingness to contribute to our
discussions – is an important component of your grade. Consistent, punctual attendance is the
minimum expected of all students, and after four absences, you will lose half a
letter grade in this category for each additional class missed. You do not need
to explain your absences to me – I understand that sometimes illness,
childcare issues, uncooperative automobiles or unforeseen emergencies prevent
you from coming to class – but use those allowed days for real
emergencies, as I will not differentiate between ÒexcusedÓ and ÒunexcusedÓ absences. Doing well in
class participation means more than just coming to class. Students are further expected to have
read the material carefully before class meetings, to listen attentively both
to the instructor and to the comments other students make during discussions,
to ask questions and offer ideas about the material and to respond thoughtfully
to ideas presented both by the instructor and the other students.
-----------------------------
I do not give 'makeup' assignments, and unless an
exceptional opportunity arises that is directly related to the course material,
I do not offer 'extra credit' opportunities: you will all be assessed by the
same methods on the same assignments. If you find that you are having trouble
with the course material, adjust your study schedule, come to my office hours
or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get help with your writing.
Special Needs: If you
have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see me at
the beginning of the semester; I will be happy to discuss your situation. If
you have a disability that you have not yet registered through the Disabled
Student Services Office, please contact Dr. Ann Phillips in Student Development
(678-839-6428).
Cell Phones: Please
turn cell phones off when you enter the classroom. Your time during class is
committed to the class, and you may check messages outside of class hours.
Outside Sources and Academic Honesty: Academic dishonesty involves any attempt on your
part to claim ideas and/or specific phrasing that you have gotten from
elsewhere – including, but not limited to, Wikipedia, the dictionary, The New York Times, Sparknotes, an article you found that just sounds "better" than you
think you could say it or your Aunt Sally – as your own or to fabricate
sources or evidence so as to make your argument sound stronger. Plagiarism thus
includes actions such as copying papers or online responses from the internet or
other sources (including word-for-word copying and paraphrasing without
citation), cheating on exams, turning in work written by someone else or
turning in work that you previously submitted for another course.
* All work that you turn in for this course must be your
work completed in this semester in response to an assignment for this class;
course assignments are designed to help you develop a set of skills, not just
produce information, and failure to do your own work both shortchanges you in
this skill development process – rather like attempting to play
basketball or sculpt a piece of wood without mastering the dribble or learning
about your tools – and violates the shared trust of this course.
* Academic
dishonesty is a serious offense, and plagiarizing any assignment or part
thereof, regardless of the relative value of the assignment in the calculation
of your course grade, is grounds for failure of the course.
* In keeping
with departmental and university honor policies, all cases of academic dishonesty
will be reported both to the Chair of the English Department and to the Office
of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. In short, do your own work and when
you use outside information, provide accurate citations for it. For more on the
English Department's plagiarism policy, see http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/Plagiarism/pladef.html.
* Students
should include a signed copy of the following statement with each written
assignment (your short essay and final research project) submitted this
semester: "I have read the course statement on academic honesty, and I
pledge that the material I am submitting for credit in this class is my own
work."
Deadlines and Late Policy: Due dates for all assignments are listed on the syllabus; make note
of them and plan your schedule accordingly. For the final project, no late
papers will be accepted, nor will papers be accepted over email. For the
first paper, a late penalty of one half of a letter grade will be assessed for
each day that a paper is late. Papers that are more than four days late
(including weekend days and holidays) will receive an automatic "F."
Extensions will be granted only if you have a verifiable medical or other sufficiently
serious ("seriousness" will be determined at the instructor's
discretion) excuse and you request an extension (in person, via email or phone)
before the paper deadline. Regardless of your situation, no extensions will be
granted beyond the four-day late period. Having papers or exams for other
classes, a schedule conflict with work or other responsibilities, or simply
being "swamped" are not sufficiently serious excuses and will not
result in your being granted an extension. Late penalties for papers turned in
outside of class will be assessed based on when I receive the paper, since if
you do not hand it to me directly, I cannot verify when you turned it in.
Paper Format: All
papers should be typed, double-spaced, in a standard 12 point font (preferably
Times New Roman) with 1" top/bottom margins and 1-1.25" left/right
margins. Big fonts, extra spaces between your paragraphs, and large margins are
pretty easy to spot, so stick to the standard size guidelines and use the
revision process to help you generate enough information to present a clear and
well-reasoned analysis within the designated space limitations. Papers are
required to have inline citations where appropriate and a descriptive title
(i.e. not "Oedipus" but
"The Chorus as Audience in Oedipus"), and you must number your pages and staple (NOT paper clip,
glue, or origami fold) them together. Title pages are unnecessary; simply
include your name, the course number and the date in the top right corner of
your first page. Include your signed honor statement either at the end of your
text or on your bibliography page.
Schedule of Readings:
Students are expected to have read the material listed below
by the date for which it appears on the syllabus. Any change to this schedule
will be announced in class and posted to the course website.
Mon 8/17 Introduction:
Reacting Against the Victorians
Wed 8/19 W.B.
Yeats, The Yeats Reader: Selections from
The Rose, The Green Helmet and
Responsibilities
Fri 8/21 Course
policy quiz due by noon.
Mon 8/24 W.B.
Yeats, The Yeats Reader: Selections from
Michael Robartes and the Dancer, The Tower and Last Poems
Wed 8/26 Joseph
Conrad, The Secret Agent (Ch. 1-8)
Mon 8/31 Joseph
Conrad, The Secret Agent (Ch. 9-13)
Wed 9/2 James
Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 1)
Thu 9/3 Quiz
#1
Mon 9/7 No
class meeting
Wed 9/9 James
Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 2-3)
Mon 9/14 James
Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 4-5)
Wed 9/16 W.H.
Auden, from Selected Poems: Poems #15,
19, 27, 33-67
Short
essay due in class
Mon 9/21 W.H.
Auden, from Selected Poems: Poems
#71-74, 78-83, 89-95, 102, 110
Wed 9/23 Virginia
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (pp. 3-147)
Thu 9/24 Quiz
#2
Mon 9/28 Virginia
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (pp. 147-end)
Wed 9/30 Stevie
Smith, Selected Poems
Mon 10/5 Samuel
Beckett, Happy Days
Tue 10/6 Last
day to withdraw with a W
Wed 10/7 Continue
discussion of Happy Days
Thu 10/8 Quiz
#3
Mon 10/12 Ted Hughes,
from Selected Poems 1957-1994: poems
from Lupercal and Crow
Wed 10/14 Ted Hughes,
from Selected Poems 1957-1994: poems from
Cave Birds, Season
Songs and Wolfwatching
Mon 10/19 Harold
Pinter, The Homecoming
Wed 10/21 Continue
discussion of The Homecoming
Thu 10/22 Proposals
due electronically by 5 pm
Mon 10/26 Salman Rushdie, Midnight's
Children (Book 1)
Wed 10/28 Salman Rushdie,
Midnight's Children (Book 2)
Thu 10/29 Quiz
#4
Mon 11/2 Salman
Rushdie, Midnight's Children (Continue
Book 2; Begin Book 3)
Wed 11/4 Salman
Rushdie, Midnight's Children (Finish
Book 3)
Mon 11/9 Presentations
Wed 11/11 Presentations
Thu 11/12 Quiz
#5
Mon 11/16 Presentations
Wed 11/18 Presentations
Mon 11/23 Tom
Stoppard, Arcadia
Wed 11/25 No class
Mon 11/30 Finish
discussion of Arcadia
Wed 12/2 Last
class
Final
papers due in class
Wed 12/9 Final
exam, 11 am -1 pm
Bring
a bluebook to the final exam.