English 5155: Twentieth Century British Literature
Dr. Maria Doyle
Spring 2008: MW 5:30-6:45 pm, Humanities 208
Office and Phone: TLC 2-248, 678-839-4853
Email: mdoyle@westga.edu
Office Hours: MW 10:00-12:00, 2:00-3:30 and by appt.
Website: http://www.westga.edu/~mdoyle
Course Description:
Early in the twentieth century, W.B. Yeats asserted in “The Second
Coming” that
“things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” By the century’s end, Tom
Stoppard’s play Arcadia would posit: “We 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.” 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/5155.html.
All handouts will be posted to the MyUWG course page, so be sure to
check the
site 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 also use their
university
email accounts to correspond with the professor.
Required Texts:
Samuel Beckett, Endgame (Grove)
Angela Carter, Wise Children (Penguin)
Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (Signet)
Thomas Hardy, Hardy's Selected Poems (Dover)
Seamus Heaney, North (Faber)
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin)
George Orwell, Animal Farm (Signet)
Salman Rushdie, East, West (Vintage International)
Bernard Shaw, Heartbreak House (Penguin Classics)
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Harcourt)
W.B. Yeats, ‘Easter 1916’ and Other Poems (Dover)
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.
Theory Responses (10%): Students will be required to complete three
written
responses to material on a secondary reading list for the course
syllabus; students
will select specific texts in consultation with the instructor.
Responses
should demonstrate the student’s ability to engage in conversation with
the
secondary material: students should not summarize the reading but
should
identify a central question or significant passage that appears in the
reading
and explore how that idea contributes to an understanding of the
primary
material. Responses should be 300-400 words each and should be
submitted via
email by the second day of discussion for the primary text associated
with the
secondary material. Students must submit at least two of these
responses by
February 27.
Research Project (10% proposal and bibliography,
30% final
paper): Each student will develop a twelve-fifteen page research
project based
on the course material. Students will put together a project proposal
and
annotated bibliography (min. 10 relevant secondary sources) and
participate in
a research workshop before final papers are due. The research project
is your
opportunity to find your own niche within the course material by
identifying a
text (or pair of texts) and a central question that you wish to
explore.
Complete instructions covering the various stages of the project will
be
distributed in class. Due dates for the different stages of the project
are
included in the schedule of readings.
Exams (Midterm 10%/Final 22.5%): Exams 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. Exams will include short response and essay sections.
Participation (7.5%): Class participation – your preparation for class
meetings
and your willingness to contribute to our discussions – is a
significant
component of your grade, and graduate students are expected to take a
leadership role in discussions. Consistent, punctual attendance is the
minimum
expected of all students, and more than four absences will have a
pronounced
impact on your final grade. Doing well in class participation, however,
means
more than just coming to class. Students are further expected to have
read the material
carefully before class, 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, to respond thoughtfully to ideas presented
both by
the instructor and the other students and to participate in any
in-class
assignments, including group work and informal presentations, that come
up
during the course.
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 or come to my office hours.
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).
All students should print out and sign the course policy sheet (click here). This sheet contains information about deadlines, the course late policy, paper format and a statement regarding academic honesty. Signed sheets are due by Jan. 16.
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.
Unit I: The Development of Modernism
W 1/9 Introduction: The Legacy of the Victorians
M 1/14 Thomas Hardy, Selected Poems
W 1/16 Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent
Course policy sheets due
M 1/21 MLK Day: No classes
W 1/23 Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent
M 1/28 W.B. Yeats, ‘Easter 1916’ and Other Poems
W 1/30 W.B. Yeats, ‘Easter 1916’ and Other Poems
M 2/4 Workshop
W 2/6 James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 1-2)
M 2/11 James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 3-4)
Short essay due
W 2/13 James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Ch. 5)
M 2/18 Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
W 2/20 Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
M 2/25 Midterm
W 2/27 G.B. Shaw, Heartbreak House
At least two theory responses must have been submitted by this date.
M 3/3 G.B. Shaw, Heartbreak House
Last day to withdraw with a 'W'
Unit II: Trends After Modernism
W 3/5 George Orwell, Animal Farm
M 3/10 George Orwell, Animal Farm
W 3/12 Harold Pinter, The Dumbwaiter
M 3/17 Spring Recess: No classes
W 3/19 Spring Recess: No classes
M 3/24 Samuel Beckett, Endgame
T 3/25 Project proposals and preliminary bibliography due online by noon
W 3/26 Samuel Beckett, Endgame
M 3/31 Seamus Heaney, North (Part 1)
W 4/2 Seamus Heaney, North (Part 2)
M 4/7 Research Writing Workshop
W 4/9 Salman Rushdie, East, West
(Pts. 1-2)
M 4/14 Salman Rushdie, East, West (Pt. 3)
W 4/16 No class meeting: work on research projects
M 4/21 Angela Carter, Wise Children
(Ch. 1)
Research paper and annotated bibliography due
W 4/23 Angela Carter, Wise Children
M 4/28 Finish discussion of Carter
W 4/30 Review session
Final Exam: Monday, May 5 (5:30-7:30)