English 336: Modernism

Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903

Dr. Bethany Hicok Professor of English Office: TC409 Hours: T 2-3, Th 11-12 E-mail: [email protected] Cell: 724-612-1763

Course Description: In her essay "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown," Virginia Woolf declared that: “In or about December 1910, human nature changed…. All human relations…shifted—those between masters and servants, husbands and wives, parents and children. And when human relations change there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics, and literature.” The writers we will read—James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Virginia Woolf, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes—all engaged actively in the debates over what literature should be and were breaking new ground in poetry and the novel through formal experimentation, such as stream-of-consciousness, temporal disruption, multiple points of view, and the reshaping of relationships between self and “other.” These writers sought to re-define reality in the 20th century and re-examine the role of the artist within that society. Modernism was a global movement. Writers and artists were influenced by events and ideas from across the world, and many American writers lived abroad in Paris and London. We will explore these issues within the context of not only what was happening in narrative as well as poetry, but what was happening in art, architecture, music, and philosophy. Modern writers were influenced by Freud's theories of the unconscious, the paintings of Picasso and Georges Braque, Stravinsky's music, jazz, blues, popular culture, women's suffrage, and, of course, two world wars.

Course Outcomes Students will be able to *Identify and explain some of the major stylistic characteristics and thematic concerns of literary modernism orally and in writing 2

*Analyze literary texts within the historical context of modernist literary production *Integrate appropriate sources from the field of modernist studies *Conduct focused research on the period *Explain the influence of the other arts—music, painting, architecture—on literary modernism

Required Books The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. D, 1914-1945 The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. F F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Grading Paper #1 15% Paper #2 20% Paper #3 20% Paper #4 20% Artist Presentation 5% Manifesto 10% Participation 10%

Attendance Policy: You are expected to come to class prepared and ready to discuss the material. If you miss more than three class periods during the semester, your final grade will be lowered 1/3 for each class you miss.

Essay policy: Late essays are subject to a penalty of 1/3 grade reduction for each day late.

Plagiarism: Submitting the work of someone else as your own is dishonest and violates college policy. If I discover you have plagiarized, I reserve the right to give you an “F” for the course. Please refer to the handbook and review the college’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Readings and Assignments Beginnings: “Make it New”

Aug. 25 Introduction to Modernism

Aug. 27 Modernist Manifestos pp. 2056-58 Pound on Imagism pp. 2064-2077 Imagist Cluster Blast Marianne Moore “The Fish” http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/fish-1

Aug. 29 Norton English Introduction, Vol. F pp. 1887-1893 Poetry pp. 1897-99 (top) 3

Timeline pp. 1911-12 T. S. Eliot “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” pp. 2521-27

Sept. 1 Joyce, Portrait of the Artist pp. 2311-2472 Chapters I

Sept. 3 Chapter II

Sept. 5 Chapter III-IV

Sept. 8 Chapter V

Sept. 10 Freud from Interpretation of Dreams My Westminster

Sept. 12 Surrealist Film Un Chien Andalou

Sept. 15 Norton American Gaspell Trifles pp. 252-262

Sept. 17 Norton English Loy Feminist Manifesto pp. 2077-81 Norton American “Parturition” pp. 296-300 “Brancusi’s Golden Bird”

Sept. 19 Essay #1 Due Norton English Yeats pp. 2082-85 “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” pp. 2087-88 “September 1913” pp. 2092-95 “Easter, 1916” “The Second Coming” p. 2099

Sept. 22 Yeats “Sailing to Byzantium” pp. 2102-05 “Leda and the Swan” “Among School Children” “Lapis Lazuli” pp. 2109-10

Sept. 24 Owen, “Dulce Et Decorum Est” pp. 2034, 2037 Norton American Pound, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley pp. 320-28 Frost, “The Oven Bird” p. 242

The Twenties Sept. 26 Norton English Joyce Ulysses from “Penelope” pp. 2472-80

Sept. 29 T.S. Eliot The Waste Land pp. 2529-43 -Oct. 3

Oct. 6-10 Woolf Mrs. Dalloway pp. 2155-2264

4

Oct. 13 Norton American Moore, “Poetry” pp. 357-60 “Peter” (My Westminster)

Oct. 15 Essay #2 Due. Lowell Venus Transiens pp. 191-92, 193-94 Williams “Portrait of a Lady” pp. 302-305 Pound “Portrait d’une Femme” pp. 314-17 H.D. “Helen” pp. 350-51, 355

Oct. 17 Williams “The Young Housewife” pp. 304-310 “Queen-Anne’s-Lace” “Spring and All” “To Elsie” “The Red Wheelbarrow” “This is Just to Say”

Oct. 20 Stevens “The Snow Man” pp. 281-85 “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” pp. 291-92

Oct. 22 Stevens “Sunday Morning” pp. 285-88

Oct. 24 Norton English Woolf from A Room of One’s Own pp. 2264-72

Oct. 27 FALL BREAK, no class

Harlem Renaissance Oct. 29 Norton American Hughes pp. 869-76, 880 McKay pp. 480-84

Oct. 31 - Larsen Quicksand, Chapters 1-10 pp. 550-632 Nov. 3 Chapters 11-18

Nov. 5-7 Essay #3 Due Nov. 7. No Class. I’m at a conference. This gives you time to read and work on papers.

Nov. 10-14 Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Nov. 17 Stevens “Idea of Order at Key West” pp. 293-94 “Of Modern Poetry”

The Thirties and Fourties Nov. 19 Norton English Eliot from Four Quartets “Little Gidding” pp. 2547-2554

Nov. 24 Hemingway “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” pp. 824-842 Norton American 5

Nov. 26-28 Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 1 H.D. From The Walls Do Not Fall pp. 355-57 cummings “pity this busy monster,manunkind p. 646 Norton English Auden “September 1939” pp. 2677-78, 2688-91

Dec. 3 Auden “Musée des Beaux Arts p. 2685 “Shield of Achilles” pp. 2693-97 From “Poetry as Memorable Speech”

Dec. 5 Essay #4 Due

Final exam period: Manifestival