GREAT LITERATURE? Studies in British Literature English 514 May Term, 2020 Dr. Deborah Logan May 18 – June 5 [email protected]

This Graduate class examines the theme of “Great Literature.” What makes literature great? Who determines greatness, using what standards of measure, why, and to what purpose? Our scholarly work as writers and readers, as students and teachers has always been, and continues to be, shaped by an idealized view of literary greatness. The Great Books, the Classics: how accurately do they represent the Human Condition and the history of civilizations and societies? How has their relevance shifted in the twenty- first century? I look forward to learning your thoughts about what others have traditionally deemed to be “great” literature. Our reading list is small enough to go into depth in the short time we have and includes: Shakespeare’s profoundly archetypal Hamlet; Virginia Woolf’s modernist novel, Mrs. Dalloway; and Ian McEwan’s postmodern novel, Atonement. Class format emphasizes reading and informal writing in the following formats: 1) online “Discussion” with daily postings aimed at conversations between students @ 10 points each day for 14 days. Totaling 40% of final grade. Let’s aim for posting by 3pm each day so others can have time to respond / interact. There are only 5 of you, so this shouldn’t be too onerous. Please avoid plot summary. Stay focused on specific close readings in context. For example, what prompts each of the Hamlet soliloquies? And what happens as a result? 2) seven worksheets, five for Hamlet and one for each novel, found under “Course Materials,” filled out on computer and uploaded under “Assignments” @ 20 points each. Totaling 40% of final grade. These are aimed at “close-readings”: in the case of Hamlet, addressing 5 key soliloquies and emphasizing the question of Hamlet’s sanity. The emphasis for Woolf is modernism; the emphasis for McEwan is postmodernism. 3) one final paper pulling together the thinking generated by postings and the worksheets @ 100 points, totaling 20% of final grade, due by Sunday June 7. Length: 10 pages. This you can copy/paste from previous posted work, making sure to have a coherent narrative linking the three books. Our overall aim, then, is to consider these three texts from the perspective of how they shape our expectations as readers, writers, teachers, and students. Please be sure to 1) consult “Announcements” page for updates 2) download worksheets from “Course Materials” 3) upload worksheets and final paper under “Assignments” 4) post daily comments under “Discussion”

Course schedule 5/18 Hamlet Act 1 + worksheet on first soliloquy Act 1 Scene 2 lines 133-64 5/19 Hamlet Act 2 + worksheet on two passages: Act 2 Scene 2 lines 316-34 and lines 576-634 5/20 Hamlet Act 3 + worksheet on 3rd soliloquy Act 3 Scene 1 lines 64-98 5/21 Hamlet Act 4 + worksheet Claudius’ confession Act 3 Scene 3 lines 40-103 5/22 Hamlet Act 5 + worksheet Act 4 scene 4 lines 34-69 5/25 MEMORIAL DAY Mrs. Dalloway is written in stream-of-consciousness, shifting in and out of various consciousnesses / narrative voices. The divisions below are arbitrary, roughly ¼ of the book per day. 5/26 Mrs. Dalloway up through p. 75 5/27 Mrs. Dalloway up through p. 150 5/28 Mrs. Dalloway up through p. 225 5/29 Mrs. Dalloway up through p. 300 Atonement also offers an unusual interpretation of Narrative Voice, according to the following divisions: 6/1 Atonement chapters 1-7 6/2 Atonement chapters 8-14 6/3 Atonement part two pp. 191-265 (in my edition); no chapter numbers 6/4 Atonement part three p 369+ 6/5 Atonement part four London 1999 6/7 Final paper due