ENGLISH 639:
STUDIES IN 20th CENTURY: GENDER of MODERNISM
DR. Jolanta Wawrzycka
Office: Russell 106  Voicemail: 540.831.5176
Click for Office Hours
e-mail: jolanta@radford.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: During the course of this semester we will study postmodern re-definitions of Modernism, so characteristic for the late 20th-century literary and cultural preoccupations. We will study some of the interactions between modernists and sample their writings. We will also take a closer look at the issues of genre, gender and study statements about artistic process and artistic creation in a broader modernist milieu.

TEXTBOOKS :

	Gender of Modernism, Bonnie Kime Scott (GM)
	Women of the Left Bank, Shari Benstock (WLB)
	A Writer's Diary, Virginia Woolf
	Paris Was Yesterday, Janet Flanner
	Women Artists and Writers , Elliott and Wallace, eds (WAW)
	Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND CLASS POLICIES:

Literary logs: (40%) due on the assigned dates, these informal writings (to be prepared before the class meets) are to prepare you for class discussion.  Your goal is to acquire some understanding of the climate and the cultural trends surrounding the modernist writers selected for this class. Isolate the thesis statement(s) advanced by the authors;   isolate main points of the chapter/essay; re-state in your own words what the author(s) wrote; prepare for the class as if you were teaching it--you might one day. 
PRESENTATIONS: You will profile two modernist writers and package your research as Digital Portfolio worth 30% of your final grade.  Please consult my  Guidelines as you construct your portfolios and programs (my guidelines are designed mainly for undergraduates but, hopefully, you can profit from their content). 
Term paper: a formal study of the modernist work/writer of your choice (cleared with me); conference-length (ab.10 pages double-spaced); bibliography (20%).
FINAL EXAM ACTIVITY: 10%; details will follow.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Only one absence will be excused; additional absences will come at a loss of -4 points each. 
 

By accepting admission to RU, each student makes a commitment to understand, support and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception. This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code.

AUGUST 30

Introduction of course content and readings. Introductory lecture: Sources of Modernism.

SEPTEMBER 7 (75 pages). Log 1.

	GM [review Scott's Introduction (1-16)]
	WLB Chapter 1 "Women of the Left Bank" (3-35) and Chapter 3  (71-98)

[Optional reading: WAW "Whose Modernism?" (1-30) ]

SEPTEMBER 14 (55 pages) Log 2.

	GM Chapter 21 "Gertrude Stein" (479-486)
	WLB Chapter 5 "Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas" (143-192)

[Optional reading:  WAW Chapter 4 "The Making of Genius" (90-120)]. 

SEPTEMBER 21 (60+ pages) Log 3.

	WLB Chapter 4 "From the Left Bank to the Upper East Side" (99-139)
	Janet Flanner's  Paris was Yesterday. (divided reading assignment).

SEPTEMBER 28 (60 pages)  Djuna Barnes. Log 4.

	GM Chapter 1 (19-45)
	WLB Chapter 7 (230-266)

[Optional reading:  WAW Chapter 5 "Mediating Modernism" (122-150)]

OCTOBER 5 (68+ pages).  H. D. & Ezra Pound. Log 5.

	GM Chapter 4 "H.D." (85-109).
	WLB Chapter 9 "H. D. and Bryher" (311-355)
	Ezra Pound  GM Chapter 17 (353-371) (and re-read WLB sections on Imagism/ Vorticism Ch.1: 22-30 and Ch. 9: 330-334)

OCTOBER 12 (55 pages)  Log 6. 

	D. H. Lawrence        GM Chapter 10 (217-229)
	Katherine Mansfield  GM Chapter 14 (298-314)

OCTOBER 19 (70 pages). Sylvia Beach. Log 7. 

	WLB Chapter 6 "Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier" (194-229) [and re-read 20-24].
	Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach (divided reading assignment).

OCTOBER 26  Lecture on Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury. Log 8.

GM Chapter 26 (622-655) (special emphasis: "Modern Fiction" and "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown").

WAW Chapter 3 on Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell (56-89)

NOVEMBER 2  Log 9. 

NOVEMBER 9    Presentations.

NOVEMBER 16  Presentations. 

NOVEMBER 23 ***Thanksgiving Break***

NOVEMBER 30 Presentations.  

DECEMBER 7   Conclusions & Summary.

FINAL EXAM: 5:30 p.m. Wed., Dec 16.

Here are the literary figures to chose from for your presentation. Depending on class size, more choices will be added.  

© 2009 Introduction to Literary Criticism and Theory
Jolanta Wawrzycka. All Rights Reserved.