ENGLISH 639:
STUDIES IN 20th CENTURY: MODERNISMS
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.

READINGS - LITERATURE:

• Manifestos: Marinetti, Tzara, Breton.
• Selections from W. B. Yeats
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T. S. Eliot
• (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce)
• Ulysses (selections), James Joyce
• To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
• A Writer's Diary (selections), Virginia Woolf
• The Garden Party, Katherine Mansfield
• Sons and Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
• Selections from Ezra Pound

READINGS - CRITICAL STUDIES:

• Modernism; A Guide to European Literature, Malcolm Bradbury & James McFarlane (MOD)
• Gender of Modernism, Bonnie Kime Scott (GM)
• Women of the Left Bank, Shari Benstock (WLB)

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS POLICIES:

20% Literary logs: due on the assigned dates (each worth either 20 or 30 pts, for a total of 200 pts).
30% PRESENTATIONS: You will profile a modernist writer of your choice and package your research as Digital Portfolio. 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). 
20% Term paper: a formal study of the modernist work/writer of your choice (cleared with me); conference-length (ab. 8-10 pages double-spaced); bibliography.
20% FINAL EXAM ACTIVITY: details will follow.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Only two absences 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.

WEEK 1: Introduction

• JAN 18: Introducing course content and readings.

WEEK 2: Sources of Modernism

• JAN 23: Lecture: Whose Modernism? (recommended reading: GM Introduction; WBL Ch. 1).
• JAN 25: Discussion of the Manifestos: Dadaism; Futurism; Surrealism (recommended reading: MOD 192-, 243-, 263-; 292-). Log 1 (20).

WEEK 3: Yeats the Modernist

• JAN 30: Introducing W. B. Yeats (recommended reading: MOD 172-).
• FEB 1: Selected poems (E-text at California State University, Northridge): The Stolen Child (1886), The Lake Isle of Innisfree (1890), He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (1899),  Adam's Curse (1902), No Second Troy (1910), The Cold Heaven (1912), A Coat (1914), The Wild Swans at Coole (1917). Log 2 is in front of you - add class notes.

WEEK 4: The Modernists of Ireland

• FEB 6: Placing W. B. Yeats's poetry - more poems (multimedia). Log 2 (30).
• FEB 8: Introducing James Joyce (and A Portrait)

WEEK 5: Joyce the Modernist

• FEB 13 & 15: Ulysses: "Calypso." Log 3.

WEEK 6: Joyce the Modernist

• FEB 20 & 22 Ulysses: "Lotus Eaters." Log 3 (30).

WEEK 7: Modernism of Djuna Barnes and E. M. Forster  

• FEB 27: Introducing Djuna Barnes (recommended reading: GM Ch.1; WLB Ch. 7).
• FEB 29: Introducing E. M. Forster.

WEEK 9:  Transition

• MARCH 12: Modernist Erudition: T. S. Eliot et al.
• MARCH 14: Modernist Intuition: D. H Lawrence et al.

WEEK 10:  T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound

• MARCH 19: Introducing Ezra Pound; Imagism and Vorticism (recommended reading: MOD; GM Ch.17; WLB Ch.1 [22-30]; Ch. 9 [330-334]).
• MARCH 21: Introducing T. S. Eliot; "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Log 4 (20) .

WEEK 11: Modernism of D. H. Lawrence   

• MARCH 26: Introducing D. H. Lawrence (recommended reading: GM Ch.10)
• MARCH 28: Discussion of Sons and Lovers  Log 5 (30).

WEEK 12: Modernism of Katherine Mansfield

• APR 2: Introducing Katherine Mansfield; "The Garden Party" (recommended reading: GM Ch.14).Term Paper topics.
• APR 4: Discussion of other stories (of your choice) by Katherine Mansfield.  Log 6 (20).

WEEK 13: Virginia Woolf  the Modernist

• APR 9:  Introducing Virginia Woolf. Selections from A Writer's Diary (PDF).
• APR 11: "Modern Fiction" and "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown." Log 7 (20).

WEEK 14: Virginia Woolf  the Modernist

• APR 16 & APR 18: To the Lighthouse Log 8 (30).

WEEK 15: Modernism in Perspective     

• APR 23:  Defining Modernism
• APR 25: Term Paper due.

FINAL EXAM: 5:30 p.m. Monday, Apr 30.

© 2012 "Modernisms" Syllabus
Jolanta Wawrzycka. All Rights Reserved.