This course is a survey of British and American literature from the twentieth century, with close attention given to literary form and technique as responses to the experience of “modernity.” Instead of approaching the modern/postmodern divide as an absolute, we will investigate the evolution of similar problems and techniques in literature that occur across the twentieth century. We will place particular emphasis on narrative style and literary representations of how time is experienced. To that end, we will begin by exploring the modernist preoccupation with the individual’s inner life, and trace how writers throughout the twentieth century attempt to represent subjective experience in very different ways. We will read a mix of genres over the course of the quarter, including short stories, poetry, novels, and a play. In our discussions, we will investigate the texts’ forms, patterns, techniques, ideas, cultural contexts, and intertextuality. For the final paper, you will be encouraged to develop your own line of questioning within an area of interest to you.

Course requirements include a demanding reading schedule, active in-class participation, response papers, a group presentation, a midterm, and a final research paper of 6-8 pages.

This course does not meet the University “W” requirement.
This course does fulfill the VLPA requirement.

*Texts: *

* Joseph Conrad, /The Secret Agent/ (1907) [Oxford World’s
Classics (2004), ISBN 978-0-19-280169-2]
* James Joyce, /Dubliners/ (1914) [Norton Critical Edition (2006),
ISBN 978-0-393-97851-3]
* T.S. Eliot, /The Waste Land /(1922) [Norton Critical Edition
(2000), ISBN 978-0-393-97499-7]
* Jean Toomer, /Cane/ (1923) [Norton Critical Edition (1987), ISBN
978-0-393-95600-9]
* Virginia Woolf, /Between the Acts/ (1941) [Harcourt Annotated
Edition (2008), ISBN 978-0-15-603473-9]
* Samuel Beckett, /Waiting for Godot/ (1954) [Grove Press (1994),
ISBN: 978-0-8021-3034-1]
* Don DeLillo, /White Noise: Text and Criticism/ (1985) [Viking
Critical Library Edition, ISBN 9780140274981]
* Photocopied course packet containing poetry and critical essays