“Dreaming of islands,” according to Giles Deleuze, “is dreaming of pulling away, of being already separate, far from any continent, of being lost and alone—or it is dreaming of starting from scratch, recreating, beginning anew.” We will look at twentieth-century novels that treat islands as figures for modern alienation, idyllic pasts, and potential utopias. Our work in class will focus on honing your critical thinking skills, your ability to analyze literary texts, and your ability to write about literature. (This course fulfills a "W" requirement.) Our main novels will be Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and Aldous Huxley’s The Island. In addition, the course pack will include D. H. Lawrence’s short story, “The Man Who Loved Islands,” poems by Elizabeth Bishop and Derek Walcott, prose by Gertrude Stein, and critical writing by Gillian Beer, Jed Esty, and Giles Deleuze. Student Responsibilities: daily attendance and active participation, careful reading and critical thinking, and two five-page essays with revisions.

Plus a required course pack.

Texts:

• Rebecca West. The Return of the Soldier. Modern Library, 2004. [0812971221]
• Virginia Woolf. To the Lighthouse. Harvest, 2005. [0156030470]
• Aldous Huxley. The Island. Harper Perennial, 2002. [0060085490]