British Literature 1 (Contemporary)

British Literature 1 (Contemporary): This course concentrates on British Literature of the twentieth century. The movements of modernism in poetry, expressionism in fiction and the theater of the absurd are explored through readings of Conrad, Wolf, Joyce, and Pinter. Students write research papers and dramatic dialogues, and make presentations on novels.

FALL SEMESTER 2007-2008

Here is the syllabus for Fall Semester: British Literature Fall Syllabus 2007-2008

Week of December 9, 2007:

Students are taking their final this week, to accommodate the departure of the Orchestra students. They need to analyze and write notes about two poems and a story in their text books, in preparation for a class discussion that will take place during classes on Thursday and Friday. They also need to write a short play as part of the final: British Literature Fall Final Preparation and Play

At the start of next semester, students will read a Victorian novel and write an analysis of it. They need to choose from one of the following novels, and let me know their choice by next week: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights; Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities; Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.

Week of November 26, 2007:

Students are beginning a unit on British drama of the late 20th century, reading playwrights Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill, Tom Stoppard and others.

Week of November 13, 2007:

Students have an essay to write based on readings in class that focused on the wars fought by England during the 20th century: War Unit Essay 2007

Week of November 5, 2007:

Here are websites that might be helpful in researching the contemporary novels: Research Websites 2007

For the research paper, students should use MLA guidelines for in-text citations and a works-cited page. These guidelines can be found with this link: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Week of October 29, 2007:

Students will be reading W.B.Yeats, as well as several stories, poems, and pieces of nonfiction that cover the wars that Great Britain was engaged in during the 20th century.

Week of October 15, 2007:

Students should read one-third of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf by October 18; two-thirds by October 22; and finish the book by October 29.

The assignment on Mrs. Dalloway is due November 1: Dalloway Assignment 2007

Week of October 8, 2007:

Students must write a poem by next week based on Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, but incorporating the images of The Waste Land and Middle Passage: Eliot and Hayward Poem 2007

Week of October 1, 2007:

Students should get a copy of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf by October 15.

In class, students will be comparing The Waste Land with Middle Passage by Robert Hayden. Here are copies of both: Middle Passage by Hayden 2007 and Waste Land by Eliot 2007

Here is a website that features The Waste Land with notes: http://world.std.com/~raparker/exploring/thewasteland/table/explore6.html

Week of September 24, 2007:

Students began reading T. S. Eliot this week,
and will tackle The Waste Land as well as
other poems next week.

A list of contemporary British novels, and an accompanying assignment, was given to students: British Contemporary Novel Choice List 2007

Week of September 17, 2007:

Students began reading The Dubliners by James Joyce, and were assigned two stories to write a paper about: Dubliners Assignment 2007
They can read their stories online at Biblomania, where the entire text is available: http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/29/63/frameset.html

Week of September 10, 2007:

Students wishing to receive X credit for the course must submit a contract this week. Here is the additional assignment which they must complete in order to receive X credit: X Credit Assignment for British Literature 1

They finished Heart of Darkness this week and edited each other's papers: Peer Edit Heart of Darkness 2007

Week of September 4, 2007:

Here is the X credit contract for those students who wish to commit to the extra work involved: British Literature X Credit Contract

Week of August 27, 2007:

The following two definitions will help students in their study of Heart of Darkness: Expressionism Tenets and Existentialism 2007

Here is the assignment of the expository essay on Heart of Darkness: Heart of Darkness Essay 2007
This paper was originally due September 10; the new due date is September 13. Students can include an outline with the draft that they submit. The draft should be as complete as possible; there will be a chance to revise this after the instructor reads it.

Students began reading Conrad's novella in class. They should have the first section of the book, about a third of it, read by Friday, August 31.

Here's the article from Chinua Achebe
on Joseph Conrad:
Achebe on Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Students will have to read and refer to
this article in their X credit paper.

Week of August 20, 2007:

Students should read this article on the canon, and take notes: Canon Article 2007

Students should have a copy of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in class by August 27. They should also have read the first 10 pages of the book by this date. Editions that also contain critical commentary may be helpful in guiding students through this difficult work.

This page was last updated: 2/15/2008; 2:33:50 PM