English 435 – American Literature 1900-1945 (3 credits)

 

Overview of this course:

An in-depth study of various works of the period.  Readings will be supplemented with lectures and presentations on Modernism and the important figures, movements and manifestos integral to the period.

 

Class Time and Place:  MWF 1:00-1:50 in Houston Hall 201

 

Your Instructor:  Dr. Julie Barak

 

Office Phone:  248-1072

 

Office:  LHH 446 – A.M.  LHH 452 – P.M.

 

Office Hours:              MWF 10:00-11:00; MW 2:00-3:00; TR 9:00-9:50

 

E-mail:  [email protected]

 

Syllabus subject to change.  Please consult on-line syllabus at http://www.mesastate.edu/~jbarak for most current version.

 

Sign-up Sheets

 

Required Textbooks and Materials:

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie

Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom

Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls

Hurston, Zora Neal.  Their Eyes Were Watching God

Kalaidjian, Walter, Ed. The Cambridge Companion to American Modernism

Lauter, Paul, Gen. Ed.  The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume D:  Modern Period 1910-1945

Le Seuer, Meridel.  The Girl

Paredes, Americo.  George Washington Gomez

 

Broad Course Goals:

1.       To become familiar with the basic philosophical, historical and aesthetic trends of the period.

  1. To read poetry, fiction and drama of the period
  2. To be able to apply the philosophical, historical and aesthetic principles to the texts as is appropriate for the practice of literary interpretation and criticism.

 

Objectives:

1.       Students will be able to identify and discuss the basic tenets of Modernism

2.       Students will be able to apply these tenets of Modernism to the literary texts in order to investigate meanings and contemplate effects

3.       Students will be able to write sound and logical essays summarizing and demonstrating an understanding of someone else’s work

4.       Students will be able to evaluate the relevance of that work for interpreting and critiquing a literary text.

 

Course Requirements:

  1. Fifteen to twenty minute presentation, with accompanying single-spaced handout (1-2 pages), on a term/individual associated with modernism. You should research the term in more than one place, provide examples/visual aids when appropriate during your presentation and include a Works Cited list.  Following your presentation, you will have an opportunity to revise your definition before it is published on our K:Drive. 

Terms for investigation:  Sir James Frazer, Freud, Nietzsche, Einstein and Theories of Relativity, Symbolism, Realism and Naturalism, Impressionism, Max Weber, Victorianism and the Enlightenment, Romaniticism, Imagism/Imagist.

  1. Presentation on one author as assigned.  The presentation should include author’s biography and critical history of the work and should introduce class discussion of the text.  The presenter will have one class period for his or her presentation and should send me a handout to post to the K:Drive for the class.  See syllabus for due dates.  Authors for presentation:  Dreiser, Hemingway, Faulkner, Hurston, Le Sueur, Paredes, Stevens, Pound, Eliot, Stein, Fitzgerald, O’Neill, Frost.
  2. Paper (2-3 pages) summarizing a critical article on one of the works studied as assigned.  (Head to JSTOR, LION, MLA or some other appropriate library database to search for an article of interest to you.  Please see me for approval of the article before you begin your work on the paper.)  This will be due on the second day of the discussion of the work. See syllabus for due dates.
  3. Paper (4-5 pages) incorporating your summary of a critical article but also analyzing and evaluating the article’s usefulness in interpreting the novel.
  4. Midterm exam.
  5. Final exam

 

Grades:          

Definition of term:                                             100 points

                        Author presentation:                                          100 points

                        Summary of critical article:                                 100 points

                        Paper evaluating critical article:                          150 points

                        Midterm:                                                           250 points

                        Final:                                                                300 points

 

900-1000 points = A; 800-899 points = B; 700-799 points = C; 600-699 points = D; Below 600 = F

 

Raw grade may be raised or lowered by one letter according to the quality of student’s class participation and attendance.

 

Turn work in on time.  I always take late work, but I assess a heavy penalty for delayed submission.  For every day the work is late, the grade drops one full letter grade.  So, if you have an essay due on Monday, but you don't turn it in until Thursday, you won't receive any grade higher than a "D" for that assignment.  Do your work ahead of time.  Print your essay or response out the night BEFORE it's due.  Don't wait until the last minute to dash something off.  Be sure you back up all the work you do on your computer so that you have a copy on your hard drive and a copy on disk.  No kind of excuse -- computer or printer problems, disk problems, lost items, etc. -- will mitigate the penalty for late work.

 

Academic Misconduct: Please read the section on cheating and plagiarism in the student handbook. The consequences for both behaviors are severe and can include failure for the assignment, failure of the course, disciplinary referral to the dean, and expulsion from the college. If you have questions about these violations of academic honesty, please come and see me.

 

Disabilities: In coordination with Educational Access Services, reasonable accommodations will be provided for qualified students with disabilities.  Please contact EAS at 248-1856, or in person at 1020 Elm Ave., across the street from Monument Hall.  Please meet with the instructor the first week of class to discuss accommodations for this class. 


Schedule for Spring 2008

 

Week

Date

Assignment

Project Due

1

J – 23 – W

Intro to Course

 

 

J – 25 – F

Intro and Nationalism and the Modern American Canon from Kalaidjian

 

2

J – 28 – M

Modern American Fiction from Kalaidjian

Sister Carrie – 1-10

 

 

J – 30 – W

Sister Carrie – 11-21

Presentation on Dreiser

 

F – 1 – F

Sister Carrie – 22-35

Presentation on Dreiser article

Term Presentation

3

F – 4 – M

Sister Carrie to end

Presentation on Dreiser article

Term Presentation

 

F – 6 – W

For Whom the Bell Tolls 1-8

Presentation on Hemingway

Term Presentation

 

F – 8 – F

For Whom the Bell Tolls 9-13

Presentation on Hemingway article

Term Presentation

4

F – 11 – M

For Whom the Bell Tolls 19-28

Presentation on Hemingway article

Term Presentation

 

F – 13 – W

For Whom the Bell Tolls 31, 33, 35, 37, 43

Term Presentation

 

F – 15 – F

Winter Break – No Class

 

5

F – 18 – M

Modern American Poetry from Kalaidjian

Tradition and the Individual Talent – T. S. Eliot – Anthology

Term Presentation

 

F – 20 – W

Ezra Pound – Anthology

Pound Presentation

Term Presentation

 

F – 22 – F

T. S. Eliot – Anthology

Eliot Presentation

Presentation on Eliot Article

6

F – 25 – M

William Carlos Williams – Anthology

Term Presentation

 

F – 27 – W

e. e. cummings – Anthology

Term Presentation

 

F – 29 – F

Wallace Stevens – Anthology

Stevens Presentation

Presentation on Stevens Article

7

M – 3 – M

Marianne Moore – Anthology

Term Presentation

 

M – 5 – W

Frost – Anthology

Frost Presentation

Term Presentation

 

M – 7 – F

 Midterm Exam

 

8

M – 10 – M

Spring Break

 

 

M – 12 – W

Spring Break

 

 

M – 14 – F

Spring Break

 

9

M – 17 – M

Modern American Drama from Kalaidjian

Trifles – Glaspell – Anthology

 

 

M – 19 – W

Hairy Ape – O’Neill

O’Neill Presentation

 

M – 21 – F

Summaries of other O’Neil Plays as assigned:  The Emperor Jones, Long Days Journey into Night, Desire Under the Elms

Mourning becomes Electra

Presentation on O’Neill article

10

M – 24 – M 

Summaries of other O’Neil Plays as assigned:  Desire Under the Elms

Mourning becomes Electra

Presentation on O’Neill article

 

M – 26 – W

American Modernism and the New Negro Renaissance from Kalaidjian

Richard Wright in Heath

 

 

M – 28 – F

Their Eyes Were Watching God – 1-8

Hurston Presentation

11

M – 31 – M

Their Eyes Were Watching God – to end

Presentation on Hurston article

 

A – 2 – W

Jazz and Visual Arts and Avant-Garde from Kalaidjian

 

 

A – 4 – F

No class

 

12

A – 7 – M

Fitzgerald in Heath

Presentation on Fitzgerald

 

A – 9 – W

Gender and Sexuality and Social Representations in American Modernism from Kalaidjian

 

 

A – 11 – F

Loy – Handout

Stein in Heath and handout

Presentation on Stein

13

A – 14 – M

Larson in Heath

 

 

A – 16 – W

The Girl – 1-17

Presentation on Le Sueur

 

A – 18 – F

The Girl – to end

Presentation on Le Sueur article

14

A – 21 – M

Regionalism from Kalaidjian

Faulkner – 1-3

 

 

A – 23 – W

Faulkner – 3-5

Presentation on Faulkner

 

A – 25 – F

Faulkner – 6-7

Presentation on Faulkner article

15

A – 28 – M

Faulkner – to end

Presentation on Faulkner article

 

A – 30 – W

George W. Gomez 1/3

Presentation on Paredes

 

M – 2 – F

George W. Gomez 2/3

Presentation on Paredes article

16

M – 5 – M

George W. Gomez – to end

 

 

M – 7 – W

John Joseph Mathews, Thomas S. Whitecloud and D’Arcy McNickle  in Heath

 

 

M – 9 – F

Review

 

17

Final –

M – 12-15

Final Exam