Missouri Western State University

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Language and Journalism

English 356-01—Literature in English: 1914-1945

T/Th 12:30-1:50

Murphy Hall 113

Instructor:  Dr. Stacia Bensyl

Office:  Eder Hall 222-I

Phone: x5936

Office Hours:  10-11 MTWThF, and by appointment

E-mail:  bensyl@missouriwestern.edu

 

Required Texts:

 

Baym, Nina, ed.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Between the Wars1914-1945. 6^th ed. Vol. D. New York: Norton, 2003.

 

Damrosch, David, et al.,  eds.  The Longman Anthology of British Literature.  2^nd ed. Vol. 2C.  New York: Longman, 2003.

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott.  The Great Gatsby.  New York: Scribner, 1995.

 

Joyce, James.  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  Ed. R. B. Kershner. Boston: Bedford, 1993.

 

Objectives:

At the end of this course students should be able to:

• Discuss and write about how WWI and WWII framed the era discussed in the literature, and how they influenced the literature as well.
• Discuss and write about how Modernism is exemplified in the literature read in class.
• Construct an annotated bibliography of sources in proper MLA style.
• Write a research paper, properly documented in MLA style, which illustrates the student’s critical understanding of a piece of literature from this era.

 

Requirements:

• Four three-page response papers due throughout the semester at the times indicated.  Instructions for these papers will be handed out in class.
• A fifteen-item annotated bibliography, due in lieu of a midterm.  This should be the foundation for your final paper.  Instructions for the annotated bibliography will be handed out in class.
• An 8-10 page documented research paper, due April 20.  Instructions for the research paper will be handed out in class.
• Attendance at the final exam period.

 

 

Attendance policy:

I don’t take roll, I just expect you to be here.  Yes, it is theoretically possible to pass the class even if you aren’t here every day, but it will hurt your grade. 

 

Academic honesty:

I abide by the standards for academic honesty outlined in the student handbook.  Students whom I catch cheating—and I do catch them—will automatically receive an “F” in the course.  I will also report them to the department chair and the dean.

 

Students with disabilities:

Students with disabilities (impaired hearing, vision, reading disorders, etc.) should notify me in writing of the disability before the end of the first week of class.  In consultation with the Center for Academic Support, I will work out a course of study for such students.

 

Course grades:

100-90% = A

80-89%   = B

70-79%   = C

60-69%   = D

59- 0%    = F

 

Final Exam:  Thursday, May 4, 11:30-1:20

 

Tentative Assignment Schedule

NB:  Be prepared to talk about the readings in class.  You’d be surprised how much more you get out of your classes if you actually read the assignments.

 

(L) = Longman Anthology  (N) = Norton Anthology

Jan       17        Introduction

            19        WWI film

24        Rupert Brooke, “The Soldier,” page 2185; All Siegfried Sassoon poems, pages 2186-2188; (L)

26        All Wilfred Owen poems, pages 2188-2191; All Isaac Rosenberg poems, pages 2192-2195 (L)

31        Wallace Stevens, “Sunday Morning,” pages 1238-1240; “Anecdote of the Jar,” page 1241; “The Idea of Order at Key West,” pages 1245-1247 (N)

Feb      2          W. B.Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” page 2246; “The Wild Swans at      

Coole,” pages 2248-2249 (L)

Response paper #1 due

7        W.B. Yeats, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” page 2249; “Easter 1916” pages 2249-2251, “The Second Coming,” page 2251 (L)

              9        no class—Bensyl at conference

            14        James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

            16        James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

21        T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” pages 1420-1423; “The Hollow Men,” pages 1443-1446; “Journey of the Magi,” pages 1446-1447  (N)

            23        Continue Eliot  

28        Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway pages 2386-2485 (L)

Response paper #2 due

Mar        2        Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway pages 2386-2485 (L)

7        Katherine Mansfield, “The Daughters of the Late Colonel,” pages 2611-2624 (L)

              9        F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Annotated bibliography due

14                Spring Break

16          Spring Break

21        F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

23        D. H. Lawrence, “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,” pages 2660-2671 (L)

28        William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying pages 1695-1790 (N)

30        William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying pages 1695-1790 (N)

Response paper #3 due

Apr        4        George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant,” page 2747 (L)

  6        W.H. Auden, “Musee des Beaux Arts” page 2789; “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” page 2790 (L)

11        Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son,” page 1893; “I, Too,” page 1894; “Song for a Dark Girl,” page 1896 (N)

13        Dorothy Parker, “The Waltz,” pages 1615-1618 (N); Rebecca West, “Indissoluble Matrimony,” pages 2594-2610 (L)

18        handouts

            20        handouts

Documented paper due

            25        Japanese-American writing (handouts)

            27        Winding up

            Response paper #4 due