English 4373/5373 Modern American Literature
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English 4373/5373 Modern American Literature

Instructor: Dr. Deborah K. Chappel

Office: 221B Wilson Hall

Hours: 2-4:30 TTH and by appt.

Phone: 972-3043 (ASU English & Philosophy; leave message)

Required Texts: T. S. Eliot, handouts

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway (1926; Warner)

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (1930; Random House, Vintage)

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (1939; Viking Penguin)

Three by Flannery O'Connor (Intro Fitzgerald; 1950; NAL)

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (1955; Random House, Vintage)

Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin (1956; Dell)

On the Road, Jack Kerouac (1957; Viking Penguin)

The Subterraneans, Jack Kerouac (Grove)

Description of Course:

An examination of American Modernism, beginning with the poems of T. S. Eliot and continuing with early Modernist and late Modernist novels, including those classically associated with the movement and a few that challenge it.

During the course of the semester we will study not only modernist novels and poetry, but also associated artistic and historical terms.

For each work studied, we will look at how the work defines the nature of truth, what the work posits about the individual's relationship to and responsibility for the social world, how the work represents the artist's relationship to politics and social change, and what it means to be an intellectual and/or radical in the context of modernism.

Course Requirements:

1. Brief (5-10 minutes) presentation with accompanying single-spaced handout (1-2 pages) on a term 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 Consulted list. Following your presentation you will have an opportunity to revise your definition before it is published on a Modernism website. Final due 4/l4. 10%

 2. Group presentation on one of the authors studied. The presentation should include author's biography and critical history of the work and should introduce class discussion of the novel. The group will have one class period for its presentation and should provide each member of the class with a handout. For grading purposes, each group should furnish me with a written description of what each term member contributed. 10%

3. Paper summarizing one critical article on one of the novels studied (you may choose from a list provided by me or choose your own article and have it approved by me). This will be due on the second day of discussion of the relevant novel or, if the article is a general one regarding modernism, on a date agreed upon by me and you. 15%

 4. Final paper incorporating your summary of a critical article (from 3 above) but also analyzing and evaluating the article's usefulness in interpreting the novel. Due 4/23. 15%

 5. Midterm exam. Open note, open book. 20%

 6. Test on terms related to modernism, relating them to works studied. 10%

 7. Final exam. Open note, open book. Not cumulative. 20%

Grading: Definition of term 100 pts.

Summary of critical article 150 pts.

Group presentation 100 pts.

Paper evaluating critical article 150 pts.

Midterm exam 200 pts.

Test on modernist terms 100 pts.

Final exam 200 pts.

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

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

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense and breach of academic integrity which could result in failure for the paper, failure for the course, and expulsion from Arkansas State University. If you have questions regarding plagiarism, ask me.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: Rather than writing a paper evaluating one critical article, graduate students will write a 6-8 page research paper on one of the novels studied in this course.

COURSE OUTLINE:

1/6 Introduction to class; introduction to modernism

1/8 Discussion of T. S. Eliot poems (from handouts)

1/13 Introduction to Hemingway; discussion of first l/3 of novel

1/15 Hemingway (first 2/3)

1/20 Hemingway (all)

1/22 Presentation on Faulkner; first l/2 of novel

1/27 Faulkner (all)

1/29 Presentation on terms: Existentialism, Flapper, Jazz Age, Lost Generation, New York

Armory Show of 1913, New Woman, New Negro

2/3 Presentation on Steinbeck; first l/3 of novel

2/5 Steinbeck (first 2/3)

2/10 Steinbeck (all)

2/12 Presentation on terms: Art for art's sake, cubism, surrealism, Dadaism,

Symbolist poets, imagism, modernism in music (i.e. Stravinsky?)

2/17 Midterm exam

2/19 Presentation on Flannery O'Connor; first work

2/24 O'Connor, second work

2/26 O'Connor, third work

3/3 Presentation on terms: Taylorization, Impact of Freud & Unconscious, Impact

of Marxism on Modernism, The Dial, The Fugitives/Agrarians, The Harlem

Renaissance, Fascism, Stream of Consciousness

3/5 Presentation on terms continued from 3/3

3/10 Presentation on Baldwin; first half of novel

3/12 Baldwin (all)

3/17 Spring Break

3/19 Spring Break

3/24 Presentation on Nabokov; first half of novel

3/31 Nabokov (all)

4/2 Presentation on Kerouac; first l/3 On the Road

4/7 On the Road (first 2/3)

4/9 No class

4/14 On the Road (all); Presentation on terms: New Criticism, Beat Movement, Red

Scare, McCarthyism

4/16 The Subterraneans, first half

4/21 The Subterraneans (all)

4/23 Final of critical article due; Discussion

4/28 Coming to terms with Modernism

4/30 FINAL EXAM 8-10 a.m.

This site is maintained by Deborah Chappel, dchappel@astate.edu 

This page was updated 07/18/05