Lahore University of Management Sciences

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1 Lahore University of Management Sciences Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS) ENGL 2253 The Age of Literary Modernism: Early 20 th- Century American Fiction Spring Semester ( ) Instructor Dr. Saeed Ghazi Room No. Room No. 129, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Academic Block Office Hours Thursday and Friday 5:00 6:30 pm Telephone 8045 Secretary/TA 2115 TA Office Hours TBA Course URL (if any) Course Basics Credit Hours 4 1

2 Lecture(s) Recitation/Lab (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week 2 Duration 110 Minutes Duration Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week TBA Duration TBA Course Distribution Core No Elective For English majors, minors, In Group distribution, Out Group distribution, Free Elective Open for Student Category All Closed for Student Category None COURSE DESCRIPTION This is a four Unit sophomore level survey course that scrutinizes the distinctive characteristics of early 20 th- Century American Fiction through an intensive investigation of the critically acclaimed masterpieces of four of the principal canonical novelists of this period, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck. This period labeled by critics as the Age of Modernism felt the full impact of (nineteenth century) developments in biology and geology culminating in a collapse of the old certainties. The outbreak of the Great War deepened and intensified the growing disillusionment with the Enlightenment s promise of progress and human perfectibility. The Irish poet William Butler Yeats encapsulates the tumult and turbulence of this period in the following lines (from The Second Coming ) the Centre does not hold/mere anarchy is loosed on the world. Ezra Pound sought to give literary and poetic expression to this altered sensibility by urging authors to make it new. This fertile, diverse and heterogeneous period witnessed thematic innovations and daring formalist experimentation in the Arts in general and the novel in particular. In this course we will closely 2

3 scrutinize the nature, scope, and limits of these experiments and achievements with respect to the early 20 th century American novel. Prominent among the issues that will engage our attention are the following: The emergence of Literary Modernism, the evolution of the stream of consciousness novel, the impact of cinema and cinematic technique on the novel, the roaring twenties, interrogation of the American dream, the Waste Land motif, the idea of the grotesque, Fitzgerald and Romanticism, Hemingway and the representation of women, the characteristics of the Hemingway Code hero, Faulkner and the American South, Steinbeck and the great depression. COURSE PREREQUISITE(S) None COURSE OBJECTIVES A) B) To provide students with an overview and a critical understanding of early 20 th Century American Fiction and the evolution of literary modernism. Students will acquaint themselves with the distinctive characteristics of early 20 th- Century American Fiction and obtain an insight into the political, social, cultural, and philosophical developments of this tumultuous period. To acquaint students with the distinguishing characteristics of four major novelists of this period. Learning Outcomes Students who successfully complete ENGL 2253 should A) Manifest a heightened understanding and appreciation of the distinct characteristics of Literary Modernism in general and of the works of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck in particular. B) Emerge with a deeper understanding of the diverse contexts social, cultural, political, and historical within which and in response to which these novels 3

4 emerged. Grading Breakup and Policy There will be 28 sessions of class each 110 minutes in length. Students will write a brief response paper based on the assigned readings at the start of each new text. They will take a Mid-term and a Final exam and write an 8-10 page critical essay/research paper. The topics for the essays and the working thesis/theses will have to be approved by the Instructor. The critical essay/research paper, due on the last day of class should strictly adhere to the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. A copy of the 8 th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (2016) is on reserve at the library. The break up of the Instruments is as follows: 1. Mid Term 30% 2. Final Exam 35% 3. Critical Essay/Research Paper 25% 4. Response Papers/ 10% Tests/ Class Presentations Examination Detail Midterm Exam Yes Combine Separate: N/A Duration: 110 Minutes Exam Specifications: Closed Book/Closed Notes Final Exam Yes Combine Separate: N/A Duration: 180 Minutes Exam Specifications: Closed Book/Closed Notes 4

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6 COURSE OVERVIEW Lecture Author/ Topic Primary Text /s Secondary Text /s 1. Introduction to the Course Introduction to Literary Modernism M. H. Abrams ( ) The Mirror and the Lamp (1953), Orientation of Critical Theories : Malcolm Bradbury and James McFarlane, Modernism (1978), The Name and Nature of Modernism : F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) Peter Gay, Modernism (2007), A Climate for Modernism : The Great Gatsby (1925) 4. F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) The Great Gatsby (1925) Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory (2005), What is Literature and Does it Matter? :

7 F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) The Great Gatsby (1925) Victor Shklovsky ( ), Art as Technique : 6. F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) The Great Gatsby (1925) The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald (2002), Rena Sanderson, Women in Fitzgerald s Fiction : F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) Babylon Revisited (1931); Tender is the Night (1934) R. S. Crane, Ed. Critics and Criticism: Essays in Method. 1952,"The Concept of Plot and the Plot of Tom Jones." : 8. F. Scott Fitzgerald ( ) Tender is the Night (1934) Terry Eagleton, Against the Grain (1986), Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism : Ernest Hemingway ( ) 9. The Sun Also Rises (1926) 10. Ernest Hemingway ( ) The Sun Also Rises (1926) Jürgen Habermas,, "Modernity Versus 7

8 Postmodernity." New German Critique 22. (Winter 1981), Ernest Hemingway ( ) The Sun Also Rises (1926) ; The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (1936) Frank Kermode, Modernisms ; Modernisms Again 12. Ernest Hemingway ( ) A Farewell to Arms (1929) 13. Ernest Hemingway ( ) A Farewell to Arms (1929) The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway, (1996 ) Michael Reynolds, A Farewell to Arms: Doctors in the house of love : 14. Ernest Hemingway ( ) The Old Man and the Sea (1953) The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway, (1996 ), Bickford Sylvester, The Cuban context of The Old Man and the Sea : Mid Term Exam 8

9 16. William Faulkner ( ) Shiv K. Kumar and Keith McKean, Critical Approaches to Fiction (2003), Lawrence Edward Bowling, What is the Stream of Consciousness Technique? : The Sound and the Fury (1929) 17. William Faulkner ( ) The Sound and the Fury (1929) The Cambridge Companion to William Faulkner, (1995) Richard C. Moreland, Faulkner and Modernism : William Faulkner ( ) The Sound and the Fury (1929) 19. William Faulkner ( ) The Sound and the Fury (1929) William Faulkner ( ) That Evening Sun (1931); 20. Barn Burning (1939) 21. William Faulkner ( ) As I Lay Dying (1930) 22. 9

10 William Faulkner ( ) As I Lay Dying (1930) The Cambridge Companion to William Faulkner, (1995) Carolyn Porter, (Un)Making the Father : William Faulkner ( ) As I Lay Dying (1930) John Steinbeck ( ) 24. The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 25. John Steinbeck ( ) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 26. John Steinbeck ( ) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 27. John Steinbeck ( ) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 28. John Steinbeck ( ) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 10