ENGL 397 - "BECOMING MODERN" - FALL 2009
Mares - Fletcher 313 - mares@sbc.edu x6238 (w)/946-0862(h) Office Hrs: TTh 4:15-5:15 & by appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVES In this seminar, we will focus on certain texts that have helped to define modern literature as well as our sense of what it means to be 'modern.' Our goal in part will be to understand the involvement and situatedness of these literary works within the material cultures, societies, and histories that produced them. Questions we will explore include the following: Why did innovation and new imagination seem so necessary to modernist writers? What in particular was so innovative or experimental about these works? What challenges do they mount to traditional values and prevailing modes of socialization, and to what end? How do they register -- in their styles and forms as well as their themes -- the impact of major events of the times, such as the rise of mass culture and new technologies, the crisis of the First World War, and colonial unrest? How do they respond to the so-called ''war between the sexes'' and other cultural conflicts of the times, as well as to changing concepts of the self and shifting paradigms of the nature of reality? Finally, what is it about these works that continues to surprise, disturb, and enchant readers today?
The claim has been made that ''sustained, deep engagements with literary works and literary language open perceptions of structure, texture, and the layering of meanings that challenge superficial comprehension, expand understanding, and hone analytic skills.'' In reading and writing about literary works, students also supposedly "become more sensitive to narrative strategies, verbal manipulations, and linguistic seductions-in short, to communication in all its powers and limitations'' (Teague Report, 2008 MLA White Paper 3). This course will give you an opportunity to test out these claims for yourself. Your assessment of what you have learned in the course at the end of the term (in your ''final retrospective entry'') will also help us to evaluate these claims and assess the effectiveness of the Writing Program at the College.
 REQUIRED TEXTS
Katherine Mansfield, Selected Stories (Norton Critical Ed.) James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Norton Critical Ed. ) D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (tr. Lydia Davis; Penguin) Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (annotated ed., Harvest) William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (+ Background & critical readings) John Lye's Literary Theory Page (Brock University)
REQUIREMENTS Please note that you are responsible for carefully reading this syllabus in its entirety by the end of the first full week of classes. Updates will be posted on the online version of the syllabus at http://mares.english.sbc.edu.
Regular attendance; careful preparation for class; thoughtful contributions to class discussions; a reading journal and a final retrospective journal entry; various brief writing assignments, including at least two 2-3 pp. summary/critiques of selected critical essays, peer reviews of the critiques, and critiques of the abstracts for the senior exercises completed in conjunction with this course; a 10pp. research paper (multiple drafts may be required); and, in lieu of a final exam, a final revision (if necessary) of the 10pp. paper. For further details, see under the appropriate sections below. 
EVALUATION Approximate breakdown of the final grade: ongoing class contributions = 20%; 10pp. essay = 25% (35% , if do not take the option to revise); reading journal (including summary/critiques, responses to the readings, and any other brief writing assignments) = 30%; final retrospective entry = 15%; optional revision of 10 pp. essay = 10%.
I will periodically collect journals, but will not give them letter grades until the end of the term. Individual entries (which include responses to the readings, summary/critiques of critical essays, and other brief writing assignments) are not graded, but I will comment on some of them when I collect the journals during the term. If you have any questions about whether your entries are satisfactory, feel free to come and talk with me.
Students completing their senior exercise in this course (and thus earning an additional hour of credit) may substitute their 15-20 pp. essay (plus the proposal, abstract, annotated bibliography, and presentation) for the research paper and the second required summary/critique. They need to submit formal research proposals as well as abstracts of their senior exercises. They also will give presentations based on their senior exercises during the last week of class. Approximate breakdown of their final grade for the course: ongoing class contributions = 20%; senior exercise, proposal, abstract, and presentation = 35%; reading journal = 30%; final retrospective entry = 15%. [Approximate breakdown of their senior exercise grade (1 hr. credit): proposal, including tentative bibliography (submitted with proposal) = 10%; 15-20 page essay = 50%; annotated bibliography (submitted with essay) = 10%; abstract = 10%; presentation = 20%.]
 CALENDAR
August 31 - Introduction. Excerpts from Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring). Key examples from the visual arts. ''Some Cultural Forces Driving Modernism'' and ''Some Attributes of Literary Modernism" (John Lye); ''Modernism/Postmodernism'' entry in M.H. Abrams, Literary Terms
September 2 - Mansfield, Selected Stories. Alan Bullock, ''The Double Image'' (from Bradbury and McFarlane's Modernism)
7 - Mansfield 9 - Mansfield
14 - Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (to 76) 16 - Joyce (to 127) [Friday, Sept. 17 - 1st summary/critique due by 5 p.m.]
21 - Joyce (to 190) 23 - Joyce (finish Portrait + excerpts from Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake)
28 - Lawrence, Sons and Lovers. (to 222; end of Part I) 30 - Lawrence. No Journal entry. (to 394; end of Ch. IX) [Thurs., Oct. 1 - Peer Reviews of Essay Summary/Critiques due by 5 p.m.]
October 1, 2 - READING DAYS
5 - Lawrence. No Journal entry due. (to 532) 7 - Lawrence (to 645 + introductory materials)
12 - Woolf, To the Lighthouse (7-85; to Ch XVII) + scenes from Virginia Woolf: The War Within (film) 14 - Woolf (to 146; end of Part II) + excerpts from ''Modern Fiction'' and other essays + excerpts from articles by Elizabeth Abel and Mitchell Leaska
19 - Woolf 21 - Woolf (to 211; end) + selected comments on the ending of the novel
26 - Proust, Swann's Way [First volume of A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time)] 28 - Proust. + Film: Marcel Proust, A Life.
4 - Proust
9 - Proust [+ selections from final volume, Le temps retrouve (Time Regained)] 11 - Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
16 - Faulkner 18 - Faulkner [Friday, Nov. 20 - 10pp. paper with reverse outline due by 5 p.m., if you want the option to revise!] [Thanksgiving Break begins Friday at 5:30.]
December 2 - Faulkner. Abstracts of senior exercises due in class. [Friday, Dec. 4 - 10pp. paper with reverse outline due by 5 p.m. - No option to revise!]
7 - Comments on abstracts due in class. Senior Presentations (Janika Carey and Elizabeth Kadesky. Guest faculty: Carrie Brown). 9 - Journals and final retrospective entries due in class. Review. Senior Presentation (Devra Schachter. Guest faculty: Marcia Robertson.) Course Evaluations.
[Friday, Dec. 18 - Final revised version of the 10pp. paper due by the last day of exams (only if required). ATTACH previous version with my comments.]
Last Day of Classes: Dec. 11 (Friday)
Reading Day: Dec. 12 (Saturday)
Exams: Dec. 13-18 (Sunday-Friday) COURSE POLICIES
ATTENDANCE In keeping with official College policy, you are expected to attend all class sessions. Because absences limit what you can gain from and give to the class, they typically will have a negative impact on your final grade in the course. Repeated lateness (or early departures) will also lower your final grade. If you are late for class, it is your responsibility to see me immediately afterwards to make sure that I have recorded you as present.
If you are really sick (contagious) please don't come to class; let me know about it by phone or e-mail, preferably before the class. Sick-days, though unpreventable, are still absences affecting your work and possibly your grade: so, don't take ''skip'' days!
In keeping with official College policy, if you miss class, you are responsible for contacting another class member to find out what you missed and to make sure that you have the assignment for the next class. Follow up with me if you need further clarification.
If you are a member of a varsity sports team, within the first two weeks of class (earlier, if you have to miss class for a game before then), provide me with a schedule delineating the specific days you will be absent. If you do have to miss class for a game or for other official College business, you need to submit in advance any work that comes due on the dates you miss. In other words, an excused absence is not an automatic extension.
In keeping with College policy, no special arrangements will be made for students who leave early for break or return late. CLASS PREPARATION & PARTICIPATION In some classes (lecture courses, for example), you may have some leeway as to when you complete reading assignments. In this course, it is essential that you complete the assigned readings before you come to class. Bring your own copy of the text we are discussing to class. Active reading will make it possible for you to come up with meaningful and helpful journal entries and questions for class. Reading actively means reading with a pen, pencil, or highlighter in hand to mark thought-provoking lines and passages, to note questions and make comments in the margins or in your notebook, and to record your feelings, including connections with your own experiences and what you have learned in other classes or elsewhere. Note words that are new to you and look up their meanings before class. You are expected to keep up with the reading. Unannounced in-class quizzes on the reading are always a possibility.
Active participation in class discussions is essential in this course. Our goal will be to create a friendly forum in which everyone participates and learns from one another. If speaking up in class comes easily to you, remember that listening well is also a skill. If you find it difficult to speak up in class, see me as soon as possible. We can go over strategies for entering discussions. LATE WORK & EXTENSIONS Late work will not be accepted unless an extension has been arranged. Normally, deadlines will be extended and absences excused only in cases of serious illness (you are contagious or in the hospital, or both), family emergency, or travel on official College business, verifiable by the Dean's Office.
COMMUNICATION I will rely on e-mail to communicate with the class, using the class lists on my.sbc.edu. These addresses end with @sbc.edu; therefore, it is imperative that you check your Sweet Briar account regularly and make sure that you have not exceeded the message quota. If you use another e-mail supplier, arrange for your Sweet Briar mail to be forwarded to that address.
Please do not e-mail or fax me papers or any other assignments unless I have asked you to do so. Feel free to e-mail or call me, or to stop by my office, if you have questions or want to make an appointment.
NOTE: Generally, I do not read e-mail messages received after 5 p.m. until I return to the office the next day. I also do not read e-mail over the weekend (which often includes Fridays). If you need to reach me in the evening or during the weekend, you may call me at home (946-0862). Leave a message if I am not there. Include the phone number where I can reach you. I will return your call as soon as possible.
ON PLAGIARISM Students are expected to adhere to the Honor Code in all their work. Please note that work you completed for other courses, here or elsewhere, may not be submitted for credit in this course. Plagiarism, whether accidental or intentional, is a violation of the Honor Code and will be treated with the utmost seriousness. If you are convicted of plagiarizing work for this class, you will most likely fail the course. The student judicial system may impose other penalties, up to and including expulsion. If you have any questions about how plagiarism is defined, review the relevant sections in your Student Handbook. There is also a helpful website, "Avoiding Plagiarism," listed below under "Additional Resources: Writing Websites." See me if you want further clarification.
GUIDELINES FOR JOURNALS
PURPOSE The reading journal is meant to encourage you to read closely and to stay activelyinvolved in the course. It should also help you to "notice what you notice" (as Allen Ginsberg advised), which is essential for independent thinking.
Your reading journal is a kind of reservoir or laboratory for your ideas. It will provide you with observations and questions that can serve as starting points for our class discussions. It may also lead you to the topic you want to write about in your research paper for the course.
Unless otherwise instructed, please bring your current journal entry to class so that you can draw upon it if asked, or if you wish to, during class discussion.
I will periodically collect journals, but will not give them letter grades until the end of the term. Individual entries are not graded, but I will comment on some of them when I collect the journals during the term. If you have any questions about whether your entries are satisfactory, feel free to come and talk with me.
APPROACH Journal entries should be varied in their approach. They also should be substantive and exploratory (not simply statements of fact about the plot or the characters). They may consist in part of questions you have about the reading as long as the questions are substantive, not plot-based (i.e., answerable by reading further in the text) or factual (answerable by doing a quick Google or Wikipedia search). Feel free to connect the readings with your own experience, other works you've read, and what you've learned in other classes or elsewhere. Entries that focus on what you don't understand, what frustrates, intrigues, puzzles, or mystifies you in the reading are often the most effective in advancing your own thinking and generating good class discussion. You do not have to come up with answers to your questions! At times I may ask you to write a directed response with a particular focus.
FORMAT Most journal entries should be 1-2 typed pages (250-300 words) in length. They may be longer, if you wish, but shouldn't fall short of the minimum. Summary/critiques of essays should be 2-3 typed pages (500-900) words in length. Directions for writing them will be distributed and discussed in class.
Journals should be in folders (the simpler, the better). Individual entries should not be stapled or paper clipped together. Date each entry and make it clear what text or part of a text you are writing about. Include a word count at the end of the entry. Keep your journal up to date: the subject of the most recent entry should be the work we are currently discussing in class.
If you type your journal entries, please double-space them. If you write them out by hand, use a pen, not a pencil. Skip lines, write on only the front side of the page, and make sure that your handwriting is easily legible. Include a word count at the end of each entry. GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS
The research paper for the course may exceed 10 pages in length, but it should not fall short of the minimum. In this paper, you are required to draw extensively (and critically!) upon a variety of secondary sources (both on the Web and in the Library; both articles AND books), and to document them properly, using the MLA style of documentation. You may find that your entries in your journal open up a question or topic that you will want to explore further in your paper. Lisa Johnston, Associate Director of the Libraries, can help you to identify the best databases and other resources for your research. Depending on your project, I may recommend some pertinent books and articles for your consideration. If you think you may be interested in writing an experimental critical/research essay, click on this link: Experimental Criticism.
Although I will not be able to read rough drafts (except of senior exercises), I will gladly look over your tentative introductory paragraph (which should include a tentative thesis statement and your justification for your project), your outline, and your tentative bibliography. I also will gladly talk with you at any point in your project.
Papers will be returned ungraded if they contain multiple spelling, punctuation, and/or grammatical errors. These papers will be docked one-half letter grade each day until they are resubmitted in an acceptable form.
FINAL RETROSPECTIVE ENTRY [3 pp. (750 word) min.]
(1) Analysis and Reflection. a) Has your writing changed over the course of the semester? If so, in what ways? What are your current strengths as a writer? What do you still need to work on? Refer to specific entries (by date) or aspects of your research paper for evidence. Quote from them, if you think that would clarify your meaning. (b) How have your journal entries and research paper helped you to explore particular themes for the course and attain its objectives (as stated on the syllabus)? Be specific. Anchor your claims with references to pertinent phrases in the course description on the first page of the syllabus.
(c) Select three examples of your writing for the course that now interest you the most. Explain why you have chosen these particular pieces, rather than others.
(2) Turn in the entire journal with the retrospective entry on top and your selected examples (for 1.c, above) directly beneath it. The rest of your entries for the term should follow in chronological order.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Cochran Library - Sweet Briar's excellent undergraduate library is the center of the intellectual life of the College. Our superb library staff members are eager to help you sharpen your research strategies and expand your awareness of the resources most relevant to your current projects.
The ARC - The ARC, located on the Garden level of the Chapel, is another resource that students may find very useful. For more information, visit their website or call x6278.
Writing Websites: MLA Style (Via UNC Library) Papers: Expectations, Guidelines, Advice, and Grading, J. DeLombard and Dan White Writing Center Handouts: UNC Chapel Hill Purdue Online Writing Lab (also with MLA Formatting Guidelines) The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr. George Orwell's Handy Word Choice Hints
LAST UPDATED: 4 December 2009
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