English 10C-3 - Spring, 2014

Literatures in English III: 1900 to Present

Class Information

Instructor: Weis, Martin
CRN: 22430
Time: TR 3:10-4:30
Location: 105 Olson

Description

Associated as it is with terms like modernism and postmodernism, 20th century literature is often considered particularly confusing. In this class, we will work with novels, poems, and plays to ask how each of these texts presents a particular confusion, and why this confusion might be useful. These texts confuse, dizzy, overwhelm, and estrange. What formal features do these 20th century texts employ to produce this confusion, and how, in doing so, might these texts better help us understand the 20th century?

English 10C is the third course in the Literatures in English sequence that is required for all English majors, and it spans 1900 to present. As such, it is a reading-and-writing intensive course, designed to prepare you for upper-division courses in the English major. In addition to the texts listed below, we will also work through a number of shorter texts.

Grading

20%: participation and in-class assignments
15%: reading notes
10%: essay 1
20%: essay 2
25%: essay 3
10%: final

Texts

Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien
Neuromancer, William Gibson
The descent of Alette, Alice Notley
The Raw Shark Texts, Steven Hall