EN 546 The Modern American Novel Summer I 2012 M-F 11-12:30 CAS 212

Prof. John Matthews Department of English 236 Bay State Road Room 521 617/358-2555, jtmattws@bu.edu Hours: Monday 1-3, and daily by appointment

TEXTS (Barnes & Noble at Boston University) Willa Cather, My ntonia (Penguin) James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Penguin) Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (Scribner) William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (Norton Critical Ed.) F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night (Scribner) Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper) Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (Vintage) COURSE DESCRIPTION Our course will examine representative works by significant American novelists published between 1900 and 1950. Our goal will be to understand how various American writers of this period responded to the extreme changes identified with modernity. How did novelists imagine the social, economic, political, intellectual, and artistic transformations of the first half of the last century? How did authors fashion new expressive styles and narrative methods to engage new ways of conceptualizing human origins; race and culture; gender; individual consciousness, perception, and comprehension; the organization of society; labor, wealth, and consumption; ethics; etc.? Well be interested in looking at relations between the artist, the individual work, and historical contexts in order to appreciate how novels represent society and address matters of interest to communities of readers. Well also ask how these expectations condition the artists desire to express her or his individual sensibility. Well study major developments in the genre of the novel during this time, especially the emergence of technically experimental modernist style and form. Well note some of the effects film had on modern literature. Well consider questions about new senses of modern national identity, regional distinctiveness, womens enfranchisement, race relations and ethnicity, the predominance of urban life, the crisis of capitalism during the Great Depression, class relations, and the trauma of two world wars. REQUIREMENTS Each student will submit one analytical essay of no more than 2500 words (7-8 double-spaced pages). It will count for 30% of your final grade. Topics for papers will be posted early in the semester. The paper will be due on Monday, June 18. These will be original interpretive essays. More specific guidelines governing format, consultation and citation of secondary material, criteria for grading, etc. will be posted with the paper topics. Graduate students should expect to write a slightly longer version of these papers, no more than 3000 words, of similar format. I welcome conversations about your papers as you develop your ideas. There will be two exams during the semester. The mid-term exam will take place on Wednesday, June 13) and will cover the first four novels. It will be a one-hour exam, short answer format. It will count for 20% of your final grade. A final examination, primarily essay format, will be given on the last day of class, Friday, June 29. This counts 30% toward the final grade. Throughout the semester, students will post brief reading responses about each novel on the course website (minimum of six; you may omit one novel). These may be as short as 150 words, and their format is open: you may want to pose questions we should take up in class, report your reactions to the novel, propose hypotheses about interpretations, make connections between writersanything you want. These wont be graded separately, but Ill assess the sum of each

students postings holistically; the submissions will be figured in to attendance and class participation to make up 20% of your grade. You may miss no more than two classes without excuse. More than four absences will jeopardize course credit. Please bring the text for the day to each session. All other unmentioned course policies conform to the University Code of Academic Conduct. SCHEDULE Suggested page installments for each session will be posted on the course website. May T 22 Preliminaries and Introduction

Regionalism and the Modern Nation W 23, R 24, F 25 M 28 Holiday Cather, My ntonia Johnson, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

T 29, W 30, R 31, F1 June Modernism After the Great War M 4, T 5, W 6 R 7, F 8, M 11, T 12 W 13 The Thirties R 14, F 15, M 18, T 19 After Modernism W 20, R 21, F 22 M 25, T 26, W 27, R 28 F 29

Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury Mid-term Examination

Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night

Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God Ellison, Invisible Man Final Examination (in class)

Note: Some additional critical essays will be posted on the course website. A few of these will be required for specific sessions; most will be optional.