3/28 Introduction & Course Policies

3/29 Graham Greene: "The Destroyers" (handout)

3/30 Kingsley Amis: from Lucky Jim; John Wain: from Hurry on Down (handouts)

3/31 Post-war Britain in Literature and Film: Some Enduring Archetypes

4/3 Julian Barnes: Metroland, Part I, ch. 1-5

4/4 Metroland, Part I, ch. 6-13

4/5 Metroland, Part II, ch. 1-2

4/6 Metroland, Part II, ch. 3-6; Part III, ch. 1

4/7 Metroland, Part III, ch. 2-6

4/10 Carol Ann Duffy: "Liverpool Echo," "Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team," "Model Village"

4/11 Duffy: "Stafford Afternoons," "Adultery," "Poet for Our Times"

4/12 Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Genesis"

4/13 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Exodus"

4/14 Reading Day

4/17 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Leviticus"

4/18 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Numbers" "Deuteronomy"

4/19 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Joshua" "Judges"

4/20 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: "Ruth"

4/21 Paper Conferences

4/24 Paper #1 Due

4/25 Philip Larkin: "Church Going," "Show Saturday"

4/26 Larkin: "Going Going," "Whitsun Weddings," & "Annus Mirabilis"

4/27 Graham Swift: Waterland, ch 1-6

4/28 Waterland, ch. 7-9

5/1 Waterland, ch. 10-19

5/2 Waterland, ch. 20-29

5/3 Waterland, ch. 30-34

5/4 Waterland, ch. 35-44

5/5 Waterland, ch. 45-conclusion

5/8 Martin Amis: "John Lennon;" "Snooker with Julian Barnes."

5/9 Amis: "Darts: Gutted for Keith;" excerpt from London Fields

5/10 Tom Stoppard: Arcadia, Act I, Scenes 1 & 2

5/11 Arcadia, Act I, Scenes 3 & 4; Act II, Scene 5

5/12 Arcadia, Act II, Scenes 6 & 7

5/15 Paper Conferences

5/16 Paper #2 Due

5/18 from Beryl Bainbridge’s Forever England: "The Coglans of Hastings"

5/19 Bainbridge: "The Brittons of Barnsley"

5/22 Bainbridge: "The Roses of Birmingham"

5/23 Hilary Mantel’s An Experiment in Love: Ch. 1-2 (1-49)

5/24 An Experiment in Love: ch. 3-4 (50-88)

5/25 An Experiment in Love: ch. 5 (89-111)

5/26 An Experiment in Love: ch. 6 (112-152)

5/29 An Experiment in Love: ch. 7 (153-191)

5/30 An Experiment in Love: ch. 8 (192-218)

5/31 An Experiment in Love: ch. 9 (219-250)

6/1 Course Evaluations and Review

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I. Quizzes, In-class projects, and Participation (10% of grade). Because of this class’s seminar format, participation will be a crucial part of your success in the course. You will be evaluated on the consistency and quality of your participation in classroom discussion of assigned texts. This participation can take the form of a response to issues raised in the reading, ways of interpreting ambiguous events, characters, images, symbols, passages, etc, or questions about such matters. Quizzes will only be given if it appears that the readings are not being completed, and will consist of 3 short answer questions about the assigned reading. They will be graded on a scale of 1-10, with one correct answer counting 5 points, two counting 3 points, and three 2 points. More than 5 unexcused absences will result in failure of the course.

Essays: (60% of grade): you will be required to submit a total of two essays papers (5-7 pages in length) at the date appointed on the syllabus. The subject of your paper can be any single work, an analysis or comparison of two or more works, or a more general topic on a section of the syllabus. You will be evaluated on the originality and creativity of your thesis (i.e. your personal treatment of an assigned project), the strength of your supporting evidence and examples, and the overall quality of your writing (i.e. clear thesis statement, clarity of prose, and the minimization of errors in punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc.). I will provide you with paper topics, but you are also free to develop your own topics. Papers turned in late without a legitimate excuse will be lowered by 1/2 a grade per day.

Exams (30% of grade) ; the midterm and final exams will consist of short answer questions and a choice of essay questions. The exams will be designed to measure your general retention of material covered in the final section of the course ("Two Nations"). Questions will measure your knowledge of authors, major characters, key issues discussed in class, themes, events, and general facts about literary history that come from my mini-lectures and introductions. I will give more details in the review class prior to the exam.

Note: If anyone requires special accommodations in the classroom, please make an appointment to see me early in the term.

1.) To improve students’ interpretive and analytical skills through close reading and discussion of a selection of notable works in English literature, 1950-present.

2.) To improve writing skills. That is, to develop students’ ability to articulate opinions in an intelligent, clear, and well-organized manner, to refine their argumentative and rhetorical skills, and to acquaint students with the fundamentals of academic writing (including bibliographic forms and citation).

3.) To develop critical thinking skills, including the ability to form opinions and a discerning attitude toward the relative merits and/or weaknesses of literary works and the views expressed therein.

4.) To develop and refine verbal skills in an intellectual environment (i.e. the ability to express confidently and articulately one’s views on a variety of topics among one’s peers).

5.) To acquire a general knowledge of historical movements and trends in British intellectual, particularly literary, history from 1950 to the present--the period archetype generally defined by the label "Angry Young Men" or "The Anger Generation"