Department of English

This course will provide an introduction to important writing across the twentieth century, chosen to offer a broad sampling of prose and poetry on both sides of the Atlantic. Along with careful readings of each work, the lectures will situate the literary texts in some of their relevant contexts. The list of required readings will include, among others: T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and The Waste Land; Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway; Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot; Philip Larkin, selected poems; Allen Ginsberg, "Howl" and selected poems; Ian McEwan, Atonement; and Nilo Cruz, Anna in the Tropics. I will occasionally introduce major paintings, as appropriate, and excerpts from a number of significant films will also be introduced, including Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, and Carol Reed's The Third Man and Woody Allen's Zelig. Finally, a set of supplementary readings will be posted on the course website.

Texts are available at the Penn Book Centre, at Sansom and 34th Streets.

Requirements. (1) Attendance is mandatory. (2) There will be mid-term and final exams. (3) Each student will complete two 8-page papers, the first due in mid-October, the second in early December. (4) Quizzes may occur at any time.