9:05a-9:55a MWF (30) 3 cr.
This course will introduce central cultural and literary concerns of
the period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World
War I by focusing on four major writers: Mark Twain, Henry James, Kate
Chopin, and Edith Wharton. The opportunity to spend time on each
writer will allow us to explore--in greater depth than a rapid survey
of single works by a large number of authors would permit--the
principal themes with which each writer was engaged, the unique
characteristics of his/her art, and the evolution of those themes and
that art over the course of a career. Our goals are both an
appreciation of the special genius of these writers and the complex
relationship between the artist and the culture from which the artist
draws and to which he/she speaks. Twain, James, Chopin, and Wharton
are exceptional figures living in an exceptionally complicated and
vital period, as America copes with its rapid transformation from an
agricultural to an industrial economy, as an ordered society of white
gentlemen reluctantly concedes power to African Americans, to women,
and to the "middle" and "lower" classes, and as the theory of
evolution and the rise of modern notions of personality alter
perceptions of the role of human beings in their universe.
The course will proceed mostly by discussion, with class meetings
organized around discussion questions. Those same questions will also
serve from time to time as the basis for in-class writing assignments
and out-of-class responses. Each student will also participate in
preparing a 15-minute small-group presentation on a topic relevant to
the authors and topics, and will write two longer formal essays (5-7
pages). We'll also devote one class to a visit to the Lilly Library
to look at original editions of works by the writers. No
examinations.
The reading for the course will include–