ENGL 256

20th Century British Fiction

Fall 1997

Wednesdays, 4:00-6:45 (BC 203)

Recommended Texts: While reading Ulysses, especially if this is your first time, you might benefit from a guidebook that explains the basics of structure and content. Plenty of studies that do this (and more) are available in the library; begin with the most introductory approach you can find. Two such standard explications, probably available used in paperback, are Stuart Gilbert's James Joyce's Ulysses (1930, rev. 1952), and Richard M. Kain's Fabulous Voyager (1948, rev. 1959). In addition, because of the close connection between the novels, you will want to have read Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before beginning Ulysses. Because of the significance of historical, literary, topographical, and personal references and allusions, I have made Don Gifford's Ulysses Annotated a required text. Keep Gifford's text handy while reading Ulysses (as awkward as this may be), and refer to it frequently to get a sense of the novel's historical, political, cultural, religious, and literary contexts and allusions.

Oral and Written Assignments: There will be two written assignments, one of which must be on Ulysses. In both cases, the topic will be of the student's choosing (though consultation with the instructor is advised); each essay will be about 15 pages in length (typed and double-spaced), follow standard MLA format, and count 35% of the final grade. Students will also be responsible for two oral assignments during the course of the semester. Both of these will be formal presentations on background information or secondary materials; such presentations differ in scope from an essay in that they are merely a review of scholarship and criticism, and are expected to show more in the way of assimilation and organization than original thought; topics will be assigned in advance of each novel beginning with Ulysses; and presentations will be strictly limited to 15 minutes. Though these will be oral presentations, students should prepare a written summary, along with a bibliography and any other pertinent materials, for distribution to the class prior to the presentation. Each of the oral presentations will make up 10% of the final mark. Students should also expect to be called on in class to answer specific questions about the day's reading assignment; the final 10% of the course mark will reflect performance on such questions, participation in the seminar generally, and the timely completion of written and oral work.

Syllabus