HUM 2213: British and American Literature II

Spring 2013
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 11:00 am
office hours: M W 4:00-5:30 pm
office: 626 Crawford
phone: 321-674-8370
email: lperdiga@fit.edu
website: my.fit.edu/~lperdiga

Course Description:
This course surveys representative works of British and American literature in the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries, from World War I to the present. We will explore how British and
American literary traditions develop during the period to reflect new ideas about the world and
the self. We will examine how a selection of British and American texts represent the relationship
between the individual and society, conceptions of national identities and globalization, the uses
of technology and its influences on perceptions of identity, and the role of literature in modern
and postmodern eras. Studying the two traditions, we will analyze how literary revisions
reconstruct the past and build visions of the future. This transatlantic approach will bridge the
divide between British and American cultures, traditions, and literature, exploring and redefining
the space between.

Texts:
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Nella Larsen, Quicksand
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Joseph ONeill, Netherland
Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Policies and Procedures

Grading:
Responses 30%
Presentation 10%
Quizzes 20%
Midterm exam 20%
Final exam (Tuesday, April 30 from 1-3 pm) 20%

A response is a 1-2 page (250-500 words) reflection on the readings, offering connections
between the texts as well as the cultural contexts for the works. Responses will also serve as a
foundation for class discussions. There will be four responses over the course of the semester.
For the presentation, you will choose a text that we are discussing in class. Your task is to
provide a new way of reading that text, highlighting the texts central themes, historical contexts,
and placement within the field of twentieth and twenty-first century British and American
literature. Ultimately, you are to go beyond summarizing the text to offer a focused reading on a
key aspect or key aspects of the work. You will have 10-15 minutes for your presentation.

A quiz will focus on the days assigned reading(s). The quiz may be announced the day before
class or be a pop quiz. As regular attendance is mandatory, make-up quizzes are unlikely.

Students are required to submit their responses to www.turnitin.com on the assigned date;
failure to submit responses to turnitin.com and/or to turn in the hard copy in class on the
due date will lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is 5930423 and the password is
Buffy.

Academic Dishonesty will be handled in accordance with Humanities and Communication

Department policy. Cheating and plagiarism will result in failure of assignment and/or failure of
course and will be reported to the Dean of Students and recorded in your permanent student file.
Dishonest conduct may lead to formal disciplinary proceedings. Be certain that you are familiar
with Florida Techs academic dishonesty policy (www.fit.edu/current/documents/plagiarism.pdf).

Cell phone policy: If your phone rings, if you try to make an outgoing call or text messages are
sent or received (translation: basically any variation of playing with your phone when you should
be paying attention), you are responsible for bringing pizza (or an acceptable alternative) to the
following class.

Attendance is required. Absenteeism and tardiness will adversely affect your final grade. If you
miss more than 25% of the classes, you run the risk of failing the course. You are responsible for
all of the work that you miss.

Course Schedule

January 7 Introduction

January 9 Rupert Brooke, The Soldier

(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15695)
Siegfried Sassoon, They
(http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/they/)

January 11 Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est

(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19389)

January 14 Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

January 16 Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

January 18 Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

January 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Dayno class

January 23 Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

January 25 William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming
(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15527)
Yeats, Sailing to Byzantium
(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20310)

January 28 T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20220)
Eliot, The Hollow Men
(http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/784/)
Response 1 due

January 30 W. H. Auden, Muse des Beaux Arts

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/12/poetry.whauden6)
Auden, The Unknown Citizen
(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15549)

February 1 F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

February 4 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

February 6 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

February 8 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

February 11 Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants

(online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)

February 13 Nella Larsen, Quicksand

February 15 Larsen, Quicksand

February 18 Presidents Dayno class

February 20 Toni Morrison, Beloved

February 22 Morrison, Beloved

Response 2 due

February 25 Morrison, Beloved

February 27 Morrison, Beloved

March 1 Midterm exam

March 4 Spring breakno class

March 6 Spring Breakno class

March 8 Spring Breakno class

March 11 Sylvia Plath, Lady Lazarus
(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15292)
Plath, Tulips
(online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)

March 13 Michael Cunningham, The Hours

March 15 Cunningham, The Hours

March 18 Cunningham, The Hours

March 20 Cunningham, The Hours

March 22 No class

March 25 Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck

(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15228)
Rich, Midnight Salvage
(online at my.fit.edu/~lperdiga)

March 27 Joseph ONeill, Netherland

Response 3 due

March 29 ONeill, Netherland

April 1 ONeill, Netherland

April 3 ONeill, Netherland

April 5 Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

April 8 Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

April 10 Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

April 12 Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

April 15 Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

April 17 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

April 19 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Response 4 due

April 22 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

April 24 Conclusions

April 30 Final exam (1-3 pm)