The Art Institute of Boston

at Lesley University

English 131

Major Literary Figures:

The Blockbusters

Spring, 2001, Kevin Cassell

This semester we'll explore the intellectual and aesthetic trends from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries through the works of six writers, all considered representative literary figures of major cultural movements.

Historians have traditionally divided Western culture into three eras: the classical, the medieval, and the modern. In this course we will examine important cultural movements of the modern era, which begins with the renaissance of classical culture following the collapse of medieval Christendom and extends to the present time. We will proceed chronologically; in addition to learning about the lives and each writer and the times in which they lived, we will study how their work reflects the intellectual and aesthetic ideas of their day. Hence, we will come to know "neoclassicism" through Voltaire, "romanticism" through Edgar Allen Poe, "realism" through Edith Wharton, "naturalism" through Jack London, and "modernism" through Jean Toomer.

In most cases we will read more than one work by each writer, usually one or two short ones as a bridge to a significant larger work. We will move slowly, spending about two weeks on each writer.

One extremely important goal of this course is to give currency to some of the themes we encounter in the written work of people living in times quite different--yet, in many ways, also quite similar--to our own. Hence, as we read, we should at all times try to make connections between the world we experience in the literature and the world we experience in our own lives. Though much has changed since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, much remains the same. "Bringing to life" the classic literary works we study this semester by allying them with today's world--our world--will receive great emphasis in this course.

Please do not: sleep in class, act disruptively or disrespectfully, or conduct work unrelated to this course during classtime. Failure to comply with this important requirement will result in your involuntary withdrawal from the course.

Please come prepared to each class. If you consistently are unprepared, late, or have irregular attendance (more than three absences), your final grade will decrease be degree.

Plagiarism of any kind is unacceptable; if you submit work that is not originally yours, you risk failing this course.

Voltaire. Candide and Other Stories.

(NY: Barnes and Nobel, 1995.)

Edgar Allen Poe, The Gold Bug and Other Stories

(NY: Dover Publications, 1994.)

Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome and Other Stories

(NY: Bantam Books)

Jack London. The Call of the Wild and Selected Stories.

(NY: Signet Classic [Penguin Books], 1998)

Jean Toomer. Cane.

(NY: Liveright, 1993)

Midterm 30%; Final 30%; Quizzes 40%

Kevin Cassell, B.A. (University of Maine, 1986), M.A. (Northeastern University, 1989)

email: kcassell@lynx.neu.edu / web site url: http://www.hey.to/kevin-cassell

Many people, including your literature instructor, have experienced picking up a book they're not particularly interested in and finding they're unable to make it through the first paragraph. What causes this? Attention Deficit Disorder? Not enough coffee? Too many Big Words?

The inability to focus may be the result of many things, including your mood, your attitude toward the book or the class, the environment you're in, the time of day in which you're trying to read; the list goes on. It is not--repeat, NOT--because you just "can't" do it. If you're the type of person who says to professors (and there are many of these people), "I just can't do this kind of work," you're copping out by submitting to a slacker's mentality. The reading required of you in this course is well within your intellectual grasp.

So why the inability to get through that first paragraph? Why do you find yourself having to stop and go back and read an entire page again? The answer is simple: You were thinking of something else. Why were you thinking of something else? Because, let's face it, the really important things in your life at present exist outside the material of this class. So what do you do? Here are some suggestions:

à Abandon at the start all preconceived prejudices you may hold about literature, including notions that it is "boring," that it has no relevance to you as a person, or that it has "hidden messages" that only English teachers can figure out.

à While you read, make note of "personal moments"--moments when you are personally engaged by what you're reading. If you see a connection between your reading and something you've experienced, write it down and share it with the class. And if you can make thematic connections between the literature and other "texts"--songs and lyrics, poems, paintings, photographs, film clips, whatever--bring it in and share it with others.

The underlined words, made after reading this paragraph (and in less than five seconds!), captures what the paragraph is about, minus the details: Buck learns a lesson about life in the wild by seeing what happens to Curly after she makes advances toward a husky dog. This is the best way to prepare for quizzes, which are, recall, worth 40% of your final grade.

à Finally, don't attempt to read a long section all in one sitting, especially if you have a hectic schedule. Divide your reading into half, or into thirds. Say you have 30 pages to read for a class. Because you are an excellent practitioner of "time management" skills, you begin your reading a few days before class begins. You exclaim, looking at the assignment: "Thirty pages! Man, thirty pages of this stuff's gonna put me to sleep!" So you subdivide the reading into thirds: You read 10 pages at two and a half minutes per page, and finish in less than thirty minutes! Then you do the same thing later, and finish up the next day.