E.K. Sparks
Spring 2000
Thursdays 4:00-6:30
Daniel 418 and 308

Detailed Syllabus for Engl 814 --
Seminar on T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf

All core critical readings with the exception of those in Moody and Hussey will be available in Xerox book for the course, available in installments at Campus Copy.

All core primary readings are on reserve.

NB, In addition to core readings listed here, each student will read and report on six additional readings during the course of the semester. See Syllabus for Reports for a complete list of reading options.

Th, Jan 13: Day 1-- Discussion of research interests and goals; presentation of chronologies and bibliographies for two artists. First report assignments.

& Background Reading:

Brooker, Jewel Spears, "Eliot Studies: A Review and a Select Booklist." 236-46. In The Cambridge Companion to T.S. Eliot, ed. A. David Moody. (1994)

!Gordon, Lyndall, APrinted Sources.@ 688-98. In T.S. Eliot: An Imperfect Life. W.W. Norton, 1998.

Goldman, Jane. Introduction and selected excerpts from Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse, The Waves. [Columbia Critical Guides] New York: Columbia UP, 1998.

Briggs, Julia. AThe Story So Far. . . An Introduction to the Introductions.@ Virginia Woolf: Introduction to the Major Works. London: Virago Press, 1994.

THE ISOLATE SELF: Philosophical Premises yz

Th, Jan 20: Day 2-- Early Eliot Poetry: from Collected Poetry (R), pp. 1-27.

& Primary Reading:
(All poems from Prufrock and Other Observations available on-line at: http://www.bartleby.com/198/index.html)

"La Filia Che Piagne" (Nov. 1911)
"Portrait of a Lady" (completed Nov. 1911)
"Preludes" (I, II Oct. 1910; III July 1911; IV Nov 1911)
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (July 1911)
"Prufrock's Pervigilium" from Inventions of the March Hare (1912?)
"The Burnt Dancer" from Inventions of the March Hare (June 1914)
"The Love Song of St. Sebastian" from Inventions of the March Hare (July 1914)
"Hysteria" (1917)
"Conversation Galante" (1917)
Gerontion (1920)

& Critical Reading:

*Reading and Discussion Questions on Prufrock
!Mays, J.C.C. "Early Poems: from 'Prufrock' to 'Gerontion'." 108-20. in The Cambridge Companion to T.S. Eliot, ed. A. David Moody. (1994) (R)
!Torrens, James, "Eliot's Essays: A Bridge to the Poems." In Approaches to Teaching Eliot's Poetry and Plays (1988): 46-51.

Th, Jan 27: Day 3-- Early Woolf: Early Short Stories, from Complete Short Fiction

& Primary Reading: (All short stories from Monday or Tuesday available on-line at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mmbt/www/women/woolf/Monday/monday.html

"The Mark on the Wall"
"Kew Gardens"
"An Unwritten Novel"
"A Haunted House"
"Monday or Tuesday"
"Blue and Green"

& Critical Reading:

EKS--Web materials on Kew Gardens (Plot summary and annotated text)
Sandra Kemp, Introduction to Selected Short Stories 61-85 in Virginia Woolf: Introduction to the Major Works, ed. Julia Briggs. London: Virago Press, 1994.
Hermione Lee, Excerpt from Virginia Woolf (1997) on Woolf and Eliot
!Gordon, Lyndall. "Our Silent Life: Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot." 77-95. In Virginia Woolf: New Critical Essays, ed. Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1983.

THE SELF IN HISTORY: Canon Building
Th, Feb 3: Day 4-- Eliot -- Early Critical Prose from Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot

& Primary Reading:

Introduction by Frank Kermode
"Tradition and the Individual Talent"
"Hamlet and His Problems"
"The Perfect Critic"
"The Metaphysical Poets"
"The Function of Criticism"
excerpt from"Philip Massinger"

& Critical Reading:

EKS, Abyss Notes for "Tradition and the Individual Talent"
EKS --Response for Day 4: Early Essays
Materer, Timothy. "T.S. Eliot's Critical Program." In The Cambridge Companion to T.S. ELIOT, ed. A. David Moody (1994): 48-59.(R)
Sparks, Elisa Kay. "Old Father Nile: T.S. Eliot and Harold Bloom on the Creative Process as Spontaneous Generation." 51-77 In Engendering the Word: Feminist Essays in Psychosexual Politics, ed. Berg et al. U of Illinois P, 1989.

Th, Feb 10: Day 5-- Woolf, A Room of One's Own (1929)

& Primary Reading:

Modern Fiction
Mr. Bennett and Mrs, Brown
A Room of One's Own

& Critical Reading:

EKS, Abyss Notes on A Room of One's Own
Hussey, Mark. Section on ROO in Virginia Woolf: A to Z (1995)
Rosenman, Ellen. "Critical Reception." Chapter 3 of A Room of One's Own: Women Writers and the Politics of Creativity [Twayne's Masterwork Series]. (1995): 14-21.

yz THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SELF: Elegies to Waryz

Th, Feb 17: Day 6--. Eliot, The Waste Land (1922)

& Primary Reading:

The Waste Land
"Ulysses, Order, and Myth" from Kermode, ed. Selected Prose

& Critical Reading:

EKS, Reading and Discussion Questions on The Waste Land
EKS, Gliederung of The Waste Land
Cleanth Brooks, "The Waste Land: Critique of the Myth"
Dan Albergotti, Report on Jesse Weston, From Ritual to Romance
Danny White, Report on James Miller, T.S. Eliot's Personal Waste Land
EKS, Day 7: Response on The Waste Land
Nancy Gish, Critical Reception. Chapter 3 of The Waste Land: A Poem of Memory and Desire. (1988)

Th, Feb 24: Day 7--. Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925)

& Primary Reading:

Mrs. Dalloway

& Critical Reading:

Hussey, Mark. Section on MD in Virginia Woolf: A to Z (1995)
Steinberg, Erwin R. "Mrs. Dalloway and T.S. Eliot's Personal Wasteland." Journal of Modern Literature 10.1 (March 1983): 3-25.

COMING TO TERMS: Conversions and Syntheses

Th, March 2: Day 8 -- Eliot, Poetry and Prose of Conversion

& Primary Reading:

The Hollow Men (1925)
Journey of the Magi (1927)
Marina (1930)
Ash Wednesday (1930)
Dante(1929) in Kermode
Excerpts from The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933) in Kermode

& Critical Reading:

TBA

Th, March 9: Day 9--.Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1928)

& Primary Reading:

To the Lighthouse & Critical Reading:

Raitt, Suzanne, "Critical Reception of the Text." in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (1990): 10-28.
Hussey, Mark. Section on TTL in Virginia Woolf: A to Z (1995)

CAREER CULMINATIONS

Th, March 16: Day 10--. Eliot, The Four Quartets (1942)

& Primary Reading:

The Four Quartets: Burnt Norton and East Coker & Critical Reading:

EKS--Four Quartets: Gliederung
EKS--*Four Quartets: Versions of the Structure
EKS, Freewrite on The Four Quartets
EKS, Response #12 The Four Quarters
Harold Brooks, "Four Quartets: The Structure in Relation to the Themes"

Th, March 30: Day 11--.Eliot, The Four Quartets (1942)

& Primary Reading:

The Four Quartets: Dry Salvages and Little Gidding

& Critical Reading:

TBA

Th, April 6: Day 12-- The Waves

Th, April 13: Day 13-- The Waves

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENT

Th, April 20: Day 14 -- Eliot, Late Essays

& Primary Reading:

Yeats (1940) Kermode
from The Music of Poetry (1942) Kermode
What Is a Classic? (1944) Kermode
"To Criticize the Critic"
"From Poe to Valery"
"What Dante Means to Me"

& Critical Reading:

EKS, Day 10, Response on Social Prose
TBA

Th, April 27: Day 15-- Woolf's Reminiscences, Moments of Being

& Primary Reading-- Woolf:

"A Sketch of the Past"

& Critical Reading--Woolf:

Introduction to Moments of Being
TBA

Finals Week: Public Presentation of Research