LIT 4033 Spring 2022 Boudreau

This course explores the fascinating, if fraught, territory of what it means to be “modern” and what it means to be “poetry” in the twentieth century by investigating the inception and influence of the modernism. First, we will situate modernist poetry culturally and historically. Second, we will come to understand modernist poetry aesthetically by investigating tone, difficulty, and form. Third, we will combine our understanding of history and aesthetics to examine issues of power, sexuality, gender, and race. Finally, we will ask if the modernist movement ever ended? And if so, when and how? This last unit will examine debates about the definitions of “modernism” and “modern.” Along the way, students will encounter many of the most influential poets writing in English in the twentieth century, including (but not limited to) Wilfred Owen, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, and Langston Hughes. As well as weekly readings and response assignments, students will complete two short close reading papers, a critical comparison of two course poems, and a final project on modern poems of their choosing.

This course meets the Genre requirement for LMC majors.