CLCS 184 - The Great War and Literary Modernism

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

The First World War is the watershed moment of the 20th Century, a period of history with which we have yet to come to terms and which continues to haunt our global culture. In this course we read and write critically about several works of literary modernism to understand how each in its own artistic terms represents a struggle to find and apply new literary devices capable of adequately depicting the conflict’s fragmenting effect on the consciousness of countless shell-shocked survivors of the trench horrors. Aided by selections from the work of some of the great First World War poets, novelists, and memoirists, we explore the idea that literary modernism is WWI set to fiction.

Our primary concern is to explore our individual identities as readers, thinkers, and writers in order to deepen our knowledge of how we write-knowledge that will aid us throughout this course, our academic programs, and professional careers. To gain this insight, we work to develop a strong foundation in the elements of rhetoric that govern all communication (e.g., audience, purpose, occasion, community, and context). Mr. Schultz.

Open only to freshmen; satisfies the college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.