The Early 20th Century (Theory)

Paper Code: 
25CENG312
Credits: 
6
Periods/week: 
6
Max. Marks: 
100
Objective: 

The Course will enable the students to critique the elements of imagism, realism and symbolism in 20th century poetry and drama - with an insight into the decaying moral values of the modern age - and develop a detailed literary and thematic understanding of 20th century prose and fiction, as well.

 

Course Outcomes: 

The students will:

CO31. Examine 20th century British literature in terms of the impact of political and social milieu of the century on the poetic outputs of the age

CO32. Compare and contrast the moral and literary aspects of 20th century poetry and drama and the influence of various schools of thought on the selected texts

CO33. Defend and explain the literary techniques and style of 20th century literary works and be familiar with the idea of modernism in the literary works

CO34. Estimate the basic elements of poetry such as diction, tone, imagery, figures of speech, symbolism and theme to apply styles and concerns of the writers.

CO35. Discuss the evolution of the liberal modern literature related to the social changes of time
 

CO36.Contribute effectively in course-specific interaction

 

18.00
Unit I: 

Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

16.00
Unit II: 

W.B. Yeats

Leda and the Swan

The Second Coming

No Second Troy

Sailing to Byzantium

18.00
Unit III: 

Virginia Woolf

Mrs Dalloway

20.00
Unit IV: 

D.H. Lawrence

Sons and Lovers

18.00
Unit V: 

T.S. Eliot

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Sweeney among the Nightingales

The Hollow Men

SUGGESTED READINGS: 

 

Suggested Reference Books:

Bennett, Joan. Virginia Woolf: Her Art as a Novelist. CUP, 1945.

Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. University of Chicago Press, 1961.

Daiches, David. Virginia Woolf. New Directions, 1942.

Forster, E. M. Aspects of the Novel. Penguin, 1962.

Fraser, G.S. The Modern Writer and his World: Criterion Books, 1953.

 Leavis, F.R. New Bearings in English Poetry. Chatto & Windus, 1950.

Matthiessen, F.D. The Achievement of T.S. Eliot. OUP, 1958.

Norman Jeffares A. Yeats’ Selected Poems. Hutchinson, 1988.

Southam, B.C. T.S. Eliot ‘Prufrock’, ‘Gerontion’, ‘Ash Wednesday’ and Other Shorter Poems

- A Case Book. Macmillan, 1978.

 

E-Resources including links: https://www.academia.edu/18309045/AP_Literature_Heart_of_Darkness_Journal  https://www.britannica.com/art/stream-of-consciousness

 

Reference Journal:

Sage Publication

 

 

 

 

Academic Year: 
2025-2026