Eng 401W-01 Readings in D. H. Lawrence Belknap Seminar Room (Tu Th 2PM) Dr. Gertzman. Office 08 Belknap, ext.4587 (jgertzma@mnsfld.edu) Hours MWF 10 AM; Th 3:30 PM COURSE TEXTS: Selected Short Stories ed. Edited by M. Lockwood. Cambridge U. Press D. H. Lawrence Selected Poetry ed. K. Sagar. Penguin Sons and Lovers. Penguin Aaron's Rod. Penguin Lady Chatterley's Lover. Bantam St. Mawr and The Man Who Died. Vintage D. H. Lawrence and Italy. Penguin WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS NOTE: A report topic, and in most cases a secondary source related to it, is associated with many reading. These topics are in italics. Some of these topics, and the related essays, I am asking everyone to prepare and read about (these are noted below). Most will be assigned to one student (depending on enrollment). See the description of assignments below for further details. The essays are either on reserve in the library (in books or photocopies), or available on the course website. For full list, see the website (, click on "departments," "English" and the course number). Week of Aug. 30: "The Prussian Officer" (1913) and "The Man Who Loved Islands" (1926) in Lockwood. What is "The Prussian Officer" about--authority and rebellion, sadism, homosexual desire, innocence destroyed? How does Lawrence indicate the self- imposed isolation of the main character from humanity in each story? Week of Sept. 6: "The Lovely Lady" (1927), "Tickets Please" (1918), "The Blind Man" (1918) in Lockwood.. 1."The Blind Man" and Carver's "Cathedral." See Carver, "Cathedral"; Cushman, "Blind, Intertextual Love," and the on-line essay "The Blind Man" by Tina Ferris. I WOULD LIKE EACH STUDENT TO READ THIS SHORT STORY AND THE ESSAYS. 2. In the 4 stories we have read, which characters does DHL seem sympathetic to? Read the essay comments (see the link on the website) about "Tickets Please." Week of Sept. 13: Sons and Lovers (1913). Lawrence's complex relationship with his friends: Jessie Chambers (Miriam), Alice Dax (Clara); Lawrence and his mother and father, and his wife Frieda. See Kinkead-Weekes DHL: Triumph to Exile, 43-49; Feinstein, L and the Women, 34-44, 74-86; Worthen, DHL: The Early Years, 54-60, 451-55. Week of Sept. 20 (no class Thursday Sept. 23): Sons and Lovers Lawrence and Freud. Despite the obvious similarity between Freud's insights and Paul's attachment to his mother and loathing of his father, L. did not like Freud, thinking psychoanalysis encouraged self-centeredness and fear of life and one's emotions. See Frederick J. Hoffman, "Lawrence's Quarrel with Freud" (101-11), and Freud's essay "The Most Prevalent Form of Degradation in Erotic Life." Week of Sept. 27: Sons and Lovers The place of the novel in L's work: See Michael Black, "Its Place in Literature and and L's Work," and Frank Kermode, "Sons and Lovers." Week of Oct. 4: Early poems and "Birds, Beasts and Flowers" (1920-22), in Sagar: "The Best of School" (p.43), "Afternoon in School, The Last Lesson" (p.45), "Dog Tired" (p.25), "Cherry Robbers" (p.26); "A Young Wife" (p.62), "Song of a Man Who Has Come Through" (p.72); "Grapes," (p.99); "Tortoises" (6 poems), pp.112-27; "Sicilian Cyclamens," (p.127); "Snake," (p.134), "Purple Anemones," (p.137); "The Ass," (p.140), "Fish," (p.143), "Elephant," (p.158). 1. The "return to Eden" experience: the moment of peace and wholeness. See Meyers, essay on BBF in DHL and the Experience of Italy 2. What are the basic experiences of living all humans and animals share, and which sensations do humans lack? See Brandes, "Behind the Bestiaries: The Poetry of L and Ted Hughes." EVERYONE: Click on information on Hughes on website. *MIDTERM: OCT. 12* Weeks of Oct. 11, 18 (no class Tues. Oct. 19): Aaron's Rod (began 1917; published 1921) A coal miner-musician who deserts his family; a man named Rawdon Lilly; submitting oneself to a strong leader: what does one person owe to others? Are Lawrence's heroes sexually ambiguous? See Mensch, DHL and the Authoritarian Personality, 119-33; Kermode, 77-82. Week of Oct. 25: St. Mawr (1914). 1. Is this story about "free love" (sexual promiscuity), or celibacy? 2. What L thought was wrong with modern marriage? See McDowell, "Lou Witt in America" Week of Nov. 1: Etruscan Places (1927) The ancient Etruscans' control of their own bodies vs. the modern use of technology and extension of (and subordination of) the body's power by the use of machines. See Zerzan, "Agriculture: Demon Engine of Civilization"; Vitoux, "Etruscan Places: The Phallic Quest." EVERYONE: READ THE VITOUX AND ZERZAN ESSAYS IN PREPARATION FOR THE IN-CLASS DEBATE: ARE PEOPLE IN PRE-INDUSTRIAL, TRIBAL, ARISTOCRATIC SOCIETIES HAPPIER AND MORE FULFILLED THAN WE CAN BE? Weeks of Nov. 8 and 15: Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) 1. The feminist response to Lawrence. See Millet, Sexual Politics, 333-44; Spilka, Lawrence and the Clitoris." 2. The three versions, and how the characters develop from version to version; the relationships between L and Mellors and Clifford. See Helen Croom, "A Brace and a Half of Gamekeepers" (link in website). 3. EVERYONE: You've got to step off": the death-in-life cycle which prevents us from paying attention to our own needs and desires as delineated in Mark Gertler's "The Merry Go Round" (L called it "the best modern painting"). See the reproduction of the painting on the website, Kinkead-Weekes, 170-72, 343-44; Meyers biography,131-33. IN-CLASS DEBATE: what does Mark Gertler's painting mean to you? Week of Nov. 22 (no meeting Thursday), Nov. 29: The Man who Died (1930) Lawrence's quarrel with Christianity. See Hough, "The Quarrel with Christianity" from The Dark Sun (pp.240-54) Week of Dec. 6: "Last Poems," in Sagar: "The Rainbow," p.235; "The Man of Tyre," p.235 "Wales Weep Not," p.237; Bavarian Gentians (p.240, 253),"Death is not Evil" (p.247), "The Ship of Death" (p.249, 254-58). L's illness and impending early death: its effect on his work. See Meyers biography, 373-82. Read the information on "Lawrence's last days"-- see link on the website. *FINAL EXAM: Wed. Dec 15, 3PM* WEIGHTING OF ASSIGNMENTS MIDTERM: 13% FINAL: 17% RESEARCH REPORT (25%). about 3000 words. You may choose any of the report topics italicized in the weekly assignment schedule above, or modify one to suit your interest. One of the reserve books is an excellent bibliography, Poplawski's D H Lawrence: A Reference Companion. This will help, but you will also need to search the most recent periodical sources, in the MU Cybrarian on-line databases. A conference with me in which you bring an outline and bibliography of sources is required, as is part of a rough copy. I will assign these individually. The final copy is due after Thanksgiving break. IN-CLASS REPORT ON TOPIC ASSIGNED (10%): these are listed in italics above. The report is oral, but I want you to write an abstract of the relevant article, and hand it in at the end of the class period in which you report. SHORT PAPER (10%), about 500 words, done in preparation for each of the two in-class debates. Due the class period before the debate. RESPONSE PAPERS (written statements assigned during class period as a result of class discussion). Due the class period after they are assigned) and JOURNALS (written as your personal responses to the readings). Collected and checked periodically. Together, 10% E-MAIL COMMUNICATIONS (15%). I have arranged with six scholars who have written extensively on Lawrence to answer your questions--about the readings, or your report topics. I will suggest to each of you as the term proceeds to whom you should write. I will want to read what you write before you send it. These scholars are busy and we must not over-tax them, but I am grateful for them for their willingness to have you get acquainted with them and to their ideas. They are as follows (I will give you their E-mail addresses as needed): Randall Albright, website creator, prolific writer and commentator on DHL Dr. Keith Cushman, Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro; editor and author (D. H. Lawrence at Work and other booksandarticles) Dr. Paul Eggert, Univ. of New South Wales, Australia; editor of Cambridge ed. of Twilight in Italy Tina Ferris, website creator and prolific writer and commentator of DHL Dr. Paul Poplawski, author of the DHL Reference Companion and Language, Art and Reality in DHL's "St. Mawr." (confirmation forthcoming). Dr. Michael Squires, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.; author, The Creation of Lady Chatterley's Lover; editor of the Cambridge ed. of the novel PLEASE NOTE 1. All papers must be typed if not assigned to be written in class. 2. Attendance is required and necessary for discussion and feedback. Three cuts allowed; three points off grade for every absence thereafter. Let me know beforehand of anticipated absences. 3. All papers must be in on time, and exams taken. Exceptions made only upon production of official documentation.