"English Literature in Transition," which will focus on the large (indeed) question of how—and why—Victorian literature turned into Modern literature, should be of interest to both M.A. and Ph.D. students. Students will be given practice in the writing of brief essay-examinations, the aim being to prepare for Comprehensives. Students also will be introduced to some of the more significant concepts often invoked by literary historians interested in period questions (for example, "to what extent is ‘the decadence’ a Victorian phenomenon?"; "what do we mean by ‘Edwardian’?"; "what’s the difference between a ‘modernist’ and a simply modern author?"; "when, and how, did modernism begin?"). We will study our individual texts as transitional episodes in certain larger movements: for example, impressionism and its legacy; symbolism and its aftermath; the fate of the New Woman; the romance of the machine; the birth of neoprimitivism; the bildungsroman ‘naturalized’; and so on.

two papers (one short, one longer); a class presentation; two brief take-home examinations.