T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
T.S. Eliot鈥檚 long poem, The Waste Land, is often considered to be the 成人大片 poem in English of the twentieth century. At just over a century old now the poem remains extraordinarily interesting, enigmatic, and challenging. In this seminar we will come to know the poem intimately through reading several of its major intertexts, including Dante鈥檚 Inferno; Shakespeare鈥檚 The Tempest; poetry by Charles Baudelaire, John Webster, and John Donne, among others; and excerpts from the Hindu Upanishads, the Buddha鈥檚 鈥淔ire Sermon,鈥 the Bible. We will also read some of the most recent criticism of the poem as we assiduously refine our close-reading, analytical, and interpretive skills together through the course.
Readings
- The Broadview Anthology of Poetry, 2nd Edition
- Dante Alighieri, The Inferno, translated by Henry Longfellow
- (it is essential that you use this translation otherwise you will basically be reading a different book)
- T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Writings
- Gabrielle McIntire, ed, The Cambridge Companion to The Waste Land
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest
- The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Assessment
- Group presentation (20%)
- Attendance and active participation (20%)
- In-class test (30%)
- Final essay, developed through in-class writing exercises (30%)
**Subject to change**
Prerequisites
- Registration in an English Major or Joint Honours plan
