Commences with an overview of twentieth century fiction; historical background of the age, society and life in general; also the beginnings of the novel and various forms of the genre; guidelines on how to read a novel; terminology and notes on analysis. A survey of major novelists of the period follows with mention of some less well known.
Two books will be read and discussed from cover to cover and excerpts from several other major works will also be studied and discussed.
The excerpt selections are mainly from those works that have come to be regarded as best representing the fiction of the period. The major works of Conrad, Lawrence, Woolf, and Joyce are examined, analysed and discussed in the light of modernist theory.