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Browse materialsMIT 21L.488 · Spring 2003

Contemporary Literature

Art: Gustave Doré, Gustave Doré, Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost“, 1866.…, 1866 · Public domain

Instructor: Prof. John Hildebidle
Term: Spring 2003
Level: Undergraduate
What's inside: 1 reading · 4 web pages
Materials open: MIT OCW

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21L.488 · Spring 2018 · Study here
21L.488 · Spring 2008 · Study here
21L.488 · Spring 2007 · Study here
21L.488 · Spring 2003 · Study here (this version)

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About this course

Source: MIT OpenCourseWare 21L.488 Contemporary Literature, Spring 2003, Prof. John Hildebidle — original course page on ocw.mit.edu ↗. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Study order: MIT's own listing order, section by section. Taken from MIT's published course files, downloaded from ocw.mit.edu on September 23, 2026. How RedLectern is built.

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How this course was organized

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A lecture sequence of 26 items is confirmed. It stays as organized materials rather than a full course order.

MIT OpenCourseWare, Prof. John Hildebidle, 21L.488 Contemporary Literature, Spring 2003.

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Edition: Spring 2003 · Open the original course on OCW ↗

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Contemporary Literature

Before you start

What's here, and what isn't

Lecture 1: Welcomes, logistical explanations, and a few warm-up exercises.

Lecture 2: James Joyce, “The Dead.” Not to pre-empt the lead-off persons here, but two questions that nag at me about this story are, “To whom precisely does the title refer?” and “Can this marriage be saved?”

Lecture 3: James Joyce, “The Dead.” (cont.)

Lecture 4: William Butler Yeats

Lecture 5: William Butler Yeats (cont.)

Lecture 6: Samuel Beckett

Lecture 7: Recently an enterprising group undertook the filming of all of Beckett’s stage works. The Literature Section film office owns the set, and we’ll take a look at a few of Smiling Sammy’s shorter works today.

Lecture 8: Edna O’Brien

Lecture 9: William Trevor

Lecture 10: Mary Lavin

Lecture 11: John McGahern

Lecture 12: Mary Dorcey Mary Morrissey

Lecture 13: Roddy Doyle Sara Berkeley

Lecture 14: Brian Friel

Lecture 15: Brian Friel (cont.)

Lecture 16: Seamus Heaney

Lecture 17: Seamus Heaney (cont.)

Lecture 18: John Montague

Lecture 19: John Montague (cont.)

Lecture 20: Eavan Boland Nuala ni Dhomhnaill Paula Meehan

Lecture 21: Marina Carr

Lecture 22: Discussion of poetry from The White Page . The lead-off people will have the power / responsibility to select the poem we attend to on that day, and given time others may bring forward their choices.

Lecture 23: The White Page Discussions (cont.)

Lecture 24: The White Page Discussions (cont.)

Lecture 25: The White Page Discussions (cont.)

Lecture 26: Final Lecture