picture of the Capitol "We are living at one of the great turning points in history… Yesterday, we split the atom. We assaulted that colossal citadel of power, the tiny unit of the substance of the universe. And because of this, the great dream and the great nightmare of human thought have taken flesh and walk beside us all, day and night."
—Doris Lessing, from "The Small, Personal Voice"

Check out the Additional Questions, Hot Links, Internet Activities, and Self-Tests for this unit using the navigation bar at the left.

Table of Contents

PART 1: WAKING FROM THE DREAM
Comparing Literary Works
William Butler Yeats When You Are Old Poem 966
The Lake Isle of Innisfree Poem 968
The Wild Swans at Coole Poem 969
The Second Coming Poem 971
Sailing to Byzantium Poem 973
Comparing Literary Works
T. S. Eliot Preludes Poem 982
Journey of the Magi Poem 984
The Hollow Men Poem 989
Comparing Literary Works
W. H. Auden In Memory of W. B. Yeats Poem 998
Musée des Beaux Arts Poem 1002
Louis MacNeice Carrick Revisited Poem 1004
Stephen Spender Not Palaces Poem 1007
George Orwell Shooting an Elephant Nonfiction 1018
Elizabeth Bowen The Demon Lover Short Story 1032


PART 2: CONFLICTS ABROAD AND AT HOME
Comparing Literary Works
Rupert Brooke The Soldier Poem 1050
Siegfried Sassoon Wirers Poem 1052
Wilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth Poem 1053
Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) Birds on the Western Front Nonfiction 1054
Comparing Literary Works
Winston Churchill Wartime Speech Speech 1064
Mohandas K. Gandhi Defending Nonviolent Resistance Speech 1068
Alan Sillitoe The Fiddle Short Story 1078
William Trevor The Distant Past Short Story 1090
Comparing Literary Works
Seamus Heaney Follower Poem 1104
Two Lorries Poem 1107
Eavan Boland Outside History Poem 1109
Doris Lessing No Witchcraft for Sale Short Story 1116


PART 3: FOCUS ON LITERARY FORMS: THE SHORT STORY
Comparing Literary Works
Joseph Conrad The Lagoon Short Story 1134
James Joyce Araby Short Story 1147
Comparing Literary Works
Virginia Woolf The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection Short Story 1158
Muriel Spark The First Year of My Life Short Story 1164
Comparing Literary Works
D. H. Lawrence The Rocking-Horse Winner Short Story 1176
Graham Greene A Shocking Accident Short Story 1190

PART 4: FROM THE NATIONAL TO THE GLOBAL
Comparing Literary Works
Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Poem 1206
Fern Hill Poem 1208
Ted Hughes The Horses Poem 1210
The Rain Horse Short Story 1213
Comparing Literary Works
Philip Larkin An Arundel Tomb Poem 1226
The Explosion Poem 1228
Peter Redgrove On the Patio Poem 1230
Stevie Smith Not Waving but Drowning Poem 1232
V. S. Naipaul B. Wordsworth Short Story 1238
Nadine Gordimer The Train from Rhodesia Short Story 1250
Comparing Literary Works
Derek Walcott from Midsummer XXIII Poem 1260
from Omeros: from Chapter XXVIII Poem 1262
James Berry From Lucy: Englan' Lady Poem 1265
Anita Desai A Devoted Son Short Story 1272
Arthur C. Clarke We'll Never Conquer Space Nonfiction 1288