Personally Discovering 20th Century British Lit

Writing Like A Modernist: Part 1 of 4

I wanted to explore some of the different styles of writing that we cover in our 20th-Century British Literature class at a deeper level. Instead of just being able to identify authors and categorizing their work, I wanted to challenge myself to see what it was like to actually write within the parameters of various styles from different authors, and from different times during the 2oth Century; aka Modernism.

In order to get the most out of this experience I started with a sample of my own creative writing, and will then throughout the rest of the project destruct it, and re-construct it into a sample reflective of one of the movement we talk about in class. Opting to deconstruct the same sample instead of creating a new sample for each category means that each new sample’s roots are congruent. Congruency is key for this project! Think of the original sample as the ‘control’ group in a science experiment.

Ultimately this will make it easier for readers to recognize and point out the changes and differences between the movements. Easy recognition of the changes will in turn make it easier for readers to think about whether an overall message gets completely lost in translation, or if the message or tone of the original sample evolves to mean more or less from the original and between the different styles.

The different movements I have chosen to attempt at recreating are Imagism, Vorticism, High Modernism, and Angry Young Men. I chose these four because they span across the 20th century and they are interesting and unique to other movements in literature. Not to mention, some of the authors best known for writing in these styles are just as interesting as the literature they contributed to it.

But before we get into all of that fun information, we must establish our home base. Then from there we can go exploring.

This original sample is a piece of short creative writing in the style of a lyrical essay.

Dust to Dust

A small moth falls into my cup of lukewarm coffee. I fish it out with the tip of my pen, leaving behind silver, microscopic moth feathers that swirl like scent on the brown surface of Folgers. I carefully transfer my new dainty companion to the corner of a piece of paper in front of me. Exhausted by the weight of a drenched body, he holds still, resting in the slight illumination from my laptop screen. With thoughts half busy on previous distractions, I gently blow on his wings in hopes he will recover and I return fully to my business.

Back at work, I completely forget about the disgruntled little life until my peripheral vision reminds me of his existence by noticing his absence. Unexpected relief dawns on me as I conclude that my little friends has recovered to fly another hour. I turn over my paper to continue reading, slightly surprised to see him peering up at me with black bulging eyes under his drooping antenna.

I give him and his now dry wings a gently nudge of encouragement to take to the air, only to watch him flop and flutter about. He is unable to achieve more than two or three inches of altitude above my desk; always tumbling down without any evidence of grace.

I watch him and wonder at intricate wings and feather dust of such creatures. Dust; powerful enough in quantities uncountable to allow little creatures like my friend to fly miles at a time. Reflecting on this I realize that despite such a unique function the dust specks are so fragile that one smudge means the ability to survive is over. I look closely again at the dusty pattern on his forlorn wings and reflect in amazement at the detail and purpose of every minuscule facet of this little helpless body. My stomach sinks, and with a quiet crunch I quickly kill my momentary friend.

Now, to retrieve a new cup of coffee.

Don’t forget, this is only the first installment in a short four part series! In part two of Personally Discovering 20th Century British Lit we will take a bit of a closer look at Modernism in general, and then we will dive into Imagism and Vorticism.