Revised 4-18-16
ENGLISH 201~World Literature (Sections 01 and 02)
Professor: Derek Taylor
Spring 2016
Office: Grainger 306
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-4:00; W 12:00-1:00 (and by appointment)
Phone: 395-2748
e-mail: taylored@longwood.edu
website: www.ederektaylor.weebly.com
Course Description: World Literature. A theme-centered study of selected movements and traditions (exclusive of United States and British literature) by major world writers such as Homer, the author of Gilgamesh, Murasaki, Li Po, Cervantes, Molière, Goethe, Tolstoy, Garcia Marquez, Soyinka, Mahfouz, Rushdie, and Duras. May not be used to satisfy the Humanities requirement for the BA, BM, or BFA degree. Prerequisite: ENGL 150. 3 credits. *
Objectives: English 201 satisfies General Education Goal 3: An understanding of our cultural heritage as revealed in literature, its movements and traditions, through reading, understanding, analyzing, and writing about the major works that have shaped our thinking and provide a record of human experience. In this class, students will learn to
· Understand major movements, themes, and values in one or more cultures as revealed in literature
· Analyze literary texts as reflections of cultural movements, themes, and values
· Develop and defend interpretations of literary texts through written discourse.
The course meets the following criteria. It will
1. teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry (e.g., literary analysis, statistical analysis, historical interpretation, philosophical reasoning, aesthetic judgment, the scientific method) and provide students with practice in applying their disciplinary mode of inquiry, critical thinking, or problem solving strategies.
2. provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3. consider questions of ethical values.
4. explore past, current, and future implications (e.g., social, political, economic, psychological or philosophical) of disciplinary knowledge.
5. encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.
Texts:
--Murakami, Haruki. The Strange Library. New York: Knopf, 2014.
--Simon, Peter, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Vols. 1 and 2. New York: Norton, 2009.
Grading (ten-point scale):
--Daily Quizzes: 30 %
--Timed “In-class” Essay (2-15): 10 %
--Midterm Examination (3-16): 10 %
--Argument Essay (4-29): 20 %
--Final Examination (5-3): 30 %
--Participation: + or -
Attendance, Tardiness, Late Papers:
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to arrive in a timely manner. Consistently tardy students will be remembered as such when class participation grades are calculated. Furthermore, quizzes will be given at the beginning of class and may not be made up for any reason. ONLY illness, official college business, and emergencies permit the make-up of any other work missed, and all such absences must be documented. Unexcused absences totaling 10% or more of class meetings will result in a one-letter-grade penalty; absences totaling 25% or more, excused or otherwise, will result in an F for the course.
Essays are due at the beginning of the class period, but as I see it a late essay is its own punishment. Quizzes may not be made up for any reason.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email and voice mail will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood College Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Class Schedule:
NB—I reserve the right to change the following schedule by giving oral notification in class. Unless otherwise notified, all reading and writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day indicated by this schedule. Absence from one class is never an excuse for being unprepared for any subsequent class.
Week 1
W. 1-20. Introduction to course
F. 1-22. Snow cancelation
Week 2
M. 1-25. Snow cancelation
W. 1-27. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 33-62)
F. 1-29. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 62-88)
Week 3
M. 2-1. Excerpts from The Hebrew Bible: Genesis (Norton 1: 89-110, 116-117)
W. 2-3.The Book of Job (Chapters 1 [including the Prologue] through 7)
F. 2-5. The Book of Job (Chapters 29 through 42 [including Epilogue])
Week 4
M. 2-8. Excerpts from The New Testament Gospels (Norton 1: 816-831).
W. 2-10. Excerpts from The Quar’an (Norton 1: 858-869; 873-875; 880-883)
F. 2-12. Excerpts from The Bhagavad-Gita (Norton 1: 726-745)
Week 5
M. 2-15. Class Canceled (snow!)
W. 2-17. Homer, from The Iliad (Norton 1: 121-135) and The Odyssey (Norton 1: 178-179); Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 573-583), from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 583-598)
F. 2-19. Class Canceled (AACU Conference). Complete Timed “In-class” Essay (prompt will be posted on my website and distributed by email on Friday afternoon; you will have two and ½ hours to complete the assignment). Email to me as an attachment by 9:00 pm on Sunday, 2-21.
Week 6
M. 2-22. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 598-620)
W. 2-24. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 620-648)
F. 2-26. Class Canceled (CMS Conference)
Week 7
M. 2-29. Dante, from The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Norton 1: 1049-1070)
W. 3-2. Dante, Inferno (Norton 1: 1093-1097, 1101-1104, 1111-1114)
F. 3-4. Dante, Inferno (Norton 1: 1161-1172)
Week 8
Classes Canceled for Spring Break
Week 9
M. 3-14. Medieval Chinese Literature (Norton 1: 1281-1289); Poetry by Li Po and Du Fu (Norton 1: 1311-1321).
W. 3-16. Midterm Preparations
F. 3-18. Midterm Examination
Week 10
M. 3-21. Michel de Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” and “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions” (Norton 1: 1647-1665)
W. 3-23. Miguel de Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1666-1693)
F. 3-25. Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1697-1703, 1715-1736)
Week 11.
M. 3-28. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” (Norton 2: 68-83)
W. 3-30. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 97-125)
F. 4-1. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 126-135; 152-159)
Week 12
M. 4-4. Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 917-934)
W. 4-6. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 934-960)
F. 4-8. Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1201-1218)
Week 13
M. 4-11. Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1218-1235)
W. 4-13. Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” (Norton 2: 1335-1344); Chu T’ien-Hsin, “Man of La Mancha” (Norton 2: 1742-1750)
F. 4-15. Lu Xun, “The Diary of a Mad Man” (Norton 2: 1236-1246), Mahmoud Darwish, “Identity Card” (1606-1609), Yehuda Amichai, selected poems (1619-1623); Hanan Al-Shaykh, “The Women’s Swimming Pool” (Norton 2: 1727-1733);
Week 14
M. 4-18. Tadeusz Borowski, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” (Norton 2: 1451-1466); Saadat Hasan Manto, “Toba Tek Singh” (Norton 2: 1485-1492)
W. 4-20. Chinua Achebe, “Chike’s School Days” (Norton 2: 1561-1566); Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, “Wedding at the Cross” (Norton 2: 1691-1702); Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl” (Norton 2: 1724-26)
F. 4-22. Class Canceled (Funeral)
Week 15
M. 4-25. Haruki Murakami, The Strange Library (Chapters 1 through 12)
W. 4-27. Haruki Murakami, The Strange Library (Chapters 13 through conclusion)
F. 4-29. Comparison Essay due.
Week 16
T. 5-3. Final Exam (8:00 am for section 01; 3:00 pm for section 02).
ENGLISH 201~World Literature (Sections 01 and 02)
Professor: Derek Taylor
Spring 2016
Office: Grainger 306
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-4:00; W 12:00-1:00 (and by appointment)
Phone: 395-2748
e-mail: taylored@longwood.edu
website: www.ederektaylor.weebly.com
Course Description: World Literature. A theme-centered study of selected movements and traditions (exclusive of United States and British literature) by major world writers such as Homer, the author of Gilgamesh, Murasaki, Li Po, Cervantes, Molière, Goethe, Tolstoy, Garcia Marquez, Soyinka, Mahfouz, Rushdie, and Duras. May not be used to satisfy the Humanities requirement for the BA, BM, or BFA degree. Prerequisite: ENGL 150. 3 credits. *
Objectives: English 201 satisfies General Education Goal 3: An understanding of our cultural heritage as revealed in literature, its movements and traditions, through reading, understanding, analyzing, and writing about the major works that have shaped our thinking and provide a record of human experience. In this class, students will learn to
· Understand major movements, themes, and values in one or more cultures as revealed in literature
· Analyze literary texts as reflections of cultural movements, themes, and values
· Develop and defend interpretations of literary texts through written discourse.
The course meets the following criteria. It will
1. teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry (e.g., literary analysis, statistical analysis, historical interpretation, philosophical reasoning, aesthetic judgment, the scientific method) and provide students with practice in applying their disciplinary mode of inquiry, critical thinking, or problem solving strategies.
2. provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3. consider questions of ethical values.
4. explore past, current, and future implications (e.g., social, political, economic, psychological or philosophical) of disciplinary knowledge.
5. encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.
Texts:
--Murakami, Haruki. The Strange Library. New York: Knopf, 2014.
--Simon, Peter, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Vols. 1 and 2. New York: Norton, 2009.
Grading (ten-point scale):
--Daily Quizzes: 30 %
--Timed “In-class” Essay (2-15): 10 %
--Midterm Examination (3-16): 10 %
--Argument Essay (4-29): 20 %
--Final Examination (5-3): 30 %
--Participation: + or -
Attendance, Tardiness, Late Papers:
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to arrive in a timely manner. Consistently tardy students will be remembered as such when class participation grades are calculated. Furthermore, quizzes will be given at the beginning of class and may not be made up for any reason. ONLY illness, official college business, and emergencies permit the make-up of any other work missed, and all such absences must be documented. Unexcused absences totaling 10% or more of class meetings will result in a one-letter-grade penalty; absences totaling 25% or more, excused or otherwise, will result in an F for the course.
Essays are due at the beginning of the class period, but as I see it a late essay is its own punishment. Quizzes may not be made up for any reason.
Classroom Decorum:
All students are expected to behave civilly both to each other and to the instructor and to conduct themselves in a manner that encourages learning in the classroom. Email and voice mail will be considered as part of the participation grade, so students should think carefully about the tone and content of such messages.
Honor Code:
All work is governed by the Longwood College Honor Code. Written work must contain the pledge in writing and be signed. Students should read closely the section on plagiarism in the Longwood Style Manual.
Class Schedule:
NB—I reserve the right to change the following schedule by giving oral notification in class. Unless otherwise notified, all reading and writing assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day indicated by this schedule. Absence from one class is never an excuse for being unprepared for any subsequent class.
Week 1
W. 1-20. Introduction to course
F. 1-22. Snow cancelation
Week 2
M. 1-25. Snow cancelation
W. 1-27. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 33-62)
F. 1-29. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 62-88)
Week 3
M. 2-1. Excerpts from The Hebrew Bible: Genesis (Norton 1: 89-110, 116-117)
W. 2-3.The Book of Job (Chapters 1 [including the Prologue] through 7)
F. 2-5. The Book of Job (Chapters 29 through 42 [including Epilogue])
Week 4
M. 2-8. Excerpts from The New Testament Gospels (Norton 1: 816-831).
W. 2-10. Excerpts from The Quar’an (Norton 1: 858-869; 873-875; 880-883)
F. 2-12. Excerpts from The Bhagavad-Gita (Norton 1: 726-745)
Week 5
M. 2-15. Class Canceled (snow!)
W. 2-17. Homer, from The Iliad (Norton 1: 121-135) and The Odyssey (Norton 1: 178-179); Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 573-583), from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 583-598)
F. 2-19. Class Canceled (AACU Conference). Complete Timed “In-class” Essay (prompt will be posted on my website and distributed by email on Friday afternoon; you will have two and ½ hours to complete the assignment). Email to me as an attachment by 9:00 pm on Sunday, 2-21.
Week 6
M. 2-22. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 598-620)
W. 2-24. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 620-648)
F. 2-26. Class Canceled (CMS Conference)
Week 7
M. 2-29. Dante, from The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Norton 1: 1049-1070)
W. 3-2. Dante, Inferno (Norton 1: 1093-1097, 1101-1104, 1111-1114)
F. 3-4. Dante, Inferno (Norton 1: 1161-1172)
Week 8
Classes Canceled for Spring Break
Week 9
M. 3-14. Medieval Chinese Literature (Norton 1: 1281-1289); Poetry by Li Po and Du Fu (Norton 1: 1311-1321).
W. 3-16. Midterm Preparations
F. 3-18. Midterm Examination
Week 10
M. 3-21. Michel de Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” and “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions” (Norton 1: 1647-1665)
W. 3-23. Miguel de Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1666-1693)
F. 3-25. Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1697-1703, 1715-1736)
Week 11.
M. 3-28. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” (Norton 2: 68-83)
W. 3-30. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 97-125)
F. 4-1. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 126-135; 152-159)
Week 12
M. 4-4. Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 917-934)
W. 4-6. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 934-960)
F. 4-8. Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1201-1218)
Week 13
M. 4-11. Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1218-1235)
W. 4-13. Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” (Norton 2: 1335-1344); Chu T’ien-Hsin, “Man of La Mancha” (Norton 2: 1742-1750)
F. 4-15. Lu Xun, “The Diary of a Mad Man” (Norton 2: 1236-1246), Mahmoud Darwish, “Identity Card” (1606-1609), Yehuda Amichai, selected poems (1619-1623); Hanan Al-Shaykh, “The Women’s Swimming Pool” (Norton 2: 1727-1733);
Week 14
M. 4-18. Tadeusz Borowski, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” (Norton 2: 1451-1466); Saadat Hasan Manto, “Toba Tek Singh” (Norton 2: 1485-1492)
W. 4-20. Chinua Achebe, “Chike’s School Days” (Norton 2: 1561-1566); Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, “Wedding at the Cross” (Norton 2: 1691-1702); Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl” (Norton 2: 1724-26)
F. 4-22. Class Canceled (Funeral)
Week 15
M. 4-25. Haruki Murakami, The Strange Library (Chapters 1 through 12)
W. 4-27. Haruki Murakami, The Strange Library (Chapters 13 through conclusion)
F. 4-29. Comparison Essay due.
Week 16
T. 5-3. Final Exam (8:00 am for section 01; 3:00 pm for section 02).