REVISED 10-30-17
ENGLISH 201: World Literature (Section 03)
Professor: Derek Taylor
Fall 2017
Office: Grainger 306
Office Hours: MF 12:00-1:00; W 3:00-4:00; Th 2:00-3:00 (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:
--Vasquez, Juan Gabriel. Reputations, Riverhead, 2013.
--Simon, Peter, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Vols. 1 and 2, Norton, 2009.
Grading (ten-point scale):
--Daily Quizzes: 40 %
-- Essay 1 (Wednesday, 9-27): 10 %
--Midterm Examination (Wednesday, 10-11): 10 %
--Essay 2 (Monday, 11-20): 10 %
--Final Examination (Monday, 12-4): 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
M. 8-21. Introduction to course
W. 8-23. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 33-62)
F. 8-25. Gilgamesh (Norton 1: 62-88)
Week 2
M. 8-28. Excerpts from The Hebrew Bible: Genesis (Norton 1: 89-110, 116-117)
W. 8-30. The Book of Job (Chapters 1 [including the Prologue] through 9)
F. 9-1. The Book of Job (Chapters 11 through 13 and 29 through 42 [including Epilogue])
Week 3
M. 9-4. Class Canceled for Labor Day
W. 9-6. Excerpts from The New Testament Gospels (Norton 1: 816-831).
F. 9-8. Excerpts from The Quar’an (Norton 1: 858-869; 873-875; 880-883)
Week 4
M. 9-11. Excerpts from The Bhagavad-Gita (Norton 1: 726-745)
W. 9-13. Homer, from The Iliad and The Odyssey (Norton 1: 121-135; 178-180)
F. 9-15. Homer, from The Iliad and The Odyssey (Norton 1: 145-154; 426-434; 446-450).
Week 5
M. 9-18. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 573-583), from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 583-598)
W. 9-20. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 598-620)
F. 9-22. College-level Writing: A Refresher
Week 6
M. 9-25. Virgil, from The Aeneid (Norton 1: 620-648)
W. 9-27. Dante, from The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Norton 1: 1049-1070)
F. 9-29. Inferno (Norton 1: 1093-1097, 1101-1104, 1111-1114),
Week 7
M. 10-2. Dante, Inferno (Norton 1: 1161-1172)
W. 10-4. Class Canceled--Open Office Hours from 12:00-2:00 and from 3:00-4:00.
F. 10-6. Essay 1 Due. Preparations for Midterm Examination
Week 8
M. 10-9. Medieval Chinese Literature (Norton 1: 1281-1289); Poetry by Li Po and Du Fu (Norton 1: 1311-1321).
W. 10-11. Midterm Examination
F. 10-13. Michel de Montaigne, “To the Reader” and “Of Cannibals” (1647-1660).
Week 9
M. 10-16. Class Canceled for Fall Break
W. 10-18. Miguel de Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1666-1693)
F. 10-20. Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton 1: 1696-1699, 1715-1736)
Week 10
M. 10-23. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” (Norton 2: 68-83)
W. 10-25. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 97-125)
F. 10-27. Paradise Lost Marathon (meet outside in front of Grainger)
Week 11
M. 10-30. Voltaire, Candide (Norton 2: 126-135; 152-159)
W. 11-1. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 917-934)
F. 11-3. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Norton 2: 934-960)
Week 12
M. 11-6. Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1201-1218)
W. 11-8. Kafka, Metamorphosis (Norton 2: 1218-1235)
F. 11-10. Mahmoud Darwish, “Identity Card” (1606-1609); Yehuda Amichai, selected poems (1619-1623).
Week 13
M. 11-13. Saadat Hasan Manto, “Toba Tek Singh” (Norton 2: 1485-1492); Chinua Achebe, “Chike’s School Days” (Norton 2: 1561-1566)
W. 11-15. Jamaica Kinkaid, "Girl" (1724-1726); Hanan Al-Shaykh, “The Women’s Swimming Pool” (Norton 2: 1727-1733)
F. 11-17. Juan Gabriel Vasquez, Reputations (1-37)
Week 14
M. 11-20. Essay 2 Due. Submit electronically by 5:00 pm (email as attachment).
W. 11-22. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving Break
F. 11-24. Class Canceled for Thanksgiving Break
Week 15
M. 11-27. Vasquez, Reputations (37-94)
W. 11-29. Vasquez, Reputations (94-150)
F. 12-1. Vasquez, Reputations (150-187); preparations for Final Examination
Week 16
M. 12-4. Final Exam (3:00-5:30).