Effective Date of this Description/Syllabus: Spring 2014
Prepared by: Dr. Rhonda Wilcox
Office: Honors House 104
Phone: (678) 359-5296
email: rhonda_w@gordonstate.edu
Spring office hours: TR 12:30-1:45; T 3:30-4:30;
W 12:15-2, 3:30-5:45; R 3:30-4:00
COURSE
DESCRIPTION/SYLLABUS
Course Designation: English 2111
Course Title: World Literature I
Class hours per week: 3
Credit hours: 3
Division offering course: Humanities
Prerequisite for the course: A grade of C or better in
English 1101.
Course description for college
bulletin:
A survey of important works of world literature from ancient times to the
seventeenth century.
Teacher’s Course objectives:
To
acquaint students with seminal works of world literature and the cultural
milieux in which they were produced;
To
give students a background for appreciating the values and concerns of modern
literature by studying the traditions which preceded it;
To
awaken in students an interest in literatures and cultures different from their
own and an awareness of literary/cultural richness and diversity; in short—
To
have fun.
Humanities Division Literature Course Objectives
Course Objectives: Upon completion of ENGL 2111, World
Literature I, the student will have:
gained
awareness of major writers and literary periods in the canon of world literature;
demonstrated
competence in literary analysis;
demonstrated
an understanding of fundamental literary and critical terminology;
developed
an awareness of aesthetic experiences as a dimension of life by demonstrating
competence in literary studies.
If
you need academic accommodations for a disability, you must contact the Student
Counseling and Disability Services Office, in the Student Center (second floor,
Room 212). You may call that office at 678-359-5585.
Course Content:
The
course plan is to focus on the following works/authors; others may also be
assigned:
Gilgamesh; the Hebrew Bible; Homer; Sappho of Lesbos; Sophocles; Confucius; the Bhaghavad
Gita; Virgil; Ovid; the Qur’an; Marie
de France; Dante; The Thousand and One
Nights; Cervantes; Shakespeare; and others. We will be reading literally
world-famous stories, poems, and plays. People have enjoyed them for centuries.
However, if you do not budget enough time for your reading, you may start to
view them as a burden rather than a pleasure. Instead, expect to take a great
deal of time—then relax and enjoy yourself. The best pleasures cannot be
hurried.
Required
Text:
The Norton Anthology of World Literature,
Shorter Edition. Vol. 1. 3rd ed.
Ed. Martin Puchner, et al. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. ISBN 0-393-91960-9
Grading: Class
participation/pop quizzes: 15%
First Paper: 10%
Second Paper: 20%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 30%
Standards:
A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69;(B+=88; B=85; B-=82, etc.)
Your
failure to do any assignment listed above (except a limited number of pop quizzes) will result in your
failing the course. If you believe you have a good reason for being excused
from a pop quiz or other in-class work, discuss it with me promptly; I will
decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not to keep the zero, excuse the
quiz, or give a make-up with or without grade penalty.
Your
first paper does not have to have
outside sources: it should represent your own response to the reading,
supported by copious specific
evidence from the reading, including multiple quotations from the primary
source. The subject should be one of the pieces of literature from our text;
the more specific subject choice must be approved by me beforehand. A planning
conference is required. Your second
paper will be a researched assignment--a traditional term paper. Again, the
specific subject must be approved. Again, you will express your opinions about
a piece of literature, but for this assignment you will also include the views
of scholars on the subject. The paper
must be a minimum of 1500 words long (excluding apparatus such as bibliography
and notes) EXCEPT that if you choose to write on a work of literature not
assigned to the class and you tell the class about this work of literature (in
a format specified by me), you may write a minimum of 1000 words instead. MLA
form for quotation, bibliography, etc., should be used for both these
assignments. I will give further details when the assignments approach.
Your exams will include some
“objective” questions (e.g. identifying quotations); they will also include
some discussion questions. Each will cover approximately half the course work.
Attendance policy: Without class discussions and
lectures, you might as well read this literature on your own. You will find
that experiencing a group’s reaction to a piece of writing is something that
cannot be recreated through merely reading class notes. This is not just a
lecture class. Furthermore, you can contribute to the class: thoughtful
questions can be just as valuable as insightful comments (though they should be
the questions of a person who has read the material). Missing classes will
reduce your ability to contribute and will therefore lower your class participation grade. (Significant
tardiness will do the same.) Furthermore, specific in-class activities will be
used to help establish your participation grade, and in most cases these
activities must be carried out during a particular class period. People that
miss more than three weeks of classes normally cannot keep up and fail the
course as a result. If you must miss a class, let me know beforehand if you can
(or leave a phone or email message even during class if need be); ask me or a
classmate about assignments so you can prepare in case there is a pop quiz when
you return to class. My home phone number is (404) 373-5328. If you cannot
contact me or a classmate, then read the
next assignment on the syllabus.
Student Evaluation of Instruction: Near the end of this course, you
may be asked to evaluate the instruction of the course. Your honest responses
will help make this a better course. Also, please feel free to make suggestions
during the course. Remember, I want
to hear from you.
Plagiarism,
Cheating:
The
English faculty of Gordon College views any form of cheating as a serious
violation of commonly accepted standards of honesty. All student work must be
solely that of the person submitting the work. Any giving or receiving of unauthorized
help from others or from notes or other materials during the course of taking a
quiz, test, or exam or in writing a paper will result in an F on the work; any
use of forbidden materials such as rough drafts during the course of in-class
writing will also result in an F for the assignment. Note that an F on the work
involved in cheating is the minimum punishment; a zero on the work is another
possible consequence; if justified by aggravating circumstances, the matter may
be referred to the Academic Dean or (according to a rule approved by the
Faculty Senate in Fall 2009) the Dean of Students. See the Academic Dishonesty
Policy in the Academic Catalog (pp. 60-61).
Moreover,
when source materials are used in the writing of papers, the student must
document such use of sources both by clearly indicating material being used as
quotation and by giving proper recognition when ideas or information has been
paraphrased or summarized; the following principles enunciated in the section
on avoiding plagiarism in James D. Lester's Writing
Research Papers: A Complete Guide, 8th edition, should be scrupulously
observed:
1. Acknowledge
borrowed material by introducing the quotation or paraphrase with the name of
the authority. This practice serves to indicate where borrowed materials begin.
2. Enclose
within quotation marks all quoted materials.
3. Make
certain that paraphrased material has been rewritten into your own style and
language. The simple rearrangement of sentence patterns is unacceptable. [To
illustrate: It is unacceptable to simply rearrange sentence patterns.]
4. Provide
specific in-text documentation for each borrowed item. For example, MLA [Modern
Language Association] style requires name and page for all in-text references.
Requirements differ for other fields . . . .
5. Provide a
bibliographic entry on the Works Cited page for every source cited in the
paper.
6. Omit [from
the bibliography] sources consulted but not cited in the text. This point is
important.You do not want your instructor leafing back through the paper trying
to find your use of a source that, in truth, was not cited. (140-41)
Furthermore, you must avoid collusion.
Here is a definition from the Humanities Division Chair: Collusion is defined as receiving excessive help to the point that
a work can no longer be considered the product of a single author and therefore
cannot be accurately assessed an individual grade. If I suspect a submitted
work to be the result of collusion, I reserve the right to refuse credit for
that work if the claimed author is unable to demonstrate sole authorship. A
good way to avoid this problem is to get help from the Student Success Center
rather than from family or friends.
I may decide to have you submit some of
your work to Turnitin.com. Terms and Conditions of Use may be found at http://www.turnitin.com/static/usage.html.
In general, if you have a question, feel
free to ask it. My goal is for you to learn and to enjoy learning.
TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE
Except for Week One, read the material
before the class period in which it is listed below; it will be discussed
during the class period in which it is listed. E.g., Don Quixote will be discussed in Week Fourteen on April 10, and you
should have read the story before coming to class. If you miss class, keep up
with the reading listed below.
Week One (1/8) Introduction; Gilgamesh, pp. 38-88; the Hebrew Bible,
Genesis 6-9, pp. 99-103
Week Two (1/15) Homer: The Odyssey, Books 1-8, pp. 178-271
Week Three (1/22) Odyssey, Books 9-16, pp. 271-371
Week Four (1/29) Odyssey, Books 17-24, pp. 371-466
Week Five (2/5) Sappho of Lesbos:
Lyrics, pp. 469-74; Sophocles: Oedipus
Rex, pp. 485-525
Week Six (2/12) China’s Classic of Poetry, pp. 759-66;
Confucius: Analects [Sayings], pp.770-80; Laozi: Daodejing, pp. 782-90; India’s Bhaghavad
Gita, pp. 729-45; PAPER ONE DUE
Week Seven (2/19) Virgil: The Aeneid, Books 1, 2, and 4, pp. 577-640;
Ovid: Metamorphoses, pp. 652-670
Week Eight (2/26) MIDTERM EXAM
[March
3: Last day to drop classes without WF]
Week Nine (3/5) The Qur’an, pp. 861-85; The Thousand and One Nights, pp. 1173-97
Week Ten (3/10-14) SPRING BREAK
Week Eleven (3/19) Tang Poetry: Li Bo, pp.
1312-15; Du Fu, pp. 1317-21 ; Marie de France, Lanval, pp. 1032-45 ; Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, pp. 1383-1463
Week Twelve (3/26) Dante: The Inferno, Cantos 1-8, pp. 1053-1079
Week Thirteen (4/2) The Inferno, Cantos 9-34, pp. 1080-1172
Week Fourteen (4/9) Cervantes: Don Quixote, pp. 1671-1752
Week Fifteen (4/16) Shakespeare: Hamlet, pp. 1805-1900
Week Sixteen (4/23) PAPER TWO DUE; oral presentations;
poetry selections TBA
Additional
work may be assigned.
FINAL EXAM: Monday May
5, 8:15 p.m.—10:15 p.m.