Effective
Date of this Description/Syllabus: Spring 2017
Prepared
by: Dr. Rhonda Wilcox
Office:
Honors House 104
Phone:
(678) 359-5296
email:
rhonda_w@gordonstate.edu
Office
hours: MW 4:25-6:00; TR 1:55-3:20, 4:55-6:00
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
Department 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.
ADA
and 504
If
you have a documented disability as described by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, you may be eligible
to receive accommodations to assist in programmatic and/or physical
accessibility. The Counseling and Accessibility Services office located in
the Student Center, Room 212 can assist you in formulating a reasonable
accommodation plan and in providing support in developing appropriate
accommodations to ensure equal access to all GSC programs and facilities.
Course requirements will not be waived, but accommodations may assist you in
meeting the requirements. For documentation requirements and for
additional information, contact Counseling and Accessibility Services at
678-359-5585.
Title
IX
Gordon
State College is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of
discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic
violence, dating violence and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has
experienced or experiences any of these incidents, know that you are not alone.
All faculty members at Gordon State College are mandated reporters. Any
student reporting any type of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating
violence, domestic violence or stalking must be made aware that any report made
to a faculty member under the provisions of Title IX will be reported to the
Title IX Coordinator or a Title IX Deputy Coordinator. If you wish to
speak with someone confidentially, you must contact the Counseling and
Accessibility Services office, Room 212, Student Life Center. The licensed
counselors in the Counseling Office are able to provide confidential
support.
Gordon
State College does not discriminate against any student on the basis of
pregnancy, parenting or related conditions. Students seeking
accommodations on the basis of pregnancy, parenting or related conditions should
contact Counseling and Accessibility Services regarding the process of
documenting pregnancy related issues and being approved for accommodations,
including pregnancy related absences as defined under Title IX.
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; Lady Murasaki; 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 Third Edition. Vol. 1.
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 as soon as possible); 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 will 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 Dean of Students. See the
Academic Dishonesty Policy in the Academic Catalog.
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 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
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. If you miss class, keep
up with the reading listed below. When a specific section is not listed, then
read all the material in the book under a given title; e.g., read all of
Sappho’s lyrics that are included in our book.
Week
One (1/12) Introduction; The Epic of
Gilgamesh
Week
Two (1/17) Gilgamesh, continued;
Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1-4, 6-9, 25 (pages 94-103, 106-110); (1/19) Homer: The Odyssey, Books
1-4
Week
Three (1/24) The Odyssey, Books 5-8;
(1/26) Books 9-12
Week
Four (1/31) The Odyssey, Books 13-16;
(2/2) Books 17-20
Week
Five (2/7) The Odyssey, Books 21-24;
(2/9) Sophocles: Oedipus
Rex
Week
Six (2/14) Sappho of Lesbos: Lyrics; Virgil: The Aeneid, Books 1-2, (2/16) Book 4
Week
Seven (2/21) China’s Classic of
Poetry; Confucius: Analects [Sayings]; (2/23) PAPER ONE DUE
Week
Eight (2/28) Ovid: Metamorphoses
(pages 652-70); (3/2) MIDTERM
EXAM
Monday
March 6: Last day to drop classes without WF
Week
Nine (3/7) Laozi, Daodeching (sometimes called the Tao); India’s Bhagavad Gita; (3/9) The Qur’an (pages 861-69); The Thousand and One Nights (pages
1176-87)
Week
Ten (3/13-17) SPRING
BREAK
Week
Eleven (3/21) The Thousand and One Nights
(pages 1187-97); (3/23) Tang Poetry (by Li Bo and Du
Fu)
Week
Twelve (3/28) Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of
Genji, Ch. 1-2; (3/30) The Tale of Genji, Ch. 5; The New Testament, “The Sermon on the Mount”
(pages 821-24)
Week
Thirteen (4/4) Dante: The Inferno,
Cantos 1-8; (4/6) The Inferno, Cantos
9-23;
Week
Fourteen (4/11) The Inferno, Cantos
24-34; (4/13) Marie de France: Lanval
Week
Fifteen (4/18) Cervantes: Don Quixote
(pages 1671-1725); (4/20) Don Quixote
(1726-49)
Week
Sixteen (4/25) Shakespeare: Hamlet,
Acts 1-2; (4/27) Hamlet, Acts
3-4
Week
Seventeen (5/2) Hamlet, Act 5; PAPER TWO DUE
FINAL
EXAM:
Additional
work may be assigned. Any variation in syllabus policy is at the instructor’s
discretion.