Effective Date of this Description/Syllabus: Spring 2019
Prepared by: Dr. Rhonda Wilcox
Office: Honors House 104
Phone: (678) 359-5296
email: rhonda_w@gordonstate.edu
Office hours: T 11:00-12:20, 2:00-3:15, 5:00-5:30;
W 11:00-12:20, 4:30-5:30; R 11:-12:20, 2:00-3:15
COURSE
DESCRIPTION/SYLLABUS
Course Designation: English 2111H
Course Title: World Literature I
Class hours per week: 3
Credit hours: 3
Division offering course: Humanities
Prerequisite for the course: A grade of B or better in
English 1101 and English 1102 or permission of Honors Coordinator or Chair of
the Department of Humanities and Fine Arts.
Course description for college
bulletin:
A survey of important works of world literature from ancient times to the
seventeenth century with special emphasis on translation, both linguistic and
cultural.
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.
Honors Objectives for World
Literature I:
To
acquaint students with the implications of translation from one language to
another;
To
acquaint students with the implications of translation from one culture to
another;
To
acquaint students with the implications of translation from one time to
another.
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.
Religious
Holidays: Gordon State College
acknowledges that the academic calendar can sometimes conflict with major
holidays from among our diverse religious traditions. If a student must miss class due to the
observance of a religious holiday, that absence may be excused. To be excused, the student must inform
his/her instructors before the absence and make alternate arrangements for any
work due at the time of the absence. An
excused absence for the observance of a religious holiday does not excuse a
student from responsibility for required course work. If you are going to be
absent for a religious holiday, tell me by the end of week 2.
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 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,
edited by Martin Puchner, et al. Norton, 2013.
Print. ISBN 0-393-91960-8
Grading: Class
participation/pop quizzes: 15%
First Paper: 15%
Second Paper: 20%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
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 should compare and
contrast two different translations of a short work of literature or a short
section of a longer work of literature. The paper does not have to have secondary
sources: it should represent your own response to the differences in the
translations, supported by copious
specific evidence, including multiple quotations from the primary sources. In
most cases, one of the translations should be the version in our textbook. The
subject should be one of the pieces of literature selected for our text; the more
specific subject choice (for example, Sensory Detail in Sappho’s “He Seems to
Me Equal to Gods”) 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. In this paper, you must discuss the
implications of the time and culture of the author of the work of literature as
you discuss the themes or structure of the literature. 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
class participation/pop quiz grade will be based in part on an oral
presentation to the class; the presentation should last eight to ten minutes
and be focused on a specific work of literature, explaining its content and
recognizing cultural connections and distinctions. Class members will be
provided with the opportunity to sign up for particular works of literature. A
separate assignment handout will be provided.
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; this is a landline I
have maintained for students’ convenience. Leave a voicemail if I do not answer
immediately. 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.
P.S. re Harry’s House:
The mission of Harry’s House is to distribute food and toiletries to students to alleviate stress associated with short-term food insecurity and other financial constraints in order to effectively reduce hunger and support educational success.
https://www.gordonstate.edu/harrys-house/index.html
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 (1/10) Introduction; The Epic of
Gilgamesh
Week
Two (1/15) Gilgamesh, continued;
Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1-4, 6-9, 25 (pages 94-103, 106-110) (some of these are
excerpts) ; (1/17) Homer: The Odyssey,
Books 1-4
Week
Three (1/22) The Odyssey, Books 5-8;
(1/24) Books 9-12
Week
Four (1/29) The Odyssey, Books 13-16;
(1/31) Books 17-20
Week
Five (2/5) The Odyssey, Books 21-24;
(2/7) Sophocles: Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King)
Week
Six (2/12) Sappho of Lesbos: Lyrics; (2/14) Virgil: The Aeneid, Books 1-2
Week
Seven (2/19) The Aeneid,
Book 4; (2/21) China’s Classic of Poetry;
Confucius: Analects [Sayings]; PAPER ONE
DUE
Week
Eight (2/26) Ovid: Metamorphoses
(pages 652-670); (2/28) MIDTERM EXAM
Monday
March 4: Last day to drop classes without WF
Week
Nine (3/5) Laozi, Daodeching (sometimes called the Tao);
India’s Bhagavad Gita; (3/7) The Qur’an (pages 861-69); The
Thousand and One Nights (pages 1176-87)
Week
Ten (3/11-15) SPRING BREAK
Week
Eleven (3/19) The Thousand and One Nights
(pages 1187-98); (3/21) Tang Poetry (by Li Bo and Du Fu)
Week
Twelve (3/26) Murasaki Shikibu:
The Tale of Genji,
Chapters 1-2; (3/28) The Tale of Genji, Ch. 5; The New Testament, Matthew: “The Sermon
on the Mount” (pages 821-24);
Week
Thirteen (4/2) Dante: The Inferno,
Cantos 1-8; (4/4) The Inferno, Cantos
9-18;
Week
Fourteen (4/9)) The Inferno, Cantos
19-28; (4/11) The Inferno, Cantos
29-34
Week
Fifteen (4/16) Marie de France: Lanval ;
Cervantes: Don Quixote (pages
1676-1703); (4/18) Don Quixote (pages 1703-1749)
Week
Sixteen (4/23) Shakespeare: Hamlet, Acts
1-2; (4/25) Hamlet, Acts 3-4
Week
Seventeen (4/30) Hamlet, Act 5; PAPER TWO DUE
FINAL
EXAM: FRIDAY MAY 3: 10:15 AM—12:15 PM
Additional work may be
assigned. Any variation in syllabus policy is at the instructor’s discretion.