Tools

EN 207 Section 001: World Literature I

Fall, 2009
3 Credit Hours
Primary Instructor: Scott McWaters
Core Designation: Humanities, Literature

Office Hours

EN 207-001/002 World Literature I               

INSTRUCTOR: Scott McWaters (mcwaters_scott@hotmail.com)

Office: RJ 13 Hrs. MWF 12:00-1:00 & by appt.                                          

Classroom: Ten Hoor 118 3:00-4:15 & 4:30-5:45


Prerequisites

From the Student Records System
    Either
    • EN 101 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-
    • And
    • EN 102 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-
  • Or
  • EN 103 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-
  • Or
  • EN 104 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-
  • Or
    • EN 120 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-
    • And
    • EN 121 (undergrad) with a minimum grade of C-


Course Description

Course Description: Survey of World Literature from the Classical Period to the Renaissance. 3 credit hrs. and Core H, HU, and L Designations; prerequisites: EN 101 and 102, or EN 103.

 

Literature’s aim is to provide vision where we are blind. This is art’s supreme goal and worth. It’s less concerned with cultural or political warfare (despite the sad state of the humanities in much of the academy today) and much more interested in widening our optics. Therefore, the class is obsessed with vision rather than information. Can you see the world, yourself, those around, in the way the writer sees things? This is what we are after. Literature opens up a world that would otherwise be opaque and unknowable and enables us to explore our own inner reaches. It seems that real experience is abstracted when it comes to us as language, but the opposite may be true: Only via literature do we wake up to the startling reaches of life. Kafka said: “Art is the ax that chops into our frozen sea.” Reading is still one of the most miraculous and amazing journeys human beings can pursue.

At the heart of what we will be discussing is the idea that life is a process or journey between two different orders: from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom, from experiencing the world’s appearances to understanding its reality.  


Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes:

 Students can produce a literary close reading that addresses both the form and the content of one or more text(s) in the construction of an argument about the text’s meaning.

  • Students attain a broad knowledge of World literary history of the Classical period – the Renaissance period.
  • Students gain the confidence and ability to speak in a sophisticated and critical fashion about early World literature.
  • Students will develop effective written communication skills.
  • Students will recognize and identify key concepts in the arts, sciences, and humanities to provide a broad perspective on the human condition.

Outline of Topics

Syllabus: (Although not listed, ALWAYS READ the introduction about each work and each author’s life)

 

August 19 W         Break Bread

 

24 M                      Gilgamesh

 

26 W                      The Bible: The Old Testament Genesis

                                William Blake from Songs of Innocence and Experience (Course Reserve)

               

31 M                      The Bible: The Old Testament Psalm 8, 19, 23, 104

 

September 3 W    Homer’s The Iliad

 

7 M                         Labor Day No Class

 

9 W                         Homer’s The Iliad

 

14 M                      Classic of Poetry (Chinese) XXVI. “Boat of Cypress

Confucius from Analects

Chuang Chou Chuang Tzu

 

16 W                      Chuang Chou Chuang Tzu

Lao Tsu Tao Te Ching (Course Reserve)

                                 

21 M                      Plato (429-347 B.C.) The Apology of Socrates

 

23 W                      Test #1

 

28 M                      The Bhagavad-Gita                           

               

30 W                     The Bhagavad-Gita

Barbara Stoller Miller “Why did Henry David Thoreau take the Bhagavad-Gita to

Walden?” (Course Reserve)

The Upanishads (Course Reserve)

 

October 5 M         Wisdom of the Buddha (Course Reserve) 

Hamlet’s Soliloquy Act 3 scene 1 (p. 2867-2868) “To be, or not to be”

                                The Jataka

 

7 W                         The Bible: The New Testament Matthew 5-7, 13, 26, 27, 28 & Luke 2, 15                           

 

12 M                      Tang Poetry (Chinese) Li Po’s poems

                                Wang Wei’s poems

                                Tu Fu’s poems

                                Ezra Pound’s “The River Merchant’s Wife” (Course Reserve)

 

14 W                     The Golden Age of Japanese Culture: The Man’yoshu

The Kokinshu     

                                Dylan Thomas  “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” (Course Reserve)

 

19 M                      Yoshido Kenko from Essays of Idleness

                                NO Drama: Zeami Motokiyo’s “Atsumori”

The Ox Herding Pictures (In Class)

 

21 W                      Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy Inferno

 

26 M                      Test #2

 

28 W                      Mid-Term Essay

 

November 2 M     Inferno

 

4 W                         From Purgatorio   & From Paradiso

 

9 M                         Jalaloddin Rumi                 

 

11 W                      One Thousand and One Nights “Prologue” & “The Story of the Merchant and the Demon” p. 1580-1590

                               

16 M                      Mystical Poetry of India p. 2390-2404          

 

18 W                      Miguel De Cervantes Don Quixote from Part I

 

23 M                      Test #3

 

25 W                      Thanksgiving Break

 

30 M                      Don Quixote from Part II 

 

December 2 W     Review for Final Essays

 

 R                            207 Section 002 FINAL Thursday 12/10 from 7:00-9:30 p.m.

 

 F                             207 Section 001 FINAL  Friday 12/11 from 7:00-9:30 p.m.

 


Exams and Assignments

Course Breakdown: Test #1 17%, Test #2 17%, Test #3 17%, Quiz Grade 15%, Midterm Essay 17%                                                           Final Essays 17%

 

Tests: The tests will consist of questions that will ask you a.) about the authors’ lives; b.) to identify passages; c.) to identify characters or figurative language; d.) to match a text with a brief statement of its meaning; e) what we discuss in class! Students are expected to attend each test without fail. Make-ups will be given when a student misses a test for a verifiable and valid reason—a medical emergency or family emergency, not travel plans or social events—and also contacts me promptly (preferably ahead of time) with his or her explanations and request for a make-up. If you disappear on me, even briefly, I reserve the right to deny a make-up and assign a 0. All make-up exams will differ in format from the original exam. 

 

Mid-Term Essay: The Mid-Term will consist of one short essay (roughly five paragraphs long). The essay will deal with the entire semester up through 10/21. In advance of 10/28, you will be given three options from which to choose. You are required to bring a typed outline to class dealing with the essay you will be answering. At the very least, the outline should include quotations from three works that will provide support to your thesis. The paper must be written during the allotted time, and the outline must be handed in with your completed essay. Answers must use work that we have covered as support. I expect essays to be clearly organized, correctly written, and thoroughly in touch with the class material. Please bring an exam booklet and be prepared to finish writing within an hour and fifteen minutes.

 

Quiz Grade: There will be six random reading quizzes, consisting of five questions each. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped, and the remaining five will determine your grade. NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES WILL BE GIVEN, SO IF YOU ARE LATE OR ABSENT YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO FOR THAT QUIZ. The scale will go as follows: 50 (out of 50)=100, 49=98, 48=96, 47=94, 46=92, 45=90, 44=88 etc. Think about the reading prior to arriving to class.

 

Final Exam: Section 001 Friday 12/11 from 7:00-9:30 p.m. & Section 002 Thursday 12/10 from 7:00-9:30 p.m. Arranging your schedule to accommodate the Final Exam was your responsibility when registering for the class. Requests to take the exam early will be turned down without exception.

                The Final Exam will consist of two short essays (roughly five paragraphs each). The essays will deal with the entire semester, and you will be given six options from which to choose. As with the Mid-term, you will need to use at least three works we’ve read to support your thesis. The second essay must use three different works to support your thesis.

Typed outlines for the essays you are answering are required. The essays must be written during the allotted time, and the outlines must be handed in with your completed exam booklet. Answers must use work that we have covered as support. I expect essays to be clearly organized, correctly written, and thoroughly in touch with the class material. Please bring an exam booklet and be prepared to stay for most, if not all, of the allotted 2.5 hours.


Attendance Policy

Attendance Policy: highly recommended but not required. You should attend unfailingly if you wish to do well on the tests and quizzes; and if you’re coming at all, come on time. Anyone who gets himself or herself into trouble through absenteeism will get no sympathy from the instructor. Please talk to me well in advance of the end of the term if you have a legitimate excuse for repeated absences.


Required Texts

UA Supply Store Textbook Information

  • LAWALL / NORTON ANTH WORLD LITERATURE PACKAGE 1 (VOLS A, B & C)
    (Required)


Other Course Materials

Cell Phones, Laptops, and Other Electronic Devices: Turn off all electronic devices upon entering this class—and please don’t forget. If, for emergency reasons, you need to leave your cell phone on, please notify the lecturer before class begins. Otherwise, if it has an on/off switch, it must be turned “off” while you are in the class.

Classroom Behavior: Students are expected to observe the usual courtesies: arriving on time, staying seated once class begins, and not talking once a lecture starts except to answer questions posed by the lecturer. Staying quiet is very important: even whispering to a friend can be distracting for the lecturer, especially if half the room is whispering!

Bring Your Book: You should bring your Norton Anthology and Course Reserves to class each and every meeting. It’s crucial that you have the poem or story we are covering in front of you while we are discussing the work. If you don’t have your book with you, I’ll consider you absent.

Note Taking: Taking effective notes in this class, as in college classes traditionally, is the responsibility of the student. It’s critical that you pay attention during the lectures. Listen for both repetition and variation as the narrative of the class builds. Much of what we discuss can not be found on Spark Notes or any similar website. Students who feel that they need to improve their note-taking skills should consult the Center for Teaching and Learning in 101 Osband.


Extra Credit Opportunities

Extra Credit: There are no options for extra credit. If you are attending class, reading, taking notes, but still not making the grade you’d like, please come meet with me well before the end of the semester.


Disability Statement

If you are registered with the Office of Disability Services, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss any course accommodations that may be necessary. If you have a disability, but have not contacted the Office of Disability Services, please call 348-4285 or visit 133-B Martha Parham Hall East to register for services. Students who may need course adaptations because of a disability are welcome to make an appointment to see me during office hours. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services, 133-B Martha Parham Hall East, before receiving academic adjustments.

Policy on Academic Misconduct

All students in attendance at the University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academically related matter and any knowing or intentional help or attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student.

The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.


Severe Weather Protocol

In the case of a tornado warning (tornado has been sighted or detected by radar; sirens activated), all university activities are automatically suspended, including all classes and laboratories. If you are in a building, please move immediately to the lowest level and toward the center of the building away from windows (interior classrooms, offices, or corridors) and remain there until the tornado warning has expired. Classes in session when the tornado warning is issued can resume immediately after the warning has expired at the discretion of the instructor. Classes that have not yet begun will resume 30 minutes after the tornado warning has expired provided at least half of the class period remains.

UA is a residential campus with many students living on or near campus. In general classes will remain in session until the National Weather Service issues safety warnings for the city of Tuscaloosa. Clearly, some students and faculty commute from adjacent counties. These counties may experience weather related problems not encountered in Tuscaloosa. Individuals should follow the advice of the National Weather Service for that area taking the necessary precautions to ensure personal safety. Whenever the National Weather Service and the Emergency Management Agency issue a warning, people in the path of the storm (tornado or severe thunderstorm) should take immediate life saving actions.

When West Alabama is under a severe weather advisory, conditions can change rapidly. It is imperative to get to where you can receive information from the National Weather Service and to follow the instructions provided. Personal safety should dictate the actions that faculty, staff and students take. The Office of Public Relations will disseminate the latest information regarding conditions on campus in the following ways:

  • Weather advisory posted on the UA homepage
  • Weather advisory sent out through Connect-ED--faculty, staff and students (sign up at myBama)
  • Weather advisory broadcast over WVUA at 90.7 FM
  • Weather advisory broadcast over Alabama Public Radio (WUAL) at 91.5 FM
  • Weather advisory broadcast over WVUA 7. WVUA 7 Storm Watch provides a free service you can subscribe to that allows you to receive weather warnings for Tuscaloosa via e-mail, pager or cell phone. Check http://www.wvua7.com/stormwatch.html for details.