SPRING 2010 EN/WL 208 WORLD LITERATURE II: Enlightenment – Present Day

Office Hours: by appointment

Where: Morgan 303                                               

When: 208-001: TR 12:30-1:45pm; 208-002 3:30-4:45pm

Who: Tim Croft                                                           

E-mail: through e-mail option elearning (NB: please allow at least 24 hours for a response)

Class Website: www.elearning.ua.edu

Mailbox: 103 Morgan

Office: Rowand Johnson 14

Office Phone: 348-0330

Office Hours: by appointment

World Literature II examines cross-cultural ideas and modes of representation (excluding English and American literature) from the Enlightenment (circa 1600) through to the present day. Naturally, the scope of the literature available is so wide it is almost impossible in a survey class to even scratch the surface of work available. Thus, it is best to imagine this class as something like a sampler. We will, then, deal more with themes centered upon the idea of humanity rather than specific countries. We’ll also look at different ways of telling stories and explore various literary movements, including realism, Romanticism, Modernism, existentialism, postmodernism and post-colonialism, among others.

One topic we’ll revisit throughout the semester is the idea of how writers reflect their society, whether they write from positions that reinforce the prevailing culture or whether they’re works criticize the dominant culture. From this perspective, we’ll be able to see how a culture brings people into the normative (what is normal for that culture) and how it deals with deviancy (ideas and behavior that challenge or disagree with the normative).  Another idea we’ll revisit often, particularly when we get to the 19^th and 20^th centuries, is how do we as humans construct and understand our world and reality? And just what is reality? Is reality invented by our senses and therefore our whole world is constructed by us, or is there a natural order that exists entirely independent to how humans perceive the world? Are there, then, other ways of representing the world other than using traditional story telling techniques?

Also, reading in a class like this can be a challenge because the readings come from a large range of cultures and periods. It’s likely that you might not even know of the writer the first time you read the assigned text and it’s more than likely that you won’t know the political situation the work was produced under, or what the culture was like that inspired the work, why the writer choose to produce their work in one form and not another, and so on. All in all, I think it’s best to be open-minded as you approach each text and to have a curious mind as you read. Curiosity is essential in enjoying literature and learning about other cultures. Having a curious mind is a good thing.

Finally, sometimes we will take more time with a text, going over it slowly and reading it closely. Other times we will read a lot and move swiftly from one text to the next. This is both the great and horrible truth about survey classes: we have much to cover and little time to cover it. Therefore, sometimes we will have lengthy reading assignments for each class period, and you will be responsible for the material the day it is assigned. I’ve selected three major works from each anthology (Tartuffe, Notes from Underground and Things Fall Apart) as a way to greater explore some of the ideas that exist inside the class and these works are slightly longer, meaning we’ll cover them over several classes, rather than in just one class as is the norm.

 

Student Learning Outcomes (EN/WL 208)

·       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 Literature during the Enlightenment period, 1650-1800.

·       Students attain a broad knowledge of World Literature during the modern period, 1800-1900.

·       Students attain a broad knowledge of World Literature during the 20^th and early 21^st Centuries.

·       Students gain the confidence and ability to speak in a sophisticated and critical fashion about modern 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.

Day-To-Day: You can expect to read about 20-30 pages in the anthologies for each class day. Great world literature tends to be lengthy. As a rule-of-thumb, expect heavier reading for Tuesdays since there is a five-day break from the previous class. Obviously, this is a “guestimate” and shouldn’t be treated as concrete. Sometimes we’ll read slightly more and other times slightly less. But you will need to read for each class. In your busy week, setting aside about 2 hours reading preparation for each class is a good idea.

Reading Quizzes: Occasionally, at my discretion, I will administer brief quizzes that will test your reading of the assigned material; they will be “short answer,” “multi-choice” or “true/false” in format. I will not administer make-up quizzes for any reason, but your two lowest quiz grades will be dropped in the computation of your final grade at the end of the semester. Scores of 4 or 5 (out of 5) gain a full credit, 2.5-3 gains half credit, and 0-2 receives no credit. You can expect about 10 or so during the semester. These quizzes are not particularly challenging and if you’ve read, paid attention to what you’ve read, then you’ll do fine.

 

*Please note, you may not complete a quiz or test and then leave class. If you do so, your grade will be voided for that day. And sometimes a quiz just may come during the middle or towards the end of the class. Coming late to class, too, may mean missing a reading quiz, which cannot be made up.

 

Multiple-Choice Tests 1, 2 & 3: The first two tests are worth 15% of your final grade each, but the third test is worth 21% of your final grade, and thus you should treat each test with importance. Failure to attend a test instantly jeopardizes your ability to pass the class. The tests are cumulative so they will always deal with material covered up to and including the last class before the test (including the previous tests, although they will emphasize material covered after the last test). You will be asked 50 multiple-choice questions concerning the assigned readings—including historical period introductions and author bios—up to and including the class before the test. These questions will focus on the authors and their work, along with passage identification, matching texts with statement of meaning and also topics discussed in class. 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 tests will differ in format from the original tests. The first test, Test 1, is on Thursday, February 11 2010 during normal class time. The second test, Test 2, will be on Tuesday, March 9 2010 during normal class time, and the third test, Test 3, will be during the assigned exam time on Monday, May 3 2010. Please note Test 2 will be held during the week prior to Spring Break and you should not make any travel plans before this time.

 

In-Class Essays 1 and 2: Over the course of the semester you will write two in-class essays (each roughly five paragraphs long). At the beginning of the examination time you will receive 3-5 prompts. You will choose a prompt and write your essay accordingly. Each essay will deal with the entire semester up to and including the last class before the essay is to be written. The paper must be written during the allotted time. You will be allowed to use your anthologies (but no other sources or notes) for each essay, and therefore you will be expected to support your assertions with direct evidence from the text(s). Answers must only 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 consult MLA formatting for a guide to correctly organizing and formatting your essays. Please bring a blank exam booklet each time and be prepared to finish writing within an hour and fifteen minutes. The first essay will be written in the same week as the second multiple-choice test on Thursday, March 11 2010. The second essay will take place during the assigned exam time on Monday, May 3 2010.

 

*Please note Essay 2 will be written in class during the week prior to Spring Break and you should not make any travel plans before this time.

 

*I reserve the right to scale each exam according to the standard deviation / bell curve model. Note, this scaling includes both scaling up and also scaling down, if necessary.

Quizzes                              15%

Multi-Choice Test 1            15%

Multi-Choice Test 2            15%

Multi-Choice Test 3            21%

Essay 1                              17%

Essay 2                               17%

                                          100%

Scores on exams and papers will be translated into the following grades:

 

            A+ = 98            B+ = 88                        C+ = 78                        D+ = 68

            A   = 95            B   = 85                        C   = 75                        D   = 65                        F = 59 or lower

            A- = 90            B-  = 80                        C-  = 70                        D- = 60

 

And here is how each grade breaks down:

 

A            Excellent, very impressive, shows mastery of both content and form. An A paper has something to say and says it well.

 

B            Very good, shows understanding of content and form and an ability to organize these well.

 

C            Satisfactory overall, but with some weakness — a less than full understanding of the material; some stylistic or mechanical defects or persuasive superficial thinking.

 

D             While the basic requirements of the assignment have been met, that are substantial and, ultimately, glaring defects. Off the mark in significant ways.

 

F            Does not meet even the most basic requirements of the assignment.

 

When I grade papers, including exam essays, I think about them in terms of three areas: CONTENT (your ideas and thinking), ORGANIZATION (the arrangement of those ideas; the structure of the paper), and SURFACE LANGUAGE (grammar and style issues). Content is the most important area to me and Surface Language is the least. In other words—while I expect you to write grammatically correct papers—original, critical thinking on your part is the first and most important thing I am looking for. I would prefer that you turn in a paper which shows good, original thinking but has some surface language problems rather than a paper that is free of comma splices but which says nothing and contains no argument of your own.

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.

The Writing Center, located in 322 Lloyd Hall, is a wonderful resource for students. They do not proofread papers or write papers for you, but they can help with overall structure, organization, development, and mechanics. Take a copy of the writing assignment sheet and any work you’ve completed toward the assignment if you go. Go to http://www.as.ua.edu/writingcenter/ for more information or to set up an appointment.

As above, obviously, quizzes cannot be made up. But there is a provision in the course policy that voids your lowest two quiz scores (if you don’t do a quiz you get zero). 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. 

 

There is no official attendance policy for this class. However, even including the dropping of your lowest two quiz scores and extended short text grade it is important to attend class. With Spring Break, there is a break in the semester for you to re-charge your batteries, so you shouldn’t miss class.

 

·       Successful students attend class regularly and on time.

 

·       Major graded work (such as tests or papers) missed due to legitimate circumstances beyond the student’s control may be made up at the instructor’s discretion or if arrangements are made with the instructor in advance, or in a timely fashion upon the student’s return to class.

 

·       The lectures, class discussion, group work, and other daily exercises in a writing class cannot be reconstructed for a student who has been absent; therefore, daily work missed due to tardiness or an absence (for any reason) cannot be made up.

 

·       Repeated lateness will affect your quiz scores and will effectively count as absence(s).

 

If you have a problem with anything that happens in this class, please see me first. If we are not able to resolve the problem, the chain of command is as follows: Yolanda Manora, Director of Undergraduate English; Dr. Catherine Davies, Head of the Department of English.

Make sure you check your e-mail in elearning everyday (or at least before class). I will post assignment outlines, make announcements, or contact you through the elearning system. It will be the class communication tool. And that is also how you should contact me. Only e-mail me in elearning. I will not reply to e-mails if sent to bamamail.

 

I require the consideration of a salutation (Dear…) and a signature (Sincerely, …)  in student e-mails; you’ll certainly receive the same respect from me.

 

Although unlikely, if I fail to arrive more than ten minutes after class would normally start you can assume there is no class and may leave. Please nominate someone to inform the English office (in 103 Morgan) that I have failed to arrive.

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Please come to class ready to work. It doesn’t matter whether you are drinking coffee or wearing your pajamas as long as you have completed the readings and have something to say about it. Class discussion is important so please be respectful towards others. If someone else is talking and you have not been called upon to comment, please do not talk. And do not talk when I am talking.

 

I expect you to behave socially as you would in a formal social environment so please Turn cell phones off during class (that means no vibrate mode either), and it especially means no txting (I see everything).

 

You do not need permission to go to the bathroom. This is a university course and you are an autonomous adult, so if you are used to teachers badgering you about attendance, late work, etc., please adjust immediately. It’s your responsibility — not mine — to make sure you do everything you are required to do. If you need help or feel confused about anything, you can ALWAYS speak to me after class, via e-mail, or if we set up a meeting.

 

If you come to class you come to class. You come prepared to engage and take part in the lecture. You may not read for another class or read the newspaper, etc. If you leave class and don’t return, any assessment handed in that day will be voided.

 

Finally, I am often asked what makes a good student or how to get a good grade in this class. It might sound like semantics but I think students give themselves the grades and I only enter them in. My answer, then, is simple: you must read. You must read everything. And you must also think about everything. As we progress through the semester, think about how one text is both like and not alike previous texts. You’ll start to see and understand a great deal about the works if you follow this simple advice. Once you’ve finished reading a work, spend a couple of minutes at the very least going over this idea. I also believe strongly in taking notes. When you take notes you’re also organizing what is said in class into your own words and your own style. You’ll be able to follow discussions and study more effectively if, in addition to reading the assigned material, you also take notes each day.

 

WORLD LITERATURE II SYLLABUS

 

This is a provisional syllabus and is subject to change with appropriate warning. All page numbers reference The Norton Anthology of World Literature D-F (Page numbers are in parentheses). In addition to assigned readings please read author bios for those readings each day.

 

WEEK	MONTH	DATE	WHAT TO READ / DO
	JANUARY
1	T	1/12	INTRODUCTION
	R	1/14	“Enlightenment in Europe” (294-303) FRANCE JEAN-BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIÈRE: Tartuffe Acts I-II (304-334)
2	T	1/19	FRANCE JEAN-BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIÈRE: Tartuffe Acts III-V (334-361) Last Day to Add or Drop a Class without receiving a “W” grade
	R	1/21	JAPAN “The Rise of Popular Arts in Premodern Japan” (582-587) UEDA AKINARI: “Bewitched” (629-648)
3	T	1/26	“Revolution and Romanticism in Europe and America” (651-661) “Continental Romantic Lyrics: A Selection” We’ll sample from ALL WRITERS (834-862)
	R	1/28	RUSSIA ALEXANDER SERGEYEVICH PUSHKIN: “The Queen of Spades” (863-883)
	FEBRUARY
4	T	2/2	“Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism in Europe” (1070-1083) RUSSIA FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY: Notes From Underground (1301-1306, 1307-1329)
	R	2/4	RUSSIA FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY: Notes From Underground (1329-1351)
5	T	2/9	RUSSIA FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY: Notes From Underground (1351-1379)
	R	2/11	TEST 1 (Multiple-Choice)
6	T	2/16	RUSSIA LEO TOLSTOY: The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1418-1460)
	R	2/18	FRANCE CHARLES BAUDELAIRE: “To the Reader,” “Her Hair,” “A Carcass” (1380-1388) PAUL VERLAINE: “Wooden Horses” (1405-1407, 1409)
7	T	2/23	NORWAY HENRIK IBSEN: Hedda Gabler (1460-1518)
	R	2/25	RUSSIA ANTON CHEKHOV: “The Lady with the Dog” (1519-1523, 1524-1535)
	MARCH
8	T	3/2	“The Modern World: Self and Other in Global Context” (1579-1606) INDIA RABINDRANATH TAGORE: “Punishment” (1671-1674, 1693-1699)
	R	3/4	JAPAN HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: “Child’s Play” (1804-1836)
9	T	3/9	TEST 2 (Multiple-Choice)
	R	3/11	ESSAY 1 (In-Class)
10	T	3/16	SPRING BREAK
	R	3/18	SPRING BREAK
11	T	3/23	ITALY LUIGI PIRANDELLO: Six Characters in Search of an Author (1721-1766)
	R	3/25	POLAND TADEUSZ BOROWSKI: “Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Gas Chamber” (2770-2786)
13	T	3/30	GERMANY FRANZ KAFKA: The Metamorphosis (1996-2030)
	APRIL
	R	4/1	ARGENTINA JORGE LUIS BORGES: “The Garden of Forking Paths” (2411-2421)
14	T	4/6	EGYPT NAGUIB MAHFOUZ: “Zaabalawi” (2527-2538)
	R	4/8	INDIA MAHASWETA DEVI: “Breast-Giver” (2824-2845)
15	T	4/13	COLOMBIA GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ: “Death Constant Beyond Love” (2845-2855)
	R	4/15	NIGERIA CHINUA ACHEBE: Things Fall Apart (PART ONE: 2855-2915)
16	T	4/20	NIGERIA CHINUA ACHEBE: Things Fall Apart (PART TWO: 2915-2931)
	R	4/23	NIGERIA CHINUA ACHEBE: Things Fall Apart (PART THREE: 2932-2948)
17	T	4/27	STUDY WEEK/CONFERENCES
	R	4/29	STUDY WEEK/CONFERENCES
	MAY
18	T	5/4	EXAM WEEK
	R	5/6	EXAM WEEK

 

MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST 3 & ESSAY 2 TIME:

 

EN/WL 208-001: Monday, May 3 2010, 11:30am-2pm.

 

EN/WL 208-002: Monday, May 3 2010, 7:00-9:30pm.

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