Syllabus for ENGL 3413: World Literature Spring 2011
This syllabus is
subject to announced changes. You are responsible for all such changes whether
or not you are present when they are announced.
CLASS DAY, TIME, AND ROOM: Thurs. 7:20-10:00 p.m., BALA 226
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. John Mercer, Professor of English, Department of Languages and Literature, College of Liberal Arts, Northeastern State University
Mailing address: NSU-BA, 3100 E. New Orleans St., Broken Arrow, OK 74014
Office phone: 918-449-6541 NSU-BA switchboard: 918-449-6000
Office: BALA 280 Office hours (all times p.m. unless labeled
otherwise): Mon. 11:30
a.m.-12:50, 4:00-5:00; Wed. 3:00-4:20, 7:20-7:40; Tues. & Thurs. 5:30-7:10, 10:10-10:30
Fax for faculty in BALA: 918-449-6571 (Please include a cover sheet with my name.)
Mail box: Box 4 in BALA 261 (Give items to staff assistant in hallway on 2nd floor of BALA.)
E-mail: mercer@nsuok.edu or mercer25@att.net (NSU e-mail is forwarded to ATT account.)
Instructor’s Web page: arapaho.nsuok.edu/~mercer
Alternative path to instructor’s Web page: www.nsuok.edu > Current Students > Academics > Faculty Web sites > Mercer
PREREQUISITES: None.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: “A survey of masterpieces of European, Asian, South American, African and other literature in English translation.” (Excludes literature written in English.)
COURSE PURPOSE: This course is required for a B.A. in English Education and counts as an advanced English elective for a B.A. in English. The course also counts toward a minor in English, the general-education humanities requirement (for degree plans issued before July 2010), and teacher certification.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of this course you should be able to
(1) Identify basic facts of the historical background of each literary period, author, and work studied.
(2) Identify authors and titles of assigned works by nationality, literary period, genre, reputation, and subject matter.
(3) Identify distinguishing characteristics of each literary period, culture, genre, author, and work studied.
(4) Apply literary terms to the literary works.
(5) Compare and contrast the assigned works, characters, authors, literary periods, genres, and literary terms.
(6) Interpret and analyze the form and content of important passages from the assigned works.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:
(1) Please bring the required textbook to every class meeting: Mack, Maynard, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded ed. in one vol. New York: Norton, 1997.
(2) Please print from the instructor’s Web page at arapaho.nsuok.edu/~mercer and bring to each class meeting the study guide and any other documents that relate to the assignment.
COMPUTER FORMAT AND MANUSCRIPT FORM: Use a computer to produce documents for this class. Carefully follow the guidelines in “Computer Format and Manuscript Form” on the home page of my faculty Web site under “Documents for all classes.”
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES: The background material and questions on the study guides will provide the basis for in-class discussion of the assigned literary works. In class you will also see, hear, and respond to video clips, works of art, maps, and other media that relate to the assigned literary works.
STUDY GUIDES:
A comprehensive study guide for each week’s assignment will be posted on
the class Web page. Please use each
study guide as follows:
(1) As you read each assigned work, read the corresponding part of the study guide, and look for the answers to the questions.
(2) Before you come to class, answer as many of the questions as you can. Copy and paste the text of the study guide into your own document; retain the numbers, letters, and questions from the study guide; and insert your answers in highlighting or color so they will stand out from the questions and explanatory material. At the top of each study guide you submit, report the amount of time you spent answering the questions, not including time spent merely reading the assigned works.
(3) Separately from the rest of the study guide, submit your answer to any study-guide question marked extra credit on which you spent more than ten (10) minutes. For extra credit, always identify your source(s), place all quoted material inside quotation marks, and add a response in your own words, including an explanation of how the extra-credit work is relevant to this class. Do not merely quote or print a source. (On my home page, under “Documents for all classes,” carefully read and follow the instructions in “Extra-Credit Submissions.”)
(4) Bring to class a hard copy of your study guide with your answers inserted.
(5) In class ask about any study guide questions you can’t answer and, if you wish, make handwritten additions to your study guide. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will assume that all handwritten answers have been added in class.
(6) At the end of each class period, submit your study guide. I will assign daily points to your answers and return your study guide to you the following week.
(7) If you are not able to attend class but have a study guide to submit, please leave it at my office the next time you are on campus. Do NOT submit study guides by e-mail.
DAILY AVERAGE: Your daily average will be the percentage of points you earn out of the number possible for the following activities:
(1) QUIZZES: Near the beginning of each class period, after you have had an opportunity to ask questions, you will take a quiz on that day’s assigned reading. To take quizzes, you must be present in class; you cannot make up missed quizzes for any reason. Each quiz will be worth ten (10) points. At my discretion, if a significant number of students are absent because of bad weather, the quiz may count as extra credit.
(2)
STUDY GUIDES: Each week, except when an
exam is scheduled, you are expected to earn a minimum of five (5) points by
answering questions from the weekly class study guide. (Fully answering all questions on a single
study guide could be worth ten [10] or more points.) Additional study-guide points you earn beyond
those required will help compensate for any other daily points you may miss
during the semester.
(3) LATE ATTENDANCE: As an incentive to be present for the entire class period, you will receive five (5) daily points if you are present at the end of the class period at 10 p.m. To receive these points you must sign the late-attendance sheet that will be passed during the last few minutes of the period.
EXTRA-CREDIT DAILY POINTS: You may earn an unlimited number of extra-credit daily points for answering study-guide questions (beyond the five [5] points required per week) and up to twenty-five (25) extra-credit daily points for other activities. Your daily average, however, cannot exceed 100%.
When you submit extra-credit work (including items labeled “extra credit” on the study guides), carefully follow the instructions in the document “Extra-Credit Submissions,” near the top of the home page of my faculty Web site, under “Documents for all classes.” Of the various ways to earn extra credit listed in this document, the following apply to this class:
· ADDITIONAL READING (Reading 200 pages or more, however, counts as “OUTSIDE READING,” which is described later in this syllabus.)
OUTSIDE READING: Outside reading is required for an A in the course but otherwise is optional. Extra points for the outside reading can raise your final course grade approximately one (1) to three (3) percentage points, depending on your other grades. Choose one (1) of the following:
(1) Read at least 200 unassigned pages that you have not previously read from the textbook. Do NOT choose any work originally written in English. (See the list entitled “OUTSIDE READING FROM TEXT” on the class Web page.)
(2) Read an approved work (at least 200 pages but preferably the entire work) that you have not previously read from outside the text. (See the list entitled “OUTSIDE READING NOT IN TEXT” on the class Web page.)
The outside-reading grade will be based on a 15-minute oral exam, which must be taken in my office no later than Thursday, April 14. The criteria for the outside reading grade will include:
EXAMS: You must be present for the three exams, the dates of which are listed below under ASSIGNMENTS. If you cannot take an exam at the scheduled time, you must make other arrangements with me in advance or, in case of emergency, leave a message on my voice mail before the exam. Otherwise, you cannot make up a missed exam and will probably need to drop the course to avoid making an F.
DISABILITIES: If you have a disability and need special accommodations in this class, please tell me no later than the end of the first class meeting you attend. To receive accommodations, you must also document your disability with NSU-BA’s Office of Student Affairs.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT: In this class, academic misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating on quizzes or exams, submitting work that is not your own, failing to identify a source whose exact words or ideas you have used (for example, on a study guide or extra-credit submission), copying a source’s exact words without using quotation marks, or assisting others in these actions. The consequences of academic misconduct are described at http://offices.nsuok.edu/academicaffairs/SyllabiInformation.aspx.
ATTENDANCE: Enrollment in this course obligates you to attend class regularly. Absence from any class period is serious because it causes you to miss an entire week of class work. Absence from more than two (2) class periods is considered excessive, indicating that you are not likely to do well in the class. If you enroll late, you will be counted absent for each period you have missed from the beginning of the semester.
Attendance will be taken from quiz papers. To be marked present, you must submit a quiz paper with your name, the course number, and the date. If you arrive after the quiz or do not attempt to answer any of the questions, submit a quiz paper with these three items so that you will be counted present. If you must leave class immediately after the quiz or before the break, write "ABSENT" in LARGE LETTERS beside your name on the quiz paper (but you will receive any quiz points you earn). If you must leave early or during the break, please tell me.
CLASS CANCELLATION: If all NSU-BA classes are canceled because of bad weather or any other reason, cancellation will be announced on Tulsa area radio and television stations—and usually on the home page of the NSU Web site and the telephone greeting for NSU-BA. If all classes are not canceled, it is my responsibility and intention to hold class. You, however, must make your own decision about whether it is safe for you to drive to class. In the unlikely event that my class is canceled when other NSU-BA classes are meeting, you should be notified through the class calling tree.
ADDITIONAL SYLLABUS INFORMATION ON NSU WEB SITE: Additional syllabus information on the Academic Affairs page of the NSU Web site is to be considered part of this syllabus. Please read carefully the information that appears on the following topics at http://offices.nsuok.edu/academicaffairs/SyllabiInformation.aspx:
· ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT [including plagiarism]
· ADA COMPLIANCE [for students with disabilities]
· INCLEMENT WEATHER/DISASTER POLICY [class cancellation]
· TEACH ACT [copyright protection of instructional materials]
· ACCESSIBILITY [of textbooks]
· RELEASE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION [privacy rights]
WITHDRAWAL FROM CLASS:
· If you drop a class by January 21, you will receive a 100% refund of tuition. If you drop a class after January 21, you will receive no refund.
· If you have never attended the class by the end of the third week of classes, you will be withdrawn from the course for non-attendance and will receive the grade of NA (never attended), which does not affect your grade-point average.
· During the sixth through the tenth weeks of the class, if it would be impossible for you to make a satisfactory grade because you are not attending class, submitting assignments, taking exams, and/or otherwise making a reasonable attempt to be successful in the course, I will have you administratively withdrawn from the course. If you are administratively withdrawn, you will receive a grade of AW (administrative withdrawal), which does not affect your grade-point average.
· If you drop a class by April 7, you will automatically receive a W, which does not affect your grade-point average. To drop a class, you must process an official drop slip. Be sure to keep a copy of your drop slip to prove that you have officially dropped.
· If you drop a class after April 7, you will receive a W if you are passing or an F if you are failing at the time you drop.
· The last day to drop a class is April 29.
ENGLISH EDUCATION PROJECT: If you are an English Education major, be sure to save electronically all the documents you produce in required English classes and internships. You will need these documents later to complete the required English Education Project. For more information, see “English Education” on the Web page of the Department of Languages and Literature on the NSU Web site or contact Ms. Connie Henshaw, NSU’s English Education Specialist (henshacc@nsuok.edu or 918-444-4502).
CHILDREN ON CAMPUS: According to NSU-BA policy, children under age sixteen (16) cannot be left unattended anywhere on the campus, including the library, café, and student lounges. If in an emergency you feel that you need to bring a child to class with you, please ask my permission. The appropriateness of a child’s coming to class depends on the child’s age and behavior and on the content to be covered in class.
CLASSROOM COURTESY: Out of courtesy to your classmates and me, please do NOT
(1) talk when the instructor or another student is addressing the class.
(2) eat in class (unless you bring food to share with the entire class). Drinks with lids or caps, however, are permitted.
(3) bring children or other visitors to class without my prior permission.
(4) allow your cell phone to disrupt class. Please turn off cell phones in class.
(5) repeatedly get up from your seat during class.
(6) use a notebook computer or other electronic device in class for any purpose other than to take notes or to look up information on the Internet to share with the class.
(7) send or read text messages in class.
(8)
leave
class early or during the break without telling me in advance.
STUDENT EVALUATION (COURSE GRADE): Subject to announced changes, the course grade will be figured in one of two ways, depending on whether you choose to do the optional outside reading assignment.
Daily average (including pts. for quizzes, study guides,
late attendance, & extra credit) 100 points 22.2% 100 points 22.2% 100 points 20%
Unit 1 exam 100 points 22.2%
Unit 2 exam 100 points 22.2%
Final exam (unit 3 & comprehensive) 150 points 33.4%
Outside reading [1-3 percentage points added to final course grade]
Total 450 points 100%
A = 90-100% and successful completion of outside reading
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = 0-59%
ASSIGNMENTS: The assignments are subject to announced changes. You are responsible for all such changes whether or not you are present when they are made. If a class meeting is canceled and you receive no instructions to the contrary, you should continue to follow the assignment dates that appear below.
Unit 1: The
Ancient World
January 13
Introduction to course
In-class viewing of beginning of video of Oedipus the King
January
20
Homer, The Odyssey 86-89(m), 94-100, 139-51
Handout (available in hard copy only): “The Theater of Sophocles”
“Aeschylus” [history of Greek drama] 339-40(t)
Sophocles, Oedipus the King 388-433(m)
Extra-credit video: Oedipus the King (Please try to watch this
video in its entirety sometime before the end of this unit.)
Aristotle, Poetics 520(m)-24
January
27
Aristophanes, Lysistrata 89(m)-91(t), 466-99(t)
Plato, The Apology of Socrates 91-92, 499-520(m)
February
3
Virgil, The Aeneid 626-31, 636-41(t), 648-68(t)
Ovid, Metamorphoses 683-99
February
10
Confucius, Analects 528(b)-30(t), 545(m)-55
Chuang Chou, Chuang Tzu 555(b)-65
Bhagavad-Gītā 566-75, 612(m)-24
February
17
First
half of period
Sappho, lyric poems 336(b)-39(t)
Catullus, lyric poems 632-36(t)
Second half of period
Unit 1 exam
Unit 2: Middle Ages through 18th Century
February
24
“Islamic Literature” 860-67
The Koran (Qur’an) 868-74(m), 884(m)-88
Dante, The Divine Comedy 950-55, 1010-36(t)
March
3
The Thousand and One Nights 923-48
Boccaccio, The Decameron 1142-65
March
10
Machiavelli, The Prince 1474-83, 1488-99
Montaigne, Essays 1502-21(m)
March 17: Spring break
March
24
Cervantes, Don Quixote 1523(m)-51(b)
Extra-credit video: Man of La Mancha
Molière, Tartuffe 1888-97, 1898-1900, 1907-56(t)
Extra-credit video: Tartuffe
March
31
First
half of period
Voltaire, Candide 2034(b)-53(t)
Extra-credit audio tapes: Candide
Second half of period
Unit 2 exam
Unit 3: 19th
and 20th Centuries
April
7
Goethe, Faust 2159-98(t), 2202(t-m)
Tolstoy, The Death of Iván Ilyich 2432(m)-76(m)
Extra-credit video: Biography – “Tolstoy” (A&E)
April
14
Last
day to take oral exam on outside reading
Ibsen, Hedda Gabler 2476(m)-2537
Extra-credit videos: Hedda Gabler (2 or 3 different versions on reserve)
Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard 2537(b)-78
Extra-credit video: The Cherry Orchard (2 different versions, one with Judi Dench as Anya, the other with Judi Dench as Lubov)
April
21
The Night Chant 2614-18(t)
Proust, Remembrance of Things Past 2674(b)-2713
Kafka, The Metamorphosis 2746(b)-84(t)
April 28
Last day to submit extra credit and study
guides
Akhmatova, Requiem 2802(m)-2812
Extra-credit video: The Story of Anna Akhmatova
Mahfouz, “Zaabalawi” 2881(m)-93
Kojima, “The American School” 2893(b)-2919(m)
May 5
Final exam (unit 3 &
comprehensive)