ON-LINE World Literature 271

 

 

MANDATORY PREREQUISITES

 

 

Please read the following list carefully.  If your answer is “no” to any of these nine “musts,” please find an alternative course immediately.

 

1. You must have solid, college-level reading skills. This is an absolute requirement to be successful in this course.  Below are excerpts from The Iliad, Don Quixote, and Hamlet.  If you struggle even a bit reading these excerpts, your reading skills likely will not be sufficient for this course.

 

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.

Idling reader, you may believe me when I tell you that I should have liked this book, which is the child of my brain, to be the fairest, the sprightliest, and the cleverest that could be imagined; but I have not been able to contravene the law of nature which would have it that like begets like.

 

Alexander died, Alexander was buried,
Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of
earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he
was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter flaw!
But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king.

 

 

  1. You must have successfully completed English 101.

 

  1. You must be willing and able to devote an average of at least 10 hours per week to the course.

 

  1. You must have a trustworthy Internet connection and general experience using the Internet.

 

  1. You must have access to Microsoft WORD (not Works).

 

  1. You must be able to understand and follow written directions.

 

  1. You must regularly check your course grade.

 

  1. You must have a willingness (an eagerness) to share your thoughts with others.

 

  1. You must have the required text in hand by the beginning of the second week.

 

 

If your answer was “yes” to ALL of the above requirements, please continue to the course syllabus.