Masterpieces of World Literature 271

Both a "D" and a "W" Course

 

 

Winter 2012 Syllabus             

 

Instructor:         Jim Roth                                             Office Number: 211T

School e-mail:  jroth@scc.spokane.edu                                   Office Phone:    533-7058

School website: ol.scc.spokane.edu/jroth

 

Required Text: The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Eighth Edition, Volume 1, by Lawall and others (An older edition should work as well.)

 

Other:  Access to the Internet                                                                                              

 

A Caution concerning World Masterpieces 271

 

This literature course offers different views on potentially controversial subjects, most particularly religion.  The authors we will read held as fervently to their “truths” as we do to ours. If you are devoted to your “truth” in such a way that hearing or reading ideas that seemingly challenge it might offend you or distress you, I suggest you drop this course immediately.

 

OVERVIEW

 

Catalog Description:  This course explores the fundamental works of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and European civilizations from the dawn of literacy to the Renaissance.  Representative works include the Bible, Homer, Sophocles, the Koran, Dante, and Shakespeare.  Prerequisite:  Sophomore standing and/or English 101.

 

Requirements:  When you glance through the text, you will immediately see that the material will require advanced reading skills and a good amount of time to prepare for each class.  Please assess your reading level immediately and find an alternative course at once if you feel your reading skills are not advanced enough.  Please remember that all students will be responsible for a close reading of all assignments.

 

Class time will include both small-group and general discussion.  Please remember that this is not a lecture course, and so, to profit, always read assignments in advance and come to class willing to discuss them; please do not attend if your intention is only to have other class members or me tell you what we think the assignments mean.  Expect an occasional pop quiz to encourage participation and reward those who complete assignments on time.

The Course website < http://ol.scc.spokane.edu/jroth > is packed with items of interest.  These include all course handouts, an updated calendar, links to sites that we visit in class, as well as others that offer additional study/enrichment opportunities.  In addition, the website provides a link for you to check your grades in the course.  Please visit it often.  Your feedback will be welcomed and occasionally rewarded.  I update our course calendar daily and use it to plan and announce assignments and activities.  Please check the calendar regularly for changes in due dates, activities, and the next few days’ reading assignments.

 

EXPERIENCES (EXAMS) (100 points each--three during the term)

There will be three of these, roughly dividing the course into thirds.  All questions will be short essay or objective.  Each experience is worth up to 100 points and cannot be taken late unless you make arrangements in advance.  Because this course provides a "W" credit, your success on these experiences (exams) will depend upon your use of written English as well as upon your mastery of course content.  

THE COURSE JOURNAL (please see the attachment to this syllabus)

 FORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS (MLA format) (20 points each--seven to eight during the term.)

Occasionally, prior to a discussion class, I will ask you to write a one to two-page formal reaction to the reading or readings that we will be discussing in class that day.  To be accepted, your paper mush follow MLA format.  Papers that do not follow MLA format will be returned ungraded.  In addition, please be sure to put the name of the selection at the top of the page.  Be ready to share your reaction and turn it in at the beginning of the class.  

These writing assignments are due at the beginning of class and will not be accepted later during the class that day for any reason.  This is because they only have value if they are written before the discussion and the writer then participates in the discussion.

The keys to success are the following:

·         Read the assignment carefully and answer the specific question the assignment poses.

·         Always have your assignment written before class.  I will be calling on each of you to share your entries throughout the quarter.

·         Be honest.  Write what you really feel, not what you think you are supposed to say.

·         Show respect for the English language—use it correctly.  Because this course provides a "W" credit, the points you earn on these assignments will in part be determined by your use of written English.

 

PORTFOLIO FOLDER

 Please keep all returned assignments in your portfolio folder.  Being able to produce a returned, graded assignment is the ONLY WAY to verify that you have completed the assignment if my records indicate otherwise.

 

FIRST  THREE DAYS ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT

 

In order to be eligible to receive a course grade of .7 or higher, a student must have attended regularly the first three days of the quarter or have made arrangements with the instructor in advance.

 

 ATTENDANCE POLICY

I do not take attendance because I believe that at the college level, attendance is the student’s responsibility.  Unlike earlier, required school participation, enrolling in college is a choice you freely make; in addition, it is a privilege, not a requirement.  Therefore, it is up to you whether you will take advantage of it or not.  However, a student who misses too many classes may become ineligible to pass the course because excessive absence brings into question whether the student attempted the course at all.

    

CLASSROOM CONDUCT and BEHAVIOR

 

No student has the right to interfere with another student’s opportunity to learn.  To this end, I expect all of my students to act like responsible, socially-skilled adults or they will be asked to leave the class and/or drop the course.  In addition, please turn off all electronics including cell phones and I-pods.  Since attendance is optional, if you would rather be calling, texting, chatting or listening to music during class time, please do it elsewhere.   Please see the S.C.C. Student Code of Conduct for more information.

  

MAKING UP LATE ASSIGNMENTS

There are no make-ups unless you make arrangements in advance.  However, to allow for the unexpected, you may make up one formal writing assignment or one web assignment without penalty as long as you make it up within one calendar week of its due date.  These make-up guidelines do NOT apply to the three major exams or to the occasional pop quizzes. 

EYou must attach your da Vinci Late Assignment Submission Form to your late assignment in order for it to be accepted.  Please remember that once you have used this one late assignment option, I will accept no more late assignments from you no matter the reason unless you made earlier, prior arrangements to submit the assignment late.  No excuses and no exceptions, so please don’t ask.

 

CHECKING YOUR GRADES

 

I keep all of your grades on ANGEL.  Please check them regularly and let me know of any discrepancies.

 

YOUR FINAL GRADE:

S.C.C. uses the decimal grading system.  I will first convert your grade to percentage by dividing you total points by the total points possible.  I will then convert your percentage grade to a decimal grade using the chart below.  The decimal value will appear on your grade sheet and transcript.

 

Grade Scale—All Classes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

% to

Decimal

 

Letter

% to

Decimal

 

Letter

% to

Decimal

 

Letter

% to

Decimal

 

Letter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100--4.0

A

89--3.4

B+

79--2.9

C+

69--1.9

D+

99--4.0

A

88--3.4

B+

78--2.8

C+

68--1.8

D+

98--4.0

A

87--3.3

B+

77--2.7

C

67--1.7

D

97--4.0

A

86--3.3

B

76--2.6

C

66--1.6

D

96--3.9

A

85--3.2

B

75--2.5

C

65--1.5

D

95--3.8

A

84--3.2

B

74--2.4

C

64--1.4

D

94--3.7

A

83--3.1

B

73--2.3

C

63--1.3

D

93--3.7

A-

82--3.1

B

72--2.2

C

62--1.2

D

92--3.6

A-

81--3.0

B-

71--2.1

C-

61--1.1

D-

91--3.6

A-

80--3.0

B-

70--2.0

C-

60--1.0

D-

90--3.5

A-

 

 

 

 

0.7--less

F

 

COURSE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

World Literature 271 is a ‘W’ course because one of its goals is to help you improve your writing.  Regardless of what writing instruction I can give you, the best way to improve your writing is to write and write often. Simply writing lots of words, sentences, and paragraphs can lead to surprising improvement in your writing--the more words, the better. The magic is that the words you write don’t have to be read by anyone else to help your writing skills improve. 

To understand how this works, compare writing a great number of words to practicing the piano between piano lessons. The piano teacher does not have to listen to each practice session in order for the student to improve; in the same way, someone else (an instructor) does not have to read the words written for the writer to improve.  But in each case the student will improve in proportion to the practice time that he or she invests.

Therefore, dedicating yourself to this assignment can do more to improve your writing than anything I or any book can do. 

 

THE COURSE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

The goal of a Course Journal entry is to consider the literary work in question and write as many sentences and paragraphs as possible within the time limit.  Your journal response might include your general reaction to the literary work, questions you have about it, your reaction to class discussions, or reflections on your earlier thinking after having the benefit of class discussion and additional time to reflect on the piece of literature. 

Writing a journal entry requires a special time set aside to write original sentences and paragraphs about the readings we’ll be covering.  Plan on about fifteen to twenty minutes per journal entry, with about two to three entries per week.

     To make a journal entry, first read the selection in question and then write an honest reaction to it.  What did or didn’t you understand?  What did you agree or disagree with?  What questions would you ask the author, given the opportunity? What inferences can you draw about the culture in which the selection was written? Did you enjoy the selection?  Why or why not?  Go deeper than deciding whether a selection appealed to you or not.  What’s important is WHY you found it appealing or unappealing.  Responding to this second-level question can refine your thinking, your knowledge of yourself, and your values.

One key to being successful is to let the words flow quickly.  Disregard spelling and punctuation; just be sure you can make out what you have written at a later time because I may ask you to share a general sense of a journal entry or you may want to return to an entry to revise it.

Also please keep in mind that since I will not read in detail any of your entries, you can be absolutely honest with yourself.  No one but you will read the content of your journal entries without your permission.  It’s best to view your journal entries as conversations with yourself, the author, and the selection.

SPECIFICS

You need not worry about correcting spelling/readability/sentencing errors nor be concerned that someone else will read what you have written. Just be sure you can make out what you’ve written.

 

Ø  A minimum of fifteen minutes minimum per journal assignment.  (Please see the tentative list of journal assignments below).

 

Ø  Please be sure to accurately number and date each journal entry.

 

Ø  Keep all pages together in a notebook or on a USB thumb drive—I will ask you to show me your journal in progress at various times throughout the quarter.

 

Ø  Please bring journal writing materials with you to each class.  Occasionally, we’ll write a journal entry together.

 

Ø  As you write a journal entry, please remember the goal is to produce a large quantity of words within the time limit.  Since I will not read the content of your entries, poor spelling and punctuation will not be a factor in your journal grade; only the number of words will.

 

Ø  At first, expect to sit with pen in hand waiting for the ideas to come.  If you are patient, in time your mind will begin to generate content that your pen can record.  A fifteen to twenty minute writing session can yield from half a page to several pages of writing depending upon your mood and perseverance.

 

Ø  Note: Your journal must demonstrate that you have read the readings, attended the discussions, and made an honest attempt to meet the requirements of this assignment.  Journals that appear "fabricated" at the last minute will not be accepted.

 

Ø  No one but you will read the actual sentences you write—only the quantity you write will be checked.

 

Literature Journal Entries (Tentative)

 

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh—2 journal entries
  • The Hebrew Bible—2 journal entries
  • The Iliad—2 journal entries
  • The Odyssey—2 journal entries
  • Literature of India—1 journal entry
  • The Christian Bible—2 journal entries
  • Life in the Middle Ages—1 journal entry
  • Beowulf—1 journal entry
  • Dante’s the Inferno—3 journal entries
  • The Thousand and One Nights—1 journal entry
  • Don Quixote—2 journal entries
  • Hamlet—3 journal entries
  • Paradise Lost—1 journal entry
  • Open Journal entries 2-4
  • Total—23 designated ___ open

 

You can use the following questions as journal prompts:

 

What was your initial reaction to the selection?

What did or didn’t you understand? 

What did you agree or disagree with?  Why?

What questions would you ask the author, given the opportunity?

What inferences can you draw about the culture in which the selection was written?

Did you enjoy the selection?  Why or why not?

Where do you think the story will go next?  Where would you take it if you were the author?

What theme does the selection suggest?  In other words, what does the selection suggest about the nature of life and experience? Try to state this in a sentence.

Does the selection respond to any of our beginning questions?

How does the world work?
Who or what is in charge of it?
What is the nature of that "Who"?
What is our relationship to that "Who"?
What does that mean for us as humans?

In-depth responses can refine your thinking, your knowledge of yourself, and your values.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Literature 271/J. Roth

Reading Skills Assessment Exercise

Directions: Please read this excerpt from our text and then take the six-question quiz that follows:

            The stories told in the Homeric poems are set in the age of the Trojan War, which archaeologists (those, that is, who believe that it happened at all) date to the twelfth century B.C.E. Though the poems do preserve some faded memories of the Mycenaean Age, as we have them they probably are the creation of later centuries, the tenth to the eighth B.C.E.-the so-called Dark Age that succeeded the collapse (or destruction) of Mycenaean civilization. This was the time of the final settlement of the Greek peoples, an age of invasion perhaps and migration certainly, which saw the foundation and growth of many small independent cities. The geography of Greece-a land of mountain barriers and scattered islands-encouraged this fragmentation. The Greek cities never lost sight of their common Hellenic heritage, but it was not enough to unite them except in the face of unmistakable and overwhelming danger, and even then they came together only partially and for a short time. They differed from each other in custom, political constitution, and even dialect: their relations with each other were those of rivals and fierce competitors.

These cities, constantly at war in the pursuit of more productive land for growing populations, were dominated from the late eighth century B.C.E. by aristocratic oli­garchies, which maintained a stranglehold on the land and the economy of which it was the base. At the same time, cultural horizons were expanding. In the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. Greeks (perhaps including the landless) founded new cities (always near the sea and generally owing little or no allegiance to the home base) all over the Mediterranean coast . . . . Many of these new outposts of Greek civilization experienced a faster economic and cultural development than the older cities of the mainland (4-5).

 

Lawall, Sarah, and , ed. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Volume 1. 8th ed.

 

New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2006.

 

 

 

 

Comprehension Quiz:  Please circle the best answer in each of the following:

 

1. According to this article, the Trojan War is believed to have occurred approximately how many years ago?

 

  1. 1200 years ago

 

  1. 3300 years ago

 

  1. 800 years ago

 

2. According to this article, the poems likely were created

 

  1. After the Mycenaean Age

 

  1. Before the Mycenaean Age

 

  1. During the Mycenaean Age

 

3. According to this article, which of the following contributed to the breaking apart of a single Greek culture?

 

  1. years of inclement weather and torrential rains—hence, the Dark Age

 

  1. Nomadic invaders from western Asia

 

  1. The geography of the land which they inhabited

 

4. According to the article, one event likely to unify the otherwise independent Greek cities was

 

  1. A call from the chief priest to rededicate oneself to the gods.

 

  1. An unusually high death rate among the infant population.

 

  1. An easy-to-see and serious threat to their collective welfare.

 

5. The context in which the phrase aristocratic oli­garchies occurs in paragraph 2 suggests that aristocratic oli­garchies

 

  1. are combinations of various cultures

 

  1. are brutal and unsuccessful without a religious component

 

  1. are able to hold control of a people

 

6. The article suggests that

 

  1. Life was difficult in the outposts

 

  1. Outposts held a strong attachment to their counterparts on the mainland

 

  1. Often outposts flourished