Syllabus
Jul 17th, 2008 by louisegeddes
English 2800 – DG24A The Myth of the Golden Age in World Literature
https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/2800goldenage
Tues/Thurs 8.40 – 10.20am Room: VC 6180
Prof. Louise Geddes [email protected]
Office: VC7290S Office hours: Wednesday 9.15 – 11.00am
Course Objectives
English 2800 will introduce you to a selection of literature covering the major genres and covering a diverse selection of common literary themes. You will consider language, details and style in order to develop your analytical and academic writing skills. Using close readings, discussion and various writing techniques, you will study the interaction of form and content within a multicultural context. This is a communications intensive course; you will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and presentations, write informal and formal essays, and respond to your classmates’ writing. In this course, you will develop the following skills:
- Increased ability to interpret meaning in literary texts by paying close attention to an author’s choices of detail, vocabulary, and style.
- Ability to discuss the relationship between different genres of literary texts and the multicultural environments from which they spring.
- Increased confidence in offering a critical evaluation and appreciation of a literary work’s strengths and limitations.
- Increased confidence in the oral presentation of ideas.
- Increased ability to write a critical essay employing a strong thesis statement, appropriate textual citations, and contextual and intertextual evidence for their ideas.
Required Texts
Lawall, Sarah. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volumes A, B and C. New York: Norton, 2002.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Washington, DC: Folger, 2004.
Course Requirements
Attendance: Absences are excused for compelling reasons: illness (with a doctor’s note); observance of a religious holiday; or a serious personal crisis. According to department policy, more than four unexcused absences will result in your being dropped from the course. Three or more unexcused absences will negatively affect your final grade, as will chronic lateness. You are responsible for handing in, on time, any work assigned or due during your absence.
Participation: To foster an intellectual community in class, English 2800 is structured as a seminar. In order to be effective as a seminar participant, you need to complete reading and writing assignments on the designated dates and come to class prepared to offer insightful comments. This is not a lecture course: regular attendance and active class participation are required and absolutely crucial to your success in this class. Poor attendance and participation, which includes not being prepared for class, will lower your final course grade (i.e. a B- will become a C+). Conversely, final course grades that are borderline will be rounded up for exemplary attendance and participation.
Blogging: The coursework for 2800 will be rooted in blogging. In lieu of a midterm and a final paper, the students will create an online journal, which will entail completing short, weekly assignments, and using the blog to interact with others within the course. Blog assignments will range from finding relevant items online and small items of creative writing, to formal assignments with peer review and revision. The aim of the blog is to develop an ongoing writing process that will allow you to document your critical responses to the pieces we read, and explore the variety of approaches that one can take to a literary text.
Grading: Your course grade will be calculated according to the following breakdown:
- Blog: 60%
- Class participation: 20%
- In-class presentation: 10%
- Quizzes: 10%
Please note that I will offer one extra-credit assignment over Thanksgiving break.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as copying another’s writing and passing it as your own. This covers copying from websites, or other sources, and includes paraphrasing indirectly somebody else’s work.Students are expected to be familiar with the accepted academic principles regarding plagiarism. Any student caught plagiarizing will receive an automatic “F” for the course.
Cell phones or Food: Please silence your cell phone when you come to class. Under no condition is a student to leave the classroom to answer a cell phone. Please be considerate to those seated around you – food is not to be eaten during class.
Schedule and Due Dates
Week One
8/28 Introduction
Week Two
9/2 Creation myths – Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue*
Ovid’s Metamorphoses*
9/4 Anonymous – The Epic of Gilgamesh pp. 1 – 24 (parts 1-3)
Week Three
9/9 Anonymous – The Epic of Gilgamesh pp 24 – 41 (parts 4 – 7)
9/11 Homer – The Odyssey. Introduction, Books One, Five
Week Four
9/16 Homer – The Odyssey. Books Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.
9/18 Homer – The Odyssey. Books Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-one and Twenty-two
Week Five
9/23 Euripides – Medea
9/25 Euripides – Medea
Week Six
9/30 No class
10/2 Ovid – Metamorphoses
Week Seven
10/7 The Hebrew Bible – “Genesis”
“The Song of Songs”
10/9 No class
Week Eight
10/14 No Class – please not that a Monday schedule is in effect
10/16 The New Testament
The Koran
Week Nine
10/21 Anonymous – The Thousand and One Nights
10/23 Geoffrey Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue
Week Ten
10/28 Geoffrey Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales. The Miller’s Prologue and Tale
10/30 Medieval Poetry – “The Wanderer”*
“The Land of Cokayne”*
“Spring Song”
“Summer”
Week Eleven
11/4 Erasmus – In Praise of Folly
11/6 Niccolò Machiavelli – The Prince
Week Twelve
11/11 William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
11/13 William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Week Thirteen
11/18 William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
11/20 John Milton – Paradise Lost. Book One
Week Fourteen
11/25 John Milton – Paradise Lost. Book Four
11/27 No class
Week Fifteen
12/2 John Milton – Paradise Lost. Book Four
12/4 John Milton- Paradise Lost. Book Nine
Week Sixteen
12/9 Andrew Marvell – “The Garden”*
“To His Coy Mistress”*
12/11 Miguel Cervantes – Don Quixote
Week Seventeen
12/16 Miguel Cervantes – Don Quixote
* starred items are NOT available in the Norton Anthology and will be given as a handout.