English 2850 Spring 2024 Great Works of World Literature II

Please respond to one of the following questions about Tartuffe.  Share your response as a comment on this post, rather than creating a new post.  You should also feel free to respond to your classmates’ comments.

— Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?

— Discuss the role of Dorine, Mariane’s lady maid. What kind of servant is she? What role does she play in the action of the drama?

— How is the institution of marriage treated in Tartuffe? What are some of the models or ideals of marriage that are raised by Moliere or his characters?

— Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?

— Can you think of a contemporary example of the kind of religious hypocrisy exemplified in Tartuffe?

— Describe one aspect of the play that seems very modern to you and one that seems very dated or old-fashioned.

Hello everyone! My name is Lames Ali, and this is my first semester at Baruch College. I just came from BMCC with an associate degree in Psych and will continue that here. Most people won’t agree with me, but I enjoy learning and being in a setting where there is conversation flowing and at the end, I can talk about whatever topic we were discussing with confidence. I believe being in higher academic education is a privilege and takes massive dedication and discipline which I hope one day to achieve.

One of my favorite things to do is try out new cafes with my friends around the city which just increases my love for iced coffee. I also enjoy baking and cooking and trying out new recipes for my family to enjoy. Just the other day I made the In-In Out dutchman burger and when I tell you it was to die for! Something about you making something for someone and seeing their face light up because of you.

Another thing I enjoy doing that actually relates to this class is reading. My love for reading started out in Elementary school when I when I was learning English and when I was able to read a whole book by myself, I felt proud of myself. Enjoying reading grew more in middle school when my English teacher would make the whole class read for a whole hour any book they wanted, and we had our own library in class.

With this class being a literature class, I already know that the stories are going to be impactful and contain drama and history. So, I can’t wait to continue this class with you all.

Whats going on everyone? My name is Adrian Garcia. I am a transfer student from Valencia College in Orlando, FL, but I’ve lived in Brooklyn for about eight years now. I am a CIS/Cybersecurity major here at Baruch, and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after taking about a decade and some change off from school. 

In the decade I have been away from school I have had plenty of different jobs, but they have always been in some kind of retail sales. I have worked selling everything from furniture to designer shoes, and currently I am a freelance market trainer and sales specialist in the beauty industry. Aside from specializing in sales I have also dabbled as a make-up artist since my move to New York in 2016.  

It may seem like an odd departure from beauty and sales to major in CIS, but during height of the pandemic during lockdown, like many others, I became unemployed. One of the biggest lessons i learned during this time was that my line of work has little to no stability. Thankfully during the lockdown, I was able to participate in a cybersecurity bootcamp located in the Bronx called Perscholas which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping the black and brown community enter the tech industry. During an intensive fifteen week bootcamp I, along with my cohort, learned and got hands on education in the cybersecurity realm. After fifteen weeks we all were afforded the chance to take an exam to obtain an official CYSA+ certification to further our tech careers. I am grateful that I was awarded the chance to participate in this program, as it jump started my journey to get back into school and taught me that I am still able to learn and apply new teachings.  

I hope to soak in as much as possible as I continue my journey in education, and I am excited to meet new people. I wish the best for all of us that are in this class together and may we all help each other. Lets get it!  

Hello everyone in the class, my name is Mitchell Villeta. I’m a junior here at Baruch who just transferred this semester from BMCC. Unfortunately, I have Covid this first week, so I won’t be able to join you in class until next week. I do look forward to seeing everyone though, hopefully I am not too late to join any group chats that may have been started. I am a Marketing major with an associate degree in business administration. I’m originally from Central Florida and I moved up to New York right after high school. Living in the big city was too good to pass up! I love ice skating, playing video games (I will win in Mario Kart), and grabbing a drink/good food with friends. Travel is a must have for me, and much of this year will be spent away from New York (after I just said living here was important, I know). My other favorite cities are Boston, Los Angeles, and Paris. For anyone interested, Paris is 75% cheaper to live in than New York. Their Croissants are like a dollar- they’re like 5 dollars here! (While also having a minimum wage not far off from ours). I also enjoy rock music, going to the movies, and wine tastings- my favorite food is poke/burgers (I can never pick), and my favorite show is definitely “The Boys” from Amazon. One weird thing about me is that I do not like coffee. I actually do not drink any kind of caffeine (despite being a barista for quite some time. Hot chocolates were my jam). However, coffee flavored ice cream is my favorite ice cream flavor. It is a bit strange. This English class is my first since early in my time at BMCC, and I am excited for it. Different perspectives that are seen through everything we read is important and can help in our understanding of other people in real life as well. I am hoping the best for my first semester at Baruch, and the same for everyone else in the class. Looking forward to reading everyone else’s introductions as well.

Please respond to one of the following questions by commenting on this post.  You may also feel free to respond to comments posted by your classmates!

-What’s the connection between the broad historical material about the Ming Dynasty that begins the story and the narrative about Du Tenth and Li Jia’s relationship that follows?

-What kind of person is Li Jia?  Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise?  Why or why not?

-How are courtesans represented in the story?  Why do you think Feng Menglong chooses to depict them this way?

-Money plays a central role in the story.  What does “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seem to be saying about the relationship between money and love?

-Feng Menglong was interested in using literature to teach morality.  What lesson is being imparted by this text

Hello! Welcome to English 2850, Great Works of World Literature II. If you are reading this, you have successfully found your way to our course blog. Please bookmark this site. This is where you can find information about the course, copies of all assignments, weekly prompts to accompany our readings, and important announcements.

*****Acquiring the books for the course should be at the top of your “To Do” List. The required textbook for our course is The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Martin Puchner, Ed.,  Third Edition,  Volumes D, E, F.   These three volumes are sold together as a package.  It is crucial that you buy or rent the Third Edition – which is not the most recent one available.  It is much cheaper than the fourth edition, available both new and used,  and contains the readings that you will need for our course.  Please get the books as soon as possible.  You will have reading assignments in the Norton Anthology every week, and you will need to have the text with you in class.

*****Your first assignment is simple.  Create a post on the blog in which you introduce yourself to the class.  It’s up to you what you choose to share in this post, but your introduction should be approximately 350-500 words.  Together with this brief introduction, please take a minute to upload a photograph of yourself to your blogs@baruch account.  This way, your face will replace the default bearcat avatar! Please share your introduction by Friday, February 2nd.

I am really looking forward to meeting you and to beginning our work together! If you have any questions or concerns about the course, please reach out to me at [email protected].

See you in class!

Professor Sylvor