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Great Works of Literature II

17th Century to the Present

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Syllabus

Aug 15th, 2010 by EKaufman

BARUCH COLLEGE, FALL 2010

ENGLISH 2850

Great Works of Literature II

Section DG24A

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:40AM to 10:20AM

Location:  VC4211

Professor E. Kaufman

Office Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 1:00PM to 2:00PM or by appointment

Office Location: VC 7-290K

Required texts:

Lawall, et al.  The Expanded Edition of The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Package II,

volumes D,E,F.

Berggren, et al.  Contexts and Comparisons:  A Student Guide to the Great Works Courses (C&C)

(available online on a Baruch computer in the Digital Collections of the Newman Library; outside of the college, a text-only version is available.  You can print text from the computer screen for your convenience).

Additional handouts to be provided by me.

Learning Goals:

  • 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 your ideas

Attendance Policy:

Departmental policy states that after four absences a student is to be dropped from the class roster. If you do need to miss a class, please let me know in advance.

I also do not tolerate lateness.  If you are more than ten minutes late for a class, you will receive half an absence (two latenesses is equal to one absence).  Sleeping in class will also count as an absence.

Notes on Preparation for Class:

All reading and writing assignments are to be completed on time.  Be sure to get the phone numbers/ email addresses of at least two of your classmates; then; if you must be absent, you can call or email someone and get the assignment.  You may also, of course, email me.  For the next session you are responsible for all work and must always come to class prepared.

All reading assignments must be BROUGHT TO CLASS as they will be referred to for discussion.

You are expected to be active participants in all class discussions and activities.

Cell phones must be turned off when you enter the classroom.

Course Requirements:

  1. One 3-5 page paper on readings to be assigned by me. (FIRST ESSAY)
  2. One 5-7 page paper on readings to be assigned by me. (SECOND ESSAY)
  3. Mid-Term Examination
  4. Final Examination
  5. Each paper is to be typed and double-spaced, and done in multiple drafts. Each paper will present an argument, have a strong thesis, and use correct internal documentation.  The due dates for each of your papers will be stipulated on each of your assignment sheets when you receive them.
  6. Oral Presentation (and rehearsal).
  7. Additional Writing: in-class writing exercises, responses to your own work, peer evaluations and group work.
  8. Active participation in all class activities, including the class blog (both posting and commenting).
  9. Regular attendance and preparation for class.

Activities as a Communication-Intensive Class:

  1. Blogs@Baruch:

A lot of the writing and conversations that occur in this class, will continue outside of class on our course blog:

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/greatworks2

Please register and add yourself as an author no later than Thursday, September 2. I will provide you with a handout explaining exactly how to do this.

  1. Reading Responses: Each student will be assigned readings for which the student is responsible for posting a short response on our blog and moderating the subsequent online discussion. All posts must be at least 250 words. Please be sure that these responses do not just summarize that particular text. You should analyze the reading (perhaps focusing on theme(s) in the text), use quotes to support your ideas, compare the text to other works we’ve read this semester, illustrate your post with images and video (and any other appropriate multimedia materials). Think of these responses as a chance to voice your opinion about what we are reading, and to engage your colleagues in a discussion that will help to expand your own ideas.
  2. In-Class Writing: Occasional assignments and workshops to discuss writing techniques and strategies.
  3. Group Presentations: Each student will teach some aspect of an assigned topic to the class in a group format.  This may involve dramatic readings, critical commentary, and the presentation of online materials.
  4. Formal Writing: Each of you will write two comparison/contrast papers during the semester.  To receive full credit, these papers must be revised (not just corrected) after we have had private, face-to-face conferences.
  5. Self-Critique: Don’t throw any of your papers out. At the end of the semester, you will submit a final 2-page reflection on your progress this semester, based on your success in revising (not just correcting) your papers, on your oral presentation (and rehearsal), and on your blog participation.

Evaluation & Grading Policy:

First Essay  (10%)

Second Essay (20%)

Oral Presentation (10%)

Mid-Term Examination (20%)

Final Examination (20%)

Participation and Preparation for class (20%)

(includes attendance, quizzes, blog posts/comments, quality of responses, etc.)

Academic Honesty:

The English Department fully supports Baruch College’s policy on Academic Honesty, which states, in part:

“Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college’s educational mission and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.”  In this class, any evidence of plagiarism, however minute it may be, will earn you an F grade on the work in question and will result in your being formally reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Student Resources:

Writing Center—646.312.4012

Student Academic Consulting Center (SACC)—646.312.4830

Tentative SCHEDULE OF READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS

Read selections for the day they appear on the syllabus; always bring your book to class.

Week One

Thursday, August 25

Course Introduction, Review of Syllabus

Readings to Discuss: Creation stories; defining the Tripitaka; The Heart Sutra

Writing Diagnostic

Week Two

Tuesday, August 31

Readings to Discuss: from Monkey (pages 8-41)

Thursday, September 2

Readings to Discuss:  from Monkey (pages 42-71)

Week Three

Tuesday, September 7

Readings to Discuss:  Swift, “A Modest Proposal” (pages 483-489)

Pope, “An Essay On Man: Epistle I” (pages 510-517)

Thursday, September 9 NO CLASS

Week Four

Tuesday, September 14 NO CLASS (Classes follow a Friday schedule)

Thursday, September 16

Readings to Discuss:  Voltaire, Candide (pages 520-580)

Week Five

Tuesday, September 21

Readings to Discuss: Akinari, “Bewitched” (pages 632-648)

Thursday, September 23

Readings to Discuss: Rousseau, from Confessions (pages 662-678)

Week Six

Tuesday, September 28

Readings to Discuss:  Wordsworth, “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” (pages 792-795)

Wordsworth, “The World is Too Much With Us” (pages 800-801)

Thursday, September 30

Readings to Discuss:  Shelley, “A Defence of Poetry” (pages 823-825)

Keats, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” (page 827)

Hölderlin, all selections (pages 836-838)

First Essay Due

Week Seven

Tuesday, October 5

Readings to Discuss:  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pages 920-949)

Thursday, October 7

Readings to Discuss: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (pages 949-980)

Week Eight

Tuesday, October 12

Readings to Discuss: Whitman, from Song of Myself (pages 980-987)

Thursday, October 14

Readings to Discuss: Melville, “Bartelby, the Scrivener” (handout)

Week Nine

Tuesday, October 19 MID-TERM EXAMINATION

Thursday, October 21

Readings to Discuss:  Baudelaire, from Paris Spleen (pages 1395-1398)

Chekhov, “The Lady with the Dog” (pages 1524-1535)

Week Ten

Tuesday, October 26

Readings to Discuss: Ibsen, Heda Gabler (pages 1460-1498)

Thursday, October 28

Readings to Discuss:  Ibsen, Heda Gabler (pages 1498-1518)

Week Eleven

Tuesday, November 2

Readings to Discuss: Tagore, “Punishment” (pages 1693-1699)

Premchand, “The Road to Salvation” (pages 1907-1916)

Thursday, November 4

Readings to Discuss: Rilke, “The Panther” (page 1895)

Stevens, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” (page 1905)

Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman” (pages 1917-1929)

Oral Presentation (Part 1)

Week Twelve

Tuesday, November 9

Readings to Discuss: Kafka, The Metamorphosis (pages 1996-2030)

Oral Presentation (Part 2)

Thursday, November 11

Readings to Discuss: Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (pages 2071-2079)

Akhmatova, “Requiem” (pages 2098-2108)

Oral Presentation (Part 3)

Week Thirteen

Tuesday, November 16

Readings to Discuss: Neruda, “Tonight I can Write…” and “Walking Around” (pages 2442-2444)

Diop, “The Bone” and “Mother Crocodile” (pages 2487-2501)

Oral Presentation (Part 4)

Thursday, November 18

Readings to Discuss: Mahfouz, “Zaabalawi” (pages 2527-2538)

Week Fourteen

Tuesday, November 23

Readings to Discuss: Camus, “The Guest” (pages 2570-2582)

Rough Draft, Essay #2 Due (5-7 pages, bring 3 copies to class)

Thursday, November 25 NO CLASS—HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Week Fifteen

Tuesday, November 30

Readings to Discuss: Nobuo, “The American School” (pages 2583-2606)

Thursday, December 2

Readings to Discuss: Borowski, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Gas Chamber (pages 2770-2786)

Second Essay Due

Week Sixteen

Tuesday, December 7

Readings to Discuss: Garcia Márquez, “Death Constant Beyond Love” (pages 2845-2855)

El Saadawi, “In Camera” (pages 2997-3008)

Thursday, December 9

Readings to Discuss: Poetry Packet (handout)

Tuesday, December 16 FINAL EXAMINATION (8AM to 10AM)

Good Luck!

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