Texts

The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, 7th edition, Volume II, Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack, eds. (New York, London: W. W. Norton, 1999).

Course Description

In this course we will explore the Western literary tradition through reading and discussing some of the major works of European and American literature from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. We will also pay attention to the political and cultural contexts of these works.

Course Objectives

By taking this course you will:
• become acquainted with the literature of Western culture from the Enlightenment to the present and its historical contexts
• develop your skills for close reading of literary texts and for textual analysis
• sharpen your critical thinking skills
• learn to cohesively express your ideas about literature in writing

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Attendance  Impact on grade is defined below in “Class Attendance Policy”
Class Work 20% Whole class and group discussion; short quizzes, see below for details
Analytical Journal 10% See below for details
Paper 1  10% See below for details
Paper 2  20% See below for details
Midterm Exam 20% Exam on material from first half of semester
Final Exam  20% Exam on material from second half of semester
Evaluation of Class Work

For your participation in class, your grade will be determined using the following criteria:
A = you are well prepared and participate actively; you are attentive, respond when called upon and volunteer often with pertinent questions and comments.
B = you are usually prepared and always respond when called on; you volunteer on occasion.
C= you show evidence of being unprepared; you have some trouble when called on and do not volunteer often.
D = you are unprepared and/or inattentive; you never volunteer; you come to class late and/or leave early.
F= you exhibit a lack of concern for the class; your behaviour may have a negative effect on the class.

Group Work

There will be a lot of group activities. The above evaluation criteria also apply to group work. Be a good team member in partner work or small group activities. Turn your chair to create an easy setting for interaction with your partner(s). Volunteer information, keep the work moving along, but don’t dominate. Help your partners, if they are having a more difficult time (helping others is an excellent way to learn for yourself!). In order to be a good team player you need to be well prepared for class. Each member of a group should take notes about the ideas generated in the group and be prepared to give a report to the class.

Short Quizzes

There may or may not be short quizzes, depending on how well you all are prepared for class. If we have them, these quizzes will be very short, but will test your knowledge of the reading material assigned for the day. They will not be announced. Grading will be simple: a plus (+) for good work; a checkmark (v) for good enough work; a minus (-) for not good enough work; and a zero (0) for missed quizzes. No make-up quizzes will be given. A missed quizz will count as a zero. If you missed a quizz because of an excused absence, please discuss the situation with me.

Analytical Journal

You will write five 1-page journals (typed, 12 pt. font, double-spaced, 1” margins on all sides) throughout the semester. They may be on a certain topic, but if no topic is given out, they may just be on the text that is to be read for that day. The journal is a combination of a preliminary analysis of the text and the meaning it has for you personally. You do not need to consult critical literature on the author or the text. The purpose of writing these journal pieces is to give you an opportunity to engage yourself more closely with a certain text and to formulate your thoughts about it in writing in a cohesive fashion. This will be good practice for writing the longer papers.

Group I: if your last name starts with A-L.
Group II: if your last name starts with M-Z.

Papers

The first paper will be 3-4 pages, the second 5-6 pages. As for the journal, the format will be 1” margins on all sides, 12 pt. font, double-spaced, with page numbers. I am most interested in your own original ideas, not someone else’s, nor in a paraphrase of my comments from class, our class-discussions, or the readings themselves. Pay attention to good organization and logical transitions between paragraphs. Base your arguments on close readings; give concrete examples; and avoid vague impressions. Do not use excessively long quotations to fill up the pages, unless you are doing a close analysis of a passage. When referring to the Norton Anthology, simply follow the following format (Flaubert, Madam Bovary, p. 928; for poems: Blake, “The Lamb,” p. 543). If you use ideas or quotes from critical literature (books, articles, internet, etc.), you need to document your sources and give proper credit to someone else’s ideas (whether you quote directly or rephrase their ideas)—otherwise you violate academic honesty and commit plagiarism (see below for policy). Do not make someone else’s ideas the major focus of your paper. For the format of footnotes and bibliography, if you have them, refer to the MLA Style Manual (available in bookstore or library). Paper topics will be given out later in the semester.

Exams

Both exams will consist of:
Identifications of passages: identify the author, work, original language, and approximate date of the text; briefly discuss the relevance of the passage to the work in question.
Definitions of terms, of periods, etc.
Brief explanations of characters, of themes and motifs, of stylistic means in the texts.
Mini-Essay on a larger topic, e.g. comparing how a certain topic is treated in several of the texts we read.

The best way to prepare for these exams is regular preparation, class participation, and note-taking. The exams will be based on what has been covered in class.

Class Attendance Policy

Regular attendance is a university requirement. For every unexcused absence in excess of 2 (two) classes, your semester grade could be reduced by 1 point. If you have to miss a class, please inform me about it beforehand or as soon as possible after the absence. You will still be expected to be prepared for the next class; contact me or a class mate for information on the missed material and any assignments. For more details about excused and unexcused absences, you may wish to consult: http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/academic_policies/attend/reg.htm

NC State Policy on Working with Students with Disabilities

If you have a documented disability I will do all that I can reasonably do to accommodate the course requirements to your specific needs. Please tell me immediately so that we can begin making appropriate arrangements right away. For details see:

http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/provost/info/hat/current/appendix/appen_k.html

For a description of NC State’s Disability Services for Students (DSS) program see:

http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/stud_affairs/counseling_center/dss/

Academic Honesty Policy

Human interaction and effective communication function on the basis of trust. An atmosphere of trust, honesty and respect for each other fosters educational progress and success. Please do not give me any reason to be suspicious of your honesty. You are to do your own work on all class assigments, papers, and exams, unless it is a designated pair or group assigment. For papers that also means not incorporating others’ ideas and selling them as your own—this is called plagiarism. Whether you take ideas (verbatim or just as an idea) from books, the internet, or other sources does not matter: you need to acknowledge their source if they are not your own. If you are caught giving or receiving unauthorized help on assignments or in exams, you will be prosecuted according to the guidelines described in NC State’s policy on academic honesty. For details see:

http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/provost/info/hat/current/appendix/appen_l.html

Semester Schedule

Page numbers refer to the Norton Anthology. We will follow this outline, but it will be flexible: if we need more time on a certain text, we may spend more time, and will then shorten or cut something else, as necessary.

Tue, Jan. 9 Introduction; Chronology of Western Literature; Calvino, “Serpents and Skulls”; issues of interpretation and translation.

The Enlightenment
1 - Th, Jan. 11 Introduction, 1-7; Voltaire, Candide, 316-337
2 - Tue, Jan. 16 no class
3 - Th, Jan. 18 Candide, 337-379; Group I: journal 1

Romanticism
4 - Tue, Jan. 23 Introduction, 417-426; Rousseau, Confessions, 427-437
5 - Th, Jan. 25 Goethe, Faust, 438-453; Group II: journal 1
6 - Tue, Jan. 30 Goethe, Faust, 453-516
7 - Th, Feb. 1 Goethe, Faust, 517-540; Group I: journal 2
8 - Tue, Feb. 6 Blake, 540-549
9 - Th, Feb. 8 Heine, 619-620; Hölderlin, 620-622; Novalis, 635-637; Group II: journal 2

Realism
10 - Tue, Feb. 13 Introduction, 835-840, 845; Flaubert, Bovary, 846-890
11 - Th, Feb. 15 Flaubert, Bovary, 891-943; Group I: journal 3
12 - Tue, Feb. 20 Flaubert, Bovary, 943-1018
13 - Th, Feb. 22 Flaubert, Bovary, 1018-1063 Group II: journal 3

The New Poetry
14 - Tue, Feb. 27 Introduction, 840-844; Baudelaire, 1141-1160

Turn of the Century
15 - Th, Mar 1 Painting and Music; Introduction, 1337-1348; First Paper due.
16 - Tue, Mar 6 Freud, Dora, 1354-1414
17 - Th, Mar 8 Midterm Exam

       Tue, Mar 13 Spring Break
       Th, Mar 15 Spring Break

Modernism
18 - Tue, Mar 20 Mann, Death in Venice, 1510-1548
19 - Th, Mar 22 Mann, Death in Venice, 1548-1564; Group I: journal 4
20 - Tue, Mar 27 Rilke, 1564-1570
21 - Th, Mar 29 Joyce, The Dead, 1582-1615; Group II: journal 4
22 - Tue, April 3 Woolf, A Room of One’s Own, 1615-1638

23 - Th, April 5 Kafka, Metamorphosis, 1638-1672; Group I: journal 5
24 - Tue, April 10 Brecht, The Good Woman of Setzuan, 1799-1836
       Th, April 12 no class
25 - Tue, April 17 Brecht, The Good Woman of Setzuan, 1836-1858; Group II:
journal 5

Late 20th Century / Postmodernism
26 - Th, April 19 Introduction, 1899-1904; Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths,1905-1914
27 - Tue, April 24 Mahfouz, Zaabalawi, 1958-1970; Solzhenitsyn, Matryona’s Home, 1970-2000
28 - Th, April 26 Ingeborg Bachmann, The Barking, 2036-2050; Second Paper due
29 - Tue, May 1 García Márquez, Death Constant Beyond Love, 2051-2060
30 - Th, May 3 Conclusion and Review
       Th, May 10 8 – 11 a.m. Final Exam