ENG 120-S: WORLD LITERATURE I

FALL 2002

ENG 120-S: WORLD LITERATURE I

COURSE SYLLABUS

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STUDENTS and STUDENT WORK
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Professor: Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta
Course: ENG 120, Section S, Call #1820
Class Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:45 PM
Classroom: Humanities Center (HC) 306
Course Dates: Thursday, August 22-Thursday, December 12, 2002
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30 AM-12:20 PM and by appointment
Office: Hitchcock Communication Arts Building (CA) Room 304A
Office Telephone: (402) 280-2522
e-mail: fajardo@creighton.edu
WWW Home Page: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A study of representative works of world literature from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. The course emphasizes the study of the literary, cultural, and human significance of selected great works of the Western and non-Western literary traditions. An important goal of the class is to promote an understanding of the works in their cultural/historical contexts and of the enduring human values which unite the different literary traditions. Readings include originals and translations; works of prose and poetry; epics, drama, lyric poems, and novels.

TEXTBOOKS

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volumes A, B, and C, Second Edition (W. W. Norton, 2002). ISBN: 0-393-97764-1

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES

1) Term Project & Presentation (10%)
All students will be required to undertake and complete a project which may be an original paper or a creative work such as a short story, play, or set of poems (5-10 written pages or equivalent). Also acceptable are substantial and original art works (performance pieces, painting, drawing, music, film, websites, etc.). All creative options must be clearly relevant and related to the class materials. All works must be created during and for the specific purposes of this course. Students will make a 5- minute presentation in class describing and/or performing their projects (see Schedule below). All projects must be approved by the instructor in advance (see Schedule below). Students choosing to write a paper must follow the guidelines provided by the instructor. For further information on the writing and grading of essays see Grading Standards and Procedures, and Grading of Essays and Other Written Work. ALL PROJECTS ARE DUE ON THE DAY WHEN THEY ARE SCHEDULED TO BE PRESENTED (see Schedule below).

2) Three Quizzes (12 % each)
Quizzes will feature objective questions dealing with literary terminology, texts and their features, authors, contexts and history.

3) Three Essays (10 % each)
All essays will be written in class. Essay assignments will ask students to read closely, analyze, and interpret a particular passage from one of the texts studied and/or develop a theme/issue related to the readings, lectures, or class discussions. For essay grading criteria see "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work". Students should expect to do a substantial amount of writing (4-6 handwritten pages) during an essay exercise and must bring paper and pens for that purpose (no pencils please). All handwriting in an essay must be neat and easily legible. No credit will be given for illegible writing.

4)Final Essay Exam (14%)
The final essay exam will have the same format and will be evaluated according to the same guidelines as the essay exercises.

5) Participation and Other Performance (10%)
In addition to other grades, the instructor will assess and grade each student's overall accomplishment, development, and involvement in the course. This grade will take into account aspects of a student's performance such as class participation, preparation, contributions, effort, attentiveness, interest, improvement, responsibility, etc.

6) Grading Scale, Attendance, and Other Policies

All aspects of the course will be graded on a 100-point scale where 90-100 = A, 87-89 = B+, 80-86 = B, 77-79 = C+, 70-76 = C, 60-69 = D, and 0-59 = F

Make-ups/extensions for a missed deadline will only be given in cases of documented serious illness or other valid, non-frivolous excuses such as documented participation in official University sports or academic/service events (it will be up to the instructors to determine and decide on the acceptability of an excuse).

An attendance measurement will be calculated equal to the percentage of total class time attended. The course grade may not exceed that percentage (i.e. if a student attended only 75% of the total class time, the course grade may not be higher than 75 or C). Notice also that, at the discretion of the instructor, any student missing more than 30% of the total class time may fail the course.

All students in the class are expected to observe the University's guidelines on student conduct as described in Creighton University's Student Handbook (see "Code of Conduct," and especially the section on "Academic Misconduct" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.). Problems such as repeated lateness arriving to class, inatentiveness, or disruptive behavior of any sort will adversely affect the class participation grade.

7) Out-of-Class Event
All students in the course are required to attend at least ONE out-of-class event such as a lecture, poetry/fiction reading, film, play, exhibit, or live performance relevant to the understanding and appreciation of the course materials. Satisfaction of this requirement will be taken into account in the "Attendance" and "Participation and Other Performance" grade categories. Special events arranged for this semester are the following (students attending any of these two events do NOT need to write a report but must sign the instructor's attendance sheet on the day of the event):

Lecture, Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, "The Living in Hell: Sacred Signs/Secular Meanings in Dante's Inferno" 2:00 PM, Thursday, October 31, 2002, Rigge Science, Room 120, Creighton University

Students unable to attend the events listed above can satisfy the requirement by attending the alternative events listed in the document "World Literature Program Special Events" . Special efforts by students attending more than two events will be taken into consideration in the "Participation and Other Performance" grade category. Notice that students using alternative events must write a one-page report/analysis for each event.

For further information on grading see documents entitled "Grading Standards and Procedures" and "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work." At the discretion of the instructor, a normative curve may be applied to the grades at the end of the term. The course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:

Essays	30 %
Quizzes	36 %
Final Essay Exam	14 %
Term Project and Presentation	10 %
Participation and Other Performance	10 %
Total	100 %

SCHEDULE

All reading is due on the date indicated. Read the introductions and preliminary materials as well as the literary texts for all assignments. Click on the individual subjects in the online syllabus for study questions and background facts.

Thu Aug 22

Tue Aug 27