FALL 2004
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A study of representative works of world literature from the seventeenth century to the present. The course emphasizes the study and consideration of the literary, cultural, and human significance of selected great works of the Western and non-Western literary traditions, including women's, minority, and ethnic literature from around the world. 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. The course's pedagogy gives special attention to critical thinking and writing within a framework of cultural diversity as well as comparative and interdisciplinary analysis.
TEXTBOOKS
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES
1) In-Class Essay (20%)
This essay will be written in class. The essay assignment 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, one page = 250-300 words) 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. See Class Schedule for essay date.
2) Paper (20%)
Length: around 5 typewritten, double-spaced pages, approx. 1,200 - 1,500 words. Topics will be chosen by the student but must involve close reading, analysis, and interpretation of a well-defined and clearly focused aspect (ideas, details, themes, motifs, symbols, etc) of one or more of the texts read in the class. All analysis and interpretation must take into account relevant contexts, backgrounds, and/or historical facts. The paper will be developed in two-stages (see Class Schedule below for draft deadline and final copy deadline). All papers must follow the guidelines provided by the instructor. Essays will be graded on the basis of clarity and correctness of the writing, appropriate use of evidence, logic and precision of the analysis, ability to consider implications and draw pertient conclusions, and willingness to follow suggestions and undertake the revisions suggested by the instructor in the draft (save the draft with the instructor's comments as it needs to be resubmitted along with the the revised version of the paper). For further information on the writing and grading of essays see Grading Standards and Procedures, and Grading of Essays and Other Written Work. The work in the paper must be personal and original -- any ideas, language or other materials from outside sources must be clearly and explicitly acknowledged (see Academic Honesty Policy).
3) Term Project & Presentation (20%)
Each student will undertake and complete a term project which may be a paper or a creative work such as a short story, play, or set of poems (5-10
written pages or equivalent). Also encouraged are original art
works (performance pieces, painting, sculpture, drawing, music, film, websites, etc.).
All work must be clearly relevant and related to the class materials.
All works must be created during and for the specific purposes of this course.
Each student will make a 5-10 minute in-class presentation describing and/or
performing his/her project (see Class Schedule below).
All projects must be approved by the instructor in advance--students will submit
a brief, one-paragraph proposal describing the topic, medium/materials, and
ideas to be explored in the project. Students choosing to write a paper must follow the appropriate writing guidelines. See Class Schedule below for deadlines for the proposal, the presentation, and the project in final form.
4) Final Essay Exam (20%)
The final exam will take the form of an essay exercise which students will write in the classroom. The final essay exam will have the same format and will be evaluated according
to the same guidelines as other in-class esssays. See Class Schedule
below for exam date.
5) Participation and Other Performance (20%)
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) Two Out-of-Class Events
All students in the course are required to attend at least TWO out-of-class events such as lectures, poetry/fiction readings, films, plays, exhibits, performances, etc. relevant to the understanding and appreciation of the course materials. Satisfaction of this requirement will be taken into account in the attendance calculation (each event counts as one class session) and in the "Participation and Other Performance" grade category. For each event attended students must write one-page reporting and reflecting on the significance of the experience and its possible relevance to the course (250-300 words). See Class Schedule for event reports deadline. The main event recommended this semester is:
Lecture, "Why World Literature?" David Damrosch, Columbia University, Wednesday September 15, 2004, 1:30 PM, Rigge Science Auditorium (Room 120) (students attending this event do not have to write a report but must sign the instructor's attendance sheet on the day of the event)
Other recommended events for this semester are listed on the World Literature Program's website at: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/worldlit/program/events.htm
7) Other Policies
Make-Up Work
Make-ups/extensions for a missed deadline will only be given in cases of documented
serious illness or other valid, non-frivolous excuse such as documented participation
in official University sports or academic/service events (it will be up to the
instructor to determine and decide on the acceptability of an excuse).
Attendance and Class Conduct Policy
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. Problems such as repeated lateness arriving to class, inatentiveness, or disruptive
behavior may adversely affect attendance and/or the class participation grade. Seriously disruptive
behavior can also result, at the discretion of the instructor, in more severe
penalties, including failing the entire course.
Academic Honesty
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.). Work turned in for credit in this course must be personal and original, produced during the course of the semester and for the specific purposes and according to the guidelines of the given assignments. Any misrepresentations, concealments, or distortions of source, origin, or authorship of such materials will be considered forms of academic dishonesty and will result in failing
the given assignment or, at the discretion of the instructor, the entire course.
Grading
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. 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:
| In-Class Essay | 20% |
|
Paper |
20 % |
| Term Project and Presentation | 20 % |
|
Final Essay Exam |
20 % |
|
Participation and Other Performance |
20% |
|
Total |
100 % |
CLASS SCHEDULE
All reading is due on the date indicated. Click on the author name and the text title in the online syllabus for outlines of background facts and study questions. In addition to the online materials, students are urged to read the introductions and background
materials in the textbook.
Study outlines may also be reached by visiting:
http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/
Thu Aug 26
Tue Aug 31
Thu Sep 02
Tue Sep 07
Thu Sep 09
Tue Sep 14
Wed Sep 15
Thu Sep 16
Tue Sep 21
Thu Sep 23
Thu Sep 30
Tue Oct 05
Thu Oct 07
Tue Oct 12
Tue Oct 19
Thu Oct 21
Tue Oct 26
Thu Oct 28
Tue Nov 02
Tue Nov 09
Thu Nov 11
Tue Nov 16
Tue Nov 23
Thu Nov 25
Thu Dec 02
Tue Dec 07
Last updated: 12/02/2004
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