ENG 121 World Literature II

SPRING 2002
ENG 121: WORLD LITERATURE II
COURSE SYLLABUS

GENERAL INFORMATION

Professor: Fidel Fajardo-Acosta
Course: ENG 121, Section O, Call No. 1821
Class Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Classroom: BA 309
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:00-4:00 and by appointment (notice that posted office hours are subject to cancellation without previous notice, call to be sure)
Office: Hitchcock Communication Arts Building (CA) Room 304 A
Office Telephone: (402) 280-2522
E-mail: fajardo@creighton.edu
Web Home Page: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/

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. Readings include fiction, drama, and poetry.

TEXTS (available at Creighton Bookstore)

The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Volume 2, Expanded Edition, ed. Maynard Mack. (W.W. Norton, 1995) ISBN: 0-393-96348-9
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, trans. Francis Steegmuller (Vintage/Random House, 1992). ISBN: 0-679-73636-0
N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn (Harper Perennial, 1968) ISBN: 0-06-093194-9

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1) Term Project & Presentation (20%)
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 (painting, drawing, music, film, performance pieces, 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 5-10 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 writing papers 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.

2) Four Exams (15% each, Total 60%)
All exams will feature essay sections as well as objective questions dealing with literary texts, their features, authors, and history. The essay portions of the exams 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. The same criteria which apply to papers will be used in the grading of exams (see "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work"). Students should expect to do a substantial amount of writing (4-6 handwritten pages) during an exam and must bring paper and pens to each examination (no pencils please). All handwriting in an exam must be neat and easily legible. No credit will be given for illegible exams.

3) 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.

4) 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 Honesty Policy" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.).

5) 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 these events do NOT need to write a report but must sign the instructor's attendance sheet on the day of the event):

Lecture: Simon J. Ortiz, "Native American Literature," Friday April 5th, 2:30pm, Rigge Science 120

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" or by using the videotaped materials stored in the World Literature Library (Hitchcock Communication Arts Building Room 304). 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 or videotaped events must write a one-page report/analysis for each event.

See documents entitled "Grading Standards and Procedures" and "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work." for further information on grading. 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:

Exams	60 %
Term Project and Presentation	20%
Participation and Other Performance	20%
Total	100 %

COURSE SCHEDULE

All reading is due on the date indicated. Read the introductions and texts for all assignments, as well as all materials accessible through the links in the online syllabus. The study questions will provide the basis for class discussions.

Thu Jan 17