ENG 121 World Lit II, Summer 2008

Professor: Fidel Fajardo-Acosta
Course: ENG 121, Section B, CRN 40042
Class Time: MTWThF 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
Classroom: Humanities Center-Dowling Hall, Room 1
Course Dates: Summer Pre-Session, Monday, May 19-Friday, June 6, 2008
Office Hours: M-F 12:00-1:00 pm and by appointment
Office: Hitchcock Communication Arts Building (CA) Room 304 A
Office Telephone: (402) 280-2522
email: fajardo@creighton.edu
Web Home Pages:

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.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1) Two Exams (50%)

Each exam will include objective questions and an essay section. The objective section of the exam will include questions on the content and form of the readings (characters, plots, situations, imagery, genres, etc.) as well as contexts including authors, dates, places, relevant historical events, cultural trends, and literary terminology. The essay portion of the exam 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. Essays will be graded on the basis of the student's comprehension of the material, interpretive ability, writing accomplishment, understanding of the connections between texts and historical/cultural contexts, critical thinking and capacity to make personal discoveries building on the ideas and issues discussed in the course. For further information on the grading of essays see "Grading Standards and Procedures" and "Grading of Essays and Other Written Work.".

2) Term Project and Presentation (25%)

All students are required to design and complete a term project which may be an original paper or a creative work such as a short story, play, a set of poems, original art work (paintings, drawings, collages, dance, music, film, web sites, performance pieces, etc.). The projects will be evaluated on the basis of relevance, insight, thoughtfulness, effort and significant engagement of some aspect of the issues, ideas, or materials studied in the course. All work must be original, personal and clearly relevant and related to the class materials. Each student will make an in-class presentation describing and/or performing her/his project. Use of audiovisual materials in presentations is encouraged. All projects must be approved by the instructor in advance. Students choosing to write a paper for their term project must follow the guidelines provided by the instructor (click here for details). For further information on the writing and grading of papers see Grading Standards and Procedures, and Grading of Essays and Other Written Work. Suggested minimum length of written works is about 5 typewritten, double-spaced pages (1250-1500 words).

3) Participation and Other Performance (25%)

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.

Deadlines: 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 academic, service or sports events (it will be up to the instructor to determine and decide on the acceptability of an excuse). Otherwise, students must meet all deadlines specified in the syllabus.

Attendance 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. All absences, regardless of the reason, are taken into account in the calculation of the attendance percentage.

Academic Honesty and Class Conduct Policy: All students in the class are expected to observe the University's guidelines on student conduct as described in the Code of Conduct and Creighton University's Student Handbook (especially the section on "Academic Honesty Policy" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.). All 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, collaboration 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. Problems such as repeated lateness arriving to class (or departing early), inattentiveness, or disruptive behavior will 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.

Email Communication: The University considers a student's Creighton email address the official means of communication with faculty and administrators. All students are responsible for checking their email messages as they might contain important and time-sensitive information relevant to the course, including notifications on changes to reading and other assignments, deadlines, class cancellations or reschedulings, etc. A student who prefers to receive email at a different address must inform the instructor.

Special Needs or Accommodations: Any student requiring special arrangements or other accommodations, due to disabilities and or other special circumstances, is encouraged to request such arrangements from the instructor and the Office of Disability Accommodations.

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:

Exams	50 %
Project and Project Presentation	25 %
Participation and Other Performance	25 %
Total	100 %

All reading is due on the date indicated. Read the introductions and texts for all assignments, as well as all relevant materials posted in Dr. Fajardo-Acosta's World Literature website (click on the subjects below to find those materials) . On that website you will find information on authors and texts, historical and cultural context, terminology, and study questions. Make sure to read and explore those materials thoroughly as they will be the basis for class discussions and exams.