Three Semester Hours

Texts:   

General Objectives

Competencies

Methods of Teaching

Materials

Course Content

Final Examination

Evaluation and Attendance

Student Responsibilities

I.  General Objectives of the world literature sequence are as follows:

• To give students an opportunity to read works of various genres reflecting the broad diversity (cultural, historical, ethnic, and gender) of literature. (NCATE/DPI Core Standard* 1, indicator 1; Diversity Standards*, standard 4, indicator 1; Standards for 9-12 English Teachers*, standard 4, indicators 1 & 2)

• To give students an opportunity to use a range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. 

• To examine the impact of cultural, economic, political, and social environments on the works studied. (NCATE/DPI Core Standard* 1, indicator 1; Diversity Standards*, standard 4, indicator 1; Standards for 9-12 English Teachers*, standard 4, indicators 1 & 2)

• To help students examine and reflect on the interaction of literature with the other arts.

• To help students examine and reflect on the relationship between literature and personal or cultural values and between literature and identity. (NCATE/DPI Core Standard* 1, indicator 1; Diversity Standards*, standard 4, indicator 1; Standards for 9-12 English Teachers*, standard 4, indicators 1 & 2)

• To help students reinforce and further develop advanced skills in critical and reflective reading, writing, and thinking. 

• Read a variety of literary works, using a range of appropriate reading strategies.
• Recall or identify facts, concepts, and theories related to the works themselves, their authors, and their contexts (environments).
• Use discussion and writing
  • to explore the works,
  • to respond to the works and the cultures they are part of, and
  • to examine the works’ relation to students’ daily lives.
• Write essays and responses that analyze, evaluate, and reflect on the works read. Formal essays will
  • state a clear thesis,
  • provide ample supporting evidence,
  • follow a logical pattern of organization, and
  • demonstrate reasonable control of Edited American English.

• assigned readings

• student-directed teaching

• group activities and discussion

• audiovisual aids

• lectures

• Web-assisted instruction

• textbooks
• audio and video recordings
• reserve books and materials
• Blackboard
• Other online resources:
  • Text companion site, Norton Websource for World Literature
  • Course site

All sections of the course will read the following works:

Unit 1:  BEGINNINGS TO AD 100  (Volume A)

Euripides, Medea

Unit 2:  100 TO 1500  (Volume B)

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Wife of Bath’s Prologue & Wife of Bath’s Tale)

Unit 3:  1500 TO 1650  (Volume C)

The Epic of Son-Jara

Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice

FINAL EXAMINATION:  The common final exam, a multiple-choice test based on the works read by all sections,  will be given at 8:30 a.m. on Common Exam Day, at a place to be announced in class. (Exams for evening classes may be scheduled at a different time, to be announced in class.) Students who miss the exam receive a grade of 0 unless they present a valid written excuse to the instructor.    Materials to help with exam preparation may be accessed from <http://myweb.wssu.edu/wallr/ENG2301/eng2301examhelp.htm>.

VI.  Evaluation and Attendance:  Specific requirements for all sections of World Literature I include the following:

1.         Formal and informal writing amounting to a minimum of 2000 words and including at least 2 critical or analytical papers (35%-55% of the final grade)

2.         A mid-term exam (10% of the final grade)

3.         Two major tests and additional work (quizzes, oral reports, class participation, etc.) (20%-35%)

4.         A final examination (15% of the final grade)

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Department of English and Foreign Languages has adopted the following statement:

Students must attend class.  Failure to attend class may result in failure in the course.  Students must also arrive on time and remain in class for the entire period.  Cellular phones and beepers must be turned off.  (Proper classroom decorum  [behavior] is described in the student handbook.)  Course outlines and calendars explain requirements and assignments, and students are responsible for knowing what they say.  Students are also responsible for doing all assigned work on time.  If make-up work is allowed, it must be completed within one week of the date the work was originally due.