St. Agnes Academy

Senior English 133D:  World Literature

Course Description and Guide

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Dr. Tricia McFarlin   713-219-5508   tmcfarlin@st-agnes.org   Room 208

http://facweb.st-agnes.org/home/pmcfarlin/html/

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Course Description 

The purpose of this course is to survey the major works of world literature from the classical through the post-modern periods. Selections will include a study of the traditional genres of literature (epic, tragedy, comedy, lyric and satire) and more contemporary modes of literary expression (novel, short story and autobiography). The focus of the course of reading is on studying writers from around the world and examining how their cultural and historical context plays a part in their work. The primary focus of your learning should be three-fold: reading critically, honing your writing skills, and practicing your public voice in class discussions.

 

 

Texts .

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.


Euripides' Medea, Oxford University Press, isbn: 0-19-282442-2 paperback.

 

Dante Aligheri's The Commedia, transl. Ciardi (only this translation) (0451208633)


William Shakespeare's Hamlet, ed. Harold Jenkins, Arden series (ISBN 0-17-4434-69-3) (only this edition)


Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Anchor books, ISBN 0-385-47454-7


Other texts: on line (links provided on the on-line syllabus)

 

Note: Students should be aware that quizzes and tests will be created from the editions and translations listed above.

  

 

Course Outline

The Ancients:  Speaking to Gods—The course opens with several ancient texts steeped in the ancient art of rhetoric, the use of words to persuade. Characters speak to one another and often speak to the gods in an intimate and immediate manner.

 

Medieval Imaginary—The medieval world is peopled with the fabulous world of the imaginary realm both in its political discourses and in its religious ones.

Renaissance Identities—During the Renaissance, performance became a category not only for the stage but for the self. We see the modern idea of identity beginning to be formed here, a shifting, performative entity.

Enlightenment Reason—The Enlightenment was also called the Age of Reason, a time when rationality was claimed as a solution for many social and moral problems. In literature, these social problems were addressed in satire and in direct polemic.

 

Romanticism—Seeing the Earth Sublime—The Romantics responded to Enlightenment reason with a higher faculty of mind—the imagination. For Romantics, reason, taken alone, would leave people bereft of their greatest gifts.

 

The Realists and the Modernists—Modes of Representing Reality—While these two movements seem quite at odds, they are both attempts at representing reality, one in a sort of photographic manner and the other in a more impressionistic manner. The realists wanted to represented exactly what they saw with no filters; the modernists re-thought the very modes of representation.

 

Neo-Colonialism—The Subjects Speak—After the colonial projects of the European powers began to crumble in the 1940s and 50s and colonized peoples began to fight for their independence, they struggled to define their own identities. Post-colonial literature is the literature of this struggle to come to terms with a contested identity.

 

Post-Modern Subjectivities—As we study post-modern fiction, we will see the traces of all the innovations of the earlier periods and schools of literature.

 

Contemporary Poetry to Live On—We end the course in the last couple of weeks by reading the works of contemporary world poets who will hopefully give you sustenance in your lives.

 

 

Grades and Percentages

Out-of-class essays, 40%

Writing Workshop, 10%

Quizzes, 15%

Class Participation, 15%

Literature Examinations, 20%

 

 

Major Parts of the Grade

Writing Requirement: This is a writing-intensive course. Weekly writing exercises inside and outside of class are intended to give you confidence in your ability to express yourself in writing. Out-of-class essays are written in three drafts, two of which are due (typed) for workshop days, and the final of which is due as the final product.

 

Vocabulary: You will be responsible for words in texts. Those words in addition to critical terms from class lecture will be included in vocabulary/reading quizzes and literature examinations.

 

Writing Workshops: You will have two in-class Writing Workshops for every out-of-class essay you write for this course. The Writing Workshop teaches you editing skills and also gives you the chance to get feedback on the quality of your writing from your fellow students. In order to receive full credit (100) for the Workshop, you must have the full draft of the paper at the beginning of class, already typed and printed out. In computer emergencies, you may have the paper edited on your computer, but no other computer emergencies will warrant an exception to the missed deadline penalty. When you turn in the final draft, you will turn in both of the Writing Workshop drafts as well. If you don't have them to turn in, your Writing Workshop grade will be penalized.

 

Reading Requirement: You will read at most twenty pages per class day. You should know that you will be expected to spend as much time reading poetry as you do reading prose.That means that you need to read the poem, re-read it, and so on, until you have made the poem your own. You are asked to know much more detail in poetry than in prose, so you will need to live with the poems repeating in your head so you'll be prepared. Reading/vocabulary quizzes will come in various forms from short answer to fill-in-the-blank to True and False.

 

Class Participation: You will begin each quarter with 100 participation points. Each time you do anything that breaks the rules of the class, you will receive a five to ten point reduction. The primary manner for maintaining your activity points is to read the texts and show that you have by writing marginalia in your books or texts. The second way is to participate in class discussion. You will be given ample opportunity to discuss the literature you read. Your class participation is based on whether your class contributions are productive, focused, and cooperative. Everyone should come to class ready to participate, with questions prepared in advance, with a willingness to read aloud, and with an enthusiasm to learn together.

 

Examinations: Your examinations are primarily objective in nature, but they have a written component. To study for your examinations, review the text first. Know it very well. Then look at power points, study guides, and vocabulary lists.

 

 

How We do Things

  • Following the schedule of readings and assignments—Follow both the chalkboard schedule and the website syllabus to know what is due. It's best not to print out the syllabus because it will change many times over the weeks due to schedule changes and class needs. If you find any discrepancies between the on-line and the in-class schedules, please let me know and I'll adjust them. If you have any problems using the website, please email me advice about how to make it better. If ever the website is down, watch the chalkboard and also notify me so that I can print anything out that you will need.
  • Being ready for class to begin—You must have on your desk your book or the hard copy of your e-text (e-text must be printed out) and your vocabulary list by the time the bell rings. If you don't have any of these items, you will lose five to ten activity points.
  • Computers—During discussions, which happen for the bulk of our class time together, you may not use your computer. Your task then is to focus on and contribute to class discussion and you will need to practice the usual non-verbal cues (eye contact, etc) to make your mark on class discussions and to show your interest and engagement in them. Your computer should be used for writing, editing, using the website, etc., but these activities are usually to be done outside of class. When we have writing workshop days, you will be invited to bring your computer to class.
  • Lack of focus in class—Everyone is expected to be focused on learning and sharing in the class discussions. If you feel sick or too sleepy to participate, ask for a pass to the clinic at the beginning of class. Do not consider laying your head down on your desk to sleep. I consider that disrespectful and, though I usually try to avoid embarrassing you in front of the class, I'll deduct five to ten of your activity points. Also, do not consider doing homework in class. It, like sleeping in class, is disrespectful behavior and will be penalized with a reduction of activity points. If either of these behaviors persists, we will need to have a one-on-one talk so that we can figure out how to correct the problem.
  • Organizing paperwork—You must keep all materials from class, including drafts of papers, examinations, quizzes. At any time you find a mistake in my record keeping, please, come to me with the graded item and I'll fix the grade on the net view. You can only correct errors when you have the missing paper, examination or quiz on file.
  • Meeting with me—Any topic is worthy of a meeting. You will find posted throughout the classroom signs that indicate when I am available for meetings. These posted times include periods before school, during lunch, after school, and during both of my open periods. The passing period is not among noted meeting times. A small request: Please, give me the courtesy of taking your own initiative to find the posted times, decide on your own schedule, and come on your own, rather than coming to me to discuss the scheduling. Remember, I have many students, each with a complicated schedule. If you don't find me when you come, please, leave a note on my desk, so I know I have missed your visit.
  • Making up missed work—You must keep track of your missed assignments; you shouldn't expect me to notify you before the deadline that you have make-up work to do.

    Quizzes: You should come during times posted on the chalkboard—make-up Mondays usually—to make up quizzes. Please, don't ask for a different make up time. I have to make up a new quiz for every make up and won't do so except once a week. After the first make-up Monday, the grade will be recorded as a zero. You have the opportunity to change the zero to a grade with the make up of the quiz. If you miss more than two make-up Mondays, you will recieve a 10% penalty on the quiz grade for every make-up period you've missed.

    Exams: You must make up missed exams on the day of your return or very soon afterwards (within three days). You will need to make an appointment with me for this make-up time. If you take more than three days to make up an exam, your test grade will receive a ten point penalty per class day it is late.

    Writing Workshops: If you don't bring a draft of your paper for either of the writing workshops, you will receive a zero for your Writing Workshop grade until you turn in a draft edited by fellow students according to the Editing sheet for the day you missed the workshop. For each day you wait to turn in this draft, you will receive a ten per cent penalty on the grade. If you haven't turned in your edited draft by the time of the second Writing Workshop day, you will retain your zero.
  • Missing class—If you miss class, please, check with two or three of your fellow students to get notes on what you missed and to find out if there have been any adjustments in assignments or schedule. Also, check the syllabus for any assignments. If you still would like to find out anything about the days you missed, then come and talk to me and I will do my best to remember what I said on the day and hour you missed class.
  • Late papers—Your grade on your paper will receive a ten point penalty for every class day it is late. Come to see me to discuss your reason for turning in a paper late and to work out any accommodations that you need. Your workshop grade also recieves this kind of penalty. If you don't have a paper ready for the workshop day, you must get it edited with the use of the edit sheet and then turn it in to me to be checked.
  • Dealing with a stressful schedule—You will be given once chance per quarter to postpone quizzes with the same make-up schedule and make-up deadline noted above. If you fail to make up one of these postponed quizzes, or if you have had trouble turning in assignments for other parts of your grade, you will revoke the privilege. You'll also revoke the privilege for the rest of the semester if you talk in the hallway while you're waiting for the class to take the quiz. Writing assignments and examinations are not included in this provision.
  • Requesting letters of recommendation or counselor's yellow forms—I'm happy to write your letters of recommendation and to write comments for the counselor's yellow forms for you. Before you bring me the form, please download and fill out this Recommendations Form and attach all the writing you have done for my class. With these elements, I will be able to write in more detail about your participation in the class discussions and your writing progress.
  • Restroom policy—You may use the restroom any time during the class period without asking me. Just take a restroom pass and return it when you return. If you aren't in your seat when the bell rings, you will be counted absent. Do not ask to go to the restroom between classes.

 

 

Working Ideally as Students

  • Reading actively—Your primary task is to connect in some way with each work; the goal of a literature course is not to gather a handful of information about each work. You need to get intimate with each work.  You need to have an idea about each work. You need to be able to say something that only you can say about each work. This is not a course in passive learning; it will require you to reflect. I do, on the other hand, want you to recognize that I have insights to share and that I will guide you in your process of coming to see for yourself, so you should balance between taking ample notes during reading times and reviewing class notes after class discussion of the texts.
  • Preparing for class—You should be prepared for class by bringing the correct book or e-text and having study notes ready. You should also have looked up any unfamiliar words in the reading and noted the definitions somewhere easily accessible. If you don't bring your book to class, you be penalized in the class participation grade by getting a zero on the class participation grade.
  • Doing homework well—Take good class notes; review class notes daily and weekly; if absent, get work from 2-3 fellow students (before coming to me); take reading notes in book margins and in notebook; identify new vocabulary words and write their definitions in your book margins; study vocabulary daily and weekly; come to class with questions for discussion.

 

Honor System

  • Never share contents of quizzes or examinations with other students of this or other classes. If you are caught doing so, you will receive a zero on the quiz or examination, and your name will be given to Ms. Schiro, who will decide what further action to take.
  • Always write "Veritas" and your signature on all work turned in for a grade. If this code isn’t written on the work, I’ll assume we need to talk about your sources.

  • Always write your own words on all your essays.  Any sources you use in your essays should be cited on a Works Cited page whether a Works Cited page is required or not. You should not only cite these sources, but also quote or summarize/paraphrase them properly. If you are caught plagiarizing on essays, you will receive a zero on the essay and your name will be given to Ms. Schiro, who will decide what further action to take.
  • Never share your papers with anyone else except in the Workshop space in class. If another student steals your work and turns in a paper like yours, you will both be given a zero, no matter whether you knew she was going to cheat or not. Your responsibility is both to avoid cheating yourself and to avoid giving others the opportunity to cheat from you.
  • Cooperate in the classroom in whatever way you feel comfortable to make sure that I am aware of what is going on in terms of the honor and dishonor of my students. Realize that if an atmosphere of cheating is flourishing in your learning environment, your education is being compromised, my trust is being betrayed, and the cheater's own chance at getting re-connected with her own desire to learn and grow is being thwarted.