ENGL 2111-J -- World Literature I

Contact Information:

Required Textbooks:

Course Description:

PURPOSE: This course is the first half of the English program's overview of world 
literature from classical antiquity to the present. We will examine works from
both the Western tradition (Greece, Rome, the Jewish Bible, the Christian New 
Testament, and the European Middle Ages and Renaissance) and from several
non-Western tranditions (Sumeria, India, Japan, and the Muslim world). As you will 
see, this division into "Eastern" and "Western" doesdn't always hold up, as
there is a good deal of communication between the two.

PROCEDURES & PROVISOS: 

1. The reading load will be quite heavy at times, so do not fall behind. 

2. Participation in the on-line forum is expected on a weekly basis or better. I
will post a topic or question several days prior to the class disussion, and you must
respond no later than 10 am Tuesday, after which time the topic will
by locked and accessible only for reading, not writing. I reserve  the right to
assign additional optional or required work to supplement the forum
participation grade. 

3. There will be a weekly graded quiz on the reading. The quiz will be
accessible on-line, and you will submit your answers through a Web
browser.

4. There will be three exams, counting equally, each administered through the 
same Web application as the quizzes.
  
5. Late assignments will not be accepted. Turn things in early if you plan to
be away. 

6. Please note that Inquisition (the testing software we are using) and my backup regime 
make it pointless to claim that materials have been somehow "lost" after being delivered 
to me. It is your responsibility to make sure that they get to me in the first place. If 
they do, they won't get "lost." But since transmission problems are common on the Internet, 
you would be wise to make backups of your quiz and exam answers, or to write them in a 
word processor and cut-and-paste them into Inquisition. 

7. You are also responsible for reading and following the directions provided through 
Inquisition for safe and secure test-taking. If you follow these directions, you will
avoid network timeouts, security breaches, and other such unpleasantness. 



8. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY. Although you are welcome to form study groups, students 
may not share answers with one another when responding to the on-line quizzes or exams. 
Sharing of answers on Inquisition is readily detectable. Such conduct constitutes  
cheating and will be referred to University authorities for disciplinary action. 

Grading Proportions:

Participation will be graded based on the on-line forum (See the handouts
for details.) I reserve the right to assign additional quizzes or writing
exercises that will also contribute to the participation grade. Three
examinations will be given, each non-comprehensive. These will consist of 
identification questions: an excerpted piece of writing will be presented, and 
you must identify it and discuss it in detail, showing a knowledge of the 
entire work from which it was drawn. These passages will be ones that we
have specifically discussed. You will not be tested on the material in the 
headnotes of the reading assignments, but if you are interested in doing well, 
read the headnotes. The course grade will be calculated as follows:

	Exam I         		20%
	Exam II        		20%
	Exam III (Final)	20%
	Forum Participation 	20%
	Quiz Completion		20%
			      =100%

Tentative Schedule of Assignments:

Tuesday 1/7 ---- Introduction. Discussion of literary terms and critical practice.
Thursday 1/9 --- Continued

Tuesday 1/14 --- The "Epic of Gilgamesh" (37-73)
Thursday 1/16 -- Continued 

Tuesday 1/21 --- Writings from ancient India: "Hymn of Creation" (177), "Hymn of Man" 
		 (177-179), "A Psalm of Vasishtha to the Lord of Lords" (180-181), "Hymn of the 
		 Thoughts of Men" (181), excerpt from the "Ramayana" (186-219), Introduction to the 
		 "Mahabharata" (219-220), and the excerpt from the "Bhagavad-Gita" (225-248)
Thursday 1/23 -- Continued 

Tuesday 1/28 --- Excerpts from the Hebrew Bible (96-171)
Thursday 1/30 -- Continued 

Tuesday 2/4 ---- Homer, The Odyssey (Fitzgerald translation)
Thursday 2/6 --- Continued 

Tuesday 2/11 --- Sappho, poems (488-491); excerpts from Thucydides (497-510)
Thursday 2/13 -- Continued 

        EXAM I -- Due Friday 2/14 at 5 p.m.

Tuesday 2/18 --- Excerpts from Plato (566-626)
Thursday 2/20 -- Continued 

        * 18 February is the Withdrawal Deadline *

Tuesday 2/25 --- Euripedes, "The Bacchae" (511-565) 
Thursday 2/27--- Continued 

Tuesday 3/4 ---- From Virgil, "Aeneid" (629-670) 
Thursday 3/6 --- Continued 

Tuesday 3/11 --- Gospel of Matthew
Thursday 3/13 -- Continued 

3/18, 3/20 ----- SPRING BREAK 

Tuesday 3/25 --- Selections from The Qur'an (739-761) 
Thursday 3/27 -- Selections from The Thousand and One Nights (866-888)
		 EXAM II -- Due Friday 3/28 at 5 p.m.   

Tuesday 4/1 ---- "Atsumori" (1176-1183) 
Thursday 4/3 --- Continued 

Tuesday 4/8 ---- Dante, "The Inferno" (1310-2344); Chaucer, "Canturbury
                 Tales" (1349-1366) 
Thursday 4/10 -- Continued 

Tuesday 4/15 --- Montaigne, "On Cannibals" (1388-1398)
Thursday 4/17 -- Continued 

Tuesday 4/22 --- Shakespeare, "King Lear" (1398-1469) 
Thursday 4/24 -- Continued 

        EXAM III (Final): Due 29 April 2003 at 2:30 pm.