English 2305-2017: World Literature I Dr. Frontain

TTH 10.50-12.05  Office: Irby 118B Irby 304 

Office Hours: TTH9-10.45a.m.and1-2:30p.m.

TEXT

Norton Anthology of World Literature, vols. A-C (Second ed.)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The presence of the Indian Culture Festival on the UCA campus this semester provides an excellent occasion for the study of seminal texts from the heroic and classical periods of Indian literature. Focus, then, will be upon The Ramayana of Valmiki and upon Kalidasa’s Sakuntala, which we will compare with selected near-Eastern and European texts to distinguish which values are particular to a culture, and which hold constant across cultural and historical divides. Regularly administered quizzes will encourage students to read with an eye for significant detail; examinations will require students to develop both analytical and synthetic abilities; and a major critical paper will allow students to read independently of the class program and to develop a thesis of significance to them personally.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ACTIVITIES

R Aug. 29 Introduction to Course

UNIT I: Heroism and Devotion

T Sept. 3 The Ramayana of Valmiki (A.881-903)

R Sept. 5 " (903-922)

T Sept. 10 " (922-946)

R Sept. 12 " (946-953)

T Sept. 17 Conclude discussion of Ramayana

R Sept. 19 EXAMINATION #1

T Sept. 24 Gilgamesh (A.10-24)

R Sept. 26 " (24-35)

T Oct. 1 " (35-41)

R Oct. 3 Conclude discussion of Gilgamesh

T Oct. 8 Homer, The Iliad (A. 114-136)

R Oct. 10 " (136-165)

T Oct. 15 " (166-205)

R Oct. 17 " (205-225)

T Oct. 22 Virgil, The Aeneid (A. 1052-85)

R Oct. 24 " (1085-1106)

T Oct. 29 " (1106-1125)

R Oct. 31 EXAMINATION #2

UNIT II: Love and Devotion

T Nov. 5 Kalidasa, Sakuntala (B. 1267-1281)

R Nov. 7 " (1282-1302)

T Nov. 12 " (1303-1332)

R Nov. 14 Conclude discussion of Sakuntala

T Nov. 19 Boccaccio, Decameron (B. 1963-1984)

R Nov. 21 " (1984-1991)

T Nov. 26 Kanze, Dojoji (B. 2342-2349, 2361-2370)

R Nov. 28 THANKSGIVING RECESS

T Dec. 3 Murasaki, Tale of Genji (B. 2204-2224)

R Dec. 5 PAPER DUE IN CLASS; Film: Anime Genji

T Dec. 10 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): FINAL EXAMINATION PERIOD

GRADE

1. The final grade will be computed as follows: quiz average (25%), Examination #1 (20%), Examination #2 (25%), and Paper (30%). Students may drop one quiz out of every ten. The examinations will be a combination of passages to be identified and analyzed, and a comparison/contrast essay.

2. The paper (5-7 pages typewritten, excluding notes and Works Cited, using MLA documentation format) allows the student to compare/contrast Kalidasa’s Sakuntala with any other work in the Norton Anthology not covered in class this semester. Students may, however, draw upon materials presented in the course of this fall’s Indian Culture Festival (for example, any of the films in the Tuesday afternoon film series, or the poems introduced in of Prof. Selby’s anthology).