ENG
2060
WORLD
LITERATURE AFTER 1660, Online
2008 Course Schedule
UNIT
1. LITERATURE of EARLY MODERN
EUROPE and Pre-Modern
Unit
1 goals for
students:
*experience and
interpret dramatic and narrative
literature about enduring themes: proper roles in families and
society;
public and private responsibilities; reason and emotion; ideals and
reality
*analyze and
interpret genres of drama and fiction: plot, character
and comedy, satire, and tragedy;
conventions
*understand
European Baroque & Enlightenment
and China’s Ming & Qing Dynasty as major cultural
periods
Unit
1 Guidelines for
*readings are
in NAWL, Volume.D (read
textbook intro only after the literary text, since it
gives
away the plot)
read
actively: mark key passages or use
post-its; take notes; plan to contribute to discussion forums
*print & use study
guides from Course Materials
for Unit 1: 1.A.
reasonuna, 1.B. reasonunb,
1.C. chinastory
use
the Study Guides! they guide your reading,
fill in parts we do not read, and prepare you for posting and tests.
also
helpful is Dr. Diane Thompson’s site: http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/eng252schedule.htm#unit
*also print from Course
Materials: Literature
and Arts Guide,
and Unit 1 Cultural Context
*each week has two discussion forums; post
in both forums: one main
post, one reply (extra replies are
fine)
The
* group (for main posts) are students whose last names (in Blackboard)
begin
with A to L.
The # group (for main
posts) are students
whose last names (in blackboard) begin with M to Z.
Unit
1.A. French Neoclassical
Drama in the Age of Louis XIV
French
“Neoclassical” Comedy: Moliere, Tartuffe
Day 1*
T
Jan. 8 Comedy: Tartuffe,
Acts I-III, 313-43, & Literature Guide III.C: comedy
[W
Jan. 9 OK] the play as a
comedy of manners:
characters, humor
Day 2#,
F Jan.11 Tartuffe Act
III (review), IV-V, 331-61, then 304-5, interpretations
pyramid plot,
end, characters, satire, themes (Lit. Guide III. C.D)
French
“Neoclassical” Tragedy: Racine, Phaedra
Day 1*,
T Jan. 15 Tragedy:
Racine, Phaedra: read the then Acts
I-II, 365-82: plot and emotions
Day 2#, F Jan.18
Literature Guide C: tragedy; Phaedra,
Acts III-V, 382-402; then 362-64, interpretation
tragedy:
tragic hero, tragic characters and themes, emotional impact
T Jan 22 *#
Review
Posts Due (all students) and Discussion Reports,
Set 1
W
Jan.23 Due:
Discussion Reports, Set 1A, from 6 designated
students (see Discussion Reports Forum)
Report includes: summary and analysis of
1-2 forum
topics, ideas from your best posts, and reflective comments.
Unit
1.B. French Satiric Novel from the Age of
Enlightenment
Day 1* F
Jan. 25 Candide as a satire: ch.
1-13, NWAL D 520-40 (the summary
guides you).
Day 2# T Jan. 29 Candide read summary (to
end) and ch.
14-21, pp. 540-57, & ch. 27-30, pp. 573-85.
focus on
characters, symbolic events, and themes
Unit
1.C. Chinese Novel, Story of
the Stone (Dream of
Red Chamber) from Qing Dynasty
Day
1*# F
Feb. 1
Intro
& start of ch.1 (146-49) and Study Guide background information
Story of
the Stone summary of ch. 1-25 (154), sections of ch. 26-29, 32-33,
96-97.
main
posts due from all students
M
Feb 4 Due:
Discussion Reports, Set 1B, from 4
designated students (see Discussion Reports Forum)
Report includes: summary and analysis of
1-2 forum
topics, ideas from your best posts, & reflective comments.
Unit
1 TEST Wed. Feb. 6 (Dial
Bldg): review, plans, test (1
hr.15m); come at 10am,
3pm, or 5pm
Proctored tests:
schedule for Wed. Feb. 6-Fri. Feb. 8
UNIT 2. 19th
Century
Literature: European Romanticism and Realism
Unit
2 goals for students:
*experience&interpret
literature about enduring themes:
individual emotions, desires, choices; social constraints
*analyze&interpret poetry
genres&techniques as well as
drama and fiction: plot,
character,
setting, symbolism
*understand European
Romanticism and Realism as major
cultural periods
Unit
2 Guidelines for
*readings are
in NAWL
volume.E (read textbook intro
only after the literary text, since it gives
away the plot)
read actively: mark key passages or use
post-its; take notes; plan to contribute to discussions
*print & use study guides
from Course Materials for Unit 2:
A. romanpoem, B. faustread C. bovary and
realism
*also print from Course
Materials: Cultural
Contexts: Romanticism, Realism
*each week
has two discussion forums; post
in both forums: one main post, one reply
(extra replies are fine)
*Unit 2 posting schedule: #
students (names M-Z) create main posts for first forum; *students(A-L)
for the
second
Unit
2.A. Romantic Poetry
Day
1#
T Feb. 12 William
Blake, Songs of Innocence & Songs
of Experience 780-89 (selections)
Day
2* F Feb. 15
Poems by Wordsworth, Keats, Lamartine, Dickinson-file:romanpoem
Unit
2.B. Romantic Drama: Faust
for an extra study guide, see http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/fauststudy.htm
Day 1# T
Feb. 19 Faust's
frustration and Faust’s pact with the devil
Faust
Outline plus Prologue in Heaven& Night,
680-93; Study
1&2, 701-20
Day
2* F Feb. 22 Love
tragedy of Faust and Margaret/Gretchen; characters & themes
Faust Outline
plus a few key passages and scenes, 733-780
M
Feb 25 Due:
Discussion Reports, Set 2A-2B,
from 6 designated students (see Discussion Reports Forum)
Report
includes:
summary and analysis of 1-2 forum
topics, ideas from your best posts, & reflective comments.
Unit
2.C. Realist Novel: Madame
Bovary and Realist Play or Story
Day 1#
T Feb. 26 realist
novel: characters & social settings:
Madame Bovary, Part 1 and Part 2.
Ch.1
Day 2*
F Feb. 29 novel:
social settings,
relationships, character development , Madame
Bovary Pt.2
Spring Break, Mar. 3-7
Day 3*# T
Mar. 11 novel:
character
development, climax, themes, fictional art,
Madame Bovary Pt.3
Day 4*#
F
Mar. 14 realist
play or novella: Ibsen or Tolstoy
Each student writes a main post
about Option 1 or 2 or 3; replies are
optional
Option 1 Ibsen,
A
Doll’s House online (see bibliomania.com, drama)
Option 2 Ibsen, Hedda
Gabler in NAWL E
Option 3
Tolstoy The Death of Ivan
Ilyich NAWL E
Sun. 3/16 Due: Discussion
Reports, Set 3C, from 6 designated
students (see Discussion
Reports Forum)
Report includes: summary and analysis of
1-2 forum
topics, ideas from your best posts, & reflective comments.
Unit
2 TEST Wed.
Mar. 19
(Dial Bldg): review, plans, test (1
hr.15m); come at 10am, 3pm, or 5pm
Proctored
tests: schedule Wed Mar. 19- Fri Mar. 21
Post Test Essay (draft for a later Critical Essay):
Wed. Mar. 19-Mon.
Mar. 24
UNIT
3. LITERATURE of MODERN WORLD
CULTURES
Unit 3 Goals
and Guidelines
*the
modern unit,
in NWAL vol. F, is a world
tour; see Study Guides for
each topic (separate files).
*experience &
interpret literature about modern themes around the world, in novel, stories, and poetry
*understand Modernism as a major cultural period
and postmodern and postcolonial
cultural trends
*after Things Fall Apart, you are finishing
Critical Essays, so readings are short and allow choices
*Posts: *# All students *# create
a main post in every forum; you have choices and occasional
breaks.
Reading modern
world literature (NAWL vol. F): what to notice; also use Literature
Guide, p. 1 questions
-how
characters (decisions,
motives), settings, and
symbols reveal modern experiences and world cultures
and
values
-what surprises are evident in content
and formal features Bwhat seems
unusual or unconventional and it may
mean
-how modernist
content
& formal features (plots, themes, genres, techniques) -reflect and
affect modern experiences
-how world
writers use
& overturn Western culture and genres and incorporate and reaffirm
local/traditional cultures
A. Modern
T Mar. 25 Kafka
(Czech/Jewish): The Metamorphosis
(German language novella) 1999-2030
skim poems: Yeats
"Second Coming,"1705 & one by Akhmatova 2102-8 OR ADada@
2112-6
Color
Plates in NAWL vol. F: Picasso (
B.
F
Mar. 28
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria/Ibo) Things
Fall Apart (English language novel),
Pt I: 2860-2915
T Apr. 1
Things Fall Apart, Part II-III:
2915-2948 (drafts
posted for Things Fall Apart Critical
Essays)
F Apr.
4
essay writing break/no post (revise essay, find sources)
T Apr. 8 post: revised critical
essay with
work cited, also questions and answers (not discussion
points)
C. The
Middle East and North Africa; Decisions
amid Wars of
F
Apr. 11 Albert
Camus (Algeria/France),
"The Guest" (French language
story) 2574-82;
and
Naguib Mahfouz (
D.
T Apr.15 Garcia
Marquez(
OR
Jorge Luis Borges
(
also see: poems
by Pablo Neruda, 2438, and Color Plates by Rivera, Kalho
F
4/18-W 4/23 Post Critical Essay AND bring or mail the
Essay in a
packet, with test
essay, response,
sources
E. Women=s Lives and
Reclaiming Traditional Culture in Asia and the
T
Apr. 22
OR
OR
F Apr. 25 Native
American Leslie Silko "Yellow Woman"
2940-47
(English language story);
OR
Wed
April 30 Final
Exam (open
books,
no essay) in Dial Bld. (tba) or by Proctor Apr 29-May 1
--Sample
Short Answer
Topics: Nobel Prize Winners on
Modern Literature--(listen or view at nobelprize.org)
1.
American novelist William Faulkner (prize 1950): A
modern writer should set aside fear and write about "the old verities
& truths of the heart..
.love and honor and pity and pride and compassion
and sacrifice. The poet=s voice
need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the
props,
the pillars, to help man endure and prevail."
2. Russian
novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn (prize 1970):
"World literature has the power in these frightening
times to help mankind see itself
accurately
despite what is advocated by partisans and by parties."
That is, literature is valuable when it tells
the truth, instead of promoting
political, social, religious or other
self-serving distortion of truth.
3.
American novelist Toni Morrison (prize 1993): ALanguage
can never >pin down= slavery,
genocide, war. Nor should it yearn for the arrogance
to
be able to do so. Its force... is in its
reach toward the ineffable .. .. Be it grand or slender, burrowing,
blasting,
or refusing to sanctify; whether
it laughs out loud or is a cry without an
alphabet, the choice word, the chosen silence, unmolested language
surges toward
knowledge, not its
destruction. . . .
Word-work is sublime . . . because it is generative [creates life]; it makes meaning that secures our difference,
our human difference--
the way in which we are like no other life.
4.
Let us suppose floods wash through our cities,
the seas rise ... the storyteller will be there, for it is our
imaginations
which shape us, keep us, create us.
It
is our stories, the storyteller, that will recreate us, when we are
torn, hurt,
even destroyed. It is the storyteller,
the dream-maker, the myth-maker,
that is our phoenix,
what we are at our best,
when we are our most creative.