NORTH
DAKOTA STATE
World
Literature 240 - Spring 2006 – Credit Hours: 3
Contact
Information:
Instructor’s Name- Sybil Priebe
Instructor’s Email-
sybil.priebe@ndscs.nodak.edu
Instructor’s Website- www.sybilpriebe.com
Instructor’s Weblog-
www.xanga.com/teacher47
Class Blog- http://ndscsworldliterature.blogspot.com
[to login: Blogger.com]
Office- Haverty 223
Office Phone- (701) 671-2346
Office Hours- 12-1pm MWF, 10-11
TR (before Spring Break); 11-Noon TR (after)
Course
Description:
World Literature explores the literature
of varied cultures from ancient to modern times.
The semester will be divided up, at times,
chronologically and by country. Students will read and interpret literature
from other cultures based on the historical and cultural context of the author
and his culture. In response, students will write short critiques about these
pieces; students will also discuss these pieces in both the physical and virtual
classroom (through discussion boards and class blogs)
with their peers and instructor.
Students are encouraged to participate in
group research projects and activities throughout the course, so that they may
collaborate with other students.
Requirements:
·
Required
text: World Literature, 2001, by Holt,
Rinehart, and Winston.
·
Recommended
readings: All other required and recommended readings will be linked
appropriately from the instructor’s web site or teaching weblog.
Some required and recommended readings may also be handed out as handouts in
class.
·
Students
should have access to the following technology at least 3 hours per week, so
that they have adequate access to the online discussion board and class blog as well as online materials for this course - Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher or
Netscape 7.0 or higher and an email account at that to receive mail. (Free
email accounts can be gotten through YAHOO, Hotmail, or angelfire.com.).
·
Students
will be required to save their files on both a 3.5” disk/USB AND by sending the documents to themselves via their email accounts. This will ensure that
no document gets lost or can not be downloaded properly. [To send a document to
yourself through your email account, simply save the file to the desktop. Then
open up Explorer and proceed to your email account. Compose a new message and
put your email address in the To: area. From there,
attach the document as a file to the message. Press Send.]
Goals
and Objectives:
One specific objective will be to bridge the then and now, them and us; to
teach students to relate to the social experiences of other cultures and
perspectives. Students, while reading, criticizing, and discussing the
assigned works, will develop an appreciation of these cultures and their
historic contributions to thought and literature.
In addition, students will:
·
Improve analytical and critical skills through
close readings of the texts.
·
Improve writing skills through composing original
compositions using textual evidence to support assertions.
·
Read, outline, and
discuss literature from 6 of the 7 continents (does
·
Participate
in group discussion/class blog, projects, and
activities to encourage teamwork and investigative skills.
·
Interpret
literature in a variety of different ways.
·
List, recognize, and
name authors and their significant works from a variety of world cultures.
·
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships
between literature and life through class discussions, posts to the class blog, writing responses, and composing critical essays.
·
Connect their lives with the lessons, lives,
and words from world authors and world masterpieces.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is crucial to understanding all of
the course materials and to earning a passing grade; therefore, failure to
attend many classes without an excused reason will result in a reduction in
grade or even an F in the course. Students with excused absences (illness with a doctor’s note, school-sponsored
activities, military duty, or family emergencies) have one week to make up
missed assignments. Documentation for excused absences must be provided to the
instructor within a week’s time of the absence (doctor’s note, funeral
clipping, etc). When it comes to unexcused
absences, students who miss 5 class periods due to unexcused absences will
lose 100 points or, in other words, a letter grade (highest letter grade = B). If a student misses 7 class periods, 200
points will be deducted from his/her total points. If a student were to miss 9
or more class periods, he/she would receive an F for the course.
*Please note: Students with unexcused absences are not eligible to
turn in work late.
Late Work:
As
mentioned in the attendance policy, students with excused absences do have two weeks to make up work assigned while they were absent. If a
student is present on a Monday, but has an excused absence for Wednesday,
he/she must turn in Monday’s assignment on Friday. The student is allowed,
however, one week to make up the assignment that was assigned Wednesday. As
also mentioned in the attendance policy, students with unexcused absences do
not get to hand in late work. All late work will receive zero credit, however,
I have no problem looking at late work and giving feedback on the assignment. This
policy is not meant to punish, but rather, to prepare students for the “real
world” where there are such things as deadlines.
If
an assignment is due AT CLASS TIME or AT THE END OF CLASS TIME (and is
stated as such in the chart portion of the syllabus or is stated as such when
assigned by the instructor) it will be considered late if a student hands it in
after class time. For all other assignments that are not listed as such, the
assignment may be handed in after class time but before
Students
with Disabilities:
Any student with disabilities or special
needs, who requires special accommodations in this course, is invited to share
concerns or requests with me as soon as possible.
Plagiarism:
If any amount of plagiarism is found in a
student’s paper (copying from the internet without quotations or parenthetical
citations, copying parts or whole pages from another student, or any other sign
of plagiarism), that student will be subject to disciplinary action which could
result in no credit for the paper or a complete revision of the paper with a
large reduction in points. If a student repeatedly plagiarizes, more severe
actions will take place.
Class
Rules:
·
Please,
please talk during class discussions. This class will be boring if everyone
keeps their thoughts to themselves. This class will be fun and exciting if
everyone speaks up, and I don’t have to lecture for the entire class period.
Trust me.
·
When
you miss class, you will be “missing something important.” Please feel free to inform
me when you will be gone. However, don’t expect me to repeat exactly what
happened in class five days ago if you miss class without talking to me
beforehand. Make sure to find a “buddy” in class to contact about assignment
changes, what happened in class, what was assigned in class, etc. or simply
check my teaching blog or the class blog for updates.
·
Respect
each others’ writing, opinions, responses, and property.
·
Packing
up your things before class time is over is disrespectful. Please wait until I
dismiss the class.
·
Respect
goes both ways. If you are talking, I will listen (as will the rest of the
class). If I am talking, I’d like all of you to listen. Please do not chat with
others while I am lecturing; it is rude.
·
Turn
off cell phones. If a cell phone rings in class, the owner may be subject to
teasing and/or a short “talk” by the instructor.
·
Be
on time. If tardiness starts to occur, very easy quizzes will be given out
right at the beginning of class time.
Assessment and Point
Breakdown:
This course is based on a 1000 point total. Those
points are divided as such (and these assignments are subject to revision or even
deletion):
(a)
Three essays (50 points each) – 150 points
(b)
One individual major project with oral presentation – 200 points
(c)
Group project/paper with oral presentation – 200 points
(d)
Daily discussion questions (approximately 10 points per class period) posted to
*Class Blog – 200 points
(e)
Daily assignments (10 points per assignment) – 150 points
(f)
Participation in class discussions of the literature – 100 points
Grade Scale
900-1000 pts = A
800-899 pts = B
700-799 pts = C
600-699 pts = D
599 and below = F
(a) Essays:
We will discuss
possible topics in advance, and the questions posted to the class blog by students could easily be made into topics for these
essays. These individual essays will be in regards to what we are reading in
class (post-1900). Essays will be: 2-3 pages long (this means 2 full pages, not
1.8 pages), double-spaced, follow MLA documentation style, and be typed. Papers are due at the
beginning of the class meeting on
the due-date. Late essays will not be accepted (see Late
Work policy). Please make sure to edit your writing carefully; the spelling,
grammar, and punctuation are expected to be accurate. Also - Remember to
proofread the final draft carefully, preferably aloud; this is important.
Any writing
for this class (excluding blog posts) will be graded
on:
|
quality
of thought
(focus of essay and of each paragraph on a single idea, support of
generalizations with sufficient and relevant detail), |
|
structure
of thought
(organization, coherence), and |
|
polished form (conventions of
spelling, punctuation, grammar, handling of sources, documentation; style
which is precise, clear, economical, and appropriate). |
(b) Individual Major Project & Oral
Presentation:
Throughout the
semester, students will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of
options for their individual major project. Options for this project will
revolve around anything or anyone pre-1900. So, those topics may include:
researching a piece of literature from before 1900, researching a particular
author’s background (of an author from before 1900), connecting pieces of
literature and writing about their connections (compare and contrast), etc. The
end product to the individual major project could be a paper, a web site, a weblog, a multi-genre collection of works, etc. The individual
oral presentation should be completed alongside the individual major project.
Throughout the semester, students will sign up for a time to present either
their individual major project. Requirements for the project/paper are: Paper =
5+ pages, Web Site = 5+ web pages with a Links page, Weblog
= 5+ pages when printed off, Multi-Genre Collection of Works = 5+ pages, etc
(talk to instructor if you have other ideas for your project) Requirements for
the presentation are: 10 minutes in length and either a handout of some sort or
a visual aid (Powerpoint, web site, map, etc.). See
Essay (a) for what the written part of the project will be graded on.
(c) Group Paper/Project & Presentation:
Just as the
assignment (b) ask for students to choose a topic to complete their major
project and presentation on, the group paper/project and presentation ask students
to do the same in groups (2-3 people per group, please). Options and
requirements are the same for this group paper/project & presentation as
they are for the individual project & presentation. No overlapping is
involved; students who do their individual projects on Genesis, for example,
can not complete their group project on the Bible. This forces students to research
different time periods/different authors in each project. See Essay (a) for
what the written part of the project will be graded on.
(d) Daily Discussion Questions:
For each reading assignment, you will be
asked to write down 3-5 questions that arise while you are reading the
assignment. You will post these to the class blog
previous to class time (before
*Class Blog: On the first day of class, you will give the
instructor an email address you commonly use (you will have to set up an email
if you don’t already have one). The instructor will then invite you, via email,
to join the Class Blog. You will click on the link in
the body of this email and set up an account. You will need to write down your
username and password; the instructor will not be able to retrieve this information
for you if you lose it. Posting to the Class Blog is
relatively easy; simply go to Blogger.com and type in your username &
password. From there, click on World Literature at NDSCS. Click on Create New
Post, type in your post (3-5 questions about the literature & comments),
and then click Publish Post. You will be able to read others’ postings as well.
If you have questions or problems, please talk to the instructor in class or
via email.
(e) Daily
Assignments:
These types of assignments will not be as
structured or detailed as the projects, essays, or presentations, but they will
add to the daily learning goals. A daily assignment may include: interviewing
others about the literature we are reading, researching the author’s
background, researching the history of the literature (what was happening when
this was written?), writing out one’s response to a particular piece of
literature, or writing on the class blog about how
you connect personally to the literature we’ve been reading.
(f) Participation
in Class Discussions:
Students are expected to come to class
prepared. This means they should: have read
the literature assigned for that class time, posted their 3-5 questions to the class blog
before class time, and talk about
the literature with their classmates and instructor. If the instructor can not
recall a student talking much in class or posting to the blog
during the semester rarely if at all, that student will lose all Participation
Points. Essentially, if one doesn’t post to the blog
or talk in class, he/she will only earn a C, if that.
Flexible
Course Outline:
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2-3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7-8: The Middle East & Africa
Week 9 & 11: South America & Mexico
Week 10: Spring Break
Week 12: Native
Week 13:
Week 14-15:
U.S.A. & Individual Presentations
Week 16: Open
(pick authors as a class on April 13)
Week 17: Group
Presentations
Week 18: Finals Week
Possible
Topics for the Individual & Group Presentations
[Pre-1900 Authors/Poets or short
stories/collections of poetry]:
Confucius, “Gilgamesh,” “Siddhartha,” The
Bible (Genesis), Tao Chi’en, Lao-Tau,
“Bhagavad Gita,” “The Koran,”
Plato, “Hymn to Demeter,” Homer,
World Literature Day-to-Day Chart [Please note: This schedule is not set in stone; it is subject to
change.]
|
|
Tuesday |
Thursday |
|
Week
One: Intro |
January
10 Intro
to me, the class, the book, the syllabus… Class blog, email list, etc… |
January
12 World
Literature timeline handout Some
ancient readings (handout?) |
|
Week 2:
|
January
17 Bei Dao (547) |
January
19 Lux Xun (331) |
|
Week 3: |
January
24 Junichiro (460) |
January
26 Yasunari (659) |
|
Week 4: |
January
31 Akhmatora (552) |
February
2 |
|
Week 5: |
February
7 Franz
Kafka (423) Sign Up
for Individual Presentations |
February
9 No Class – Instructor @
Conference in NM *Paper 1 DUE |
|
Week 6:
|
February
14 Hossain (320) Rumi (handout)? |
February
16 Rushdie
(1255/1307) Ghandi? (1284) |
|
Week 7: The
Middle East/Africa |
February
21 |
February
23 |
|
Week 8: |
February
28 Chinua Achebe, |
March 2 |
|
Week 9: |
March 7 |
March 9 Paper 2 DUE, Individual Presentations |
|
Spring
Break |
March
14 No Class – Spring Break |
March
16 No Class – Spring Break |
|
Week
11: SA/Mexico |
March
21 Pablo Neruda, |
March
23 |
|
Week
12: Native
American |
March
28 Erdrich (handout)? |
March
30 |
|
Week
13: |
April 4 |
April 6 |
|
Week
14: Present./U.S. |
April
11 Individual Presentations O’Brien
– |
April
13 Paper 3 DUE, Individual Presentations Class
decides Week 16 Authors |
|
Week
15: |
April
18 Brooks
(902) Morrison
(903) |
April
20 Bonus Pts for attending RRCWL |
|
Week
16: Open
Topic |
April
25 |
April
27 |
|
Week
17: Present. |
May 2 Group Presentations |
May 4 No Class – Agawasie
Day |
|
Week
18: Finals |
May 9 No Class – Finals Week |
May 11 Pick up
grades/Paper 3/etc in my office |
|
|
|
|