Comparative Literature 324

CpLit 324
Masterpieces of World Literature
Fall 2003
Dr. Gass
Office: UH440 (CSUF) 157 (El Toro)
Office Hours: 6:00-7:00 El Toro Campus
Telephone: 278-2713 (CSUF campus) 278-1733 (El Toro)
e-mail: jgass@fullerton.edu
fax: (714) 895-5751

Syllabus

Required Text: The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, expanded edition, Vol. 1.

(You must have this text and no other. It is available at The Little Professor Book Center on Placentia next to Kinko’s.)

G.E. Goals for Student Learning: Implications, Explorations, and Participatory Experience in the Arts and Humanities III. B. 3:

CPLT 324 fulfills the following goals for student learning in category III. B. 3:

1. To understand broad, unifying themes in the arts and/or humanities from cross-disciplinary perspectives.

2. To solve complex problems that require artistic or humanistic understanding.

3. To relate the arts and/or humanities to significant social problems or to other related disciplines.

4. In arts courses, to deepen previously acquired artistic appreciation and understanding through participation either in the making or performing of art forms or through the experience of such a process by direct observation. (See extra credit.)

Course Description:

This semester, we are going to study various genres in world literature created by peoples who lived on at least four continents--Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America. Most of the time we will be studying the epic--its conventions and its cultural implications--, but we will also read poetry, autobiography, and drama. In our reading, we will ask ourselves, “What does it mean to be civilized?” “What values do the peoples who created these works have in common?” “ What sets one civilization apart from another?”

Outcomes:

By the end of the semester, you should be able to define, in general, what an epic is, what the epic conventions are, how the epic serves as a document of cultural values, and what the value of the epic is to contemporary society. In addition to the epic, you should know the definition of courtly love and the concept of the chivalric code. You should also be able to compare and contrast the cultural values expressed in selected poetry, drama, and autobiographical writings from a variety of cultures.

Assessments:

Your progress in the course will be assessed in the following ways:

1. Group discussion and presentations (3 at the end of the semester).

2. Identification of epic conventions in the Aeneid and the Inferno.

3. Identification of conventions of courtly love and the chivalric code.

4. Class discussion throughout the semester; active participation will be noted at each class meeting.

Course Requirements:

1. Read the assigned materials before class discussion. This is, after all, a literature course, and you should be prepared to read a great deal. Reading also includes the introductions which precede each section in the text. These introductions are excellent, and you will need the information found therein both for comprehension and for answering examination questions. You will be responsible for the information in those introductions.

2. Be prepared to participate in discussion of the readings every day. Ask questions, contribute ideas, challenge assumptions. You may have valuable information about cultural practices, history, and social customs which will enrich our reading—don’t be afraid to share.

3. Take three take-home essay examinations (two mid-term and one final). Examination questions will be handed out one week before the due date.

4. Take two in-class objective examinations which will include identification of characters, important dates, authors, and titles; definitions of key terms; identifications of quotations. One exam will occur at mid-term, the other on the day of the scheduled final exam.

6. Complete all study questions and turn in three: those on The Aeneid and The Inferno and Don Quixote.

Attendance Policy: Regular attendance is essential to your success in this course. If you miss six (6) or more class hours, you will receive a ‘0' in class participation. One hundred (200) points, one fifth, of your grade is comprised of class participation, which includes regular attendance.

Late Paper Policy: Assigned papers are due on the date assigned. If, for some very good reason which you have communicated to me before the paper’s due date, you cannot get the paper in, you will have one week to complete the assignment without penalty. I will not accept any paper that is more than one week overdue.

Make-up Examination Policy: If you are unable to take an in-class objective examination on the assigned day, you must notify me in advance and arrange to take the examination at my convenience within one week of the date of the examination. In the case of the final examination, you must take it before the scheduled day, not after.

Week #1	Introduction: Video, Greek Mythology
Week #2	Gilgamesh
Week #3	The Old Testament: Genesis The Odyssey (first half)
Week #4	The Odyssey
Week #5	China: The Book of Songs (772-788) India: The Mah~bh~rata (Video)
Week #6	The Aeneid Aeneid Study Questions Due Take Home Essay #1 assigned
Week #7	The Bible: The New Testament Augustine: Confessions Take Home Essay #1 due
Week #8	K~lid~sa: Sakuntal~ and the Ring of Recollection Courtly Love and the Chivalric Code Objective Mid-term Examination
Week #9	T’ao Ch’ien: Selected Poetry and Prose Li Ch’ing Chao, Afterword to Records on Metal and Stone
Week #10	The Divine Comedy: video
Week #11	The Divine Comedy: Inferno Inferno Study Questions Due Take Home Essay #2 assigned
Week #12	The Tale of Genji Take Home Essay #2 due
Week #13	The Epic of Son-Jara Video
Week #14	Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote Don Quixote scavenger hunt due
Week #15	Popol Vuh (the Mayan Epic) Video Take-Home Essay #3 Assigned
Week #16	Final Objective Examination Take Home Essay #3 due

Take-home Essays:	300 points (100 each)
In-class Examinations:	300 points (150 each)
Aeneid assignment:	50 points
Inferno assignment:	100 points
Don Quixote assignment	50 points
Group Participation:	100 points (30, 30, 40)
Class Participation:	200 points
Total Points Possible	1100