World Literature Survey- Syllabus

World Literature Survery Syllabus

A study of representative works of world literature, emphasizing the study and consideration of the literary, cultural, and human significance of selected great works of the Western and non-Western literary traditions. An important goal of the class is to promote an understanding of the works in their cultural/historical contexts and of the enduring human values which unite the different literary traditions. Designed to be a 300 university level course worth approximately 6 college credits.

Part A- Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

Readings: 

• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Beowulf 
• Confucius (Kongfuzi), Analects, didactic prose (excerpts from World Literature Anthology) 
• Dante, Inferno (excerpts from World Literature Anthology) 
• The Bhagavad-Gita, religious epic (India) 
• Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (General Prologue, the Miller's Tale and prolouge, and the Wife of Bath's tale and prologue.) 
• Le Morte D'arthur (Sangreal, Lancelot and Guinevere's Tale, The Death of Arthur) 
• Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (excerpts from World Literature Anthology) 
• William Shakespeare, The Tempest 
• Ovid, The Metamorphoses
• Machiavelli, The Prince (optional) 

Part B- the seventeenth century to the present. 

Readings: 

• Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière, Tartuffe (excerpts from World Literature Anthology) 
• François Marie Arouet de Voltaire, Candide
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, Part I
• Virginia Woolf, selections from A Room of One's Own, "Three Pictures" and "The Fascination of the Pool"
• T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land
• Samuel Beckett, Endgame (film) 
• Flaubert, Madame Bovary
• Pope, Rape of the Lock
• Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground 
• Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych
• Anton Chekhov, "The Lady with the Dog"
• Gabriel García Márquez, "Death Constant Beyond Love," short story (includes "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings")
• Leslie Marmon Silko, "Yellow Woman," short story
• Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
• Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (optional) 

Lectures, homework assignments, and discussion questions: 

For each reading assignment, complete the following:

• Locate and review a lecture (video or notes) 
• Write a summary of your thoughts on the reading and lecture 
• Locate and review discussion questions and write your answers 

Term papers: 

Write two 8-10 page term papers, one for Part A and one for Part B, based on a reading assignment of your choice that demonstrates an understanding of the works in their cultural/historical contexts and of the enduring human values which unite the different literary traditions.

Critique: 

Submit all finished work to English professors Mrs. Victoria Fedden and Mrs. Kelly Centrelli for optional review, and to the public via the personal blog www.google-wikipedia-university.blogspot.com for critique.

Deadlines: 

There is no set deadline for individual readings or assignments, and no definitive order in which to complete the assignments. However, it is recommended to complete all assignments in Part A before continuing to Part B. The goal to finish all course material is January 7, 2012.

Source: 
This is a supplemented and adjusted syllabus based on the courses "World Literature I and II," Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/worldlit/program/overview.htm 

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