CVCC
Humanities
and Social Sciences Division
English
252: Survey of World Literature II
Section
02 MA
Credit
Hours: 3
Spring
Semester 2019
Room: 3213
Prerequisites:
English
111 or division approval.
Course Description:
Examines
major works of world literature.
Involves critical reading and writing.
Drop Dates:
Last
Day to Drop a Class With a Refund: Thursday, January 31
Last
Day to Withdraw With a Grade of W: Tuesday, March 26
Alerts
and Emails:
E2Campus
Alerts:
All students should sign up for e2campus alerts so that they will be informed
via text message when all classes are cancelled (due, for example, to snow) or
when a campus emergency arises.
Email
Communications:
Due to legal restrictions, I may only respond to emails sent via your CVCC
email address. I cannot respond to
academic questions via facebook, Snapchat, Instagram DMs, or other social media
platforms or to those sent via a personal email address. When you send me your email, please use your
cvcc email address. I will also use this email address for all academic email
communications I send to you. Please check your email and Blackboard regularly.
Blackboard: I will use Blackboard to post
your syllabi, daily assignment schedule, key announcements (particularly in the
event of class cancellation or changes in assignments or assignment due
dates). I will not necessarily post your
grades to Blackboard because I believe one of the skills you should learn in
college is how to keep account of your grade and progress in the class. I will send an email to your CVCC address
regarding any updates or announcements on Blackboard.
Course Blog: All handouts on how to write
the essay, assignments, assignment schedules, syllabi, and other course
materials are available on the course blog together with research sources, MLA
help, and a host of other materials. If
you lose this syllabus and the course blog address, you can simply google my
name to find it.
Student Accessibility Services: If you have a documented physical, mental, or learning disability and
you need reasonable accommodations to help you achieve success, please contact
Student Accessibility Services, in the Counseling Center, Amherst Hall room
2103, phone - 434.832.7299, fax – 434.832.6699 or email ADA@centralvirginia.edu. To best
provide the accommodation you need, make this request as soon as possible.
Title
IX Statement: As a recipient of federal funds,
Central VA Community College is required to comply with Title IX of the Higher
Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (“Title IX”), which
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or
activities, admission and employment. Under certain circumstances, sexual
misconduct, sexual harassment, and similar conduct constitute sexual
discrimination prohibited by Title IX.
The purpose of this Policy is to establish that the
College prohibits discrimination, harassment, sexual assault, domestic
violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation and to set forth
procedures by which such allegations shall be filed, investigated and resolved.
For assistance, please meet with: Title IX Coordinator,
Marc Zoccola, M.A., Amherst Hall #2102 TitleIXCoordinator@centralvirginia.edu, 434.832.7804.
In
case of an emergency, dial 911 or Campus Police, 434.832.7700
Early
Alerts
CVCC
uses Navigate to inform students when they are performing poorly or have
issues in a class, and kudos, to congratulate and encourage students when they
are doing well. Instructors can raise flags and kudos at any time on their own,
or through “Progress Surveys” which instructors fill out at specific times
throughout the semester. The raising of a flag or posting of a kudo will
trigger an automatic email to you (the student). Student Services may also
contact you to inform you of any flags you have received and what you can do to
have the flag removed and what resources CVCC offers to help achieve success in
your course(s). CVCC’s Student Services Coordinator Hunter Overstreet is the
Early Alert lead and can be reached at: overstreeth@centralvirginia.edu,
(434) 832 – 7799.
Note
that flags do not affect your grade or standing at CVCC, nor do they show up
anywhere on your CVCC transcript.
Course Goals and Outcomes:
- Students will
learn to analyze literary texts composed within and across a variety of
periods or genres.
- Students will
demonstrate an awareness of how literary texts inform and are informed by
socio-political, economic, cultural, historical, and biographical factors.
- Students will
learn to recognize important literary trends, noting key distinctions and
continuities among literary texts.
- Students will
compose a formal essay which demonstrates their knowledge and
understanding of the literature covered in the course
Required
Texts:
To facilitate class discussion and
research, please acquire the exact editions that I ordered for the class.
·
Achebe. Things Fall
Apart
·
Dostevsky. Notes From Underground.
·
Esquivel. Like Water for Chocolate.
·
Kafka. Metamorphosis
·
Kanafani. Men in the Sun
and Other Palestinain Stories
·
Voltaire. Candide
·
Yoshimoto. Kitchen.
Class
Policies:
Cell/Smart Phone
and Tablet Etiquette:
Social media and smartphone addiction are serious
problems that it is not my responsibility to treat; however, I will not allow
the class to suffer from this pervasive addiciton. So, to put it simply: Never use your
smartphone, laptop, tablet, cell phone, wearqable device, or similar devices in
class without my explicit permission. This includes leaving your phone on your
desk or in your lap, (face down or not) and oh so sneakily checking your
wearable device. If you cannot leave
your phone alone for an hour, you might want to consider why that is, but it’s
up to you not to use it in class.
To put it simply, if I see you repeatedly texting, tweeting,
snapchatting, instagramming, facebooking, surfing the web, taking selfies (yes,
that happens), or swiping right (or left), etc. in class, I will ask you to leave the class, and you
will be counted absent for that day.
Attendance:
All
excused absences must be accompanied by timely, appropriate, written
documentation. More than three unexcused absences per semester will adversely
affect your grade as follows
- 1-3 absences = no
penalty
- 4 absences = -10
points from final grade
- 5 absences = -20
points in final grade
- 6 absences = -30
points in final grade
- 7 absences = failure
of class
What
constitutes an excused absence is fairly straight-forward:
- Documented doctor appointments
- Documented court appointments
- Funeral attendance
- Documented military
service
Missing
(20 percent) for any reason (excused or unexcused) results in failure of the
course
Tardiness:
For safety reasons, and to deter tardiness,
after the roll has been called, I will lock the door to the class, and late
students will be counted absent and not admitted to the class.
Late
Work:
- All work is due at the
beginning of class or prior to class.
- No late work is accepted
without an excused absence in which case it is due on or before the
beginning of the class immediately following your absence.
Graded
Assignment:
Notes
on Preparing for the Class Discussion, Discussion Questions, Papers, and Exam:
- Underline, highlight, and otherwise
mark and comment in the margins of your text. You cannot sell these books back for
much money, so write in them, put in sticky notes, bend back pages; it
will help a great deal when it comes time to compose your final paper and
discuss the text in class.
Some Guidelines
For Discussion:
- In order to promote open and lively discussion, it is essential that everyone read the assigned texts in their entirety by the due date.
- Underline, highlight, and otherwise mark and comment in the margins and body of your texts; write in them, put in sticky notes, bend back pages; it will help a great deal when it comes time to compose your final paper and discuss the text in class.
- As this is a discussion-based course, failure to participate in discussion regularly will adversely affect your final score in the class. I will subtract as much as a letter grade (10 points) from your final grade at my discretion if you do no participate actively
Trigger Warning:
· This
class will discuss adult themes of sexuality and violence as well as
controversial theological, political, economic, racial, and philosophical
positions. Basically, the class is Rated
R.
- Because some opinion, text, or subject offends you, does not mean we will not discuss it. Because you disagree with an established fact, does not mean your factually inaccurate opinion must be accepted or given credence. “That’s just like, your opinion, man” is not, in this class, an accepted retort to an established fact. Moreover, academic discourse requires the rational, fact based, free inquiry into any subject, no matter how controversial. With that said, we will at all times afford the utmost respect for the fact-based opinions expressed by each individual in the class, and we will treat adult topics with due decorum. Maintaining rational discourse and an open mind will facilitate the exchange of ideas and the ability of each of us, myself included, to learn from one another.
Reading
Quizzes (300 point):
I will give one quiz worth fourty (40) points for
each of the seven selected readings on the day we begin discussion of a
text. These quizzes will be
fill-in-the-blank style, not “multiple guess” or matching. If you complete each
of the quizzes, you will be given the remaining twenty (20) of the possible
three hundred (300) points as extra credit.
The purpose of the reading quizzes is not to check
that you have learned something from class discussion or lecture that I told
you in advance to learn for a quiz. They
are not, in other words, SOL type tests about which I will drill you for weeks,
then expect you to supply the answers I have trained you to repeat like a
parrot. Frankly, the purpose of these
quizzes is to require you to do something high school has too often failed to
prepared you to do: to read with attention to detail; that is, their intent is
to police your reading and make sure you read the text in its entirety and with
attention.
To that end, I will prepare quizzes that cover the
entire text, and I will create them after reading Schmoop, Gradesaver,
Sparknotes, Bookrags, wikipedia, etc.
Thus, the quizzes will be (lamentably) based on recall and not on
interpretation of the text, and they will cover material that should be
memorable if you read the text carefully and completely, but they will not
cover material addressed in any of the online summaries and sites on the text,
and we will not discuss what is to be on the quiz in advance.
Together with the final essay, these are the most
significant segment of your grade. So, if you don’t read, you will not likely
pass the class.
Session
Leaders/MLA 200 Points (140 Points Presentation + 60 Points for MLA):
For
each text we study, I will choose a group of students to lead discussion. Each member of this group will pick one of
the following areas to research for each text:
·
Historical period
in which the text was written: Tell
me the quirky interesting facts, as well as the new ideas, recreational
activities, media, fashion, sports, art, science, technologies, and theories
that came from the era. Do not use a
timeline or series of dates for events that happened. Describe the period as you would describe our
own historical time.
·
Biographical
information about the author: (Do not provide time lines or lists of
dates here. Tell us the story of the
author’s life; that is, tell us anything interesting about the author and how
that biographical information may have shaped his or her work). Give us the good, the bad, and the ugly about
the author: like it is an expose on E! as
much as a biography on PBS.
·
Literary analysis
of the text:
(In other words, what trained critics have discovered about how we can or
should read the text, not reviews (it was good/I liked it or It was bad/I hated
it). I’m looking for a summary of one
professional interpretation of the
text. In short: you must
summarize the argument of one serious academic article on the text we are
discussing. See me if you have difficulty finding such an article, but start
with Literature Resource Center (available at the CVCC library page) or use the
electronic card cataloge at our library.
·
Literary movement
to which the text belongs: (See me for help in identifying the literary period
of your text.) Literary period include:
the Victorian, Romantic, Renaissance, American Renaissance, fin de siecle, Medieval, Modern,
etc…..Tell your audience about the traits of that period, the common themes,
concerns, artistic techniques, etc…tie in music and art here as well.
On the first day we discuss a text, the
session leaders will present their information to the class. The presentation
should last the entire class period and contain the following components:
·
Individual
oral presentations of the subject matter researched (these should last about
five minutes each)
·
A
typed handout from each member of the group (put your MLA header on it),
outlining the information presented
·
The
bibliographic sources used, listed in correct MLA, Works Cited page, style. If
the MLA is incorrect you will lose sixty (60) points.
·
One
copy of each handout for every member of the class. (I
will copy these handouts for you if you submit them to me in a reasonable
period prior to class time.) If you show up to class without copies ready to
distribute on time, you will lose sixty (60) points.
·
An
activity to stir the class’s imagination, entertain us, and test out knowledge
of the material you present.
·
A
few lines explaining the contribution of each member of your group (who helped,
who did not, and so on).
o
Note: Make sure you
work together on this activity and have it ready to go prior to class; last
minute figuring out of presentation details in class--deciding who goes first,
honing rules of the activity, or other signs of being ill prepared--will
negatively affect your grade.
o
Note: No two groups may
use the same activity. I.e. If one group uses a scavanger hunt, a
jeopardy game with prizes, or a skit with costumes, no subsequent group may do
so.
o
Note: I have seen all
manner of presentations. Here are some ideas: dramatic readings, enactments of
scenes with props, group videos, thematic cake decorating, collages, craft
projects, song-writing activities, paper bag or sock puppet shows, scavenger
hunts, charades/pictionary based games, etc…
Your grade will depend on your attendance
on the assignment date, the depth, accuracy, and enthusiasm of your research
and presentation, the availability of handouts for each member of the class on
the assignment date, and the report of your peers on your contribution (140
points), and your use of correct MLA documentation style (60 points).
One
Researched Final Paper (300 points):
A
formal seminar paper will be due on the last day of class. This essay must:
- Be a minimum of nine and a
maximum of twelve complete pages in length,
- Pursue a thesis approved by
and in consultation with me via email or in my office,
- Analyze at least two of the
texts, drawing connections between them,
- Not
merely summarize the texts,
- Make
and defend an argument on how the texts should be read/understood (i.e. it
should make an analysis of the texts and provide a clear, arguable thesis
about how they should be read),
- Use
many pertinent quotations from the text to support key point,
- Use correct
MLA format,
- Be
carefully edited for grammar and style (Poff’s Pet Peeves),
- Quote from at least five
reputable, scholarly secondary sources in addition to the two primary
sources.
- Draw the five required outside
sources from JSTOR, Project Muse, Literature Resource Center, or a
physical book written or edited by a scholar about the text, its author, a
literary theory or school, or the literary period of the text.
- Include a preliminary,
annotated bibliography of the five secondary sources by a due date in
advance of the final paper. (See Daily Assignment Schedule). The annotated bibliography must list the
five secondary sources in MLA style and include a few sentences
summarizing each source.
The Midterm Exam (200
points):
The midterm exam will be a
comprehensive, open book, open notes, take home essay test of approximately two
hours in duration and a minimum of four pages in length, in which you answer
one of several questions which I provide you covering the texts we have
discussed to that point.
Grading:
There are a maximum of 1000 points available
in the class. At the end of the
semester, I will simply total all the points you have accumulated to determine
your final grade. A standard college
grading scale will be used to determine your letter grade.
A
= 900-1000
B
= 800-899
C
= 700-799
D
= 600-699
F = 599 and below
The breakdown of points for each
assignment is as follows:
Quizzes:
300
points
Presentation: 200
points
Researched
Paper: 300 points
Midterm
Exam: 200 points
Plagiarism
and Academic Dishonesty:
Cheating has
become so commonplace and accepted, that I have literally had students tell me
they cheat and think it is acceptable to do so.
Academic dishonesty is clearly a serious problem, and the English
department at CVCC has decided to combat the problem vigorously. In spite of what you are learning at every
level of our society, the point of college is not merely to secure a high grade,
pass an “unnecessary” class, or obtain the credentials necessary for a desired
job, but to receive an education and to learn how to think and know better;
cheating undermines that educational purpose.
As a result, in
this course, any assignment that contains verifiable instances of plagiarism or
academic dishonesty will automatically receive a grade of zero (0) and will not
be eligible for any type of revision, rewrite, ‘do over,’ or ‘make up’.
A definition of plagiarism
and its repercussion is available in the student handbook; however, here are
some specifics:
Academic Dishonesty Includes, But is Not Limited To):
· Copying an essay (online or otherwise) or any portion
of an assignment written by another and submitting it as your own work,
· Allowing someone else to complete your assignment for
free or for pay and representing their work as your own,
·
Submitting
written work on a reading assignment without actually having read the
assignment,
·
Submitting your
own work from another class without the explicit, written permission of both
instructors,
·
“Copying” someone
else’s answers on a test or quiz,
·
Paying for or
otherwise acquiring or giving to others test questions in advance of a test or
quiz,
·
Using an outside
source without acknowledging it and citing it properly in MLA style.
To ensure
you understand and follow the rules to prevent academic dishonesty, you must
print and sign the honor statement on an additional sheet submitted with your
final essay, presentation, and midterm exam.
The statement may be downloaded/printed from the link on my webpage.
Plagiarism
is a serious offense and can result in a failing grade for the assignment, a
failing grade for the course, or expulsion from CVCC.
This Syllabus and the Attached Daily Assignment Schedule Are Subject to Change at My Discretion
Daily Assignment Schedule (World Literature)
Please Note: Texts should be
read by the first day of discussion or by the time the session leaders present
(whichever comes first)!
Date In Class Homework Due
|
January
T 15
|
Introductions
|
None
Complete Getting to
Know You Exercise
Important:
Send me an email with your name and course and class hour
|
Uh….none
|
|
R 17
|
Deja-Vous Snow Prep
|
Complete Getting to
Know You Exercise
Important:
Send me an email with your name and course and class hour
Read: Candide
|
Getting To Know You
Exercise
|
|
T 22
|
Getting to Know
You, Syllabus Distributed, and Syllabus Overview Planned
|
Plan Syllabus
Overview
Read: Candide
|
Getting To Know You
Exercise
Email Response
|
|
R 24
|
Syllabus Overview
Sign up for
Presentations
Handout: How to
Write the Literary Essay.
|
Read: Candide
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Candide
|
Syllabus Overview
|
|
T 29
|
Quiz 1: Candide
Session Leaders Presentation
on Candide
|
None
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Candide
|
|
R 31
|
Discussion: Candide
|
Read: Metamorphois
|
None
|
|
February
T 5
|
Discussion: Candide
|
Read: Metamorphois
|
None
|
|
R 7
|
Discussion: Candide
|
Read: Metamorphois
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Metamorphois
|
|
|
T 12
|
Quiz 2: Metamorphois
Session Leaders Presentation
on Metamorphois
|
None
|
Session Leaders Presentation
on Metamorphosis
|
|
R 14
|
Discussion: Metamorphois
|
Read: Notes From Underground
|
None
|
|
T 19
|
Discussion: Metamorphois
|
Read: Notes
From Underground
|
None
|
|
R 21
|
Discussion: Metamorphois
|
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Notes From
Underground
|
None
|
|
T 26
|
Quiz 3: Notes From Underground
Session Leaders
Presentation on Notes From Underground
|
None
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Notes From
Underground
|
|
R 28
|
Discussion: Notes From Underground
|
Read: Things Fall Apart
|
None
|
|
March
T 5
|
Discussion: Notes From Underground
|
Read: Things Fall Apart
|
None
|
|
R 7
|
Discussion: Notes From Underground
Midterm Exam
Distributed
|
Read: Things Fall Apart
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Things Fall
Apart
|
None
|
|
T 12
|
Spring Break
|
Classes Will Not
|
Meet
|
|
R 14
|
Class
|
Will Not
|
Meet
|
|
T 19
|
Quiz 4: Things Fall Apart
Session Leaders
Presentation on Things Fall Apart
|
Read: “Men in the Sun”
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Things Fall Apart
|
|
R 21
|
Discussion: Things Fall Apart
|
Read: “Men in the Sun”
|
Midterm Exam Due
|
|
T 26
|
Discussion: Things Fall Apart
|
Read: “Men
in the Sun” and Kitchen
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Things Fall Apart
|
|
R 28
|
Discussion: Things Fall Apart
|
Read: “Men
in the Sun” and Kitchen
|
None
|
|
April
T 2
|
Quiz 5: “Men in the Sun”
Discussion:“Men in the Sun”
|
Read: Kitchen
|
|
|
R 4
|
Discussion:“Men in the Sun”
|
Read: Kitchen
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Kitchen
|
None
|
|
T 9
|
Quiz 6: Kitchen
Session Leaders
Presentation on Kitchen
|
Read: Like Water for Chocolate
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Kitchen
|
|
R 11
|
Class Will Not
Meet.
Poff is at a
Conference.
|
Read: Like Water for Chocolate
|
None
|
|
T 16
|
Discussion: Kitchen
|
Read: Like Water for Chocolate
|
None
|
|
R 18
|
Discussion: Kitchen
|
Read: Like Water for Chocolate
Session Leaders
Prepare Presentation on Like Water for
Chocolate
|
|
|
T 23
|
Quiz 7: Like Water for Chocolate
Session Leaders
Presentation on Like Water for
Chocolate
|
Compose Sample
Thesis and Annotated Bibliography for Final Paper
|
Session Leaders
Presentation on Like Water for
Chocolate
|
|
R 25
|
Discussion: Like Water for Chocolate
|
None
|
Sample Thesis and
Annotated Bibliography for Final Paper
|
|
T 30
|
Discussion: Like Water for Chocolate
|
Complete Your Final
Essay
|
None
|
|
May
R 2
|
So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu….
|
Carpe Diem
|
FINAL ESSAY DUE: On
any two texts
|