English 2309:001
World Literature
Summer II 2009
Thomas A. Ryan MTWR 10:30 a.m.--12:30 p.m.
202 Carlisle Hall Preston Hall 200
817-272-2758 or 817-272-2692
Web: http://www.uta.edu/english/TAR/tar.html Email: ryan@uta.edu
Office Hours: MTWR 10:00 a.m.--10:30 a.m.
Texts: Aeschylus, The Oresteia. (trans. Fagles) Penguin
Marie de France, The Lais of Marie de France. Penguin
Voltaire, Candide. Dover Thrift
Dostoevski, Notes from Underground
F. Kafka, The Trial. Schocken
J-P Sartre, No Exit and Three Other Plays.
S. Beckett, Waiting for Godot. Grove Press
Kate Figes, ed., The Penguin Book of International Women's Short
Stories.
Penguin
Course Description: This course will introduce students to the study of literature on the college level. The works we will read are drawn from several different historical periods and national literatures and represent a number of different literary genres. Class lectures and discussions will focus on ways of understanding and interpreting the works and on locating them in their historical, cultural, and intellectual milieus.
Course Goals: There are three interdependent goals that this course will seek to accomplish this semester. These goals are to acquaint students with a wide selection of works from several genres of world literature, to provide students with a general understanding of literature, and to enable students to read, appreciate, and analyze literary texts. In order to accomplish these goals, the students will be asked to read the assigned literary works, to participate in class discussions, and to write about selected works.
Attendance and Drop Policy: Attendance in class and class participation are important. Frequent absences will have a deleterious effect on your grade. It is extremely important that you read the assigned material before coming to class. I will give reading quizzes, if necessary, as an incentive. If for some reason you cannot continue in the class, remember to officially drop the course. It is now against University policy for faculty members to drop students.
Course Requirements: We will have a Midsemester
Test and a Final Examination. These tests will be part Scantron and part essay
in format. I will also ask you to write three brief (about four -six pages)
essays about the works that we will read. The first essay will concern Aeschylus's
dramas. This essay will be due on Monday, July 20. The second
essay will focus on Kafka's The Trial. This essay will be due on Monday,
August 3. The third essay will be on one of the short stories in the Penguin
Book of International Women's Short Stories. It will be due on Monday,
August 10.
Course Evaluation and Final Grade: The two tests will each count twenty-five percent of your final grade; the three essays will each count fifteen percent, and attendance and participation in class discussions will count five percent.
Student Evaluation of Teaching: Toward the end of the semester, I shall ask your opinion on the success of the course by having you complete the Student Evaluation of Teaching Survey.
Americans with Disabilities Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and the letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 93112: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of new federal legislation entitled Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], pursuant to section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens.
As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels.
Academic Dishonesty: It is the philosophy of the University of Texas at Arlington that
academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University.
"Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22)
Reading Schedule
Dates and
assignments are tentative.
W
|
Jul 8
|
Introduction to Course |
R
|
Jul 9
|
Aeschylus, Agamemnon |
M
|
Jul 13
|
Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers |
T
|
Jul 14
|
Aeschylus, The Eumenides |
W
|
Jul 15
|
Marie de France, Lais |
R
|
Jul 16
|
Lais, continued |
M
|
Jul 20
|
Voltaire, Candide |
T
|
Jul 21
|
Candide, cont. |
W
|
Jul 22
|
Dostoevski, Notes from Underground |
R
|
Jul 23
|
Notes from Underground, cont. |
M
|
Jul 27
|
Midsemester Test |
T
|
Jul 28
|
Kafka, The Trial |
W
|
Jul 29
|
The Trial, cont. |
R
|
Jul 30
|
Sartre, The Flies |
M
|
Aug 3
|
Sartre, No Exit |
T
|
Aug 4
|
Beckett, Waiting for Godot |
W
|
Aug 5
|
Penguin Book . . . Short Stories |
R
|
Aug 6
|
Penguin Book . . . Short Stories, cont. |
M
|
Aug 10
|
Penguin Book . . . Short Stories, cont. |
T
|
Aug 11
|
Final Examination |