GERALD RICHMAN'S ACADEMIC HOME PAGE: English 124 Great Books of World Literature II
<webcas.cas.suffolk.edu/richman/Eng124>
COURSE DESCRIPTION, TEXTS, SCHEDULE, REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES: JOURNALS AND RESPONSES, MIDTERM PAPER, FINAL EXAMINATION
SPRING 2007
English 124A Great Books of World Literature II TTh 11:30-12:45 Sawyer A 40
| Email |
Voice Mail |
Mailbox |
Fax |
Office |
Office Hours |
grichman@suffolk.edu |
(617)573-8279 |
Fenton 216 |
(617)305-1744 |
Fenton 227 |
MW 12:00-1:00, TTh 10:30-11:30, and by appointment |
Last updated
.
Because this page will be updated throughout the semester, please consult it freqently. I will announce major changes and additions in class.
Course Description
In this course we will read closely and discuss in detail some of the greatest post-medieval masterpieces of world literature from Spain, Germany, France, Russia, China, Latin America, Senegal, and Israel.
Methods: In order for everyone in the class to be an active participant, we will use this syllabus and the online platform Blackboard, accessed through Campus Cruiser at <http://www.suffolk.edu/campuscruiser/index.html>. To access Blackboard, you must turn off Pop-Up Blockers.
For every class, study questions posted to the Syllabus will foster class discussion and provide material for thoughtful Journal entries.
Texts in Order of Discussion
Available from the Suffolk University Bookstore or the Reserve desk in the Sawyer Library
- Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.
- Cervantes, Miguel de.Don Quijote. 1605, 1615. Trans. Burton Raffel, Norton, 1999.
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von.Faust. 1808. Trans. David Luke, Oxford World's Classics, 1987.
- Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. 1857. Trans. Lowell Bair, Bantam, 1959.
- Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. 1866. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Vololhonsky. New York: Vintage Classics, 1992.
- Chang, Eileen. The Rouge of the North. 1967. Berkely and Los Angeles: U of California P, 1998.
- Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York: Perennial Classics, 1998.
- Habiby, Emile. The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist. 1974. Trans. Salma K. Jayyusi and Trevor LeGassick. Northampton, MA: Interlink Books, 2003.
- Bâ, Mariama. So Long a Letter. 1980. Trans. Modupé Bodé-Thomas. LOndon: Heinemann, 1989.
SCHEDULE
| Date |
Readings |
Assignments |
| January 16 |
Introduction |
Blackboard
|
| January 18-23 |
Don Quijote: Volume One: Prologue, Chapters 1-14, 16-22, 25, 30-31, 35, 43-44, 51-52, and Summaries of Chapters 15, 23-24, 26-29, 32-34, 36-42, and 45-50. |
Journal 1
|
| January 25 |
Don Quijote: Volume Two, Prologue, Chapters 1-3, 8-17, and Summaries of Chapters 4-7 and 18-21. |
Response 1 |
| January 30 |
Don Quijote: Volume Two, Chapters 22-23, 44-48, 64-65, 72-74, and Summaries of Chapters 18-21, 24-43, 49-63, and 66-71. |
Journal 2 |
| February 1 |
Faust |
Response 2 |
| February 6-8 |
Faust |
Journal 3
Response 3 |
February 13-15 |
Madame Bovary |
Journal 4
Response 4 |
| February 20-21 |
Madame Bovary |
Journal 5
Response 5 |
| February 27-March 1 |
Crime and Punishment, Parts One and Two |
Journal 6
Response 6 |
March 6-8 |
Crime and Punishment, Parts Three and Four |
Journal 7
Response 7 |
| March 13-15 |
Spring Break |
Midterm Paper |
| March 20 |
Crime and Punishment |
Journal 8 |
| March 22 |
The Rouge of the North |
Response 8 |
| March 27-29 |
The Rouge of the North |
Journal 9
Response 9 |
| April 3-5 |
One Hundred Years of Solitude |
Journal 10
Response 10
|
| April 10-12 |
One Hundred Years of Solitude |
Journal 11
Response 11 |
| April 17-19 |
The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist |
Journal 12
Response 12 |
| April 24 |
The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist |
Journal 13 |
| April 26 |
So Long a Letter |
Response 13 |
| April 30 |
Final Exam |
3:10-5:00 |
Education requires active participation of the whole class. We all have the obligation to contribute to the education of others in the class as well as our own. The only way to accomplish this is to attend class regularly, read texts carefully before class, complete assignments on time, bring books to class, and contribute to the discussion.
Before each class, you will post to Blackboard a 300-500 word Journal or Response writing assignment designed to provoke discussion and to provide practice in written analysis. These writings will be graded mainly for insight, originality, and supporting evidence.
A Final Exam will provide the opportunity to review and pull together the work of the whole semester.
Students with Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities who wish to request accommodations to ensure full participation in this and other courses should contact Associate Dean Chris Giordano at (617) 573-8239.
Attendance
- Education is a contact sport. If you are not in class, you can not contribute to your own education and that of the other students; therefore, more than four absences during the semester will lower your grade. If you miss more than six classes, you will be in danger of failing the course and should speak to me about your options.
- If you miss a class, you are responsible for the material discussed in that class. Be sure to obtain notes (preferably from more than one student).
- But attendance in itself is not sufficient. Your grade will also be based on the quality of your participation. Bring your books to class.
- Please come to class on time prepared to stay the whole period. It is very annoying to the class if students are constantly coming and going. (Let me know, of course, of special circumstances.)
- Please turn-off cell phones and pagers!
Late Assignments
- More than three late assignments during the semester will lower your grade.
- You are responsible for all the material covered in class. Late Journals and Responses should reflect but not simply repeat class discussion, and will be graded accordingly. Better late than never, however.
- To pass the course, you must complete every assignment. Please speak to me if you are having trouble keeping up with readings and written work.
Email
- Check your Suffolk email regularly for official communcations from the University and me.
- If you prefer to use another email account (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.), forward your Suffolk email to this account by setting up a forwarding file. Go to Web Mail at <http://sumail.suffolk.edu/>. Click on Options and then Forwarding.
- Remember to change this file if you change email accounts.
Revisions and Late Assignments
- You may revise any assignment within two weeks of receiving my comments and grade.
- If you correct the mechanical errors (typos, spelling, punctuation, grammar, conventional formats) using Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual, I will raise the grade by half a grade (from, say, B to B+).
- If you strengthen your ideas, add clarifying details and supporting evidence, and improve the organization, there is no limit to the change of grade.
- The revised grade will replace the initial grade.
- Because the working method of this course is to use student and instructor responses to improve performance, you must post assignments to Blackboard on time. If more than four assignments during the semester are posted late, your grade for the course will be lowered. (If you are having computer or Blackboard problems, let me know and you won't be penalized for posting these assignments late.) In order to pass this course, you must complete every assignment.
Class Web Site
- The syllabus, daily class materials, all assignments, exams, internet readings, and other resources are available on the class web site.
- Check the web site regularly for changes and addition of new resources.
- If you have any suggestions for adding to and/or improving this page, just let me know. Your
contributions are welcome.
Grading