LIT 2120H – W01
Honors Survey in World Literature:
Enlightenment to Present
Fall 2009
CRN 10054
Neil Sebacher, Professor of English
Office: 5-141
Office Phone: 407-299-5000 (ext. 1223)
E-mail: nsebacher@valenciacc.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Required Texts
Western Literature in a World Context
Attendance & Participation: Attendance and promptitude (getting to class on time) are vital to
success in this course. More than two absences for any reason will make a good course grade (an A or
B) very difficult to obtain, and more than three unexcused, unexplained absences could result in
your withdrawal from the course. Chronic tardiness to class disrupts the educational process, and I
reserve the right to lower your course grade if I feel that you are late too often and I warn you in
advance. Along with your attendance, I will also expect your participation in class discussions.
Quality contributions to class discussions and activities can enhance your final grade.
Writing Requirements: To satisfy the Gordon Rule, you will be required to write at least 6000 words
for this course. There will be five major essays and numerous journal writings assigned during the
term. All essays must be typed, double spaced, and stapled, and your journal entries must be bound.
Grading Policy: Your grade will be determined by your performances on the essay assignments,
journal writings, and attendance/participation. For the purposes of averaging, the following scale will
be used: A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, F=0-59.
Activity
Essays
70%
Journal Writings
20%
Attendance/Participation
10%
Note well: More than two absences will result in a score of zero for attendance/participation.
Deadlines: Assignments for LIT 2120H are to be submitted by the deadline. Late papers will receive
a one-letter deduction if received within a one-week period. After one week, late papers will not be
accepted and you will receive a zero for that assignment. No papers will be accepted after the last class
meeting.
Course Outcome: When you complete the emotional and intellectual odyssey that is LIT 2120H, you
should be a far better “reader” of universal human experience.
Calendar
August 26
September 2
September 23
September 25 & 30
October 2 & 7
October 9
October 14 & 16
October 18
October 21 -- 28
October 30
October 31
November 4 -13
November 14
November 18 – 25
November 27
December 2 & 4
Introduction
Faust (547)
Prologue in Heaven (551)
Faust (554 – 593)
Faust (593 – 634)
Faust (634 – 651)
Faust (651 – 679)
Essay #1 Due (on Faust)
Nietzsche (1337)
Nietzsche (con’d)
The Hitchhiking Game (1887)
Rilke (1518)
College Night (no class)
Rilke (con’d)
Essay #2 Due (You Must Change Your Life)
Dostoevsky (1038)
A Simple Heart (1017)
Essay #3 Due (Beauty)
Disgrace
Essay #4 Due (on Disgrace)
The Death of Ivan Ilyitch (1104)
Thanksgiving
Retrospective & Leave-taking
December 19
Essay #5 Due (on Ilyitch)
September 4
September 9
September 11
September 16
September 18
“If I were to tell you where my greatest feeling, my universal feeling, the bliss of my earthly existence has been,
I would have to confess: It has always, here and there, been in this kind of in-seeing, in the indescribably swift,
deep, timeless moments of this divine seeing into the heart of things.”