English 2850: Great Works of Literature II
Fall 2014
Professor: Timothy Aubry
Office: VC 7-298
Phone number: 646.312.3980
Email address: timothy.aubry@baruch.cuny.edu
Office Hours: VC 7239, Tues/Wed: 12:30-2:30PM and by appointment.
Required Texts (Available at the Baruch College Bookstore):
Moliere, Tartuffe
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya
Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Illych
Premchand, Nirmala
Eileen Chang, Love in a Fallen City
Wang Xiabao, Wang In Love and Bondage
Nawal El-Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero
Requirements:
Two major papers and two revisions: all 4-6 pages long: 65% of final grade
Three Response Papers: 15% of final grade
Oral Presentation: 5% of final grade
Class Participation, including blog entries: 15% of final grade
Grading policy:
● Late policy: If you need an extension on a paper, please talk to me before it is
due, and assuming you have a reasonable justification I will be happy to give you extra
time. If you simply hand in your essay late without consulting me, I will deduct half a
grade for each class day that it is late. In other words, an A paper one class day late
becomes an A-, two class days late becomes a B+ etc.
● Attendance is mandatory. Failure to attend regularly and punctually will
have a negative impact on your grade, and missing more than 4 classes
without notifying me ahead of time can be grounds for failure.
Plagiarism policy:
Plagiarism is not permitted at Baruch College. To plagiarize is to steal or pass off the
language or ideas of another writer as your own. Anyone caught plagiarizing will be
given an automatic F for that essay and will be asked to meet with the dean.
You are allowed, of course, to use the language and the ideas of other writers, but you
must acknowledge your sources. When you are repeating another writer’s language
verbatim you must use quotation marks and cite your source with a parenthetical citation
(including the last name of the author and the page number) and an entry in your works
cited list. When you are paraphrasing another writer—putting that writer’s ideas into
your own words—you also must include a parenthetical citation and an entry in your
works cited list.
Schedule
August 28: Introduction
1650-1800: France
September 2: Descartes, Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, pp. 76-98
September 4: Moliere, Tartuffe, Acts I-II
September 9: Moliere, Tartuffe, Acts III-V
1800-1850: England
September 11: John Keats, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” “Bright Star,” “La Belle
Dame sans Merci,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Ode to a Nightingale,” “Ode on
Melancholy,” “To Autumn”
Response Paper #1 Due
September 16: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, pp. 1-60
September 18: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, pp. 61-108
September 30: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, pp. 108-166
1850-1900: Russia
October: 2:
Chekov, Uncle Vanya, Act 1-II
October 7:
Chekov, Uncle Vanya, Act III-Act IV
Major Essay 1 Due
October 9:
Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Illych, pp. 31-72
October 14:
Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Illych, pp. 73-113
1900-1950: India
October 16:
Rabindranath Tagore, “The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day,”
“Where the mind is without fear and the head his held high,” “Deliverance is not
for me in renunciation,” “On the Seashore,” “At midnight the would-be asceit
announced,” “Sūdas, the gardner, plucked from his tank…” “I Won’t Let You
Go,” “The Golden Boat,” “A Stressful Time,” “This I must admit: how one
becomes two,” “No, no, she’s no longer in my house!” “Hide-and-Seek,” No. 27,”
“No. 24,” Flute Music,” “In Praise of Trees,” “Last Honey,” “On My Birthday—
20,”
October 21:
Premchand, The Second Wife, pp. 13-79
Response Paper #2 Due
October 23:
Premchand, The Second Wife, pp. 80-143
October 28:
Premchand, The Second Wife, pp. 144-206
Essay 1 Revision due
1900-1950: Chile
October 30:
Gabriela Mistral, From Desolación (1922):“Serene Words,” “The Useless Wait,”
“Ballad,” “To See Him Again,” “God Wills It,” The Teacher’s Prayer,” “Little
Feet,” “The Guardian Angel,” “To Noel,” “Prayer for the Nest,” “Decalogue of
the Artist,” “The Sad Mother” “Serenity,” “Mexican Child”
November 4: Gabriela Mistral, From Tala (1938): “Land of Absence,” “Midnight,” “We Were
All To Be Queens,” “Richness,” “Gamblers,” “The Foreigner,” “Song of the Dead
Maidens,” “The Flower of Air,” “The Goblet.” From Lagar (1954): “The Other,”
“Time,” “A Woman,” “Final Tree.”
November 6: Pablo Neruda, From Veinte Poemea de Amor: “Body of a Woman,” “Ah Vastness
of Pines,” “Tonight I can Write,” From Residencia en la Terra: “Death Alone,”
“Walking Around,” “The Way into Wood,” “Autumn Returns,” Waltz,” “I’m
Explaining a Few Things,” “The Way Spain Was,” “Battle of the Jarama River,”
From Canto General: “Love, America” “Some Beasts,” “They Come for the
Islands (1493)
November 11: Pablo Neruda, From Odas Elementales: “Ode to a Falling Chesnut,” “Ode to the
Book,” Birdwatching Ode,” “Ode to Laziness,” “Ode to the Tomato,” “Ode to the
Storm,” “Ode to the Clothes.” Prose Writing: “The Crisis of Democracy in Chile
is a Dramatic Warning for Our Continent,” pp. 263-283. “Poetry Shall not Have
Sung in Vain,” pp. 381-389.
1950-2000: China
November 13: Eileen Chang, Love in a Fallen City
November 18: Eileen Change, Love in a Fallen City
Major Essay 2 Due
November 20: Wang Xiabo, 2015, pp. 1-61
November 25: Wang Xiabo, East Palace, West Palace pp. 119-155
1950-2000: Egypt
December 2: Naguib Mahfouz, “The Conjurer Made off with the Dish, pp. 15-23;“The Answer
is No,” pp. 24-28; “The Time and the Place,” pp. 28-37; “Half a Day,” pp. 55-58;
“The Empty Café,” pp. 75-85, “The Wasteland,” pp. 117-126
Response Paper #3 due
December 4: Naguib Mahfouz, “The Norwegian Rat,” pp. 127-134; “Fear,” pp. 138-148; “At
the Bus Stop,” pp. 149-156; “A Fugitive from Justice,” pp. 157-165; “A LongTerm Plan,” pp. 166-174
December 9: Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero
December 11: Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero
All essay revisions due
Author Bio
Political History at the time and the country’s position in the world
Everyday life of the people, both men and women
The country’s culture: music, literature, folk traditions