ENGLISH 285—World Literature: Antiquity to 1650
SLOS AND METHODS OF ASSESSMENT/MEASUREMENT AND RUBRICS (WHEN AVAILABLE)
1.
SLO—The student should be able to read, interpret, and compare texts written by and about diverse cultures
around the world.
A/M—The student will be asked to read, interpret, and compare texts written by and about diverse cultures
around the world.
RUBRIC FOR SLO1:
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates his or her ability to read, interpret, and compare texts
written by and about diverse cultures around the world through quizzes and tests.
Poor answer (1): The student does not demonstrate his or her ability to read, interpret, and compare texts written
by and about diverse cultures around the world through quizzes and tests.
2.
SLO—The student should be able to recognize cultural differences and commonalities among writers writing
from diverse cultural perspectives.
A/M—The student demonstrates his or her ability to recognize cultural differences and commonalities among
writers writing from diverse cultural perspectives.
RUBRIC FOR SLO2:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an ability to recognize cultural differences and commonalities among
writers offering diverse cultural perspectives by insightfully analyzing texts, by quoting and comparing
passages from texts, and by applying ideas developed and discussed throughout the semester concerning
the many cultural contexts within which world literature developed from antiquity to 1650.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate ability to recognize cultural differences and
commonalities among writers offering diverse cultural perspectives, but the student’s analysis of texts
may lack depth, may not be supported with ample textual evidence in the form of quoted and
paraphrased passages from texts, and/or may not apply ideas developed and discussed throughout the
semester concerning the many cultural contexts within which world literature developed from antiquity
to 1650.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without recognizing cultural differences and
commonalities among writers, may fail to sufficiently analyze texts, and/or may fail to demonstrate an
understanding of the many and varied contexts within which world literature developed from antiquity to
1650.
3.
SLO—The student should be able to analyze and compare different writers’ perspectives and interpretations
of situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political
environments within which writers of world literature were writing from antiquity to 1650.
A/M – The student will be asked to analyze and compare different writers’ perspectives and interpretations of
situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political
environments within which writers of world literature were writing from antiquity to 1650.
RUBRIC FOR SLO3:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an insightful analysis of the perspective of different writers and their
interpretations of situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological,
and political environments within writers of world literature were writing from antiquity to 1650.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate analysis of the perspective of different
writers and shows an adequate understanding of the writers’ interpretations of situations and events in
light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political environments within which
writers of world literature were writing from antiquity to 1650, but the student may not use sufficient
textual evidence to support his or her analysis or may not consistently demonstrate his or her
understanding of the impact or influence that the situations and events exerted on the different writers
to help account for the differences in perspective.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without analyzing or does not demonstrate his
or her understanding of the impact or influence that the situations and events exerted on the different
writers to help account for the differences in perspective.
4.
SLO—The student should be able to examine literary texts closely and critically in order to recognize problems
associated with translation, interpretation, and cultural bias.
A/M—The student will be asked to examine literary texts closely and critically and to recognize and identify
problems associated with translation, interpretation, and cultural bias.
RUBRIC FOR SLO4:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an ability to examine literary texts closely and critically and to
recognize and identify problems associated with translation, interpretation, and cultural bias through the
student’s insightful analysis of the complexity of language choice in addressing different audiences.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate ability to examine literary texts closely and
critically and to recognize and identify problems associated with translation, interpretation, and cultural
bias, but the student’s analysis may be less insightful, may fail to recognize the language choices
translators and interpreters make and the cultural biases those choices may reflect, and/or may fail to
develop his or her analysis with sufficient textual evidence.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without analyzing the complexity of language
choices or does not demonstrate his or her understanding of the language choices that translators and
interpreters make and the cultural biases their choices may reflect.
5.
SLO—The student should be able to relate themes in world literature to past and present issues and social
contexts.
A/M—The student will be asked to relate themes in world literature to past and present issues and social
contexts.
RUBRIC FOR SLO5:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates exceptional insight in relating themes in literature to past and present
issues and social contexts and uses textual evidence to support his or her analysis.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student adequately relates themes in literature to past and present issues and
social contexts, but the student may not use sufficient textual evidence to support his or her analysis or
may not consistently demonstrate his or her understanding of how the themes in literature are related to
past and present issues and social contexts.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without adequately relating themes in
literature to past and present issues and social contexts.
6.
SLO—The student should be able to examine literary texts closely and critically and recognize how literary
interpretation is linked to critical thinking and to an understanding of human interactions and behaviors—both
on a personal and on a public level.
A/M—The student will be asked to examine literary texts closely and critically and to use critical thinking in his
or her interpretation to show how literary interpretation is linked to critical thinking and to an understanding
of human interactions and behaviors—both on a personal and on a public level.
RUBRIC FOR SLO 6:
Strong answer (4): The student demonstrates his or her ability to read texts closely by insightfully and critically
analyzing passages from various texts to show how ideas presented in literature reveal, reflect, and
expose human interactions and behaviors—both on a personal and public level.
Good answer (3): The student shows an ability to read texts closely but may not demonstrate his or her ability to
think critically or to adequately develop his or her ideas with a more insightful analysis or enough textual
evidence.
Average answer (2): The student may make obvious or superficial observations that do not reveal deeper insights
or critical thinking, may not use specific textual evidence in presenting or supporting his or her
observations, and/or may not demonstrate an understanding of the significance or relevance of the ideas
presented in various texts.
Weak answer (1): The student may not make connections between ideas presented within various texts, or the
student may force connections, rely on generalities, or fail to support his or her reading of the texts with
specific textual evidence.
Prepared by Bea Ganim/May 2011