World Literature II
Fall 2014
ENGL 2306 CRN 11035
Irby 303, 8 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
Instructor: Jan Gaughan Office: Irby 427
Office Hours: 9:25 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays; or by appointment.
jgaughan@uca.edu
From the UCA course catalog:
2306 WORLD LITERATURE II Satisfies the Diversity in World Cultures requirements in the lower-division
UCA Core as a humanities elective. The purpose of World Literature II is to introduce the student to a
variety of literary texts which have greatly influenced culture around the world from the seventeenth
through the twentieth century. Lecture, discussion, writing.
Course Description:
Human beings have always told stories; it’s what we do, and we couldn’t help it if we tried.
Telling stories is the way we make sense of the otherwise chaotic experience of our lives, from
the big metaphysical questions we wrestle with to the tiniest unexpected struggles we encounter.
I know a man who’d once had a cerebral aneurysm; he said it happened as he was loading his
golf bag into the trunk of his car, and he remembers thinking right before he passed out that he
must have straightened up and bumped his head on the underside of the trunk’s open door. He
hadn’t, his surgeon told him later. Instead, even in that chaotic moment when his brain was
bleeding into his skull and he was about to lose consciousness, his mind, which had never
experienced an aneurysm and didn’t know what was happening, came up with a story to make
the pain and the strangeness make sense: I bumped my head-- hard -- on the top of my car trunk.
Narratives, in which we recognize something of our own experience of the world through what
happens to another character (in my friend’s case, the character who bumped his head loading
golf clubs into his car), are as essential to us as air; we couldn’t live without them.
The ancient stories that resonated with people were often about great legends and heroes; their
exploits called the listener out of the mundane business of survival toward participation in
something larger than himself or herself, something universal and timeless. Often these stories
had a religious significance; some of the stories were sacred stories. They united communities of
people around a common view of their place in the world and maybe of the Deity or deities that
controlled it. But, starting somewhere around the seventeenth century, the stories people told
began to be about more ordinary people and the kind of egvents that might befall any of us. The
concerns of more modern stories are the same as those of the older stories – making meaning out
of chaos -- but the characters and the world they inhabit are less ruled by supernatural forces.
Being liberated from the control of the gods, demons, and fate brings the burden of freedom and
what to do with it – what I once read referred to as living under “the shelterless sky of
possibility.” Unlike epic and tragic heroes such as Odysseus and Job and Oedipus the King, the
modern protagonist doesn’t so much struggle against powerful forces that control the world, but
competes for power and identity in the world, searches for a way to measure his or her worth in
it, and is haunted by the fear that in the end it all means nothing. Because of course, societies and
beliefs change, but the basic human problem never changes: We’re mortal, and the patiently
waiting prospect of our death is the ultimate chaos we have to make meaning out of.
In order to succeed in this class, you must do three things:
You must read the assigned works, with care, and take the time to think about them.
You must come to class, and be prepared to actively participate in discussion of the works.
You must be able to write thoughtfully about the works on exams.
Texts:
The Norton Anthology of World Literature, third edition, volumes E, F, and G.
Reading List:
From Volume D:
Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Pope, “Essay on Man, Epistle 1”
Voltaire, Candide
From Volume E:
Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Blake, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
Browning, “My Last Duchess”
Dickinson, poems 258, 435, 465, 1129 (these are poem numbers, not page numbers)
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich
From Volume F:
Kafka, The Metamorphosis
Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman”
Faulkner, “Barn Burning”
Yeats, “When You are Old,” “The Second Coming,” “Leda and the Swan”
Akhmatova, “Requiem”
Camus, “The Guest”
Beckett, Endgame
Mafouz, “Zabalawi”
Allende, “And of Clay Are We Created”
I may add to or subtract from this list as time requires or permits; any work that I add will be
found in the anthology.
There will be four exams. Some of the exams may involve identifying important passages from the works,
but all of the exams will require you to write analytical and interpretive essays. Most of your final grade
will be determined by these exams. In addition to the exams, I may give unannounced quizzes to check on
your comprehension of the reading assignments.
I expect regular attendance and participation. You may miss up to three classes, for any reason, without
endangering your grade and your staying in the class. You can take these absences for any reason, good or
bad. There is no such thing as an excused absence in my class, so save these three absences for illness or
an emergency. If you miss more than three classes, you may harm your final grade or I may drop you
from the course with a WF. See me immediately if you have any doubt about your status; waiting won’t
help and could make things worse.
If you plagiarize or cheat in any way and I find out about it, I will fail you on the spot – no excuses and no
mercy. Don’t begin your career as a college-educated adult by cheating or stealing another’s ideas and
words; it cheapens your degree and undermines your integrity, and there will come a day when both will
matter to you. If you are struggling with understanding the literature, bring your concerns to me or ask
questions in class, where they may be the springboard to an interesting discussion. I advise you to stay
away from study guides, which exist to make money off of your desperation or your worst impulses (such
as the impulse to not read or to read superficially) and can lead you into a kind of plagiarism.
Laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices pull you into the screen and shut out everyone else,
which makes you not only non-participatory in class discussion but also oblivious to it. I used to not allow
electronic devices at all, but since some students have the textbook in electronic form and since UCA PD
uses texting for emergency notifications, I am reconsidering that policy. HOWEVER, if I suspect you of
doing anything on an electronic device besides following along in your textbook, I will ask you to leave
the class, and I may drop you from the course. You will not be allowed to use any electronic devices
during exams.
I treat my students with consideration and respect, and I expect courtesy and respect in return. Behavior
that interferes with the class or shows disrespect toward me or any of your fellow students (including
having private conversations during class, sleeping, exhibiting boredom or rudeness, and working on an
assignment for another class) may result in your being dropped from the course.
Important Announcements from the University:
The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation under this Act due to a disability, please contact
the UCA Office of Disability Services, 450-3613.
You should familiarize yourself with all the policies set forth in the Student Handbook,
especially those concerning academic integrity and sexual harassment.
The University of Central Arkansas affirms its commitment to academic integrity and expects all
members of the university community to accept shared responsibility for maintaining academic
integrity. Students in this course are subject to the provisions of the university’s Academic
Integrity Policy, as approved by the Board of Trustees as Board Policy No. 709 on February 10,
2010, and published in the Student Handbook. Penalties for academic misconduct in this course
may include a failing grade on an assignment, a failing grade in the course, or any other courserelated sanction the instructor determines to be appropriate. Continued enrollment in this course
affirms a student’s acceptance of the university policy.
An Emergency Procedures Summary (EPS) for the building in which this class is held will be
discussed during the first week of this course. EPS documents for most buildings on campus are
available at http://uca.edu/mysafety/bep/. Every student should be familiar with emergency
procedures for any campus building in which he/she spends time for classes or other purposes.
Title IX disclosure: If a student discloses an act of sexual harassment, discrimination, assault, or
other sexual misconduct to a faculty member (as it relates to “student-on-student” or “employeeon-student”), the faculty member cannot maintain complete confidentiality and is required to
report the act and may be required to reveal the names of the parties involved. Any allegations
made by a student may or may not trigger an investigation. Each situation differs and the
obligation to conduct an investigation will depend on those specific set of circumstances. The
determination to conduct an investigation will be made by the Title IX Coordinator. For further
information, please visit: https://uca.edu/titleix. *Disclosure of sexual misconduct by a third
party who is not a student and/or employee is also required if the misconduct occurs when the
third party is a participant in a university-sponsored program, event, or activity.
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week of instruction [insert date] through the end of finals week by logging in to myUCA and
clicking on the Evals button on the top right.