English 200X
Office 844 Gruening
Fall 2012
World Literature
Terry Reilly, Instructor
Phone 474-5180
email tjreilly@alaska.edu
Office Hours: TR 11:30-2:00 and by appointment
Text: Rubenstein, Roberta and Charles Larson, eds. Worlds of Fiction. 2nd edition Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Week 1
30 August
Introduction and review course syllabus
4 September
Chinua Achebe, (Nigeria) “Girls at War,” 10-20.
6 September
Ben Okri. (Nigeria) “In the Shadow of War,” 756-759.
Week 2
11 September
Amos Tutuola, (Nigeria) “The Complete Gentleman,” 884-890
13 September
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, (Kenya) “A Meeting in the Dark,” 684-693
Week 3
18 September
Nadine Gordimer, (South Africa) “Country Lovers,” 331-337.
20 September
Ama Ata Aidoo, (Ghana) “Two Sisters,” 21-30.
Week 4
25 September
Doris Lessing, (Zimbabwe/England) “The Old Chief Mshlanga,” 473-481.
27 September
Es’kia Mphahlele, (South Africa) “Mrs. Plum,” 632-654.
Week 5
2 October
Sembene Ousmane, (Senegal) “Black Girl,” 767-776.
4 October
Albert Camus, (Algeria/France) “The Guest,” 125-134.
Week 6
9 October
Amos Oz, (Israel) “Nomad and Viper,” 777-789.
11 October
Ghassan Kanafani, (Palestine) “A Hand in the Grave,” 425-431.
Week 7
16 October
Haldan Taner, (Turkey) “To All Eternity,” 878-883.
18 October
Bharati Mukherjee, (India/United States) “A Father,” 658-666.
Week 8
23 October
Salman Rushdie (India/England) “The Prophet’s Hair,” 814-823.
25 October
Niaz Zaman, (Bangladesh) “The Daily Woman,” 960-965.
Week 9
30 October
Isabel Allende (Chile) “And of Clay Are We Created,” 46-53. Carmen
Naranjo (Costa Rica) “And We Sold the Rain,” 667-671.
1 November Gabriel Garcia Marquez, (Colombia) “Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon,” 278-283.
Maria Theresa Solari(Peru)“Death and Transfiguration of a Teacher,”843-845.
Week 10
6 November Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina) “The South,” 108-112. Borges “The Garden
of the Forking Paths,” ERES or handout.
8 November Octavio Paz, (Mexico) “The Blue Bouquet,” 790-792.
Christina Peri Rossi (Uraguay/Spain) “Mona Lisa,” 793-796.
Week 11
13 November Carlos Fuentes (Mexico) “The Doll Queen,” 267-277..
Rodrigo Rey Rosa, (Guatemala) “The Proof,” 810-813.
15 November Feng Jicai (China) “The Street Sweeping Show,” 246-249. Khamsing
Srinawk (Thailand) “The Gold-Legged Frog,” 439-442.
Week 12
20 November Mishima Yukio, (Japan) “Swaddling Clothes,” 588-592. Oba Minako,
(Japan) The Pale Fox,” 706-712
Thanksgiving break is November 21-25
Week 13
27 November Akutagawa Ryunosuke, (Japan) “Within a Grove” 31-36.
29 November Oe Kenzaburo, (Japan) “Aghwee the Sky Monster,” 737-755.
Week 14
4 December
Amy Tan, (China/US) “Half and Half,” 868-877.
6 December
John Kasaipwalova, (Papua New Guinea) “Betel Nut is Bad Magic for
Airplanes,” 432-438.Catherine Lin, (Singapore) “Or Else, the Lightning
God,” 482-490.
Final papers due.
The last day of class is 6 May. Exams are the week of May 11-15.
Grades and Policies, etc…
1). Read the works, come to class, and talk about the works.
2). At the beginning of each class, there will be a quiz. Each quiz is worth ten (10) points
(although extra credit will occasionally be possible). There will be a total of 28 quizzes. If
you arrive late or leave early, quizzes will not count. Quizzes cannot be made up.
3). THERE ARE NO PAPERS TO WRITE, unless you are not doing well and want to do
one or more (up to three) for extra credit, or if you want to finish the class early.
4). For even more extra credit, you can do one (1) 5-10 minute class presentation having
something to do with the country or region we are studying at the time (politics,
geography, food preparation, religion, etc.). You can do these individually or in groups.
Here’s how it works out:
Total points
310
Quizzes
280 (28 @10 each, plus possible extra credit points)
Papers
up to 30 points each
Class presentation
up to 20 points
Class Participation
up to 30 points
You need the following point totals for these grades:
A > 280
B > 250
C > 220
D > 190