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Literature 330-451: World Literature I (e-learning)
North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; Australia and Oceania
Summer 2012
Instructor
Doris Zames Fleischer, Ph.D.
E-mail addresses: sirod1@optonline.net; doris.fleischer@njit.edu
Office Phone: 973/596-5607
Course Description
This course offers students an opportunity to enhance their understanding of contemporary
global interactions by exploring a diverse array of culturally expressive artifacts---novels, short
stories, poems, and a play--grouped geographically by region. Course readings represent the
following regions: North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Australia and Oceania.
A second course, World Literature II, Literature 331, covers the literature of Europe; Asia; and
Africa and the Middle East.
Prerequisites
HUM 101 and two from among HUM 102, HUM 211, HUM 212, and HIST 213, or their
equivalents.
Required texts
Anthology
Shirley Geok-Lin Lim and Norman A. Spencer. One World of Literature. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1993. [ISBN: 0-395-58880-4]
Novels:
Toni Morrison. Beloved. 1951. New York: Penguin, 1988. [ISBN: 0-452-26446-4]
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Love in the Time of Cholera. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York:
Penguin, 1989. [ISBN: 0=1401-1990-63]
Handbook: Barnet & Cain. A Short Guide to Writing about Literature. 11th ed. New York:
Pearson/Longman, 2008. [ISBN: 9780205602957]
FILMS (TO RENT)
Beloved (1998)
The Old Gringo (1989)
LECTURES ARE AVAILABLE ON STREAMING VIDEO, and iTunes
THE LINK TO THE WEB SITE CONTAINING THE STREAMING VIDEOS IS AS
FOLLOWS: < http://cpe.njit.edu/dlvideos/LIT%20330/index.html>
THE LECTURES CAN ALSO BE ACCESSED AT iTUNES : <http://itunes.njit.edu> If you
do not have iTunes installed, please link to a tutorial on downloading and installing it at
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<http://itunes.njit.edu/tutorials/install/setup.htm>
NOTICES:
1. IF STUDENTS ALERT THE INSTRUCTOR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
SEMESTER REGARDING THEIR SPECIFIC SCHEDUING NEEDS, SOME
FLEXIBILITY MAY BE AVAILABLE.
2.
ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE AN ACCOUNT FOR MOODLE IN ORDER TO BE
PROPERLY REGISTERED FOR THIS COURSE. STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE
FOR ALL MESSAGES SENT TO THEM THROUGH MOODLE .PLEASE CHECK
MOODLE REGULARLY.
3.
STUDENTS SHOULD SECURE ALL OF THE REQUIRED TEXTS AND EITHER
STREAMING VIDEOS, OR ITUNES BEFORE THE START OF THE SUMMER
SEMESTER. THE BOOKSTORE WILL NOT HAVE BOOKS AVAILABLE AFTER
THE OPENING OF THE SEMESTER.
4.
IF STUDENTS HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, THEY SHOULD NOT
HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME BY EMAIL OR TELEPHONE (OFFICE:
973-596-5607). I WILL FORWARD MY HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER VIA
MOODLE.
5. REQUIRED RESPONSES TO LECTURES SHOULD BE POSTED ON THE
MOODLE FORUM SITE. STUDENTS MUST ALSO RESPOND TO POSTED
COMMENTS FROM AT LEAST ONE OTHER STUDENT.
6. THREE REQUIRED ESSAYS, AS WELL AS THE FINAL REQUIREMENT,
SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE MOODLE ASSIGNMENT SITE.
7. PLEASE COMPLETE THE COURSE AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL BE
EMAILED TO EACH STUDENT INDIVIDUALLY PRIOR TO THE START
OF THE SEMESTER, AND RETURN IT TO ME BY MOODLE EMAIL.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. There are three types of assignments in the course:
A) Responses on the Moodle Forum site to Lectures 1-19 and Lecture 22, and the
accompanying readings, worth 2 points each (total: 40 pts.) Write approximately 150 words for
each response. In your responses, indicate the focus of the Lectures and the themes of the
readings and viewings. Please be responsive to postings by at least one other student as well.
Submit responses to Moodle Forum site. All forum postings due on a specific date should be
submitted in a single transmission.
B) Three Essays, worth 14 points each (total: 42 pts.), 750-1000 words for each essay, with
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documentation and Works Cited list, both following MLA specifications. The link to MLA
specifications is as follows: <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/01/>. Stress
analysis rather than merely telling the plot. In addition, briefly integrate reference to one related,
reliable, and retrievable source other than the assigned readings.
Whenever possible use peer-reviewed sources, such as Publication of the Modern Language
Association (PMLA) and College English, or acceptable on-line sources, such as The New York
Times and Google Scholar. (A peer-reviewed source has been subject to a “blind” review by
other experts in the field to determine if the manuscript is worthy of publication, so peerreviewed publications are believed to be the most reliable sources of information.) Choose only
web sites that are reliable and retrievable, (not Wikipedia), and include author(s) names Submit
essays to the Moodle Assignment site.
Some examples of NJIT Library Data Bases are the following: Academic Search Premier, Omni
File, and Lexis-Nexis. For help with research, contact the NJIT Librarian: davida.scharf
@njit.edu
C) A Final Requirement worth 18 points. This Requirement consists of student essays
responding to questions related to the assigned readings during the semester. Further details will
follow. Submit Final Requirement to Moodle Assignment site.
STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE ALL ABOVE REQUIREMENTS (A, B, AND C) TO
RECEIVE A PASSING GRADE IN THIS COURSE.
2. The final grade will be based on your cumulative effort in the course, that is, your Forum
Postings, your three Essays, and the Final Requirement., Students will have the opportunity, if
they wish, to re-write corrected Essays for my reconsideration of those grades. Improvement
throughout the semester will be taken into consideration in determining final grades.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
1) DATES ASSIGNMENTS DUE:
DUE MAY 28 (Monday): ASSIGNMENTS 1-8: Post to Moodle Forum site.
DUE JUNE 4 (Monday) ASSIGNMENT 9: Post to Moodle Forum site.
DUE JUNE 4 (Monday) ASSIGNMENT 10: Essay #1 on “Literature of North America” to
Moodle Assignment site
DUE JUNE 10 (Sunday) ASSIGNMENTS 11-17: Post to Moodle Forum site
DUE JUNE 16 (Saturday) ASSIGNMENT 18: Essay #2 on “Literature of Latin America
and the Caribbean” to Moodle Assignment site.
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DUE JUNE 22 (Friday) ASSIGNMENTS 19-21: Post to Moodle Forum site.
DUE JUNE 28 (Thursday) ASSIGNMENT 22: Essay #3 on “Literature of Australia and
Oceania” to Moodle Assignment site
DUE JULY 5 (Thursday) ASSIGNMENT 23: Post to Moodle Forum site.
DUE JULY 5 (Thursday) ASSIGNMENT 24: Final Requirement to Moodle Assignment
site.
2) ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST INCLUDE THE ASSIGNMENT NUMBER(S) AND, WHEN
APPROPRIATE, THE LECTURE NUMBER (S). STUDENTS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH
SUGGESTED STUDY QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE THINKING FOR BOTH MOODLE
FORUM POSTINGS AND ESSAYS.
3) STUDENTS MUST SUBMIT ALL THE FORUM POSTINGS DUE ON A SPECIFIC DATE
IN A SINGLE TRANSMISSION. DO NOT SEND PORTIONS OF THE POSTINGS
SEPARATELY.(RESPONSES TO OTHER STUDENTS, HOWEVER, MAY BE POSTED
SEPARATELY.) EACH OF THE THREE ASSIGNED ESSAYS, AS WELL AS THE FINAL
REQUIREMENT, MUST BE SENT TO THE ASSIGNMENT SITE.
4) PLEASE NOTE THAT POSTINGS AND ESSAYS ARE DUE BY 11:50 PM ON THE
DATES LISTED BELOW. ALTHOUGH LATE SUBMISSIONS MAY BE ACCEPTED IF
THE EXPLANATION FOR THE LATENESS WARRANTS SPECIAL CONSIDERATION, I
CANNOT GUARANTEE PROMPT RETURN OF SUCH LATE SUBMISSIONS WITH MY
COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS.
DUE MONDAY, MAY 28--ASSIGNMENTS 1-8
Part 1: Literature in a Global Context
Topic: An Introduction to World Literature
View: Lecture 1: Literature in a Global Context
Read: Barnet, Chapter 1, "Writing About Literature: A Crash Course"; Barnet, Chapter 7, "What
is Interpretation?"; Barnet, Chapter 8, "What is Evaluation?"; Barnet, Chapter 14, "Style and
Format"; Barnet, Chapter 15, "Writing a Research Paper"; Barnet, pp. 329-333, “Electronic
Sources.” Lim and Spencer, "Documentation," pp.1117-1123; Lim and Spencer, "The Question
of Translation," pp. 1111-1115.
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Assignment 1. Response to Lecture 1 and related reading (2 pts)
View: Lecture 2: Writing About Literature.
Assignment 2. Response to Lecture 2 (2 pts.)
Part II- The Literature of North AmericaView: Lecture 3: The Poetry of North
America: The First Half of the Twentieth Century
View Lecture 4: The Poetry of North America: The Second Half of the Twentieth Century
Reading:
William Carlos Williams, “A Sort of Song,” p. 962
Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro,” p. 959
Wallace Stevens, “Of Modern Poetry,” p. 957
Adrienne Rich, ‘Diving into the Wreck,” p. 990
Rita Dove, “Wingfoot Lake,” p. 1081
Margaret Atwood, “Owl Song,” p. 944
Frank O’Hara, “Why I Am Not a Painter,” p. 986
Allen Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California,” p. 984
Assignment 3: Response to Lecture 3 (2 pts.)
Assignment 4: Response to Lecture 4 (2 pts.)
View Lecture 5: Understanding Toni Morrison’s Beloved
View Lecture 6: Reading Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Reading: Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved
View film of Beloved
Assignment 5: Response to Lecture 5 (2 pts.)
Assignment 6: Response to Lecture 6 (2 pts.)
View Lecture 7: Maxine Hong Kingston
View Lecture 8: Contemporary North American Fiction
Reading:
Maxine Hong Kingston, “The Grandfather of the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” p. 1013
James Baldwin, “The Rockpile,” p. 967
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Raymond Carver, “Cathedral,” p. 1000
Leslie Marmon Silko, “Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand,” p. 1071
Margaret Atwood, “Dancing Girls, p. 932
Assignment 7: Response to Lecture 7 (2 pts.)
Assignment 8: Response to Lecture 8 (2 pts.)
ASSIGNMENTS 9-10: DUE ON MONDAY, JUNE 4:
View Lecture 9: Conclusions: The Literature of North America
Assignment 9: Response to Lecture 9 (2 pts.)
Assignment 10: ESSAY #1: LITERATURE OF NORTH AMERICA (14 Points)
Write a well-organized documented Essay of 750-1,000 words with a clear thesis, as well as a
beginning, middle, and end, responding to the following topic: Discuss the variety of identities
(with respect to race, ethnicity, tradition, gender, etc. ) reflected in the literature of North
America. In addition to Beloved, you must refer to at least four other assigned works relevant to
this topic. Also, briefly integrate one additional related, reliable, and retrievable source other
than the assigned readings. Use reliable sources such as the New York Times, Google Scholar,
and the Publication of the Modern Language Association (PMLA), not Wikipedia. For help
finding additional sources, students should contact the NJIT research librarian
davida.scharf@njit.edu.
ASSIGNMENTS 11-17: DUE SUNDAY, JUNE 10
Part III: The Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean
View: Lecture 10: A History of Latin America and the Caribbean
View Lecture 11: Jorge Luis Borges; Julio Cortazar
Reading:
Lim and Spencer: “Latin America and the Caribbean,” p. 754
Jorge Luis Borges, “The Intruder,” p.765
Julio Cortazar, “House Taken Over,” p.769
Assignment 11: Response to Lecture 10 (2 pts.)
Assignment 12: Response to Lecture 11 (2 pts.)
View Lecture 12: Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Love in the Time of Cholera
View Lecture 13: Jamaica Kincaid
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Reading:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Big Mama’s Funeral,” p. 807; Love in the Time of Cholera
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl,” p. 763
Assignment 13: Response to Lecture 12 (2 pts.)
Assignment 14: Response to Lecture 13 (2 pts.)
View Lecture 14: Nicolas, Derek Walcott, and V. S. Naipaul
View Lecture 15: Pablo Neruda; Isabel Allende
Reading:
Nicolas Guillen, “Can You? “, p.820; “Ballads of Two Grandfathers,” p. 822
Derek Walcott, “The Spoiler’s Return,” p.883
V.S. Naipaul, “The Pyrotechnicist,” p. 895
Pablo Neruda, “The United Fruit Co.” p.793; “Poet’s Obligation,” p.794
Isabel Allende, “Phantom Palace,”:p. 795
Assignment 15: Response to Lecture 14 (2 pts.)
Assignment 16: Response to Lecture 15 (2 pts.)
View: Lecture 16: Octavio Paz, Rosario Castellanos, and Carlos Fuentes
View Carlos Fuentes, The Old Gringo (Film)
Reading:
Octavio Paz, “Obsidian Butterfly,” p. 836
Rosario Castellanos, “Death of the Tiger,” p. 838
Assignment 17: Response to Lecture 16 (2 pts.)
ASSIGNMENT 18: DUE SATURDAY, JUNE 16:ESSAY #2 ON THE LITERATURE OF
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (14 POINTS)
Write a well-organized documented Essay of 750-1,000 words with a clear thesis, as well as a
beginning, middle, and end, responding to the following question: How does the literature of
Latin America and the Caribbean deal with social conventions and political challenges? In
addition to Love in the Time of Cholera, you must refer to at least four other assigned works
relevant to this topic. Also, briefly integrate one additional related, reliable, and retrievable
source other than the assigned readings. Use reliable sources such as the New York Times,
Google Scholar, and the Publication of the Modern Language Association (PMLA), not
Wikipedia. For help finding additional sources, students should contact the NJIT research
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librarian davida.scharf@njit.edu.
ASSIGNMENTS 19-21 DUE FRIDAY, JUNE 22
Part 4: The Literature of Australia and Oceania
View: Lecture 17: Australian and Aboriginal Culture
View: Lecture 18: Isolation in Australian Literature
Reading:
Patrick White, “Clay,” p. 417
Kenneth Slessor, “South Country,” p. 415
David Malouf, “Off the Map,” p. 413
Elizabeth Jolley, “Mr. Parker’s Valentine,” p. 405
Assignment 19: Response to Lecture 17 (2 pts.)
Assignment 20: Response to Lecture 18 (2 pts.)
View Lecture 19: Literature of New Zealand
Reading:
Allen Curnow, “The Skeleton of the Great Moa in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch,” p.442
Janet Frame, “The Day of the Sheep,” p.443
Patricia Grace, “And So I Go,” p. 447
Witi Ihimaera, “His First Ball,” p. 451
Assignment 21: Response to Lecture 19 (2 pts.)
ASSIGNMENT 22: DUE THURSDAY, JUNE 28: ESSAY #3 ON THE LITERATURE
OF AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA (14 POINTS)
Write a well-organized documented Essay of 750-1,000 words with a clear thesis, as well as a
beginning, middle, and end, responding to the following question: How does the literature of
Australia and Oceania reveal the distinct culture of this most remote part of the world?
You must refer to at least five assigned works relevant to this topic. Also, briefly integrate one
additional related, reliable, and retrievable source other than the assigned readings. Use reliable
sources such as the New York Times, Google Scholar, and the Publication of the Modern
Language Association (PMLA), not Wikipedia. For help finding additional sources, students
should contact the NJIT research librarian davida.scharf@njit.edu.
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Part 5: Putting it All Together: DUE THURSDAY, JULY 5
View Lecture 22: One World of Literature: Closing Thoughts
Assignment 23: Response to Lecture 22 (2 pts.)
Assignment 24: FINAL REQUIREMENT (18 points)