LITERARY LANDMARKS OF WESTERN CULTURE
ENGL201.02
Dr. Brian W. Gastle
Office: CO 417
Phone: 3928
bgastle@wcu.edu
Office Hours
T 3:30 – 4:30
W 1:00 - 2:00
http://www3.wcu.edu/~bgastle
Required Texts
Western Literature in a World Context. Vol. 1. Paul Davies, et. al. eds. New York: St. Martins P, 1995.
Course Description
A survey of Western European Literature in its historical and cultural environment. This class will cover over
two thousand years of literature and history in sixteen weeks. It focuses on the movements which characterize
each literary age and places the literature within a socio-historical context.
Goals of the Course
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to read and become familiar with these important writings
to become familiar with techniques of reading, interpreting, analyzing, and discussing literature, especially
significant literature from the past
to become comfortable with historical and cultural issues of Western Europe
to improve reading, writing, and speaking skills both as an individual and within a group
Requirements And Grading Policy
First Hourly Exam
Final Exam
Reading Quizzes
Participation Discussion
15%
20%
15%
10%
Second Hourly Exam
Essay (4-7 pages)
2 Group Presentations
15%
15%
10%
Attendance
This course relies a great deal on participation and class discussion, which, of course, is not possible without
regular attendance. You can have two “free” days (excused or unexcused). After that, every class for which
you are marked absent (regardless of the reason) will lower your final grade by one full mark (i.e. A to a B, C+
to a D+, etc.)
Academic Integrity
All work submitted must be your own. Please review WCU policy regarding Plagiarism and the Academic
Honesty Policy in the student handbook.
If I find a student cheating, fabricating, or plagiarizing another’s work from any source
(print, media, internet, etc.), that student will receive an “F” for the class, the
transgression will be recorded in his or her WCU record, and I will, to the utmost of my
ability, urge the administration to expel that student from WCU.
SCHEDULE
Subject to Change
Part I – The Ancient World: Epic and the Transmission of History
8th c B.C.E.
T 8/21
R 8/23
Introduction to the class and Historical Preview
The Primary or Folk Epic
Read: The Epic of Gilgamesh (pp 796 – 824)
T 8/28
Mythic Battle and the Gods
Read: Homer The Odyssey excerpts from Books 1, 3, 4, 5 (pp 156 – 218)
Circe, Charybdis, and Hell – Oh My!
Read Homer The Odyssey excerpts from Books 9, 10, 11, & 12 (218 – 274)
R 8/30
T 9/4
R 9/6
1st c. B.C.E
T 9/11
R 9/13
T 9/18
R 9/20
Homecoming
Read: The Odyssey Books 19, 21, 22, 23, & from 24 (274-325)
Beyond The Odyssey I
Review: The Odyssey
The Secondary or Art Epic; Art and Nationalism
Read: Virgil The Aeneid Books 1 & 2 (554 – 592)
Beyond The Odyssey II
Read: Virgil The Aeneid Books 3 & 4 (592-623)
Love and Death in the Epic of Nationalism
Read: The Aeneid from Book 6 (623-642)
First Hourly Exam
Part II – From Early Christianity to Medieval Feudalism: Epic to Romance
8th c. C.E.
T 9/25
R 9/27
11th – 12th c. T 2/23
R 2/25
14th c.
Oral Tradition and Early Christian Influence
Read: Beowulf (1123-66)
The Epic Hero and Medieval Traditions
Review: Beowulf (1123-85)
The Epic and the Development of Feudalism
Read: Song of Roland (1185-1238)
Chivalry vs. Romance: the Transformation of the Hero
Review: Song of Roland (1185-1238)
T 10/2
Fin Amor and Courtly Love
Read: Marie de France (1263-65 and handout);
Andreas Capellanus (1505-15)
R 10/4
Art and the Christian Epic
Read: Dante The Inferno from Cantos 1-3 (960 – 979)
T 10/9
R 10/11
Fall Holiday – No classes
Abandon All Hope – Love, love, and Dante
Read: Dante The Inferno from Cantos 4-8, 11-15, 17-19 (979-1028)
T 10/16
R 10/18
T 10/23
R 10/25
T 10/30
R 11/1
T 11/6
R 11/8
Classical Heroes and Medieval Thought – Beyond The Odyssey III
Read: The Inferno Cantos 26, 28, 32-34 (1028-48)
Narrative and Social Critique I
Read: from Boccaccio Decameron The First Day (1265-1276)
Narrative and Social Critique II
Read: Chaucer The Canterbury Tales – The General Prologue (1304-24)
Gender and Revisionist Literary History
Read: Chaucer’s Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale (1324-48)
Boccaccio’s Decameron Third Day 10th Tale (1278-1282)
Morality and Immorality: Earnest Games
Read: CT – The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (1348-60)
Morality and Immorality II: The Game’s Over
Read: Decameron Tenth Day 10th Tale (Handout)
Monday Classes Meet – Tuesday Classes Do Not
Second Hourly Exam
Part III – Renaissance Humanism: Ancient and Modern
16th –17th c.
T 11/13
R 11/15
T 11/20
R 11/22
T 11/27
R 11/29
T 12/4
R 12/6
T 12/11
Renaissance Self-Fashioning
Read: Marlowe Doctor Faustus (1552 – 1607)
A Renaissance Man (In A Medieval World)
Review: Marlowe Doctor Faustus (1552 – 1607)
Mandatory Essay Conferences
Complete Draft of Essay Due
Thanksgiving Holiday – No Classes
Brief Overview of Renaissance Lyrics
Final Version Of Essay Due
Mock Epic/Romance
Read: Cervantes Don Quixote from Part I (1689-1722)
Art and Renaissance Self-Parody
Read: Don Quixote from Part II (1722-98)
Comic Vision vs. Tragic Vision
Review: Don Quixote
Last Day Of Classes
Review for Final
Final Exam: R 12/13 12:00 – 2:30 in CO302