Professor: Dr. Gau
Office hours: MW 10-12:00
Office: Lang 409A
e-mail: tmgau@unt.edu
English 2210: World Literature I
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Text: The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Volumes A, B, C. 2nd edition. 2002.
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Course Description: This course offers representative readings in texts of world literature from the
Ancient World through the Renaissance and teaches strategies for reading, evaluating, and responding
to written texts in academically productive ways. Through the careful study of literature, students
practice a disciplined way of reading and listening and a disciplined way of reflecting, talking, and
writing about pieces of literature and, by extension, applying it to their daily lives. Primarily, then,
this core-curriculum humanities course encourages students to engage in critical analysis, to form
aesthetic judgments, and to develop an appreciation of literature as fundamental to the health and
survival of any society. The course is an arena where students can practice the following objectives:
1.
Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works of literature
2.
Understand works of literature as expressions of individual and human values within an
historical and social context
3.
Respond critically to the works
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Engage in the interpretive process
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Articulate an informed personal reaction to the works
6.
Develop an appreciation for the aesthetic principles that guide or govern the works
7.
Demonstrate knowledge of the influence of literature on intercultural experiences.
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Requirements: Active class participation, three exams, ten one-page compositions.
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Attendance: Have assignments read before class. We will aim to proceed by discussion whenever
possible in class. Faithful, alert attendance and participation is crucial to what you learn as well as to
the success of the course as a whole.
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Exams: The three exams are a combination of multiple choice, identification, matching, and short
answer questions over the assigned material, including and emphasizing lectures and class
discussions. The exams are worth 25%, 25%, and 30% respectively. The final exam may be partially
comprehensive. Make-up exams are highly discouraged and must be approved and scheduled by me
in advance.
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Academic Integrity: Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsifying
academic records. The Department of English expects its students to adhere to the university’s code
of student conduct, as outlined in both the University Catalog and the Student Guidebook.
Plagiarism includes the following: (1) Cheating: In English classes, cheating is defined as the
appropriation, borrowing, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means work composed by someone
else and submitting it under one’s own name; (2) Insufficient citation: Writing one’s own paper but
including passages copied exactly from the work of another (un/published, printed, electronic)
without providing footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical notes that cite the source and quotation marks
or block indentation to indicate precisely what has been copied from the source; and (3)
Patchwriting: Writing passages that are not copied exactly but that have been borrowed from
another source, with some changes. When following the language of a source text, students are
expected to use fresh words and fresh sentence structures.
In short, if you have any questions about or problems with your writing or source material,
please consult me BEFORE you submit the assignment for credit. Any breach of academic integrity
will result in an “F” for the course and referral to the university Center for Student Rights and
Responsibilities.
Fall 2005
Professor: Dr. Gau
Office hours: MW 10-12:00
Office: Lang 409A
e-mail: tmgau@unt.edu
• Disability Accommodations
In accordance with the terms and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504,
Rehabilitation Act, I will cooperate with the Office of Disability Accommodation to make reasonable
accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. If you have disabilities and have not registered
with ODA, I encourage you to register. Please present your written request for accommodation to me
during the first two weeks of class.
• Reading Compositions
A one-page (one paragraph), double-spaced typed composition is required for each major text
(approximately 10 throughout the semester). Each composition is your opportunity to sustain a
thoughtful discussion about a specific topic from the reading. These papers are meant to prepare you for
class discussion, to deepen your understanding of the texts, and to encourage you to make connections
among the various texts we read. The compositions are evaluated on a 0-2 point scale. For credit the
paper must meet the criteria listed below. A reading composition does NOT summarize; instead, it
should, at some point, make a point and substantiate that point with specific examples. In short, seek to
make an interpretive claim, to draw a conclusion, or to make an application about the material read.
Compositions must be submitted electronically to turnitin.com by the due date. Compositions are worth
20% of the course grade.
Criteria for Reading Compositions:
The writer should apply his or her own critical thinking to the text by questioning it, analyzing it,
evaluating it, arguing for or against a particular idea, or extending its argument.
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Follow MLA format for heading, spacing, margins, and citations.
Paper is one full typed page (no more, no less), using 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman.
Title is centered, not emphasized, and reflects the writer’s main point
Limit the composition to a single main idea, question, topic, or line of thought--preferably in one
single paragraph.
Use the text to substantiate that idea or to answer/explore that question, but DO NOT merely
summarize. In addition, on occasion and if appropriate, use your own experience to reflect on your
particular topic.
Quote briefly at least once from the text. Quotations must accurately reflect the text’s meaning, be
integrated into the writer’s own sentence structures and ideas, and be cited correctly.
Anchor the composition to the text but extend the discussion by adding to it the writer’s own
conclusions.
Revise the paper to meet these criteria; always edit and spell check.
NOTE: I do NOT recommend, require, or encourage the use of secondary sources in writing the reading
compositions. The primary purpose of the assignment is for you to have an idea about the work of
literature then to articulate and substantiate that idea in writing. Reading what someone else thinks about
the work may impede this process.
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Late Work Policy: Submitting a reading composition late is inequitable to the students who submit
theirs on time; therefore, no late work is accepted.
Fall 2005
Professor: Dr. Gau
Office hours: MW 10-12:00
Office: Lang 409A
e-mail: tmgau@unt.edu
Tentative Reading Schedule
8/30
9/1
Course Introduction; Peruse pp. 3-15
Gilgamesh: Parts 1-3 (pp. 12-30)
9/6
9/8
Gilgamesh: Parts 4-7 (pp. 30-41) and Genesis 6-9 (pp. 60-63)
Ancient Greece (pp. 105-10); Aeschylus: The Oresteia: Agamemnon (pp. 533-59); Composition #1 Due
9/13
9/15
Agamemnon (559-82); Aristotle’s Poetics (pp. 799-803)
Early China (pp. 805-11); Confucius: Analects (pp. 820-31); Composition #2 Due on Agamemnon
9/20
9/22
India’s Heroic Age (pp. 881-89); The Ramayana of Valmiki: Books 1-3 (pp. 890-922)
Ramayana: Books 4-6 (pp. 922-53)
9/27
9/29
Ancient Rome (pp. 1041-45); Virgil: The Aeneid: Books 1, 2 (1052-); Composition #3 Due on Ramayana
Aeneid: Book 4
10/4
10/6
Books 6, 8, 12
EXAM #1: The Ancient World (25%)
10/11
10/13
China’s Middle Period (1353-57); T‘ang Poetry by Tu Fu, Li Ho, Po Chu-i; In-class Composition #4
The Thousand and One Nights (pp. 1566-90)
10/18
10/20
Nights cont’d (pp. 1590-1618)
Dante: The Divine Comedy: Inferno: Cantos 1-3 (pp. 1826-); Composition #5 Due on Nights
10/25
10/27
Inferno: Cantos 4-9, 13, 26, 34; Composition #6 Due on Dante
from Purgatorio and Paradiso (pp. 1942-62)
11/1
11/3
Boccaccio: The Decameron (pp. 1963-91)
Golden Age of Japanese Culture (pp. 2143-47); The Tale of the Heike (2300-26); In-class Composition #7
11/8
11/10
EXAM #2: The Middle Ages (25%)
Machiavelli: The Prince (pp. 2517-34); Castiglione: The Book of the Courtier, Book 1 (pp. 2549-64)
11/15
11/17
Shakespeare: Hamlet: Act 1 (pp. 2821-28; 2919-); Composition #8 Due on The Prince/The Courtier
Acts 2-3
11/22
11/24
Acts 4-5; Composition #9 Due on Hamlet
THANKSGIVING BREAK
11/29
12/1
Milton’s Paradise Lost: Books 1, 4 (pp. 2996-)
Books 8, 9
12/6
12/8
Books 10, 12; Composition #10 Due on Paradise Lost
Review for Final Exam
12/15 Final Exam: The Renaissance (30%)
(Thurs) 10:30-12:30
Engl 2210.002 TR 11:00-12:20
Fall 2005