English 2110
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Lawrence
Office: 929 GCB
Office Hours: TH 10:00-11:00 and by appointment
Office Phone: 404.413.5878 or 404.413.5800
EMAIL
Class Times: TTH 11:00-12:15
Online Writing Environment: http://www.wac.gsu.edu/wow
Required Texts:
Mack, Maynard, et al. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. (Expanded Edition in One
Volume). New York: Norton, 1997.
Prerequisite:
A grade of C or higher in English 1102 or equivalent. Students who have not completed this
requirement will be asked to withdraw.
Course Description:
English 2110 is a survey of important works in world literature. Although gaining familiarity
with all of the “important” works from world literature would be ideal, students should keep in
mind that this survey is intended merely to introduce them to a wide variety of literary works
spanning vastly different cultures and time periods, with the ultimate goal of encouraging them
to appreciate textual diversity and make connections between works and cultures that would, on
the surface, seem unrelated. In other words, English 2110 should not only teach you to appreciate
works from other cultures and time periods, but should also encourage the cultivation of
analytical tools that you will need to become well-rounded readers. Although we may
occasionally stop on one or two works from England or America, this course is designed to
introduce you to texts and concepts that don’t generally appear in the British or American
Literature courses and that you may not have been exposed to before.
Learning Outcomes and Goals:
General Outcomes for Literary Surveys 
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identify and explain the fundamental features of the genres of poetry, fiction, non-fiction,
and drama
define key literary terms/concepts and implement these in oral/written discussion as well
as in literary interpretation
describe, examine, and evaluate your own reading practices and oral/written critical
analyses
analyze literature and explain how various components of literature work together to
create meaning.
apply writing and revision as tools for understanding literature and its interpretation
Specific Outcome for 2110 

differentiate between Western and non-Western literature
recognize, describe, and analyze the influence of various cultures in literary works
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is mandatory. This class will be both lecture and discussion driven and will depend
heavily upon student participation. Therefore, students are expected to attend regularly, to arrive
on time, and to be prepared to discuss the day. Students are not allowed to make up missed
work. If you know you will miss a class, you should contact me. It is your responsibility to ask
about missed handouts, assignments or notes and to check the website as well as your student
email account for any class updates.
Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism is not acceptable. The penalty for plagiarism is a zero for the assignment and possible
failure of the course. Students should be familiar with the section on Academic Honesty in the
student handbook, should review my notes on MLA citation and should feel free to consult me if
they have any further questions.
Special Needs:
Georgia State University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities who seek academic accommodations must first
take appropriate documentation to the Office of Disability Services
(http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwods/) located in Suite 230 of the New Student Center. Students with
special needs should then make an appointment with me during the first week of class to discuss
any accommodations that need to be made.
Course Requirements:
Assignments prepared outside the classroom must be typed and should comply with the MLA
format (i.e. double-spaced / one inch margins / 12 point font). All assignments must be turned in
at the beginning of the class on the day due. No late work will be accepted.
Exams 40 %
The midterm exam will be an in-class exam. It will include short answer and quotation
identification questions. The exam is worth 20% of your final grade and will be held on February
26th.
The final exam will be an in-class, cumulative exam that will include an a short-answer section, a
quotation identification section, and an essay component. The final exam is worth 20% of your
final grade. It will take place on Thursday, April 30 at 10:15
Reading Responses: 30%
Students will complete 10 reading responses. The responses should be no fewer than 250 words
in length. These responses are not plot summaries or confessionals, but careful commentaries on
the ideas/images expressed in the works that you will be reading. You may choose to respond to
an individual work or make comparisons between works, but you must limit your responses to
the works we are covering as a group. Your responses can be thesis-driven, argumentative
attempts to establish a singular point about the text, or they can be exploratory, positing one or
two questions on a topic and exploring the complications that the texts raise. Support your
observations by quoting from the text. You may choose to respond to any of the texts that we are
discussing, but as your responses will guide class discussion, your responses are due before class
starts on the day we discuss the text (no exceptions).
Each response is worth 3% of your final grade, so be sure to keep up with them.
Your responses are to be submitted electronically through the Writing Across the Curriculum
Online Writing Environment: http://www.wac.gsu.edu/wow
Daily Grades, Homework and Participation: 10%
During the course of the semester, students will occasionally be asked to respond to the readings
in short essays or work in groups to create points for class discussion. I may also administer
quizzes, on an as needed basis. Quizzes and daily grades are administered at the beginning of the
class period and cannot be “made up,” so students are advised to arrive on time and ready to
work. Finally, this grade will take your participation into account. The participation portion of
this grade is based on your attendance, your preparedness, and your class discussion.
Group Presentation 20%
Students will be divided into groups and each group will be responsible for leading a discussion
of one of the texts we will be covering this semester. Groups will be required to present
background information on the author and the text and present topics for class discussion.
Students will present this information in a short 10-15 minute presentation and in a 4 page paper.
The paper should include an overview of the material presented and a 15 work bibliography of
scholarly resources related to the text. Students will also be required to submit a 1 page
explanation of their participation in the project.
Finally, the group will be asked to anonymously evaluate the participation of its members. Those
evaluations will be considered in the final grade each group member receives.
Class Calendar
Week 1: 1/6-1/8
1/6: Introductions
1/8: Gilgamesh 10-25
Week 2: 1/13-1/15
1/13: Gilgamesh 25-42
1/15: Ancient Greece 87-92 and Aristotle’s Poetics 521 Sign up for group presentation
Week 3: 1/20-1/22
1/20: Euripedes’s Medea 433-449
1/22: Euripedes’s Medea 449-465.
Week 4: 1/27-1/29
1/27: India’s Heroic Age: 567-574 and The Ramayana of Valmiki 576-594
1/29: The Ramayana of Valmiki 594-612
Week 5: 2/3-2/5
2/3: China’s Middle Period 813-815 and T`ao Ch`ien 818-826
2/5: Yüan Chen’s “The Story of Ying-ying” 839-848.
Week 6: 2/10-2/12
2/10: The Rise of Islam and Islamic Literature 861-865 and The Thousand and One Nights
923-948.
2/12: The Formation of Western Literature 951-953 and Marie De France’s “Eliduc” 996109
Week 7: 2/17-2/19
2/17: Boccaccio’s The Decameron 1142-1164
2/19: The Renaissance in Europe 1475-1481 and Petrarch’s Sonnets 1484-1488.
Week 8: 2/24-2/26
2/24: Machiavelli’s The Prince 1488-1501. Midterm review.
2/26: Midterm Exam
Week 9: 3/2-3/6 Spring Break
3/2: Semester Midpoint—Last Day to withdraw with a “W.”
Week 10: 3/10-3/12
3/10: Native American and Europe in the New World 1729-1734 and Florentine Codex
1736-1739
3/12: No Class.
Week 11: 3/17-3/19
3/17: The Enlightenment in Europe 1889-1895 and Moliere’s Tartuffe 1900-1928.
3/19: Tartuffe 1928-1956
Week 12: 3/24-3/26
3/24: Realism,. Symbolism, and European Realities 2325- 2334 and Tolstoy’s “The Death of
Ivan Ilyich” 2432-2447
3/26: Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” 2447-2476
Week 13: 3/31-4/2
4/3: Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler 2476-2516
4/5: Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler 2516-2537
Week 14: 4/7-4/9
4/7: The Twentieth Century: Self and Other in Global Context 2579-2606 Borges’s “The
Garden of Forking Paths” 2871-2881
4/9: Nobuo’s “The American School” 2893-2919
Week 15: 4/14-4/16
4/14: Achebe’s Things Fall Apart 2931-2964.
4/16: Achebe’s Things Fall Apart 2964-2998
Week 16: 4/21-4/23
4/21: Achebe’s Things Fall Apart 2998-3030
4/23: Last Day of Class and Final Exam Review.
Week 17:
4/30: Final Exam. Thursday, April 30th at 10:15
This syllabus reflects a plan for the semester. Deviations may become necessary as the
semester progresses. Students are responsible for making note of any changes that may
occur.