Syllabus and Schedule Spring 2001

Instructor: James Shokoff Office: Fenton 264

Office hours: W 1:30-5:30 and Th 10:00-11:00 Phone: 673 3858

Class meets: Tu. & Th. 3:30-4:50, Fenton 166

E-Mail: James.Shokoff@fredonia.edu

Texts: Mack, et al. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, expanded ed, vol. 2, Norton

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, Dover Thrift Editions

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, Scribners

Goethe, Sorrows of Young Werther, Signet

Shakespeare. Othello, Signet Classics

Bhagavad Gita. Barbara Stoller Miller trans., Bantam

The Ramayana. Narayan trans, Penguin

The Course: The course aims to explore the concept of Romanticism as it is challenged or expressed in works of literature from different times and cultures. The hope is to remove Romanticism from its time-bounded sense and to try to understand it as an enduring, albeit elusive intellectual concept. Not all of the works we study are generally regarded as Romantic texts; some are, in fact, considered anti-Romantic. These will be juxtaposed in our discussions with works that are generally considered Romantic as a way of testing the idea of Romanticism. Classes will be conducted as discussions, and participation is required.

General College Program: This course fulfills the GCP IIIB requirement. It is an historically based, formalistic introduction to the study of basic concepts and problems in analyzing films.

Requirements:

1. Two problem papers of 500-750 words each on topics that will be assigned at least once a week in class and on the course listserv. The topics will arise from class discussions, and you will have your choice of which topics you choose to write on and when your paper is due. Each topic will have its own due date. In general, these papers must be completed and turned in within two weeks of the topic's being assigned. The first paper must be on a topic assigned before February 22. The second paper must be on a topic assigned after February 22. It must be turned in no later than Tuesday, May 1. [Each of these papers will be worth 20% of your grade for the course.]

2. Two exercises or papers in which you will be asked to try something other than writing a critical/analytical essay. These will be short and, like the problem papers, will have rolling due dates. You might, for example, be asked to assume the role of a character in a text and respond to a question posed by another character or, perhaps, an imaginary reader. One of these exercises/papers must be done before Friday, March 15. The other must be turned in by Tuesday, April 24, but no earlier than Tuesday, March 27. [Each of these exercises will be worth 10% of your final grade for the course.]

3. A take-home essay examination that will be assigned in class on Tuesday, May 1 and will be due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8. [Worth 30% of your grade for the course.]

4. Attendance and participation are required. Anyone missing more than three class meetings, for any reason, will be required to take a final examination on Thursday, May 10, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. [Participation in class will be graded and will be worth 10% of your grade for the course.] {If you are required to take the final examination, it will be worth 20 points toward your final grade, with the basis number for calculating your grade raised from 100 to 120. Thus the numbers become points rather than percentages, and the final grade will be calculated by dividing the total points earned by 120.}

5. Read and follow the Guidelines for Papers and Examinations sheet attached to this syllabus. Papers that deviate significantly from these guidelines will be turned back for adjustment and will be penalized as late papers.

Schedule

1/18 Introduction to the course. Samuel Cowper, "The Castaway," handout.

1/23 Read "Revolution and Romanticism . . ." in Norton Masterpieces, pp. 657-664, and Alexander Pope's "Essay on Man," Epistle One, pp. 511-518.

1/25 Rousseau, from The Confessions, pp. 668-678.

1/30 Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

2/1 Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

2/6 Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

2/8 Blake, "London," p. 790, Shelley, "Ode to the West Wind," p. 814, Yeats, "The Second Coming," p. 1463, and "Sailing to Byzantium," p. 1464, Stevens, "The Emperor of Ice-Cream," p. 1667.

2/13 Continue poems from last class.

2/15 Chinese lyric poetry (handout).

2/20 The Ramayana

2/22 The Ramayana. First problem paper is due no later than today in class.

2/27 The Bhagavad-Gita

3/1 Gandhi (handout)

3/6 Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, 908-968.

3/8 Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (handouts)

3/13 The Bhagavad-Gita, Gandhi, Douglass, King, Malcom X, and the problem of non-violence

3/15 Wordsworth, "Ode; Intimations of Immortality," 798, and Coleridge, "Dejection; An Ode," 808. First exercise is due no later than today in class.

3/20 and 3/22 Spring break

3/27 Shakespeare, Othello

3/29 Shakespeare, Othello

4/3 Shakespeare, Othello

4/5 Shakespeare, Othello

4/10 Dickinson, "The Brain--is wider than the Sky," "I Dwell in Possibility," and "Because I could not stop for Death," p. 1046, and Blake, "The Tyger," 789.

4/12 Conrad, Heart of Darkness

4/17 Conrad, Heart of Darkness

4/19 Conrad, Heart of Darkness

4/24 Keats, "Lamia" (handout). Second exercise is due no later than today in class.

4/26 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

5/1 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. Second problem paper is due no later than today in class. Take-home final examination will be assigned today.

5/3 Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby and evaluation of the course.

5/8 Take-home examination is due today no later than 4:00 p.m.

5/10 Final examination, Thursday, May 10, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (if required)

Course Listserv: Everyone must join the course listserv. It will be used to give assignments, make adjustments in the schedule, provide you with a forum for asking questions or making observations about the texts we study and our discussions of them, and more.

To JOIN the listserv, send an e-mail message from the e-mail account you use regularly to <listserv@listserv.fredonia.edu>. Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message write: JOIN EN39101 YOURFIRSTNAME YOUR LASTNAME.

To SEND a message to the listserv after you have joined, address the message to <EN39101@listserv.fredonia.edu>. Fill in the Subject line with a one-, two-, or three-word description of your topic, and write the message in the body, making sure to include your name and return e-mail address.