Lit 2120:   World Literature II

Twentieth-Century Anglophone Literature Outside the US and UK

 

Professor Enteen

e-mail: jenteen@pegaus.cc.ucf.edu

Office: 417D HFA  Phone: 823-6041

Office hours: Tues/Thurs 1-2:30 and by appointment

           

Course Description:

World Literature II will survey Twentieth-Century Anglophone Literature from outside the U.S. and U.K.. We will read novels, short stories, poetry, and plays written during the past century. Contemporary literary criticism concerned with issues of postcolonial literature such as identity construction will inform our interpretations. This class will be linked to another class with similar readings, and students will be expected to compose weekly posts on-line that complement class discussions.

 

Texts:

  1. Reader—available for purchase, $8.00, can be purchased in class or in HFA 405
  2. Cereus Blooms at Night – Shani Mootoo
  3. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
  4. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
  1. Shame – Salman Rushdie
  2. No Telephone to Heaven – Michelle Cliff
  3. The Arnold Anthology of Post-Colonial Literatures in English – John Thieme, Ed. (optional)

 

Grading:

Postings to WebCT Forum (15 required)                         15%

Quizzes and class assignments                         35%

Essay                                                               20%

Final Exam                                                        20%

Class Participation                                             10%

 

Posts to the WebCT Forum:

A bulletin board has been created on WebCT to serve your class and a similar class meeting Tuesdays and Fridays at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Each week you should contribute a substantive comment to one of the threads on the bulletin board. You can respond to any thread or start a thread yourself. Each post must reflect what you have learned from and think about class readings. Substantive responses consist of a paragraph that takes into account previous posts.

You may post more than once a week, but a minimum of 15 responses, one each week, is required to receive the 15% of your grade. One time during the semester, you will required to start a thread. For this week, you should post a thought provoking discussion question that shows you have completed the reading and thought about the way the work responds to the goals of the class. I will monitor the bulletin board and delete any responses that I do not consider “substantive.” I will not delete short responses to other student posts, however. By tracking your substantive posts, you can monitor your own progress towards receiving full credit.

The course site is located at http://reach.ucf.edu:8900/webct/public/show_courses?916345039. The course is listed as Lit 2120, World Lit II (Enteen). I will provide you with guided instructions about how to access this course when we meet in the library on Tuesday, January 11.

 

Quizzes and Class Assignments:

            Reading quizzes will be administered approximately once a week. These 5 question, short answer quizzes are easy to pass if you read the material. Occasionally, I will assign short homework assignments based on readings and class discussions. Paragraphs will be graded on a five-point scale, like the quizzes. Shorter assignments, such as creating questions for discussion, will receive a pass/fail grade. Two assignments will be dropped, but there will be no make ups for missed quizzes or assignments.

 

Essay:

One written paper is required for this class, and it will count 20%. Four copies of this essay are due Tuesday, March 7. These essays will be discussed in class, revised, and resubmitted Thursday, March 9. I will hand out topics and provide guidelines for revision. I suggest that you take your essay to the Writing Center before the March 7 deadline. A Writing Center consultation is easy, free and almost guarantees you a better paper (and hence a better grade). There will be no make up work or late papers accepted.

 

Final Exam:

            The final exam, which will take place during the final exam period, will consist of short answer and essay questions based entirely on the class readings and class discussions. A long essay question will be handed out on the last day of class.

 

Class Participation:

            In-class participation and evidence that you have prepared for class determine your Class Participation grade. Timely posting on the forum also contributes to this grade.

 

Attendance:

            You may have up to 2 absences without affecting your grade. Any more than 2 absences will hurt your final grade unless approved by me. If you miss more than 6 classes, you are likely to earn a failing grade.

 

Plagiarism:

            See your "Golden Rule" instructions. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, so please pay attention to the guidelines.

 

E-mail:

            You must regularly check your WebCT mail account and the e-mail address you provide for the class for class announcements and correspondence from me. Please do not write me on the WebCT site; instead, write to the address provided above which is linked to my name on the WebCT homepage.