Course Description
Surveys world literature through 20th-century short stories drawn from a wide variety of languages and cultures. Topics include colonization, cultural identity, alienation, gender roles, family life, and social class.
Course Objectives
Upon completing this course, the student will be able to
- Analyze select works of major writers
- Trace the evolution of literary genres and movements
- Relate the literary works and their authors to one another and to their common heritage
- Explain how literature creates and perpetuates powerful myths that can affect a person's life but that literature can also cause a person to question and dispel such myths
- Discuss how literature has influenced the ideas and images that people hold about class, race, and gender
- Apply the conventions of standard written English to the creation of expository discourse that is clear, coherent, sufficiently developed, and stylistically sound
Week 1
Lecture: Chinese Vernacular Literature
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Read and discuss literature of the Chinese vernacular tradition
Lecture: The Enlightenment and Voltaire
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Identify the philosophical, social, and literary norms of the Enlightenment era
Week 2
Lecture: Voltaire's Candide
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Discuss Voltaire's satire of Enlightenment values
Lecture: Romanticism and Rousseau
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Romanticism and
- Explain how Rousseau's memoir employs many of these features
Week 3
Lecture: Romanticism and Heine
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- List the basic features of literary Romanticism
- Discuss how Heine's poems embody many of these features
Lecture: Romanticism and Pushkin
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Romanticism
- Explain how Pushkin's story is an example of dark Romanticism
Week 4
Lecture: Realism and Naturalism
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Describe the basic features of literary Realism and Naturalism
Lecture: Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- List the basic features of literary Realism
- Explain how Tolstoy's novella exemplifies these features
Week 5
Lecture: Ibsen: Hedda Gabler
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Realism
- Discuss how Ibsen's play embodies these features
Lecture: Chekhov: "The Lady with the Dog"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Realism
- Discuss how Chekhov's short story exemplifies these features
Week 6
Lecture: Modernism and Postmodernism
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
- List basic features of literary Modernism and Postmodernism
Lecture: Franz Kafka: "The Metamorphosis"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Modernism
- Explain how Kafka's story embodies those features
Week 7
Lecture: Albert Camus: "The Guest"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:
- Identify the basic features of literary Modernism
- Explain how this story exemplifies those features
Lecture: Doris Lessing: "The Old Chief Mshlanga"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:
- Explain how Lessing's story embodies the features of literary Modernism
Week 8
Lecture: Naguib Mahfouz: "Zaabalawi"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:
- Explain how Mahfouz's story embodies the basic features of literary Modernism
Lecture: Gabriel García Márquez: "Death Constant Beyond Love"
Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:
- Explain how "Death Constant Beyond Love" exemplifies the features of literary Modernism
The course description, objectives and learning outcomes are subject to change without notice based on enhancements made to the course. March 2012
