Welcome to ENGL 2200, World Literature I
The course is designed to enhance your ability to read, interpret, discuss and write about some of the most significant texts in world culture. The readings, discussions, and activities in this course are designed to create a learning environment that emphasizes the development of critical thinking, the importance of understanding context, the process of engagement with other learners, and the facilitation of reflecting and acting on reading materials.
This class will explore the usefulness of cultural and historical relativism, a particular kind of critical thinking in which phenomena are analyzed in light of the social, cultural, and historical contexts. These readings will challenge our assumptions about how the world works and give us a greater appreciation for human and social diversity. You will learn to appreciate human social and cultural diversity over time and across space. This appreciation can lead to more reflective and informed participation in your own society. Many of the issues we will discuss have implications for the ways in which you will participate in future intercultural encounters and understand their place in global changes and processes.
You will be expected to read each text thoroughly, take good notes, and complete various writing assignments.
Course goals and objectives
- To develop a general understanding of the major literary and cultural periods from the from ancient times to the Renaissance.
- To practice formal analysis in discussion and writing
- To learn to situate literary texts within their proper historical and cultural frameworks
- To become more effective and confident writer
- To write formal analysis of literary works
- To become active participant in a dialogue about literature
- To provide students with a broad knowledge of world literature from the ancient world through the Renaissance.
- To acquaint students with major movements, genres, authors, and works in the development of world literature.
- To expose students to the use of literary terms and the questions raised by the use.
- To encourage an understanding of literature as a means of reflecting and commenting upon human experience across culture and time.
- To aid students in developing their ability to make critical judgements and to express them effectively.
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:
- Demonstrate critical reading skills.
- Identify literary themes, their origins, and their significance.
- Identify literary movements and their relationship to cultures.
- Recognize literary devices.
- Communicate accurately and effectively in both written and verbal forms.
- Analyze and explore the writings of many cultures and make logical assumptions about the writers and their peoples.
In this course you will be encouraged to examine current events and issues in the world, in America, as well as in your own local community, as they relate to issues covered in the readings.
Reading strategies
Be an active reader. Read with a pencil and notebook in hand. Underline intriguing passages that you would like to return to in class discussion. Keep a dictionary handy so that you can check unfamiliar words.
Read in a quiet place. Turn off the T.V. and radio! It is very important that you make it easier for yourself to concentrate by minimizing surrounding distractions.
Jot down notes to yourself. Always refer to the questions in the study guide as you read. Write down as detailed responses to the questions a you can think of. Both the Midterm and the Final Exam will be based largely on these questions.
Reread. Second readings are always very valuable to your comprehension of the works. You notice new things, you begin to identify patterns, and you are able to observe the way the text is constructed in a way impossible in any first reading.