As with all pieces of writing, this schedule is subject to
judicious revision. In the unlikely event that changes must be made, they will
be announced in class well ahead of time. It is your responsibility to read the
schedule, make note of when assignments are due, and to have them completed by
the beginning of class on the date listed.
|
Date |
Class Topic |
Assignment Due |
|
T |
8/21 |
Introduction to the
course and one another |
|
|
Th |
8/23 |
The Ancient World: The
Earliest Literature |
Read introduction to
the Epic of Gilgamesh (Book 1: 55-61) |
|
T |
8/28 |
Mesopotamia |
Read Epic of
Gilgamesh (Book 1: 62-91) |
|
Th |
8/30 |
Ancient Hebrews |
Read selections from
Job (Book 1: 169-204) |
|
T |
9/4 |
Greece: The Golden Age |
Begin reading
selections from the Iliad (Book 1: 288-420) |
|
Th |
9/6 |
Greek Heroic Epic |
Finish the Iliad |
|
T |
9/11 |
Greek Poetry |
Read introduction to
and poems of Sappho (Book 1: 791-798) |
|
Th |
9/13 |
Greek Drama |
Read Medea (Book
1: 1004-1044) |
|
T |
9/18 |
Rome |
Read introduction to
Ovid and selections from Metamorphoses (Book 1: 1265-1293) |
|
T |
9/25 |
India: Religious Epic |
Read selections from
the Bhagavad Gita (Book 1: 1488-1514) |
|
Th |
9/27 |
Middle East: Islamic
Scriptures |
Read introduction to
and selections from The Koran (Book 2: 97-129) |
|
T |
10/2 |
Chinese Poetry |
Read introduction to
Tao Qian and selected poems (Book 2: 302-317) |
|
Th |
10/4 |
Japanese Courtly
Romance |
Read introduction to
and selections from the Tale of Genji (Book 2: 1086-1147) |
|
T |
10/9 |
Midterm Exam |
Bring an exam book to
class |
|
Th |
10/11 |
European Middle Age |
Read introduction to
Dante (Book 2: 678-686), and Inferno (Book 2: 689-848: Cantos I,
III, IV, XXXIII, XXXIV only) |
|
T |
10/16 |
Early Modern Europe |
Read introduction to
Boccaccio and selections from the Decameron (Book 2: 849-877) |
|
Th |
10/18 |
Fall Break: no
class meeting |
|
T |
10/23 |
Early Modern Europe |
Read introduction to
Marguerite de Navarre and selections from the Heptameron (Book 3:
180-208) |
|
Th |
10/25 |
European Renaissance
and midterm review |
Read introduction to
and sonnets of Petrarch (Book 3: 67-84) |
|
T |
10/30 |
The Novel in Europe |
Read introduction to
Cervantes and selection from Don Quixote (Book 3: 257-296) |
|
Th |
11/1 |
European Enlightenment
in Drama |
Read Tartuffe
(Book 4: 17-87) |
|
T |
11/6 |
Japanese Haiku and the
Travel Narrative |
Read introduction to
Basho and selections from the Narrow Road through the Backcountry
(Book 4: 650-684) |
|
Th |
11/8 |
European Developments
in Fiction |
Read introduction to
Flaubert and “A Simple Heart” (Book 5: 435-461) |
|
T |
11/13 |
European Novel |
Read introduction to
Dostoevsky and “The Grand Inquisitor” from the Brothers Karamazov
(Book 5: 462-467; 541-555) |
|
Th |
11/15 |
European Drama |
Read introduction to
Chekhov and the Cherry Orchard (Book 5: 703-748) |
|
T |
11/20 |
Modern European Fiction |
Read introduction to
Joyce and “The Dead” (Book 6: 366-401) |
|
Th |
11/22 |
Thanksgiving
Break: no class meeting |
|
T |
11/27 |
South America and Magic
Realism |
Read introduction to
García Márquez and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” (Book 6:
924-932) |
|
Th |
11/29 |
Nigerian Drama |
Read introduction to
Soyinka and The Lion and the Jewel (Book 6: 1141-1192) |
|
T |
12/4 |
Class wrap-up and
tearful farewells |
Bring questions about
the final exam |
|
W |
12/12 |
Final Exam at 12:00 |
Bring an exam book
|