課程介紹
This course gives first-year NCHU English majors the opportunity to explore some of the most enduring works of Western Literature from Homer’s epic poems to Dante's Inferno. Participants are not expected to read these texts in their entirety but selectively and critically. It is designed to introduce the major concerns and conventions of western literary canon whilst encouraging students to think about what makes a literary text ‘classic’ and how it is still relevant to modern readers.
教科書:
Textbook: The Norton Anthology of Western Literature (Ninth Edition)
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
 
教學進度:
Week 1 (3 March) Introduction

Homer’s Odyssey Week 2-6
Euripides’ Medea Week 7-8
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Week 10-11
Shaw’s Pygmalion
Virgil’s Aeneid Week 12-13
Dante’s Inferno Week 14-15

Mid-Term and Final Exam: Week 9 and 17
Group Presentations: Week 11 and 16

Week 2 (10 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 1 Athena Inspires the Prince
(pp. 291-301)
Quiz 1

Week 3 (17 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 4: The King and Queen of Sparta
(pp. 324-338)
Quiz 2

Week 4 (24 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 8: A Day for Songs and Contests
(pp. 371-385)
Quiz 3

Week 5 (31 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 9: In the One-Eye’ Giant’s Cave
(pp. 385-397)
Quiz 4

Week 6 (7 April) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 23: The Great Rooted Bed
(pp.559-568)
Quiz 5

Week 7 (14 April) Euripides’ Medea (pp. 742-764)
Week 8 (21 April) Euripides’ Medea (pp.765-781)

Week 9 (28 April) Mid-Term Exam

Week 10 (5 May)
Ovid’s description of Pygmalion in Metamorphoses
(pp.1121-1122)
Shaw’s Pygmalion
Watch the 1938 film ‘Pygmalion’

Week 11 (12 May)
Reviewing the Mid-Term Exams
Group Presentations on the film ‘Pygmalion’
Introduction to Virgil’s Aeneid

Week 12 (19 May) Virgil’s Aeneid
Book I: Safe Haven after Storm
(pp. 981-1001)
Quiz 7

Week 13 (26 May) Virgil’s Aeneid
Book II: The Final Hours of Troy
(pp. 1002-1024)
Quiz 8

Week 14 (2 Jun) Dante’s Inferno, Canto 1 and 2
(pp. 1595-1607)
Quiz 9

Week 15 (9 Jun) Dante’s Inferno, Canto 3 and 26
(pp. 1607-1610, 1688-1690)
Quiz 10

Week 16 (16 Jun) Group Presentation
Week 17 (23 June) Final Exam
 
Evaluation
Grades
15% class participation (based on your attendance and speaking frequency during the in-class activities)
10 % Group Presentation
10% attendance
65% exams (quizzes 10%, 25% Midterm, 30% Final)

Bonus Written Assignment (0-5 points added to your final grade)
You have to print out and hand in a reflective essay (250-400 words) by the end of the semester. The topic of your essay is up to you. You can write up your oral report, trace your journey of learning in this course, analyze a short literary passage that interests you or simply find out more about the life of author or a topic.
 
Worksheets containing reading comprehension and discussion questions are available via I-Learning

BBC Podcasts:

Homer’s the Odyssey: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09kqjc0
Ovid’s Metamorphosis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00546p6
Virgil’s the Aeneid: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9c1
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