This course gives first-year NCHU English majors the opportunity to explore some of the most enduring works of Western Literature from Homer’s epics 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.
The Norton Anthology of Western Literature (Ninth Edition);
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Become familiar with some of the major authors and issues of Western Literature
- Understand both Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions and literary genres
- Enhance their reading skills and critical thinking through complex literary texts.
- Develop an understanding of the formal, stylistic, and aesthetic qualities of literary texts
Grades
15% class participation (based on your speaking frequency)
5% written assignment (week 11)
10 % Group Presentation (week 16)
15% attendance
60% exams (quizzes 10%, Midterm, 25% Final 25%)
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.
BBC Podcasts:
Homer’s Odyssey: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09kqjc0
Ovid’s Metamorphosis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00546p6
Virgil’s Aeneid: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9c1
Dante’s Inferno: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-j9bCJ7wl4
Week 1 (22 February) Introduction
Homer’s Odyssey Weeks 2-6
Euripides’ Medea Weeks 7-8
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Weeks 10-11
Shaw’s Pygmalion
Virgil’s Aeneid Weeks 11-13
Dante’s Inferno Weeks 14-15
Mid-Term and Final Exam: Weeks 9 and 17
Group Presentations: Weeks 11 and 16
Week 2 (1 March) Holiday
Week 3 (8 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Headnote to Homer’s Odyssey (pp. 185-88)
Book 1: Athena Inspires the Prince (pp. 291-301, lines 1-470)
Book 4: The King and Queen of Sparta (pp. 324-337, lines 1-617)
Quiz 1 (10 rather than 5 Questions)
Week 4 (15 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 8: A Day for Songs and Contests
(pp. 371-385)
Quiz 2
Week 5 (22 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 9: In the One-Eye’ Giant’s Cave
(pp. 385-397)
Quiz 3
Week 6 (29 March) Homer’s Odyssey
Book 23: The Great Rooted Bed
(pp.559-568)
Quiz 4
Week 7 (5 April) Holiday
Week 8 (12 April) Euripides’ Medea
Headnote to Euripides (pp. 742-45)
Medea (pp. 745-66, lines 1-845)
Quiz 5
Week 9 (19 April) Mid-Term Exam
Week 10 (26 April)
Ovid’s description of Pygmalion in Metamorphoses
(pp.1121-22)
Shaw’s Pygmalion
Watch the 1938 film ‘Pygmalion’
Week 11 (3 May)
Reviewing the Mid-Term Exams
Group Presentations on the film ‘Pygmalion’
Introduction to Virgil’s Aeneid
Week 12 (10 May) Virgil’s Aeneid
Book I: Safe Haven after Storm
(pp. 981-1001)
Quiz 7
Week 13 (17 May) Virgil’s Aeneid
Book II: The Final Hours of Troy
(pp. 1002-1024)
Quiz 8
Week 14 (24 May) Dante’s Inferno, Canto 1-3
(pp. 1595-1610)
Quiz 9
Week 15 (31 May) Dante’s Inferno, Canto 4-5
(pp. 1610-1617)
Quiz 10
Week 16 (7 Jun) Group Presentation
Week 17 (14 June) Holiday
Week 18 (21 June) Final Exam
