Course Description
This course gives first-year NCHU English majors the opportunity to explore some of the most enduring works of Western Literature from the Bible stories to Homer’s epic poems. Parrticipants 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.
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.
(4) Develop an understanding of the formal, stylistic, and aesthetic qualities of literary texts
Grades
20% class participation
5 % Group Presentation
10% attendance
65% exams (quizzes 15%, 25% Midterm, 25% 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.
Textbook: The Norton Anthology of Western Literature (Ninth Edition);
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
Week 1 (9/19)
Introduction
Italo Calvino’s ‘Why read the classics?’
Week 2 (9/26) Creation and the Cosmos
Headnote to the Hebrew Bible, pp. 110-112
Genesis 1-4, 6-9, pp. 117-126
Quiz 1
Week 3 (10/3)
Headnote to the Hebrew Bible, pp. 113-114
Genesis 11-12, Exodus 19-20, pp.126-127, pp. 150-152
The Book of Job, 1-3pp. 152-154
Quiz 2
Week 4 (Holiday)
Week 5
The Book of Job, 4-6, pp. 155-158; Job, 29-42, pp. 166-177.
Quiz 3
Week 6 The Greek Myth
The Gods, the Creation, and the earliest Heroes, pp.24-46.
Hercules, pp. 159-172.
Quiz 4
Week 7
The Heroes of the Trojan War, pp.178-192
Norton, pp. 181-185.
Quiz 5
Week 8
Homer’s Iliad: Book 1: The Rage of Achilles
Quiz 6
Week 9
Mid-term
Week 10
Book VI: Hector Returns to Troy
Week 11
Quiz 7
Book IX: The Embassy to Achilles
Quiz 8
Week 12
Book XVI: Patroclus Fights and Dies
Quiz 9
Week 13
Book XVIII: The Shield of Achilles
Quiz 10
Week 14
Book XXII: The Death of Hector
Quiz 11
Week 15
Book XXIV: Achilles and Priam
Quiz 12
Week 16
Week 17
Oral Presentation
Week 18 (Final)