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The instructor of this course will select the course readings for World Literature from both Western and non-Western Literature. What follows are mainly suggestions for each unit; instructors are free to choose other selections befitting of the time period.
I. Unit One…Introduction to Literature
The focus and goal of this unit will be to introduce students to the elements of literature (AKA: Literary Devices) to prepare them to respond and evaluate course readings.
Areas of study for this unit include the following:
1. Genre study: Students will be introduced to the genres that they will study in this course such as drama, poetry, short stories, etc.
2. Elements of literature: Students will be introduced to literary terms. Application of these terms will take place in future course units and course assignments. Elements of literature include but are not limited to the following: Characterization, conflict, figurative language, foreshadowing, imagery, irony, mood, plot, point of view, symbolism, theme, tone, etc.
3. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
II. Unit Two…The Ancient World (Western Literature and Non-Western)
In this unit, students will study literature from the Ancient World which will include Greek Literature and Roman Literature. Non-Western literature will also be covered in this unit.
Areas of study for this unit include the following:
1. Introduction to the Ancient World: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as the beginnings of civilization such as the development of empires, the development of world religions and how these said developments lead to the birth of literature, as we know it.
2. Genre study:
Greek Literature:
- Epics: Gilgamesh, Iliad and Odyssey
- Drama: (may include one or more of the following) - Agamemnon, Apology, Lysistrata, Medea, and Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex),
- Poetry: Works by Archilochus and Greek Lyric Poetry
Roman Literature:
- Epic: The Aeneid
- Poetry: Works by Gaius Valerius Catullus and Quintus Ennius
- Myths: The Metamorphoses (studied myths chosen at instructor’s discretion)
- Other work for consideration: Confessions or Meditations
Non-Western Literature:
- Confucius, Analects (China)
- Hymns from Rig Veda (India)
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: character analysis of Achilles/Odysseus or create a comparison and contrast essay of both characters, explore the themes of the Iliad and the Odyssey, foreshadowing in Gilgamesh (via dreams), theme: discuss the importance of religion in the above selections.
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
III. Unit Three…The Medieval Era (Western and Non-Western Literature)
Unit Three will include the study of Western and Non-Western Literature.
Areas of study for this unit include the following:
1. Introduction to the Medieval Period: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as the importance of and growth of world religions and the emergence of literature from non-western cultures in foreign languages
2. Genre study:
- Epic: Beowulf (Western)
- Poetry: Divine Comedy and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Western) and Poetry of the Tang Dynasty – authors include: Wang Wei, Li Bo, and Du Fu (Non-Western: China)
- Folklore: The Thousand and One Nights (Non-Western: Middle Eastern Literature)
- Song Lyric: Work by Li Yu and Li Qingzhao (Non-Western: China)
- Other: The Canterbury Tales (Western), works by Marie de France and Christine de Pizan (Western) and The Qur’an (Non-Western: Middle Eastern Literature), and Murasaki, Tale of Genji (from Japan)
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: Protagonist vs. antagonist in Beowulf, character sketch of the Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales, allegory and symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
IV. Unit Four…The Early Modern Period (The Renaissance)
Areas of study for this unit include the following Western Literature:
1. Introduction to the Early Modern Period: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as how exploration of new worlds and conquest of empires, scientific discovery and technological growth, and the invention of the printing and distribution of texts influenced literature during this period of history.
2. Genre study:
- Novel: Don Quixote
- Poetry: Paradise Lost and Sonnets (by Shakespeare, Petrarch, Spencer, Lyly, Marlow, or Jonson)
- Drama: Hamlet (any selection from Shakespeare – instructor’s preference)
- Other works for consideration: The Prince and Utopia, selections by Boccaccio and Petrarch
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: Conflicts found in Hamlet, similes and metaphors in the Sonnets, dramatic irony in Paradise Lost
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
V. Unit Five…The Age of Enlightenment:
Areas of study for this unit include the following Western Literature and Non- Western Literature:
1. Introduction to the Age of Enlightenment: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as the growth of commerce and industry, continued exploration in the sciences and advances in technology, and the emergence of women as readers, writers, and free thinkers.
2. Genre study:
- One Enlightenment drama: Moliere’s Tartuffe, Racine’s Phaedra (Western)
- Poetry: Works by Matsu Basho (Non-Western: Japan)
- One major work of satire: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (selections), Pope’s An Essay on Man, or the mock epic The Rape of the Lock, Voltaire’s Candide (selections)
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: exploring authors’ use of satire in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (selections), Pope’s An Essay on Man, or the mock epic The Rape of the Lock, Voltaire’s Candide (selections), comedy in Tartuffe, Haiku poetry
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
VI. Unit Six… The 19th Century:
Areas of study for this unit include the following Western Literature and Non- Western Literature:
1. Introduction to the 19th Century: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as revolution, romanticism, realism as well as the continuing advances in science and technology and the women gaining independence and emancipation.
2. Genre study:
- Two major works of poetry from Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Blake, and Byron (Western)
- Drama : Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (Western)
- Fiction: Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy (Western)
- Epic Poem/Legend: Faust (Western)
- Poetry: works by Ghalib (Non-Western) and Baudelaire: selections from Flowers of Evil or from Paris Spleen
- Short Story: “The Yellow Wallpaper” (Western)
- Other: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, George Eliot (Western)
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: Blake’s use of imagery, point of view and irony in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, exploring the theme of nature in unit poetry selections
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
VII. Unit Seven…20th Century:
Areas of study for this unit include the following Western Literature and Non- Western Literature:
1. Introduction to the 20th Century: Instructor of the course to lecture on the historical background of this time period such as modernism, decolonization, advent-garde, travel, and media
2. Genre study:
- Fiction/Novella: Kafka “The Metamorphosis” (Western)
- Shorty Story: Lu Xun “A Madman’s Diary” (Non-Western)
- Poetry: works by T.S. Eliot (Western)
- Novel: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Non-Western) and Conrad Heart of Darkness (Western)
- Other authors to consider include: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Jorge Luis Borges, and Samuel Beckett (Western).
3. Elements of literature: Although many elements of literature can be applied to the various selections listed above, a few examples include: Character sketch of Prufrock or imagery in the poem, symbolism/motifs in Things Fall Apart, comparison of cultures in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness
4. Responding to and evaluating literature: Students will learn how to respond to the literature that they read and how to evaluate it. Responding and evaluating will take place during class discussions, journals, course assignments, exams, etc.
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