English 2800: Great Works of Literature I, Mapping the Ancient World

English 2800: Great Works of Literature I, Mapping the Ancient World Baruch College, Fall 2014 Instructor: Nicole Zeftel Email: [email protected] Class Hours: T/Th 5:40-7:20, Field Building 17 Lexington, Room 712 Office: VC 7-290K (cubicle in the English department), Office Hours: 1:30-2:30 T/Th or by appointment

Course Description In this class, we will read range of ancient texts from around the globe, paying attention to what this kind of transnational approach to literature means in our modern world. Beginning with a unit on mapping, we will explore The Odyssey alongside writers such as Marco Polo, asking how texts can function as maps, and how space shapes subjective experience. This will link up to a digital mapping/timeline assignment, in which students create digital projects that will help us think differently about the spaces and chronologies that make up the texts we read. In unit two we will focus on the place of gender in storytelling, reading feminist literary critics alongside The Thousand and One Nights, The Oresteia, and Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies. In the third unit, we will explore issues of translation, so essential to a global literature course like ours, considering how translation defines our reading of the Tang poets. We will also examine roots of literary theory, looking at “literature about literature” in an Ancient Chinese context. Unit four will take us to Japan’s Classical Age, and unit five will take us to Shakespeare’s Othello. The quest of this course is to think differently and creatively about ancient cultures, global perspectives, and the navigational power of literature: thus while writing is essential to this course, students will also have the opportunity to use digital resources such as WordPress, Wordle, Timeline JS, and Google Maps, creating dynamic and creative assignments that will compliment and enrich processes of writing.

Course Requirements Participation (includes quizzes, blog responses, and informal in-class writing): 15% Blog post/student led discussion/Article Response: 10% Digital Mapping/Timelines Assignment & Write-Up: 15% Close Reading and Wordle Assignment: 15% In-Class Midterm: 15% Preliminary paper assignments (proposal, quote map, draft, peer-review workshop): 10% Final Paper, 5 pages in length: 20%

Required Texts for Purchase All books listed below are available at the Baruch bookstore. You must obtain all of these books and always come to class prepared with your books. Because we are dealing with ancient literature, translations can vary in significant ways so it is essential that you purchase the editions listed below. These books are all widely available, just be sure to check both the translator and the publisher to make sure they line up with my editions below. As well, I encourage you to order these books used as it is a good way to save money, but keep in mind you MUST have the book with you on the

1 day we’re using it, and used books often take up to 2 weeks to arrive—so be sure to order them well in advance. This means that there is not enough time to purchase The Odyssey used as we will begin reading it next week. Check out amazon for a good selection of used books. **All other reading will be posted to our course’s blog. It is required that you print these materials and bring them to class. You are also permitted to read them on an electronic reading device, however laptops are not permitted. While I realize printing may cost, I am requiring that you do so because printing these readings is still much more cost efficient than buying more books.

Double check edition, translators and ISBN numbers to make sure you’re purchasing the correct edition.

The Odyssey of Homer, Trans. Richmond Lattimore (any edition is fine) (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) The Oresteia, Aeschylus, Trans. Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics; ISBN: 978-0140443332) Othello, Shakespeare (Signet Classic; ISBN: 978-0451526854) The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume B (Norton; ISBN: 978-0393913309)

The Blog Some course reading will be posted to the blog, along with assignments, updates about the schedule, and, most importantly, student discussion (explained below). It is important that you check the blog before coming to every class.

Attendance and Participation Attendance is mandatory and if you know you are going to miss a class, please inform me in advance. As participation is a large part of this course, unexcused absences or habitual lateness will adversely affect your grade. Three or more classes missed during the semester will result in an F for participation – this is strict class policy and no exceptions will be made. Participation includes discussion, in-class writing assignments and participation in presentations, and thus it is essential to come to class prepared with the reading completed. Please be sure to bring your reading material to class—failure to do so will result in a low or failing participation grade. Simply attending class or doing well on the quizzes will not earn you an A in participation – A grades will only be given out to students who both consistently participate throughout the semester and do well on in-class assignments and quizzes. Grades will be allotted as follows: A = Daily participation throughout the semester. Always prepared for class with reading completed. Brings necessary material to class and does well on most quizzes. B = Often participates. Always prepared for class with reading completed. Brings necessary material to class. Does well on most quizzes. C = Rarely participates / never participates, but comes to class consistently with materials and performs adequately on quizzes. D & F = Misses many classes and/or rarely brings material to class and/or fails majority of quizzes.

2 Absolutely no laptop or cell phone use is permitted, including text messaging. Please switch your phone off before the start of class. If you use your cell phone during class you will be marked absent for that day- again, no exceptions will be made. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late to class, you will be marked absent for that day.

From the official Baruch College attendance policy: “If a freshman or sophomore is absent in excess of twice the number of class sessions per week, the instructor must give the student a WU grade, which counts as an F. The instructor may give a junior or senior a WU grade if he/she has excessive absences. Attendance and lateness clearly play a role in class participation. Instructors have the right to weigh attendance, lateness, and class participation in determining grades.”

Email Policies: The best way to reach me is by email at [email protected], and I am happy to answer your questions. However, please have the email address of at least one other student in the course, and consider checking in with this student for issues regarding assigned reading, etc, before emailing me. As well, please treat all emails to me professionally, and always sign your name.

Reading Responses/Quizzes: We will have occasional informal reading quizzes (short answers to questions about the day’s reading), and we will often have informal low-stakes writing assignments in which you are encouraged to think through your ideas, be creative, and not worry about producing a final product. Class will begin promptly and the writing assignment and/or quiz will happen at the beginning of class: quizzes will be mostly unannounced and can occur on any class day. For some of these quizzes, you will be allowed to reference your text. Remember to have your book with you so you’re prepared not only to participate in class discussions but also to write. If you’re absent or late on the day of an in-class free- write or quiz, you will receive a grade of zero. There are no make-ups for in-class writing assignments, and they are not graded—you will receive credit as long as you demonstrate that you have completed the reading. Quizzes are graded, but I will drop your lowest quiz grade.

Blog Post/Research & Student-led Discussion Once during the semester, you will lead the first 15 minutes of class discussion, acting as the ‘teacher,’ posing questions to the class, directing our attention to specific parts of the text, and sharing with us your reading of it. I will participate very rarely (and often not at all) during this first 15 minutes, so you should really think of this as your chance to teach the class and have a discussion with your classmates. Try to have fun and be creative with this opportunity; the class is yours! Remember that this is a discussion, and not a presentation: therefore you should prepare notes (as many or as little as you think you will need), but do your best not to read from them. You will write an accompanying blog post, and you will also have to respond to three of your classmates’ posts on three days of your choosing (with some guidelines). More information on both components of this assignment to follow.

3 Digital Mapping/Timeline Assignment: Throughout the semester, we will be reading, discussing, and writing about literature through a range of platforms, asking how different modes of thinking can alter and enhance our understanding of texts. Thus this class, while it does include essays and strongly emphasizes writing, also includes digital/creative assignments. In the Digital Mapping/Timeline assignment, students will have the choice of using either Timeline JS (http://timeline.knightlab.com) to create a literary timeline, or Tour Builder (https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com) to create an interactive literary map. In both cases, you will have the chance to think differently about how events in a text are ordered and constructed, and how spaces affect characterization and plot. Students are also required to write a brief explanation of their project and their methodology, and present their project to the class. More details to come.

Close Reading/Word Cloud Assignment You will write one two-page close reading during the semester and design an accompanying “word cloud” generated by the wordle platform (www.wordle.net). In a close reading, you are closely analyzing the language, themes, structure and meaning of a short passage. This is an essential tool for your longer paper, as the close reading of passages will function as a building block for larger analyses. In a close reading you must pay attention to the particular in the text, rather than the general. The “word cloud,” which creates a network of frequently used words, will help you think differently about how word-choice and word frequency impact overall meaning. More details to follow.

Final Paper One long argumentative paper, along with a proposal, ‘quote map,’ and draft, is required and must be at least 5 pages in length. This paper must use at least one secondary source (this can be the same source you used for your blog, if appropriate), and will be focused on one or more of the texts we’ve read in class. Topics will be distributed. As this is a communications course, writing is very important to your grade, and as the course progresses we will review writing techniques and methods of critical analysis. More information to come. Do keep in mind papers should follow standard MLA format with 12-pt Times New Roman font and 1-inch margins.

Preliminary Writing and Workshops In this class we will focus extensively on writing as a process of brainstorming, creating, revising, and editing. Thus you are required to write a proposal, a “quote map,” and draft for your final paper, and attend a small peer-review workshop near the end of the semester. The quote map, continuing our focus on literary and visual mapping, takes the place of outlining as a more freeform way of imagining your paper while also rooting your work directly in the text at hand. You will also have the chance to workshop your drafts both with your classmates and myself.

Midterm You will have a midterm exam in this class, and it will cover the class’s reading material up to that point through a range of short-answer questions and close-reading passages. This exam serve a couple purposes: it is intended to assess whether you’ve kept up with

4 the reading and attended class, and students who have done so will most likely find this exam helps, rather than hurt, their grades. Thus this exam is also an opportunity to partake in ways of writing and thinking that differ from more formal essay assignments.

**Syllabus subject to change based on the pace of the course**

Unit One: Mapping Worlds: The Odyssey, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and John Mandeville

Thurs Aug 28: Introduction to course. Excerpt from Paul Jay’s Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies distributed in class, please read and bring to next class

Tues Sept 2: Discussion of the “transnational turn” and our global literature course / In- class Writing Diagnostic

Thurs Sept 4: The Odyssey, Books 1 through 4; Digital Mapping/Timeline Assignment to be Distributed

Tues Sept 9: The Odyssey, Books 5 through 11

Thurs Sept 11: The Odyssey, Books 12 through 16

Tues Sept 16: The Odyssey, Books 17 to the end

Thurs Sept 18: Excerpt from Franco Moretti’s Graphs, Maps, Trees (posted to blog); Marco Polo’s The Diversity of the World (included in The Norton), pages 812-819

Tues Sept 23: *No class scheduled; CUNY follows a Friday schedule

Thurs Sept 25: *No class scheduled

Tues Sept 30: Ibn Battuta, Travels (included in the Norton) pages 820-828; The Book of John Mandeville (also included in the Norton), pages 828-835

Unit Two: Thinking about Gender: How Women Shape Narrative

Thurs Oct 2: Excerpt from Nina Baym’s Melodramas of Beset Manhood: How Theories of American Fiction Exclude Women, and excerpt from Lillian S. Robinson’s Treason Our Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary Canon (both posted to blog—please print, read, and bring to class)

Tues Oct 7: Digital Mapping/Digital Timelines Assignment Due; Assignment Presentations

5 Thurs Oct 9: Class Cancelled

Tues Oct 14: Presentations continued if needed; The Thousand and One Nights (included in The Norton), pages 556-566 (Prologue through “The Tale of the Merchant and His Wife”)

Thurs Oct 16: Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies (included in The Norton) pages 781-807

Tues Oct 21: Agamemnon (included in The Oresteia)

Thurs Oct 23: In-Class Midterm

Tues Oct 28: Close Reading Draft Due for Peer Review Sessions

Thurs Oct 30: The Eumenides (included in The Oresteia)

Unit Three: Poetics, Theory, and the Scandals of Translation

Tues Nov 4: Close Reading and Wordle Due; Tang Poetry (included in The Norton) Wang Wei’s poetry, please read all poems on pages 1020-1022; Li Bo’s poetry, “The Sun Rises and Sets,” “South of the Walls we Fought,” “Bring in the Wine,” (included in the Norton) pages 1022-1026)

Thurs Nov 6: Tang Poetry continued, Du Fu’s poems (included in The Norton) pages 1030-1035; Ezra Pound’s translations of Tang Poetry (posted to the blog—please print, read, and bring to class); Excerpt from Lawrence Venuti’s The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference (posted to the blog—please print, read, and bring to class)

Tues Nov 11: “Literature about literature,” (included in The Norton) Cao Pi’s From a Discourse on Literature; Lu Ji’s The Poetic Exposition on Literature pages 990-999

Unit Four: Japan’s Classical Age

Thurs Nov 13: Sei Shonogon’s The Pillow Book (included in The Norton) pages 1131- 1141

Tues Nov 18: Final Paper Proposal Due; Ki No Tsurayuki’s Tosa Diary (included in The Norton) pages 1119-1126

Thurs Nov 20: Yoshida Kenko’s Essays on Idleness (included in The Norton) pages 1280-1284

Tues Nov 25: Paper “Quote Maps” Due; Paper Writing Workshop, no reading assigned

6 Thurs Nov 27: Thanksgiving Break

Tues Dec 2: Paper Draft Due for Peer-Review Sessions

Unit Five: Into the Modern? Shakespeare’s Othello

Thurs Dec 4: Shakespeare’s Othello, Acts I-II

Tues Dec 9: Shakespeare’s Othello, Act III

Thurs Dec 11: Shakespeare’s Othello, Acts IV-V

Please Note: There is no final exam in this class Final Paper due over exam period, Due Date TBA