The Man of Many Turns

Epic: The Class: COLQ: 2994H

“The man of many turns”:

Dr. David Janssen 11:30-12:15, TR Office: Honors House, Office 2 Telephone: 678-359-5093 Office Hours: TR, 10-11and 2-4; F, 1-3 or by appointment e-mail: [email protected]

Heroic Labors and Required Texts:

Homer, The Iliad (Fagles Translation) Homer, The Odyssey (Norton Critical Edition) Virgil, The Aeneid (Fagles Translation) Dante, Inferno (Norton Critical Edition) John Milton, Paradise Lost (Norton Critical Edition) Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (Penguin Classics Edition) George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan (Penguin Classics Edition)

*Note: Translations/Editions specified above are required. In order for us to take this journey together, it is necessary for us to be on the same page, in the literal sense, and figuratively, there are so many variations that, in some cases, an attempt to stay on the same page might as well begin with: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.” In other words, yes, you are expected to buy the editions I ordered.

“Instruct me, for thou knowest,” AKA: Objectives

This Honors Colloquium will examine and trace the epic genre, its tradition, and its conventions beginning with its Western foundation in Classical Greece and Rome through various developments in English literary history. The purpose of the course is to provide students with a critical background and appreciation of the rich, living history of this grand genre, an essential foundation of a classical education to this day. “My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feared, / But still rejoiced, how is it now become so dreadful to thee”

Policies

Absences: In order to succeed, you need to be here. Accordingly, if you miss more than four days, your final grade will be dropped by one letter. If you miss more than eight, it drops two, and so on. If you do miss class, it is also your responsibility to contact me in order to help you catch up, not the other way around.

Late Work: Late work will be deducted 5 points for each calendar day that it is late. This includes exams and oral presentations.

Plagiarism: If you are caught plagiarizing, you automatically fail the course.

Cell Phones: Please turn off your cell phones before entering class.

Classroom Deportment: As a professor, I have dedicated my life to the academic pursuit. The classroom is my workspace, and I regard that space with reverence and sanctity. As a student in my class, I expect you to help me maintain the dignity of the classroom by respecting its collegial environment. If environmental problems do occur, I will address them accordingly. If such problems do persist, offenders may be asked not to return to class. Also, please keep in mind that this is your classroom as well, your environment, your college experience. And, while I intend to instill in you that same sense of reverence I feel for the classroom, I also hope to demonstrate and help you to discover that working in a healthy academic environment can be a blast.

ADA Services: Gordon State College is committed to making reasonable efforts to assist individuals with disabilities in their efforts to access a high quality post-secondary education. Gordon State College will provide reasonable accommodations for persons with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with the policies of the University System of Georgia and Gordon State College. If you have a disability and feel you need accommodations in this course, you must present a current letter to me from Accessibility Services, indicating the existence of a disability and the approved accommodations. To register a disability contact Accessibility Services, Student Center, Room 212, 678-359-5585.

“Fit Audience though Few”

An Honorable Note: all of the above policies are my usual syllabus fare. I resisted the temptation to erase them out of an Aenean sense of duty. Having said that, I am acutely aware that an Honors Colloquium is the pinnacle of teaching and learning at the undergraduate level, anywhere. For that reason, I have the highest of hopes for this class and our experience. Nonetheless, I have kept the policies in place, more out of habit than anything, and I am secure in the knowledge that they are there if I need them. I doubt I will, and I hope I won’t.

“Be bold, Be Not Too Bold”

Assignments

The Latin colloquium means “together speaking.” To honor that term is our most important assignment and goal. This class is intended to be a collaboration, and toward that end we are going “outside the box” of the traditional classroom experience. We will begin our studies together in traditional fashion, with me leading our discussions through Homer and Virgil, after which (en medias res) there will be the first of 5 exams. At that point, I will pass the baton to the group responsible for leading us through Dante, and they will test us. They will handoff to the Spenser group, who will test us on The Faerie Queene, and likewise with Milton and Byron. I will be an active and enthusiastic member of the class after Virgil, and like Dante’s Virgil, I will be there to guide each group along the way, but each member of the class will receive a grade for the quality of his or her instruction. You will have one essay to write that will be due at the end of the semester. These essays will present an epic topic that is well-researched and analyzed according to the tradition we will have studied this semester. At the end of the semester, we will present these papers at a Gordon State “in-house” Conference on Epic Matters. It’s gonna be EPIC!

“Should he fail, surely they’d blow the world away”

Assignment Percentages

Exams: 10% each Colloquial Pedagogy: 20% Epic Matters Presentation: 10% Final Essay: 20%

“I want a hero; an uncommon want, / When every year and month sends forth a new one”

Schedule

8/14: Introduction

Week of 8/19-8/21: The Iliad

Week of 8/26-8/28: The Iliad The Odyssey Week of 9/2-9/4: The Odyssey

Week of 9/9-9/11: The Aeneid

Week of 9/16-9/18: The Aeneid Exam #1

Week of 9/23-9-25: Inferno

Week of 9/30-10/2: Inferno

Week of 10/7-10/9: Exam #2 The Faerie Queene

Week of 10/14-10/16: The Faerie Queene

Week of 10/21-10/23: The Faerie Queene Exam #3

Week of 10/28-10/30: Paradise Lost

Week of 11/4-11/6: Paradise Lost

Week of 11/11-11/13: Exam #4 Don Juan

Week of 11/18-11/20: Don Juan

Week of 11/25: Don Juan

Week of 12/2: Epic Matters Conference

Final Exam: 12/10, 10:15-12:15

“My guide and I entered that hidden road to make our way up to the bright world”