Course Number: E 303C & E 303D Title: Plan II World Literature Instructor: Brian Doherty Description: The two semester course will be run as several mini-courses each semester. Here are some of the sections. • Greek Drama will use at least one play by the three most well-known tragedians and at least one of the full cycles of plays (Orestia or Oedipus cycle). We will examine texts by Freud and Nietzsche that were directly influenced by tragic heroes, and work with an Actor from the London Stage on an interpretive staging of one scene from one play. • A mini-course on Odysseus will prepare us for a play from the UT Theater Department based on the Odyssey, and another mini-course on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible will prepare us for another production. Invitations will be sent to the director/actors to attend one of our classes to discuss the performance. • A section on Indian literature will explore a recent translation of the ancient epic, The Ramayana, and will present a contemporary novel, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. • A final section will study significant work by the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature—TBA. Texts (for Fall): Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman: Eight Plays with Critical Essays. The Crucible, Arthur Miller. The Ramayana: A New Retelling of Valmiki’s Ancient Epic. Linda Egenes. The God of Small Things. Arundhati Roy. (A novel or collection of poems or short stories will accompany our study of the Nobel Prize winner. Assignments: Three short papers (2-3 pages) 30% [each student will submit 3 out of 4 possible papers. See due dates below] Two reviews of live theater events (2 pages) 20% In-class presentation 10% Quizzes on assigned readings 15% Seminar discussion/ participation 15% Assorted short assignments 10% Plus and minus grades will be used in the class. A = 92-100; A- = 90-91.9; B + = 88-89.9; B = 83=87.9; B- = 80-82.9; C+ = 78-79.9; C = 73-77.9; C- = 70-72.9; D = 65-69.9. Below 65 = F. Please be aware of University policies and services for students with disabilities: http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/ (Links to an external site.) Please be aware of the University Standard for Academic Integrity: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php E 303C – English Composition This course may be used to fulfill three hours of the communication component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and personal responsibility. Schedule of Readings, Assignments August 31: Introductions, go over syllabus, establish goals for class. September 5: Ways to read Greek Plays. 7: Aeschylus, Agamemnon (3-47). 12: Choephori. (48-82) 14: Euripides. The Bakkhai. (369-431). Assignment for next Tuesday—speculate on how this play becomes contemporary. What in our day are the Bacchanalian revelers who threaten, according to the Pentheus of our day, order and civility. 19: Visit to class from Actor From the London Stage. 21: Readings. “Form and Persecution in the Orestia,” by Kenneth Burke; and “The Dionysian and the Apollonian in Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy.” https://theoxfordphilosopher.com/2014/08/25/the-dionysian-and-the-apollonian-in-nietzsche- the-birth-of-tragedy/ 26: Eugene O’Neill. Mourning Becomes Electra, (Act one, “The Homecoming.”) Paper due for topics on Agamemnon to The Bakkhai. 28: Visit to Blanton Art Museum for guided tour of “Epic Tales of Ancient India.” 10 a.m. We know this breaks up the flow, but the exhibit closes soon, and we want to have the advantage of the images when reading The Ramayana. October 3: Eugene O’Neill. Mourning Becomes Electra, (Acts Two and Three). 5: Sophocles. Oedipus the King (pp. 185-92). Seneca, Oedipus (act one, pp 448-58). 10: One or the other of the Oedipus plays (to conclusion). Essays that follow the version you have chosen. 12: The Ramayana. A new translation by Linda Egenes. Introduction to Chapter 10 (“Rama is Exhiled”). 17: The Ramayana. To Chapter 23 (“Sita and the Blade of Grass”). Paper due on topics in O’Neill and Euipides. 19: The Ramayana. To Part Five: “Sundara Kanda: The Beautiful City”). 24: The Ramayana. To Chapter 44 (“The War Rages”). 26: The Ramayana. To conclusion. 31: Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. Chapters 1 and 2 (to page 83). November 2: Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. to Chapter 7 (page 156). 7: Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. To Chapter 14 (page 254). 9: Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. To conclusion. 14: Discuss Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Paper due on the section of the course on Indian classic and modern texts. 16: Discuss production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. 21: Begin study of major work by winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 2017. 28: 30: December 5: 7: Last class day. Look forward to the spring. Celebrate where we have been. Maybe have a talent show? Gift exchange? 8: Papers due on Miller and Nobel Prize segment. .