Professor Jolanta W. Wawrzycka: English 201, Spring 2009

ENGLISH 201 Honors Section.
SPECIAL TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURE: Nobel Prize Literature.
  Dr. JOLANTA W. WAWRZYCKA
  Russell Hall 106. Click for current office hours.
  Voice Mail (540) 831 5176
E-mail: jolanta@radford.edu

TEXTBOOKS and RESOURCES:

Homer: The Odyssey (Selected passages). Translation by Ian Johnston, Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC.
James Joyce, Dubliners, Viking Critical Edition.
Links to poems by W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney and T. S. Eliot (see below).
Other online materials:

Digital Portfolios: Packaging Research for Multimedia Presentations and

Reading Logs for Literary Salons; Term Papers and Tests/Exams.

Digital Portfolio Evaluation Form

Presenter's Check Sheet

The Nobel Foundation

CLASS REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES:

RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTATIONS for "Literary Salons:" you will prepare a presentation that profiles life and work of a the Nobel Prize Laureate (see the list at the end of this syllabus). You are required to present your material in a multimedia PowerPoint format. For details and help, please consult my Digital Portfolios guidelines. Note the Digital Portfolio Research Workshop on Feb. 6. This research project is worth 30% of your final grade.

MIDTERM TEST: (10%).

READING LOG PORTFOLIO: (20%). "Literary Salon Discussions." For log content, see link above.

WIRELESS RESEARCH PORTFOLIO: (20%).

FINAL ESSAY EXAM details will follow (20%).

ATTENDANCE: only 3 absences will be excused (sick; sports; alarm clocks); after that, absences will come at a price of -3 points EACH (no need for documentation or email).

RULES and REGULATIONS: This class is your professional meeting: please, remember to turn off your cell phones and keep them out of sight (no texting). Disruption of class by your cell will earn you dismissal from classroom and an absence. Laptops: please, note that such unauthorized activities as web browsing, web casting, downloading, checking email or recording, will constitute a violation of RU Honor Code: if you choose not to comply, you will be dismissed and counted absent. Because of messaging/communication capacities provided by cell phones and PCs, repeat offenders may find themselves facing charges of Academic Integrity violation(s). By accepting admission to RU, each student makes a commitment to understand, support and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception. This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code.

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

Wednesday 1/21 & Friday 1/23

Introduction and discussion of the syllabus and class policies.

Electronic classroom: discussion of past electronic presentations done for my courses.

Distribution of presentations.

WEEK 2: ASPECTS OF ANTIQUITY

Monday 1/26

Electronic classroom: PowerPoint lecture on "The Invention of Writing and the Earliest Literatures."

Wednesday 1/28

Discussion of your Digital Portfolio Research: Subject: your Nobelist's country of origin, his/her life & works; the opening slide (your name, course, term, and year) and title slide; content of slides; visuals (maps), pictures); Digital Portfolios Guidelines.

Friday 1/30 No Class; I'll be attending James Joyce conference in Rome, Italy.

Your Homework: The Odyssey, Book VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. Prepare Homer Reading Log 1. Link to my Reading Logs will help you with log content, as will such guiding questions as: what Greek customs can we find in The Odyssey? How does Odysseus measure up to our present-day definition of a "hero"? Good notes will help you with midterm and with finals.

WEEK 3: ANTIQUITY & HOMER

Monday 2/2 Wednesday 2/4 No Class; I'll be attending James Joyce conference in Rome, Italy.

Your Homework: The Odyssey, Book VI, VII, VIII, IX and X.. Prepare Homer Reading Log 1. Link to my Reading Logs will help you with log content, as will such guiding questions as: what Greek customs can we find in The Odyssey? How does Odysseus measure up to our present-day definition of a "hero"? Good notes will help you with midterm and with finals.

Friday 2/6

Catch-up day: discussion of selections from The Odyssey. Your Homer Reading Log 1 is due.

WEEK 4: MIDDLE AGES; fast forward to JAMES JOYCE

Monday 2/9

Electronic classroom: Multimedia lecture: "Medieval Realms." Please do not miss this class.

Wednesday 2/11

Wireless Project Workshop: Please have your laptops with you in class. Tuning & Crosschecking. Research task.

Friday 2/13

Wireless Project Workshop: Research task: please have your laptops with you in class.

WEEK 5: JAMES JOYCE: DUBLINERS

Monday 2/16

Electronic classroom: hosting Literary Salon -- Multimedia lecture: "James Joyce: Irish Core, European Lore," Part One. Please do not miss this class.

Please start reading James Joyce's stories in Dubliners volume; consult the notes at the back of the book for a better understanding of the stories and visit Dublin where you can see a few photos of the "Joycean" places.

Wednesday 2/18

Electronic classroom: hosting Literary Salon -- Multimedia lecture: "James Joyce: Irish Core, European Lore," Part Two. Please do not miss this class.

Friday 2/20

"Literary Salon:" discussion of "The Sisters" and "An Encounter." What are the three key words in "The Sisters" that indicate metaphorical themes for all of the stories? What similarities can you see in the first two stories? Good notes on these stories will help you if you decide to write your final essay on Joyce. (Prepare Joyce Reading Log 2; see Guidelines for Reading Logs).

WEEK 6: JAMES JOYCE: DUBLINERS

Monday 2/23

"Literary Salon:" discussion of "An Encounter" and "Araby." How are the three metaphorical themes from "The Sisters" reflected in these stories? What similarities can you see in the first three stories? Good notes on these stories will help you if you decide to write your final essay on Joyce. (You are working on Joyce Reading Log 1).

Wednesday 2/25

"Literary Salon:" discussion of "Eveline" and "Clay." What are the most important events in the lives of these two women? Good notes on these stories will help you if you decide to write your final essay on Joyce. Please have Joyce Reading Log 2 with you.

Friday 2/27

"Literary Salon:" discussion of "The Boarding House." How would you describe the family in this story and the lives of the young men and women? Good notes on these stories will help you if you decide to write your final essay on Joyce. Your Reading Log 2 is due.

WEEK 7: MIDTERM; WORKSHOPS

Monday 3/2

MIDTERM TEST

Wednesday 3/4

Electronic classroom: hosting Literary Salon: Multimedia Lecture -- "The Legacy of Alfred Nobel." Please do not miss this class.

Friday 3/6

WORKSHOP: Digital Portfolio Research: Subject: your Nobelist's country of origin, his/her life & works; you should have 8-10 slides with map(s) and other visuals; include the opening slide (your name, course, term, and year) and title slide. Consult the Digital Portfolios Guidelines.

Sample printout of your PowerPoint and sample Digital Research Portfolio Log will be due next class.

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WEEK 8: SPRING BREAK March 9, 11, 13

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WEEK 9: WORKING WITH THE ADOBE CONNECT ENTERPRISE SERVER; Nobel Foundation.

Monday 3/16

Wireless Project Workshop: Research tasks. Please have your laptops with you in class.

Wednesday 3/18

Wireless Project Research: Please have your laptops with you in class.

Friday 3/20

Wireless Project Research: Irish theme; please have your laptops with you in class.

WEEK 10: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 3/23 Ireland

Multimedia Lecture: "Life and Works of W. B. Yeats."

Wednesday 3/25 Ireland

"Literary Salon:" discussion of poetry of W. B. Yeats (E-text at California State University, Northridge). We will discuss the following poems: The Stolen Child (1886), The Lake Isle of Innisfree (1890), He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (1899), Adam's Curse (1902), A Coat (1914), Easter, 1916, The Wild Swans at Coole (1917), Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz (1929).
iTunesU Downloads of audio
Please have Yeats Reading Log 3 in front of you.

Friday 3/27 Ireland

"Literary Salon:" discussion of Poetry of W. B. Yeats continued. Yeats Reading Log 3 is due.

WEEK 11: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 3/30 Ireland

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on Seamus Heaney.

"Literary Salon:" discussion of poems by Seamus Heaney from: Readings in Contemporary Poetry, and from The Internet Poetry Archive. We will discuss Death of a Naturalist and From the Frontier of Writing.

Please have Heaney Reading Log 4 in front of you.

Wednesday 4/1 Ireland

"Literary Salon:" discussion of poems by Seamus Heaney continued: "Personal Helicon," "Bogland," and "The Tollund Man" (available here). Heaney Reading Log 4 is due.

Friday 4/3

Wireless Project Research: uploading Heaney/Ireland: please have your laptops with you in class.

WEEK 12: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 4/6 Colonialism: Bengal

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on Rabindranath Tagore.

"Literary Salon:" discussion of Tagore's "Punishment" (handout).Tagore Reading Log 5 is due.

Wednesday 4/8 China /USA/Japan

Hosting Literary Salon: presentations on Pearl Buck and Kenzaburo Oē.

Friday 4/10

Hosting Literary Salon: presentations on Pablo Neruda and Gabriel Garcia Márquez.

WEEK 13: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 4/13 England

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on T. S. Eliot.

"Literary Salon:" discussion of T. S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Eliot Reading Log 6 is due.

Wednesday 4/15 Colonialism: Nigeria and St. Lucia

Hosting Literary Salon: presentations on Wole Soyinka and Derek Walcott.

Friday 4/17

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on Wisława Szymborska.

WEEK 14: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 4/20 Egypt

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on Naguib Mahfouz.

"Literary Salon:" discussion of Mahfouz's "Zaabalawi" (handout). Mahfouz Reading Log 7 in front of you.

Wednesday 4/22 Egypt

"Literary Salon:" discussion of Mahfouz's "Echoes from an Autobiography" (handout). Mahfouz Reading Log 7 is due.

Friday 4/24

Hosting Literary Salon: presentation on Nadine Gordimer and apartheid.

WEEK 15: The 20th-CENTURY and the NOBEL PRIZE LITERATURE

Monday 4/27 Colonialism: South Africa

"Literary Salon:" discussion of stories by Gordimer (handout). Please have your Gordimer Reading log 8 in front of you.

Wednesday 4/29 Colonialism: South Africa

"Literary Salon:" stories by Gordimer continued. Gordimer Reading log 8 is due.

Friday 5/1 It's a Wrap!

Overview & Assessment. Preparations for Final Exam.

WEEK 16: FINALS: Final ESSAY EXAM -- 2:45 pm, Tuesday, May 5

Choices for the Nobel Prize Laureates to be presented in this class:

Selma Lagerlof (1909)

Samuel Beckett (1969)

Octavio Paz (1990)
Rabindranath Tagore (1913)
Pablo Neruda (1971)

Nadine Gordimer (1991)

G. B. Shaw (1925)
Czesław Miłosz (1980)
Derek Walcott (1992)

Pearl Buck (1938)

Gabriel García Márquez (1982)
Kenzaburo Oē (1994)
Gabriela Mistral (1945)
William Golding (1983)

Seamus Heaney (1995)
T. S. Eliot (1948)
Wole Soyinka (1986) Wisława Szymborska (1996)
Boris Pasternak (1958) Naguib Mahfouz (1988) J. M. Coetzee (2003)

Updated on 01/25/2009

© 2009 Readings in World Literature
Jolanta W. Wawrzycka. All Rights Reserved.

Selma Lagerlof (1909)	Samuel Beckett (1969)	Octavio Paz (1990)
Rabindranath Tagore (1913)	Pablo Neruda (1971)	Nadine Gordimer (1991)
G. B. Shaw (1925)	Czesław Miłosz (1980)	Derek Walcott (1992)
Pearl Buck (1938)	Gabriel García Márquez (1982)	Kenzaburo Oē (1994)
Gabriela Mistral (1945)	William Golding (1983)	Seamus Heaney (1995)
T. S. Eliot (1948)	Wole Soyinka (1986)	Wisława Szymborska (1996)
Boris Pasternak (1958)	Naguib Mahfouz (1988)	J. M. Coetzee (2003)