Fall 2007

LITERATURE I/English 201:20/TF 2:30-3:45	Professor K. Bluemel
Office Hours: T 1:00-2:15 p.m.	Office phone: 732-571-3622
W 7:30-8:30 p.m.	English Department:  732-571-3439
R electronic; 8:30-9:30 p.m.	Office: Wilson Annex 509
F 1:00-2:15 p.m.	kbluemel@monmouth.edu

Required Texts:

The Epic of Gilgamesh.  Trans. N. K. Sanders (Penguin)

The Odyssey, Homer.  Trans. Robert Fitzgerald (FSG)

Medea, Euripides.  Trans. Rex Warner (Dover)

Lysistrata, Aristophanes.  Trans. Sarah Ruden (Hackett)

Selections from the King James version of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (web print-outs: www.ccel.org/bible/kjv )

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  Trans. Marie Borroff (Norton)

The Tempest, Shakespeare.  (New Folger Library)

Syllabus 201:20

Course Description and Objectives:

This course uses the theme of "home and exile" to help you interpret the meanings and understand the forms of literary texts written during the Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance periods. Once we have come up with working definitions of  "home” and “exile,” we'll ask specific questions of each text we encounter such as: What actions, conditions, or states of being are associated with home? with exile? What kinds of characters seem to stay at home? What types go into exile? Do characters ever want to go into exile? Once exiled, do they always want to come home? Is homecoming necessary for a happy ending?

More Questions for Advanced Reading:

What is the purpose of representing home and exile in different kinds (genres) of texts?  In other words, what do you gain by reading about (or listening to) stories of home and exile in literature from different periods and cultures? Are there texts that seem devoid of either home or exile?  What can you learn from contrasting these texts with others in the course that depend on home and exile for some or most of their meaning?  How do differences between representations of home and exile help us understand relations between these very old literary texts and the way we think about our modern selves?

In the process of trying to answer these questions, we should accomplish he following larger goals:

1.  learn about the major figures, forms, and functions of texts that are regarded as the foundations of Western literature;

2.  gain familiarity with the historical, aesthetic, cultural and ethical backgrounds of those texts;

3.  obsessively practice close reading and critical analysis;

4.  improve writing skills;

5.  learn how to convert written material into personal understanding and personal understanding into individual readings of texts.

Specific Class Requirements and Grading:

Class participation and attendance: 10%

Quizzes:  10%

In-class paper:  10%

Mid-term exam:  20%

Bibliography/Plagiarism Project: 10%

Final researched paper:  20%

Final exam:  20%

Policies and Guidelines