World Literature II

WORLD LITERATURE II
EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA

Lit 331, Summer 2000	Professor Burt Kimmelman
Office: 409 Cullimore Hall Hours: Thurs. 12:30-1:30, and by app't	Phone: 973.596.3376, 3266 Fax: 973.642.4689 E-Mail: kimmelma@njit.edu
Mail: HSS Dep't, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102	Website: http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma

Greetings,

As the faculty mentor for this distance learning course, World Literature II, I welcome you. There are two textbooks assigned for this course (listed on the course syllabus below), which I hope will provide you with a fertile reading experience. Besides reading, we will also be doing a lot of writing--some of which will be in electronic format, some in the old-fashioned medium of paper. You will need to get the paper-based projects to me on time, so be sure to consider how long snail mail will take to reach me from where you are--avoid faxing whenever possible, since faxes are not always legible and may get lost on their way into my mailbox at NJIT. My snail mail address is: Dr. Burt Kimmelman, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102.

If you wish to succeed in this course, you will need to adhere strictly to the course schedule by getting your reading and writing assignments done on time. Indeed, you would be smart to start reading ahead of the scheduled class discussions, and as soon as possible to start thinking about your research project that will be due at the end of the term. As for the midterm and final examinations--they will be proctored (again, please consult your course syllabus for their dates).

Viewing lectures via tape may be a new learning experience for you, and it requires you to be disciplined. The tapes will not be aired over the summer; you will therefore have to rent them. You will also have to submit your responses to the weekly readings, as well as to the weekly tape viewings, by the week following when the readings and tape viewings are scheduled, and you will be asked to respond to my further questions between then and the following week. The lectures are an important component in your distance learning process. Tapes must be leased from HAVE, Inc (800-997-2972). Textbooks can be ordered from the NJIT Bookstore (800-472-0080).

Since we will be conducting our group discussions on the Web CT conferencing system, you will need to have a Web CT account and also to be enrolled in this class’s "conference." To get this account, phone NJIT's Computing Help Desk at 973-596-2900 or go to http://directory.njit.edu/~accts/cgi-bin/new. Once you have the account—or if you already have the account—please contact me at kimmelma@njit.edu and, when you do, be sure to tell me what your account eddress is so I can add you (i.e., so I can get you electronically "registered" in our virtual classroom) to the class list of conferees (otherwise you will not be able to send or receive comments or other texts via Webboard). Please then send a message to the class conference, as soon as possible, to introduce yourself. During the term of this course, please log on to the Webboard conferencing system by going to http://www.njit.edu/DL/. You should sign into our on-line conference at least three times a week and respond to the comments and questions that I and/or your classmates have posed.

CAUTION: ALL ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS YOU INITIATE MUST BE VIRUS-FREE!!

You MUST have a Web CT account, and must use it for class conferenceing, in order to receive credit for this course.

To get on the e-mail system, you can also obtain directions from the Access NJIT Distance Learning Welcome Packet. You may receive more help through Faxline 973-639-1891 or the DL Home Page (www.njit.edu/csd/), or phone the NJIT Computing Help Desk at 973-596-2900.

I look forward to our exchanges, and to our sharing of some literary works that I think you will find enriching and enlightening.

Yours cordially,

Burt Kimmelman

REQUIRED TEXTS

      · Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994.
      · Lim and Spencer, eds. One World of Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
               See also:
      · Literary Resources ( http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/litsources.html ).
      · Documentation Guides ( http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/documentation.html ).
      · Writing Guides ( http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/writing.html )

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Exams: Two major exams, a midterm and a final, comprehensive in nature, essay in format.

Weekly written assignments: These assignments will be based on the required readings and tapes, and will require two- to three-sentence answers for each "study question" in your textbook or question posed by me as regards the tapes; a specific study question or set of questions will be specified weekly. Your answers must be in complete sentences (as explained further below). These assignments must be submitted electronically.

Papers consist of three written assignments: 1) a Term Paper Announcement (see description below under "Written Assignments Guidelines"), 2) a Term Paper Prospectus (see description below under "Written Assignments Guidelines"), 3) and a Term Paper (see description below under "Written Assignments Guidelines"); all three assigments are a part of an overall research project and must be fully documented (as described immediately below). The Term Paper must consist of at least two thousand words. The entire Term Paper Project will go forth based on a topic of your choice but also to be determined in conference with me. It is STRONGLY recommended that research begin with your consulation of the MLA Bibliography (locally to be found at the Rutgers-Newark library); following up from there with certain on-line data bases available through NJIT's Van Houten Library, such as Uncover and VALE, will also be of great help. Another place to start, especially for help in forming an argument for your paper, is at my website (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/) where you can click on "Humanities Resources" (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/humanities.htm ) and then on "Literary Resources" (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/litsources.html)--scroll down to the latter half of the page.

All submitted work (with the exception of on-site exams and the weekly assignments, as described above, as well as the Term Paper Announcement) must be word processed on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, double spaced with one inch margins, spell checked, and to the best of one's ability grammar checked. If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fullydocumented (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in one's text, and complete bibliographical information). (If you are not sure about documentation principles and/or procedures, you should consult a freshman English textbook such as The Beacon Handbook or better yet The MLA Handbook. PAPERS NOT MEETING ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE READ AND WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT. Both Writing and Documentation help can also be found at my website (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/) by clicking on "Writing Guide" (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/writing.html ) and "Documentation Guide" (http://eies.njit.edu/~kimmelma/documentation.html ).

COURSE GRADE

Term Paper Announcement	-	5%
Term Paper Prospectus	-	10%
End of Term Paper	-	20%
Final Examination	-	30%
Midterm Examination	-	10%
Answers to Study Questions	-	10%
Participation in on-line Class Discussions	-	15%

N.B.: In order to pass this course, at least one exam must earn a grade of "D" or better. Satisfying this criterion alone,
however, does not ensure even minimal success in this course.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 (5/22-29):	Introduction to the course. Taped lectures 1 & 2.
Week 2 (5/29-6/5):	Lawrence, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"; Woolf, "The Mark on the Wall"; Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts”; Yeats, "Easter 1916"; Heaney, "Digging"; Joyce, "Araby." Taped Lectures 3 & 4. Begin work on Term Paper Topic.
Week 3 (6/5-12):	Babel, "My First Goose"; Tolstaya, "Fire and Dust"; Milosz, "My Faithful Mother Tongue"; Kundera, "Edward and God." Taped Lectures 5 & 6. Term Paper Topic Due via e-mail.
Week 4 (6/12-19)	Dürenmatt, The Visit; Montale, "The Lemon Trees." Taped Lectures 7 & 8.
Week 5 (6/19-26):	Lu Xün, "My Old Home," "A Small Incident." Taped Lectures 9 & 10. Term Paper Announcement Due (hardcopy mail only).
Week 6 (6/26-7/3):	Midterm Examination on 7/3 from 1-4 PM in 411 Cullimore; photo ID is required. This exam covers European literature only (including Taped Lectures 1-8).
Week 7 (7/3-10):	Ding Ling, "When I Was in Xia Village"; Yukio Mishima, "Patriotism." Taped Lectures 11 &12. Term Paper Prospectus Due.
Week 8 (7/10-17):	Pramoedya Ananta Toer, "Inem"; Mahasweta Devi, "Breast-Giver." Taped Lectures 13, 14 & 15.
Week 9 (7/17-24):	Chinua Achebe, "Civil Peace," Things Fall Apart; Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "The Return." Taped Lectures 16, 17 & 18.
Week 10 (7/24-31):	Naguib Mahfouz, "The Happy Man"; Yehuda Amichai, "Jerusalem," "Sort of an Apocalypse"; Amos Oz, "Nomad and Viper." Taped Lectures 19 & 20.
Week 11 (7/31-8/2): 8/2:	Course review and individual consultations. Final Examination (open-book essay) from 1-4 PM in Cullimore 411; photo ID is required. End of Term Paper Due (to be delivered in person or via hardcopy mail).

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS GUIDELINES

It is STRONGLY recommended that research begin with the MLA Bibliography (locally to be found at the Rutgers-Newark library).

Term Paper Announcement:
Consists of 1) a descriptive paper title, 2) a one-sentence thesis statement that includes the point of your argument, the breadth
of that argument, and the argument’s significant concepts and details, 3) a one-paragraph description of the writing strategy to
be employed in your paper, 4) a bibliography in MLA format and alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must
be made of at least three secondary research sources (including at least one non-Internet source) excluding textbooks,
encyclopedias and dictionaries. An example of a primary source is the short story "Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima; an example of a secondary source is a book of essays about Mishima's work.

Term Paper Prospectus:
Consists of 1) a descriptive paper title, 2) a one-sentence thesis statement that includes the point of your argument, the breadth
of that argument, and the argument’s significant concepts and details, 3) an abstract—that is, a one-paragraph summary of your term paper as you think it will turn out to be, 4) a a précis—that is, a small version of the essay you are projecting for your term paper, about one fourth of the final length, and fully documented, 5) paragraph-length descriptions of the writing strategy involved in each section of the essay you are projecting for your term paper, 6) a bibliography in MLA format and alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must be made of at least three secondary research sources (including at
least one non-Internet source) excluding textbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries. An example of a primary source is the short story "Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima; an example of a secondary source is a book of essays about Mishima's work.

Term Paper:
Consists of: 1) a descriptive paper title, 2) a full-length, fully documented essay, 3) a bibliography in MLA format and
alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must be made of at least three secondary research sources (including at
least one non-Internet source) excluding textbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries. An example of a primary source is the short story "Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima; an example of a secondary source is a book of essays about Mishima's work.