Catalog Description

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENGL 1A
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Survey of world literature in translation from the ancient world through the 16th Century. Includes representative works from major world literary cultures and eras; explores traditions where appropriate. Incorporates analysis of the development of literary forms, developments and transformations of central themes, and developments in the historical, and cultural contexts of the literature. Includes cross-cultural analysis and exploration of cross-cultural influences in literary culture. Students may begin with either 47A or 47B. (C-ID ENGL 140) (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Identify, interpret, and analyze major and representative works of world literature from the ancient world to the 16th century in thematic, literary, cultural, social, political, and critical terms and compare the treatment of similar themes in contemporaneous works of literature from across the world.
  • CSLO #2: Analyze the relationships between culture and historical period and literary form (genre), literary developments, and literary devices in each culture and society.
  • CSLO #3: Conduct independent research in historical and cultural contexts of individual authors and texts.
  • CSLO #4: Synthesize and generalize about themes and literary forms across various historical periods, aesthetic developments, and works by various authors.
  • CSLO #5: Communicate analyses, interpretations, and critiques of single works or several works by the same author, or several closely related texts, in class discussion and in required essays and exams.

Effective Term

Fall 2017

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

A student completing English 47A will be able:
1. Identify, interpret and analyze major and representative works of World Literature from the ancient era to the 16th Century in thematic, literary, cultural, social, political, and critical terms.
2. Identify and analyze the major features of different genres, types, and eras of World Literature, including comparative analysis of cross-cultural themes.
3. Analyze the relationships between culture and literary form and literary developments in each culture and society.
4. Compare the treatment of similar themes in contemporaneous works of literature from across the world.
5. Identify central literary devices of each writer, era, and society and apply this knowledge to the interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of individual works of literature and authors, including major authors and selected minor authors from each historical period and each nation, culture and society.
6. Identify, interpret, and analyze the themes of individual texts and authors in context: e.g., history and historical processes, politics, culture, philosophy, religion, science, and literary trends and relationships.
7. Identify, interpret, analyze, and evaluate significant historical and cultural issues central to each historical period and to each society, including ideologies of class, gender, and national identity.
8. Conduct independent research in the historical and cultural contexts of individual authors and texts.
9. Interpret, analyze, and evaluate primary and secondary sources in literature.
10. Synthesize and generalize about themes and forms of literature across various historical periods, aesthetic developments, and works by various authors.
11. Communicate analyses, interpretations and critiques of single works or several works by the same author, or to several closely related texts in class discussion and in required essays and exams.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: In groups, compare and contrast the use of frame narratives in The Thousand and One Nights and The Canterbury Tales. Explain the similarities, differences, and the purpose of the framing device in each work.
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Many of the works we read this semester involve ghosts: The Aeneid, The Eumenides, Japanese No drama, and Hamlet, for example. Do these ghosts all serve similar functions, or does the role of the ghost change through culture and era? Compare the use of ghosts in three works we have read.
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: For this question, choose three of the following works—The Bhagavad-Gita (chap. 6 of the Mahabharata), the book of Job, Socrates "Apology," the Analects, or any of the Daoist works and then address the following questions: a) What does each text suggest is the basic problem or issue of human experience? b) How does each text attempt to explain this problem and/or provide a way to deal with this problem? c) What if anything do the works share in common?

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Lecture/Discussion: Instructor asks students to read the sections of "The Mahabharata," concentrating on the excerpt from chapter 6, "Bhagavad Gita," and respond briefly to discussion questions regarding some of the central concepts of the "Gita" (reality and perception; fate, honor, and choice; the origins of conflict). After a brief lecture on the epic and the concept of the hero, reviewing concepts explored earlier for the "Odyssey," "Iliad," and "Gilgamesh," instructor facilitates small group discussion, in which each group addresses one central issue, and leads a large group discussion in which groups identify and analyze the major features of different genres, types, and eras of World Literature, comparing cross-cultural themes.
    2. Lecture/Discussion: Instructor asks students to read "The Journey to the West," and directs students to online resources presenting contemporary retellings of the story--manga, anime, graphic novels, and video--in particular, narratives involving the Monkey King. The instructor will show at least one film or video in class, or present scenes from graphic novels. In small group discussions, facilitated by the instructor, students will analyze the relationship between past and present versions of the myths and explore the dual role of mythology in supporting and undermining the conventional values of society. Through lecture, reading, and discussion, students synthesize and generalize about themes and forms of literature across various historical periods, aesthetic developments, and works by various authors.
    3. Activity: Instructor asks students to read selected poems from Rumi and Li Po and selections from The Thousand and One Nights and The Canterbury Tales, as well as read lectures and secondary sources. Based on readings, lecture, and online discussions, with the guidance of the instructor, students then conduct independent research on the historical and cultural contexts of individual authors and texts of their choosing from the four selections. Students then develop a bibliography and creative project (work of art, poem, play, short story, or research paper) to share with the class.

    Distance Learning

    1. Instructor asks students to read selected poems by Chinese poet Li Po, as well as provide lectures and secondary sources on Taoism and Buddhism. Students respond to discussion questions in Canvas, focusing on elements of Taoism and Buddhism as revealed in the poetry. The instructor and students engage in a week-long digital conversation, identifying, interpreting, and analyzing the themes of individual texts and the author in context: e.g., history and historical processes, politics, culture, philosophy, religion, science, and literary trends and relationships.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. Read the "Kabti-Ilani-Marduk" and "The Book of Job" in preparation for lecture and discussion. As part of this preparation, respond briefly to the following questions: how does each text explain the idea of evil or unmerited suffering? How do their conceptions compare? What theological understanding seems to underlie each text (and culture)? 2. Read the selections from "Journey to the West" excerpted in The Longman Anthology of World Literature in preparation for class discussion; consider how the writer imagines the transcendent world and uses the mythological sources described in the text to explore in comic terms the intersection between action and ideals, between the animal world and the human, between the immortal realms and the world of immortality. How does his vision compare to that of contemporary or near contemporary European writers (Boccaccio or Rabelais).

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. An essay exam question, calling for a one page response: For this question, choose three of the following works—sections of "The Ramayana," "The Mahabharata," "The Medea," "The Odyssey," and/or "Gilgamesh" and address the following questions: What is the role of any of the central female characters, human or divine, in the works you've chosen? What do these roles suggest about the role of women in the society (or its elite class) that produced the epic or drama? Be sure to support your claims by reference to one or two central actions or details. 2. Write a 4 page essay in which you compare "The Thousand and One Nights" and "Decameron" as frame narratives: for each work, analyze the relationship between the frame narrative and any significant story told by the frame narrator (or one of the frame narrators in Boccaccio). Relate your essay to any of the major themes we have explored in medieval culture and literature. To arrive at your conclusions, be sure to consider the social circumstances of the frame narration and the relationship of the stories to the interests of the narrators.

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Required Materials

    • The Norton Anthology of World Literature
      • Author: Lawall, Sarah, general editor
      • Publisher: WW Norton & Company
      • Publication Date: 2003
      • Text Edition: 2nd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • The Bedford Anthology of World Literature
      • Author: Davis, Paul et al
      • Publisher: Beford/St. Martin's
      • Publication Date: 2009
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • The Longman Anthology of World Literature
      • Author: Damrosch, David, general editor
      • Publisher: Longman
      • Publication Date: 2009
      • Text Edition: 2nd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • The Norton Anthology
      • Author: Martin Puchner & Suzanne Conklin Akbari
      • Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
      • Publication Date: 2012
      • Text Edition: 3rd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.

    Selected literary works and supplemental critical/cultural material at the discretion of the instructor.