Spring 2006
call #3020199
CB 704
Professor Ron McNeel

The mission of New Mexico State University at Alamogordo
is to provide quality learning opportunities for individuals in the diverse communities we serve.

Catalog Description

Honors 244G:  Masterpieces of World Literature.  Introduction to literature through intensive study of masterpieces from a range of cultures. Readings will include classical and modern works as well as non-Western literature. Genres covered will include poetry, fiction and drama..

Course Objectives

• To provide the critical tools necessary for analyzing the interaction of  the world's literatures and cultures in various genres:
• epic poems
• lyric poems
  
• short stories
• novels
  
• plays
• memoirs and autobiography
• To understand and apply, through writing, basic literary terms
• To understand and apply, through research and writing, basic techniques of literary criticism
• To evaluate adaptations of literature into film
• Above all, to maintain students' love of reading

Assignments, Grading, and Attendance

Grade Worth    Assignment

25 points	Essay on Homer's Iliad.
5 points	Vocabulary Quiz
25 points	Essay on  a work by Dante or T.S. Eliot.
5 points	Quiz
40 points	Essay on Shakespeare's continuing influence on western culture:  3-5 pages.
25 points	Researched Literary Analysis of an approved classic novel or drama or long poem, using an approved critical approach
25 points	Oral and/or web presentation on the Researched Literary Analysis
40 points	Researched Argument on an author or trend, showing the intersection of culture and literature, not covered in the regular class sessions, 3-5 pages.
30 points	Final Exam: Critical Review of a Film. 2-4 pages.
30 points	Attendance and Participation.  Recorded with collected attendance cards and discussion questions on the cards; and with check marks for participation in class discussions.  Upon your third absence, you automatically lose 10 of these points.  Upon your fifth absence, you automatically lose another 10 for each absence.  If you miss class seven times, the highest grade you can hope for is a C.   You cannot pass this course, even with a D, if you miss nine classes.  There are no excused absences, except as provided for in University policies covering required University functions.  Notice that you can miss two classes (out of thirty--one week's worth) with no penalty.
250	Total Points Possible

Semester Grade:  250-225 points = A; 224-200 points = B; 199-175 points = C; 174-150 points = D; Below 150 points = F.

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Instructor Contact Information Ron McNeel Professor of English Faculty Office Building # 115 Phone:  439-3742  Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:00 A.M. - 12 Noon. Tuesday and  Thursday 10:00 A.M. - 12 noon, and 1:00-2:00 P.M. Holloman Air Force Base: Tuesday and Thursday 4:30-5:00. email:  mcneel@nmsua.nmsu.edu website:  http://alamo.nmsu.edu/~rmcneel

Books and Materials   Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald Dante.  The Inferno, translated by John Ciardi Meyer, Michael, ed.  The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 7th ed, with Literactive CD Achebe, Chinua.  Things Fall Apart An approved classic novel Internet connection and WebCT account notebooks, pens, pencils, blue book for the final.

Tentative Course Schedule

Please understand that the following schedule is ambitious.  Stay in touch to hear about modifications to this schedule of readings and film viewings.  Readings are to be completed before the class during which they will be discussed.

Spring Break: March 17-26

April 24:  Last Day to Withdraw from the University.

Course and University Policies
 

1. Do not use tobacco products in University buildings.
2. Absences will affect your final semester grade.  See the grading policies above.
3. Chronic tardiness is unacceptable.  It will start to take away participation points because I collect attendance and discussion questions at the beginnings of classes.
4. Plagiarized papers will receive a grade of zero.  In this case, "plagiarized" means turning in someone else's work as your own.  See the Student Handbook for other University-level penalties for plagiarism.  Insufficient acknowledgement, in citation form, of the work of researched sources will be treated as errors in knowledge and will carry appropriate penalties in the regular grading scheme.
5. In case I have a question about whether or not a report is indeed authored by you, keep all pre-final drafts, notes, bibliography cards, and other research and drafting materials.
6. All late papers will lose 10% of the possible points.  Dates for revisions will be negotiated with everyone in one class session, and then made absolute.  I will not take late papers or revisions after April 20.

Americans with Disabilities Act Statement, Emergency Contact Information

In Case of Emergency

DAYTIME 439-3720
EVENING 439-3714 (Campus Security)

To make it easier to find you, the person calling should know the class (i.e. English 244G), the
instructor, and the section that you are attending.

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