ENG-203 Early World Literature

ENG-203 invites students to explore stories from ancient times up through the seventeenth century with a focus on both culture and history. By looking at literature from around the world, we can critically explore who we once were and who we have come to be. This course carries SUNY General Education Humanities credit.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENG-102

Lecture Contact Hours

3

Lab Contact Hours

0

Other Contact Hours

0

Department

• Humanities

Grading Scheme

• Letter

SUNY Gen Ed Credit

• Yes

Semesters Course Will Be Offered

• Fall

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Recognize and analyze the nuance and complexity of meaning by critically reading and reflecting on a variety of texts which may include images, epic and lyric poetry, fiction, and drama from ancient times to the 17th century.
2. Analyze the ways literature is embedded in cultural, historical, linguistic, and ethical contexts.
3. Explain the interconnectedness of world cultures from the ancient to the 17th century by analyzing how complex networks of social structures create and perpetuate the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity.
4. Recognize and articulate the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of their personal as well as group identities involving race, class, and gender.

View Course Outline

ENG 203: Early World Literature

Department

Humanities

Course Description

ENG-203 invites students to explore stories from ancient times up through the seventeenth century with a focus on both culture and history. By looking at literature from around the world, we can critically explore who we once were and who we have come to be. This course carries SUNY General Education Humanities credit.

Credit Hours

3

Contact Hours

Lecture	3
Lab	0
Other	0

Grading Scheme

Letter

Semester(s) Course Will Be Offered

Fall

Prerequisites

ENG-102

SUNY General Education Course

• Humanities

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Recognize and analyze the nuance and complexity of meaning by critically reading and reflecting on a variety of texts which may include images, epic and lyric poetry, fiction, and drama from ancient times to the 17th century.
2. Analyze the ways literature is embedded in cultural, historical, linguistic, and ethical contexts.
3. Explain the interconnectedness of world cultures from the ancient to the 17th century by analyzing how complex networks of social structures create and perpetuate the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity.
4. Recognize and articulate the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of their personal as well as group identities involving race, class, and gender.

Topic Outline

Students will read a variety of literary texts from around the globe and spanning ancient, medieval and early modern periods in order to better appreciate, understand, and analyze them. Texts may include Gilgamesh, selections from the Bible and the Qu'ran, The Book of Songs, The Ramayana by Valmiki, The Tale of Genji by Shikibu, The Medea by Euripedes, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer, The Thousand and One Nights, Beowulf, Inferno by Dante, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, Don Quixote by Cervantes, The Tempest by Shakespeare, and Canzoniere by Petrarch. The following is a list of general topics and subtopics which are likely to be covered.

1. Primary Texts
   1. Representing multiple genres including images, epic and lyric poetry, oral tradition, fiction, and / or drama
   2. Representing multiple voices such as Asian, Mesopotamian, Western, Norse, Indian, Greco-Roman
2. Literary Elements
   1. Literary traditions such as theme, motif, character development, symbolism, allusion
   2. Literary forms such as epic, romance, myth, allegory, oral tradition
3. Socio-cultural Context
   1. Sociological values such as the role of women, agricultural vs. nomadic, warrior culture, social class and hierarchy
   2. Cultural values such as the value placed on the arts, the characteristics of romantic love, the life of the author
4. Historical-political Context
   1. Political structures of the time such as local and national governments, relationships with neighboring nations, economic stability,
   2. Specific historical events such as recent wars, drought or famine, territorial expansion, treatment of the labor class, government overthrow or other shift in leadership
5. World culture
   1. Connections and influences from and on other world literatures
   2. Comparisons and contrasts with modern, personal perspective