ENGL 201: World Literature
Course Description and Objectives
Description
This course is a study of selected movements and traditions (exclusive of United States and British literature) by major world writers.
The readings include selections from some of the most important literary works
written between Greek antiquity and the modern era, such as Homer's Iliad,
Vergil's Aeneid, Dante's Divine Comedy, Petrarch's Canzoniere,
the anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes, Voltaire's Candide, and other works. In addition to reading these works as guides for
understanding what it means to be human, we will also use them to gain insight
into some of the main historical periods and intellectual movements in Western
European culture: classical antiquity, the rise of Christianity, the
Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the birth of the modern
age. We will also spend some time looking at selected works from
cultures outside the Western tradition, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the
poetry of Li Po.
Objectives
This course satisfies General Education Goal 3: "An understanding of our cultural heritage as revealed in literature, its movements and traditions, through reading, understanding, analyzing, and writing about the major works that have shaped our thinking and provide a record of human experience." Upon completion of this course, students will : (1) Understand major movements, themes, and values in one or more cultures as revealed in literature, (2) Analyze literary texts as reflections of cultural movements, themes, and values, and (3) Develop and defend interpretations of literary texts through written discourse.