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ENG 220: Mythology and Folklore-Honors, Fall 2019 (CRN 10905) Section CAH:�
Tuesday/Thursday, 8:30�9:45 am
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Bradley Hall, Y-16 e-mail: [email protected]
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This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. |
Important Announcements and Updates:
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Print-friendly syllabus (.pdf) here.
�I
do not need this, okay? I've got a Master�s degree in Folklore and Mythology!�
�Comic Book Guy, �Three
Men and a Comic Book.� The Simpsons, episode 7F21
�Think about it. When we read fairy
tales, we are not judging them for whether they
�are true or not. Instead, we fold
lessons derived from them into our world views.�
�Neil deGrasse Tyson, �Bible
Stories.� Letters from an
Astrophysicist
�
DESCRIPTION:
This course is a study of the mythological roots of literature including
Greek, Roman, and African mythology, tales from the Bible, and folk material
such as ballads, fables, and proverbs. Myths and symbols are traced from their
early sources through the 20th century. Writing is an integral component of the
course.
SUNY GEN ED-GHUM; NCC GEN ED-GLNW, HUM, LIT
Prerequisite: ENG 102 or ENG 103 or
ENG 109.
This class will emphasize critical reading and
analysis of selected works of mythology and folklore from a variety of cultures
and traditions, including works from ancient sources to present-day
reinterpretations. Students must have successfully
completed the prerequisite for this course, ENG 102
or ENG 109
(or the equivalent). Therefore, students are expected to have the necessary
background and experience in analyzing, discussing, and responding to written
works, as well as the ability to conduct independent research and to write
correctly documented research essays using MLA
format. Students are cautioned that this course requires extensive
reading, writing, and discussions; students not prepared to read and to write
on a regular basis and to take an active part in class discussions should not
consider taking this course.
�
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Course
Goals |
Learning
Outcomes |
|
Writing Literacy: to produce precise, clear,
grammatically-correct, well-developed, and well-organized writing
appropriate�� to academic, social, and
occupational fields |
Students will produce coherent
texts within common college level forms and revise and improve such texts. |
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Critical Thinking: to be able to question
information and to use reason to determine what to believe or what to do |
Students will identify, analyze,
and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own and others� work and
develop well-reasoned arguments. |
|
Informational Literacy: to locate, evaluate, and
incorporate relevant source materials into the construction of an argument or
informed informed point of view |
Students will access and utilize basic computer and
internet functions, demonstrating appropriate and effective utilization of
programs and functions; use basic research techniques, demonstrating
appropriate, effective research skills; locate, evaluate, organize,
and synthesize information from a variety of sources on a specific
topic to support an argument; and apply ethical and legal
standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application of
accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works. |
|
Cultural Literacy: to engage with literary texts
that reflect the diversity of the human experience in a variety of historical
and cultural framework |
Students will demonstrate understanding of cultural traditions other than European and North American; recognize the diversity and similarities of the ways in which people in different cultural traditions perceive and experience their lives; |
|
Humanities
Competency: to understand the conventions and practices of English
Studies |
Students are able to analyze or interpret
texts, ideas, discourse systems, and the human values they reflect. |
�
TEXTS:
Textbooks have been ordered through the
NCC Campus Store; however, you are
encouraged to purchase or rent them from wherever they are least expensive.
(see also Additional Textbook Options, below)
Leeming, David. The
World of Myth: An Anthology,
3 ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2018. 978-0190900137. (Available starting at $22.46 at Amazon.com***)
Note:
The second edition of The
World of Myth is also acceptable,
and substantially less expensive: $13.00 at
Amazon.com***)
NCC College Bookstore prices:
� Print, new: $30.00
� Print, used: $22.50
� Print, new rental: $22.50
� Print, used rental: $12.00
Supplemental handouts, to be
distributed in class.
A good college-level (paperback)
dictionary (Available
used starting at $0.01 at Amazon.com
***).
Recommended:
None of these texts have been ordered through the Campus
Store, but we will be reading excerpts from each of them. Required excerpts
will be made available online or as printouts, but you may wish to purchase
your own copies for further reading. All are available online, on Amazon or
other sellers.
Biallas, Leonard
J. Myths: Gods, Heroes, and Saviors.
Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1986. 978-0896222908
(Available used, starting at $4.93, at
Amazon.com***).
Gaiman, Neal. Norse Mythology. Norton, 2017. ISBN
978-0393609097 (Available
used, starting at $5.07, at Amazon.com***).
Ovid. Metamorphoses.
Trans. A. D. Melville. Introd. E. J. Kenney. Oxford U P, 2009. ISBN 978-0199537372 (Available used, starting at $1.61, at
Amazon.com***).
Tolkien,
The
Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. (Available
used, starting at $5.43, at Amazon.com***).
You should
also have resources for questions of formatting or documentation. In addition
to Purdue�s OWL (Online Writing Lab), consider Diana
Hacker�s Rules for Writers (Available
used starting at $22.00 at Amazon.com***) or another current
college-level handbook.
Recommended additional texts:**
General
literature, writing, and related topics:
Bloom, Harold. How
to Read and Why. New York: Scribner, 2000. (Available starting at $1.00 at Amazon.com***)
Casagrande, June. Grammar Snobs
are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun and Spite. New York:
Penguin, 2006. (Available starting at $3.94 at Amazon.com***)
---. Mortal Syntax: 101
Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs�Even If
You�re Right. New York: Penguin, 2008 (Available
used starting at $6.61 at Amazon.com***).
Crystal, David. Words,
Words, Words. New York: Oxford U P, 2006 (Available
used starting at $9.28 at Amazon.com***).
Denby, David. Great Books:
My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of
the Western World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. (Available
starting at $0.29 at Amazon.com***).
Dirda, Michael. Classics
for Pleasure. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2007. (Available
starting at $1.49 at Amazon.com***)
Foster, Thomas C.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor. [New York: Harper, 2008 ?].�
---. How to
Read Novels Like a Professor. New York: Harper, 2008.
Kozol, Jonathan. Letters
to a Young Teacher. New York: Crown, 2007 (Available
starting at $12.15 at Amazon.com***).
---.� The
Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America.
New York: Crown, 2005 (Available
starting at $10.17 at Amazon.com***).
Lederer, Richard. Anguished
English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language. Charleston,
SC: Wyrick & Company, 1987 (Available
used starting at $0.01 at Amazon.com***).
---. More Anguished
English: An Expose of Embarrassing Excruciating, and Egregious Errors in
English. New York: Dell, 1994 (Available
used starting at $0.01 at Amazon.com***).
Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots
& Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. New York: Gotham
Books, 2004 (Available
used starting at $2.70 at Amazon.com***).
Mythology,
Folklore, the Bible, and Backgrounds:
Ackroyd, Peter. Albion:
The Origins of the English Imagination. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2002 (Available
used starting at $9.49 at Amazon.com).
�---. The Fall of Troy. New York: Nan A.
Talese, 2007.(Available
used, starting at $3.96, at Amazon.com
***)�
Alexander, Caroline. The War that
Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War.
New York: Viking, 2009. (Available
starting at $16.45 at Amazon.com ***).�
Alter, Robert. The David Story: A
Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel. New York: Norton, 200. (Available
used, starting at $11.32, at Amazon.com***).�
---. The Five Books of Moses: A
Translation with Commentary. New York: Norton, 2004. (Available
used, starting at $21.91, at Amazon.com***).�
Armitage, Simon. Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation. [New York?]: ,
2007.�
Armstrong, Karen. A Short History of
Myth. New York: Canongate, 2005. (Available
used, starting at $6.23, at Amazon.com***).
Ashe, Geoffrey. The
Discovery of King Arthur. New York: Henry Holt, 1985.
---, ed. The
Quest for Arthur�s Britain. Chicago: Academy, 1987.
Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad: The
Myth of Penelope and Odysseus. New York: Canongate, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $7.01, at Amazon.com***).
Baricco, Alessandro. An
Iliad. Trans. Ann Goldstein. New York: Knopf, 2006. (Available used, starting at $7.69, at
Amazon.com***).
Barker, Pat. The Silence of the Girls: A Novel. New
York: Doubleday, 2018. (Available starting at
$8.03 at Amazon.com***)
Barone, Sam. Dawn of Empire: A Novel.
New York: William Morrow, 2007.
Baugh, Albert C.
and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language, 3 ed. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Bedard, Tony. �Trojan Horseplay.� DC Meets
Looney Tunes. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2018. (Available
used, starting at $3.74, at Amazon.com***).
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and
Importance of Fairy Tales. Vintage, 2010. (Available used, starting at 4.00, at Amazon.com***).
Bullfinch, Thomas. The
Age of Fable. New York: Harper and Row, 1966. (Available
used, starting at $1.00, at Amazon.com***).
Card, Orson Scott. �Atlantis.� Keeper
of Dreams. New York: Tom Doherty, 2008
Carson, Anne, trans.� An Oresteia. New York: Faber &
Faber, 2009. (Available
used, starting at $12.90, at Amazon.com***).�
Chance, Jane.
�Grendel�s Mother as Epic Anti-Type of the Virgin and the Queen.� Chapter Seven
of Chance, Jane. Woman as Hero in Old English Literature. Syracuse, NY:
Syracuse U. P, 1986. 95-108, 131-5. (Reprinted in Fulk, R. D., ed. Interpretations
of Beowulf: A Critical Anthology. Bloomington and Indianapolis:
Indiana U. P., 1991. 251-263)
Chase, Colin, ed.
The Dating of Beowulf. Toronto: U. of Toronto P., 1997.
Crichton,
Michael. Eaters of the Dead. New
Yrork: Vintage, 2018. (Available
starting at $5.37 at Amazon.com
***).
Crumb, R., illus. The Book of Genesis.
New York: Norton, 2009. (Available
starting at $13.69 at Amazon.com***).�
Damrosch, David. The Buried Book: The Loss
and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Holt,
2007. (Available
starting at $6.88 at Amazon.com***).
Denby, David. Great Books: My
Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the
Western World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. (Available
used, starting at $1.37, at Amazon.com***).
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and
Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1999. (Available
used, starting at $8.20, at Amazon.com***).
Dirda, Michael. Classics for Pleasure.
Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2007. (Available
starting at $1.49 at Amazon.com***)
Fox, Robin Lane. The Classical World:
An Epic History from Homer to Hannibal. 2007. (Available
starting at $13.59 at Amazon.com ***)�
Fraser, Rebecca. The
Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History. New
York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
Freeman, Philip. The
Philosopher and the Druids: A Journey Among the Ancient Celts. 2006. �
Fulghum, W. B. A Dictionary of
Biblical Allusions in English Literature. New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston, 1965. (Available
used, starting at $3.99, at Amazon.com***).
Fulk, R. D., ed. Interpretations
of Beowulf: A Critical Anthology. Bloomington and Indianapolis:
Indiana U. P., 1991.
Gardner, John. Grendel.
(Available
used starting at $0.20 at Amazon.com).
George, Margaret. Helen of Troy.
New York: Viking, 2006 (Available
used, starting at $17.38, at Amazon.com***).�
Goldstein, Jonathan. Ladies and
Gentlemen, The Bible! New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.
Gould, Stephen Jay. I Have Landed: The
End of a Beginning in Natural History. New York: Harmony Books, 2002. (Available
starting at $1.78 at Amazon.com***)
Graham, Jo. Black Ships. New York:
Orbit, 2008. (Available
used, starting at $4.01 at Amazon.com***)�
Grossman, David. Lion�s Honey: The
Myth of Samson. Trans. Stuart Schoffman. New York: Canongate, 2006 (Available
used, starting at $11.10, at Amazon.com***).�
Hadas, Moses, ed. Greek
Drama. New York: Bantam, 1983. ISBN 0553212214 (Available
used, starting at $0.01, at Amazon.com***).
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology.
New York: New American Library, 1969. (Available
used, starting at $0.89, at Amazon.com***).
Harari, Yuval Noah. 21
Lessons for the 21st Century. Spiegal & Grau, 2018. (Available used, starting at $8.75, at
Amazon.com***).
---. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Harper Collins, 2017. (Available
used, starting at $11.49, at Amazon.com***).
---. Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind. HarperCollins, 2015. (Available
used, starting at $9.49, at Amazon.com***).
Hardyment,
Christina. Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur�s Chronicler. New
York: HarperCollins, 2005.
Headley, Maria
Dahvana. The Mere Wife. New York:
Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2018. (Available
starting at $17.70 at Amazon.com).
Helms, Randel. Tolkien and the Silmarils. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1981. (Available used,
starting at $6.97 at Amazon.com***).
Hinds, Gareth,
adapt. and illus. Beowulf [graphic
novel]. Cambridge, MA: Candelwick P, 2007. (Available
starting at $3.79 at Amazon.com).
Holland, Tom. Persian Fire. New
York: Doubleday, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $13.79, at Amazon.com***).�
Holland, Tom. Rubicon. New York:
Anchor, 2005. (Available
used, starting at $8.73, at Amazon.com***).
Homer. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert
Fagles. New York: Viking, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $18.98, at Amazon.com***).�
---. The
Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. Penguin, 1990. ISBN 0140268863 (Available
used, starting at $4.99, at Amazon.com***).
Hughes, Bettany. Helen of Troy:
Goddess, Princess, Whore. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. (Available
used, starting at $29.78, at Amazon.com***).
Hunt, Patrick. Ten Discoveries that
Rewrote History. New York: Plume, 2007.
Jackson, Kenneth
H. �The Arthur of History.� Loomis, ed. 1-11.
Jacobs. A. J. The Year of Living
Biblically. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.
Kallich, Martin, et al, eds. Oedipus:
Myth and Drama. New York: Odyssey Press, 1968. (Available
used, starting at $2.99, at Amazon.com***).
Kress, Nancy. �Unto the Daughters.� Sisters
in Fantasy. Eds. Susan Schwartz and Martin H. Greenberg. New York: Roc,
1995. Reprinted in A Beaker's Dozen. New York: Tor, 1998. 163-172.
Kocher, Paul H. A Reader�s Guide to The
Silmarillion. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981.
LeGuin, Ursula. Lavinia. Orlando,
FL: Harcourt, 2008.
Levin, Christopher. The Old Testament:
A Brief Introduction. Trans. Margaret Kohl. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton
U P, 2005.�
Leyerle, John.
�The Interlace Structure of Beowulf.� University of Toronto Quarterly
37 (1967): 1-17. (Reprinted in Fulk, R. D., ed. Interpretations of Beowulf:
A Critical Anthology. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana U. P., 1991.
146-167)
Long, Charles H. Alpha: The Myths of Creation. AAR
Classics in Religious Studies Series, Oxford UP, 1983.
�
Loomis, Laura
Hibbard. �Gawain and the Green Knight.� Loomis, ed. 528-540.
Loomis, Roger
Sherman, ed. Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative
History. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959, 2001.
Loomis, Roger
Sherman. The Development of Arthurian Romance. New York: Norton, 1963.
Magoun, Francis
P. �The Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry.� Speculum
28 (1963): 446-67. (Reprinted in Fulk, R. D., ed. Interpretations of Beowulf:
A Critical Anthology. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana U. P., 1991.
45-65).
Maine, David. The Book of Samson.
New York: St. Martins, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $14.07, at Amazon.com***).
---. Fallen. New York: St.
Martins, 2005. (Available
used, starting at $6.53, at Amazon.com***).
---. The Preservationist. New
York: St. Martins, 2004 (published as The Flood in Great Britain). (Available
used, starting at $0.01, at Amazon.com***).
Mason, Zachary. The Lost Books of the
Odyssey: A Novel. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010 (Available
at Amazon.com for $16.20
***).�
Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh: A New
English Version. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004 (Available
used, starting at $11.58, at Amazon.com***).�
Morrow, James. Bible
Stories for Adults. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996. (Available
used, starting at $1.10, at Amazon.com***).
Nicolson, Adam. God�s Secretaries: The
Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. (Available
used, starting at $3.70, at Amazon.com***).
Noel, Ruth. The Mythology of Middle Earth.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. (Available
used, starting at $3.00, at Amazon.com***).
Parry, John Jay
and Robert A. Caldwell. �Geoffrey of Monmouth.� Loomis, ed. 72-93.
Pelevin, Victor. The Helmet of Horror:
The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Trans. Andrew Bromfield. New York:
Canongate, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $9.50, at Amazon.com***).�
Philips, Marie. Gods Behaving Badly.
Boston: Little, Brown, 2007.
Pinsky, Robert. The Life of David.
2006. (Available
used, starting at $7.99, at Amazon.com***).�
Plotz, David. Good Book: The Bizarre,
Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read
Every Single Word of the Bible. New York: Harper/Harper Collins, 2009.�
Rosenberg, David. Abraham: The First
Historical Biography. New York: Basic Books, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $0.35, at Amazon.com***).�
---. A Literary Bible: An Original
Translation. [New York ?]: Counterpoint, 2009. (Available used starting at $0.86 at Amazon.com***).�
---., and Harold Bloom. The Book of J.
New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.(Available
used starting at $1.19 at Amazon.com***).�
Saramago, Jos�. Cain. Trans.
Margaret Jule Costa. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2011. (Available starting at $14.87 at Amazon.com***).
Saramago, Jos�. The Gospel According
to Jesus Christ. Boston: Mariner Books, 1994. (Available used starting at $3.79 at Amazon.com***).�
Saylor, Steven. Roma: The Novel of
Ancient Rome. New York: St. Martin's, 2007. (Available used starting at $0.29 at Amazon.com***).�
Schweitzer, Darrell. �The Dragons of
Eden.� Analog Science Fiction and Fact May 2008: 80-1.
Shanower, Eric. Age of Bronze, Vol. 1: A Thousand Ships.
Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2001. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 1-9).
---. Age of Bronze, Vol. 2: Sacrifice.
Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2005. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 10-19).�
---. Age of Bronze, Vol. 3: Betrayal.
Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2007. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 20-24).�
Swenson, Kristin. Bible Babel: Making
Sense of the Most Talked about Book of All Time. New York: Harper Collins,
2010.
Terry, Philip, ed. Ovid Metamorphosed.
London: Vintage, 2001. (Available
used, starting at $4.95, at Amazon.com***).
Thompson, Ruth Plumly. The Trojan War.
Originally published in King Comics Nos. 34, 35, and 36 (January,
February and March 1939).
T�ib�n, Colm. House of Names: A Novel. New York: Scribner, 2017. (Available
used, starting at $11.57, at Amazon.com***).
Tolkien, J. R. R.
�Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.� Proceedings of the British
Academy 22 (1936): 245-95. (Reprinted in Fulk, R. D., ed. Interpretations
of Beowulf: A Critical Anthology. Bloomington and Indianapolis:
Indiana U. P., 1991. 45-65)
---. The
Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Boerthelm�s Son. Essays and Studies for 1953.
reprinted The Tolkien Reader. New York: Ballantine, 1966. 1-27. Also in Poems
and Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 75-109.
---., trans. Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo. New
York: Ballantine, 1975.
Turtledove, Harry and Noreen Doyle, eds. The
First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age. New York: Tor, 2004.
Virgil. The
Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. Vintage Books, 1990. ISBN 0679729526
(Available
used, starting at $3.89, at Amazon.com***).
Wilkinson, Philip and Neil Philip. DK
Eyewitness Companions: Mythology. [New York?]: Dorling Kindersley, 2007.�
Winterson, Jeannette. Weight: The Myth
of Atlas and Heracles. New York: Canongate, 2006. (Available
used, starting at $6.01, at Amazon.com***).�
Wray, T. J. and Gregory Mobley. The
Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil�s Biblical Roots. 2006. (Available
used, starting at $5.41, at Amazon.com***).�
Wright, Robert. The Evolution of God. New York and Boston: Little Brown, 2009. ��
Zimbardo Rose A. and Neil D. Isaacs, eds. Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. . (Available used, starting at $2.49, at Amazon.com***).
*Note: Many of the individual
texts to be read and discussed are available online; these are indicated on the
schedule (below) as hyperlinks. However, students are still strongly cautioned that
they must purchase the textbook for class use, as well as for the
supplemental materials included. Additional materials to be assigned are not
included in the books ordered for the class, but may be accessed through the
links provided or will be distributed as handouts in class.
**
Recommended additional texts are not required purchases, and have not
been ordered for the course; however, they provide�depending on the course�
alternative readings, historical and cultural backgrounds, criticism, personal
literary responses, or entertaining (irreverent, possibly sacrilegious)
revisions. Students who find themselves becoming deeply interested in one or
more of the required readings may find these interesting and/or useful. When
indicated with a dagger
(�), texts are only provisionally recommended, as I have not read these
works yet, although they have received excellent reviews or recommendations.
***
Prices listed at Amazon.com
do not include shipping, and are accurate as of original posting date
only; no guarantees of prices or availability are express or implied�.
�
Attendance:
As per the Nassau Community College attendance
regulation,� �Students are expected
to attend all classes. Absences due to illness or for other serious reasons may
be excused at the discretion of the instructor. Students are advised that
excessive absences may have a negative impact on their academic performance
and/or outcome.� Students must not only attend every class, but also arrive on
time, be prepared, and take an active part in class (see Participation, below); students may
be required to sign in each class session to verify their attendance. Excessive
absences or latenesses will adversely affect your grade: Students may miss no
more than three classes; further absences will result in a reduction of the
final grade by one full letter grade for each additional absence. Students
unable to attend class should contact the instructor regarding their absence;
in addition, students are responsible for submitting all work on time
regardless of absences. In addition, once students get to class, they are
expected to stay in the classroom until the class is over. Leaving class early
or getting up in the middle of class is considered disruptive behavior and
should happen only in extreme emergencies.
Classroom Behavior:
Students are expected to be present,
prepared, attentive, and active participants in the learning process. As such,
any distracting or inappropriate behavior or unauthorized use of electronic
devices* is strictly prohibited. Students who wish to use a laptop for
note-taking may be allowed to do so at the instructor�s discretion, but will
be required to sit in the front row and to submit a copy of their notes to the
professor at the end of each class; failure to do so will result in a zero for
the day, equivalent to being absent. Eating, sleeping, texting, or other
inappropriate behavior may result in your being asked to leave the class and
will adversely affect your final grade. According to the �Student
Code of Conduct,� �The College is committed to providing an atmosphere in
which students have freedom to learn and engage in the search for truth,
knowledge, and reason in accordance with the standards set forth by the
academic community. Conduct that adversely affects a student�s responsible
membership in the academic community shall result in appropriate disciplinary
action.� Appropriate disciplinary action may include but is not limited to
probation, suspension, and expulsion from the college. See the Nassau
Community College �Classroom
Management Policy� and �Student
Code of Conduct� in the
college catalog.
*On cell phone use in class, see Andrew
Lepp, Jacob E. Barkley, and Aryn C. Karpinski. �The Relationship
between Cell Phone Use and Academic Performance in a Sample of U.S. College
Students.� SAGE Open 19 Feb. 2015;
and Herrera, Tim. �Hide
Your Phone When You�re Trying to Work. Seriously.� New York Times
(Smarter Living) 2 Dec. 2018.
Plagiarism and Cheating:
Plagiarism includes copying or
paraphrasing another�s words, ideas, or facts without crediting the source;
submitting a paper written by someone else, either in whole or in part, as
one�s own work; or submitting work previously submitted for another course or
instructor. Plagiarism, cheating, or other forms of academic dishonesty on
any assignment will result in failure (a grade of zero) for that assignment and
may result in further disciplinary action, including but not limited to failure
for the course and expulsion from the college. See the Nassau Community
College policy on �Academic
Dishonesty & Plagiarism.�
Homework/Essay Submission:
For each of the assigned essays and
projects, a topic or list of topic choices will be provided. Your work must
be on one of the assigned topics for that assignment or developed in
consultation with the instructor* or it will receive a grade of �F�.
*Note: You must obtain prior approval to write on topics other than those listed below; speak to me before or after class to set up an appointment during my office hours. Approval must be obtained at least one full week in advance of the due date. See details below.
All writing assignments must be received by the instructor on
or before the due date, by the beginning of the class period, as indicated
on the schedule, below.
Students may also be required to submit an electronic copy of their work
via TurnItIn.com;
details to be announced. Essays submitted by email will not be accepted,
and late work if accepted will be penalized 10% for each day it is late;
see below. All at-home work must be
typed (in 12-point Times New Roman), double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and
stapled when submitted. In-class work must be neatly printed in blue or black
ink on loose-leaf composition paper or in bluebooks provided by the instructor
and double-spaced�. All essays must also include a proper heading
(see Purdue Online
Writing Lab�s Formatting and Style Guide), including Word Count; have an
appropriate, original title; contain a clear, explicit, assertive, objectively
worded thesis statement (thesis statements must be underlined); and
(unless otherwise indicated) avoid use of I or you throughout. Finally,
all work should be grammatically correct, free of errors in mechanics, grammar,
usage, spelling, and documentation, and will be evaluated according to the Model for Evaluation of Student Writing. Please
refer to the Paragraph Outline or Essay Outline and Revising and Editing Checklist for
additional assistance.
Also, one would think that this would not even need to be
stated, but read the work or works about which you are writing, and read
them carefully! Do not rely upon your general impressions based on what you
think was said in class, or on what you read online. There is no reason for
your essays to contain factual errors.
Please feel free to communicate any concerns or
questions to me before the essays are due; I will be available to meet with any
student who needs assistance or additional instruction. Please speak to me
before or after class or email me
to set up an appointment during my office hours.
� On format, handwriting, and neatness, see Chase, Clinton I. �Essay Test Scoring: Interaction of Relevant Variables.� Journal of Educational Measurement 23.1 (1986): 33-41 and
�� Marshall, Jon C. and Jerry M. Powers. �Writing Neatness, Composition Errors, and Essay Grades.� Journal of Educational Measurement 6.2 (1988): 306-324.
Make-up Exams/Late Work:
All assignment deadlines and scheduled
exam dates are provided at the beginning of the semester; therefore, no make-up
opportunities will be offered or late work accepted, except under extraordinary
circumstances with appropriate documentation, and late work will be penalized
10% for each day or portion thereof it is submitted after the due
date. Note: As all work is due at the beginning of the class
period, this includes work submitted on the due date after class has begun.
Excuses such as �crashed computers,� �lost flash drives,�
or �empty printer ink cartridges� will not be accepted. All essays or work
should be saved both on your computer�s hard drive and again on removable
storage device as well as uploaded to cloud storage (OneDrive, et cetera).
Students should also keep backup copies of all work submitted.
*See also,�
Mike Adams, �The
Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome.�
Writing Center:
Students should avail themselves of the Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall (Bldg.
Y), 572-7195, and on the second floor of the Library, room L 233, 572-3595. The
Writing Center offers one-on-one tutoring as well as workshops. email: [email protected].
Disabilities and Accommodations:
If you have a physical, psychological,
medical, or learning disability that may adversely impact your ability to carry
out the assigned coursework, contact the staff at the Center for Students with
Disabilities (CSD) in Building U: 572-7241, TTY 572-7617. CSD will review your
concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and
appropriate. All information and documentation are confidential.
�
�
Attendance and
Participation (7.5%):
As this class will combine both lecture
and discussion, students are expected both to attend every session and to take
an active part in class�joining in discussions and raising questions. Discussion
is one of the best ways to clarify your understandings and to test your
conclusions; therefore, it is imperative that all students participate
regularly in order that we may together discover what each selection �means� to
us. Open discussion always involves personal exposure, and thus
the taking of risks: your ideas may not be the same as your fellow students� or
even the instructor�s. Yet as long as your points are honest and supportable,
they will be respected by all of us in the classroom. Questions, discussion,
disagreement, and laughter are all encouraged in this class (However, ridicule
or scoffing is never tolerated).
Quizzes (7.5%):
With the exception of the first day, class
may begin with a short (five- to ten-minute) quiz or writing assignment on the
reading(s) for the day, at the instructor�s discretion. Quizzes missed due to
tardiness may not be made up. At the end of the semester, the lowest quiz
grade will be dropped. Total number of quizzes during the semester will
determine the point value of each; that is, if sixteen quizzes are given
(lowest quiz grade will be dropped), each quiz is worth roughly one-half point.
Response
Papers (10 @ 5%):
Students will complete at least ten of the weekly response papers
during the semester, on topics to be assigned. (See
Response Paper Topics,
below). Respond to each question or topic in a brief, well-developed,
coherent, and thoughtful short essay of two to three pages (500-750 words).
Your essay should include independent analysis and demonstrate careful thought,
but no research is necessary, nor should any secondary sources be used. This is
not a research essay; the only sources utilized or quoted should be the texts
themselves. Use of secondary sources, whether credited or not, will be
considered grounds for failure. Although these are personal responses, and
therefore there is no �correct� answer, remember that they are still formal
essays: in your analyses, formulate a clear, explicit, assertive (persuasive),
objectively worded thesis statement, and avoid use of �I� or �you� throughout.
At least one response paper will be shared with the class as a short
(five-minute) presentation, ideally one that
is open-ended, leading into class discussions with questions, major themes, or
topics for further thought. Handouts, visual aids, or multi-media presentations
are not required, but certainly allowed.
Students
may complete more than ten response papers for extra credit: only the best ten
scores will be utilized in determining final grades.
Research Paper/Final Project
(35% total)
Students will also complete a major
semester project or argumentative (persuasive) Research
Essay of at least seven
to twelve pages (a minimum of 1500-2500 words), using a minimum of five to
seven primary or secondary sources (secondary sources must be reliable:
scholarly criticism or analysis, not summaries, reviews, or �analysis� from
sites such as e-Notes, SparkNotes, Wikipedia*, 123HelpMe, or Gradesaver.com), correctly
documented utilizing MLA format, with a cover page and Works Cited page (cover page and Works Cited do not count toward the seven-page requirement).
Topics should be selected from a list of suggestions provided (see Research
Paper Topics, below), or
developed in consultation with the instructor. The project will be completed in
stages during the semester; points will accrue as follows:
Proposal/Topic
Selection (2.5%): Before
beginning the assignment, students will develop and submit a clear, well-written,
one-page explanation of the topic chosen from the list provided and the reason
for selection. This proposal should include a preliminary idea of the plan of
the paper, its intention or research question, and a preliminary thesis.
Annotated Bibliography (5%): Students will develop and submit an annotated
bibliography for the research essay assignment, with a minimum of five to seven sources,
correctly documented according to MLA format.
Preliminary Draft (2.5%): Students will submit a finished, typed draft of the completed research essay for review, evaluation, and comments.
Presentation
(5%): Students will present to
the class a summary and explanation of their final project or research essay.
Final Draft (20%): The final draft of the research paper or project
must be submitted in a folder, including copies of all sources used and all of
the above assignments associated with the research paper.
Extra Credit (various opportunities, at 1�2 points each):
Students may be notified of opportunities
for extra credit during the semester, including attendance at various workshops
or cultural events related to the class (�Recommended
Field Trips�). If students attend one or more of these events, and provide
evidence of attendance (ticket stub, program, unretouched digital image, et
cetera) along with a typed one- to two-page personal response (review,
analysis, reflection, critique, et cetera), they can receive additional
points: a single event and written response is usually worth 2 points extra
credit; attendance at additional events will earn one additional point each.
Note: As a general
rule, extra credit only helps if you have already completed all of the assigned
work, and will not make up for missing an essay (or two, or three).
Extra credit opportunities will be announced in class, and they will also be
posted here as well as on the class
Announcements page, so do not ask at the end of the semester for �extra
credit� to
bring your average up. Students asking for extra points or changes to their
grade may have their grade reduced, instead.
Extra credit opportunities to date:
Museum
Visit(s) (two points per museum)
Many
of the museums in NYC are free to NYC residents or free at certain times.
Consider the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(free to NYC residents), the Onassis Cultural Center
(free admission), the Brooklyn Museum
(possibly� Free Fridays), the Frick
Collection and the Morgan
Library and Museum (both free on Friday nights), possibly the
Asia Society.... Visit one such museum and find
three (3) different mythological depictions to write about; that is,
paintings, sculptures, and so on that represent a specific mythological
character, creature, or event, preferably one we have read about and/or
discussed. You may also visit a second, third, even fourth museum, and
submit a different extra credit assignment with another three images or items.
Your
response paper should be four to five (4-5) paragraphs, including one
paragraph about the visit (where you went, when, with whom, overall
impressions, and so on) and one paragraph for each of the three objects or
images. For each of the three, you must include a description of the
object, including its location, such as Gallery 160: Hellenistic Sculpture
and Architecture: Third�First Century BC, and a connection to what we read
or discussed. For example:
�The
Birth of Venus� or �Nascita di Venere� by Sandro Botticelli, 1485, is a
large (5′ 8″ x 9′ 2″) painting, tempera on canvas, and
is located in Room 10-14 of the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence, Italy. In it the
newly-born Venus stands nude in a giant shell, with Zephyr, the god of high
winds, and Aura, the personification of a light breeze, blowing her towards the
shore. At the right Hora, one of the Greek goddesses of the seasons, holds a
cloak to cover her when she reaches the shore, either Cythera or Cyprus.* This
represents one version of the birth of Venus or Aphrodite, as discussed in
Leeming, �The Pantheons�: [quote the textbook here].
You
may add a concluding paragraph if you wish.
Note: You must take pictures of all three, ideally each one from two
different angles, and print them out and submit along with your response paper
or email them to me.
*Adapted
from ��The Birth of Venus� by Sandro Botticelli.� Joy of Museums: Museums, Art Galleries and
Historical Sites. https://joyofmuseums.com/books-about-museums-art-history-and-historical-sites/ �
Your paragraph will of course be original, that is, your own words and ideas.
(Nor do I expect you to travel to Florence...)
Dr. Ruha
Benjamin, Race After Technology
Wednesday,
December 4
12:30 PM
CCB 252/253
The Nassau
Community College Cultural Program presents Princeton University Professor Ruha
Benjamin talking about coded inequity and what to do about it. She argues
that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming
on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up, and deepen discrimination
while appearing neutral and even benevolent. Presenting the concept of the �New
Jim Code,� she shows how a range of discriminatory designs encode inequity by
explicitly amplifying racial hierarchies, by ignoring but thereby replicating
social divisions, or by aiming to fix racial bias but ultimately doing quite
the opposite. Her latest book, Race After Technology, provides
conceptual tools for decoding tech promises with sociologically informed
skepticism. In doing so, it challenges us to question: Are emerging
technologies reinforcing white supremacy and deepening social inequity?
If you happen to be in Philadelphia�.
An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O�Hare, based on Homer�s Iliad,
Translated by Robert Fagles; Directed by Rebecca
Wright
�The infinite beauty of storytelling consumes this
provocative adaptation of Homer�s classic. The Trojan War is placed beside our
modern day, presenting the allure of wartime heroism and the inevitable cost of
battle that overshadows all history.�
The Bob and Selma Horan Studio Theatre
62 N. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Student
tickets starting at $48
November 13―December 8
�A raucous, Dadaist carnival processes onstage to the sounds
of Brazilian funk, clown antics, pop, and Bolero.
In this wildly delirious new work, Cape Verdean-born,
Lisbon-based choreographer and performance artist Marlene Monteiro Freitas
dares you to traverse the order and wild chaos of Euripides�and ultimately, the
depths of the human psyche.�
BAM
Harvery Theater (Brooklyn Academy of Music)
651 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
November 7―9 only!
�Director Phelim McDermott
tackles another one of Philip Glass�s masterpieces, following the now-legendary
Met staging of Satyagraha. Star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is the title
pharaoh, the revolutionary ruler who transformed ancient Egypt, with the
striking mezzo-soprano J�Nai Bridges in her Met debut
as his wife, Nefertiti. To match the opera�s hypnotic, ritualistic music,
McDermott has created an arresting vision that includes a virtuosic company of
acrobats and jugglers. Karen Kamensek conducts in her
Met debut.�
30 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023
November 8―December 7
Saturday, Nov. 23
Find a theater here
�The myth of the musician Orpheus�who
travels to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice�probes the
deepest questions of desire, grief, and the power (and limits) of art. Gluck
turned to this legend as the basis for a work as they were developing their
ideas for a new kind of opera. Disillusioned with the inflexible forms of the
genre as they existed at the time, the composer sought to reform the operatic
stage with a visionary and seamless union of music, poetry, and dance.�
Jamie Barton stars as the
mythical hero in Mark Morris�s spirited production, which also features Hei-Kyung Hong as Euridice and members of the Mark Morris
Dance Group. Mark Wigglesworth conducts Gluck�s elegant score.
30 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023
October 20―November 10
Redoubt (A revision of Diana and
Actaeon)
�From the boundlessly fertile/febrile
imagination of Matthew Barney, creator of the epic CREMASTER cycle. In REDOUBT,
the myth of Diana and Actaeon unfolds in Idaho�s majestic Sawtooth Mountains,
with Diana played by real-life sharpshooter Anette Wachter. She�s accompanied
by two nymphs on a wolf hunt (one, Eleanor Bauer, choreographed the film�s
gravity-defying movements); Barney is the Engraver/forest ranger � stealthily
etching their movements onto copper plates. Wordless physical action,
choreography and spectacular cinematography create a dreamlike logic. The title
REDOUBT can refer to both a provisional military fortification, and a
defensive, isolated psychological position � both evoked by the film�s setting
in a vast Idaho wilderness.�
Wednesday, October 30―Tuesday, November 12
Film Forum
209 West Houston Street
New York, NY 10014
$9.00 Members, $15.00
Regular
Ne Zha (A Chinese origin story)
�Born with unique powers, a boy is
recruited to fight demons and save the community that fears him.� (IMDB.com)
Adapted from The
Investiture of the Gods
(封神演义)
Written and directed by Yu Yang
In Mandarin, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.
Currently playing in various theaters.
Hadestown
HADESTOWN intertwines two mythic tales�that of young dreamers
Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone�as it
invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell�s
beguiling melodies and Chavkin�s poetic imagination pit industry against
nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant
ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, HADESTOWN is a
haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
Walter Kerr Theater,
219 W 48th St,
New York, NY 10036
Tickets
start at $99-149
College Night at
the Morgan Library and Museum
Students are invited to an
after-hours event featuring exhibition tours, games, behind-the-scenes
experiences, sketching with Drawing New York, live music, and more!
Our fall season exhibitions
include, John
Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal, Illusions
of the Photographer: Duane Michals at the Morgan, Verdi:
Creating Otello and Falstaff�Highlights from the Ricordi Archive, and Guercino:
Virtuoso Draftsman.
Thursday, November 14, 2019,
6�8 PM
225 Madison Ave, New York, NY
10016
Tickets: Free for college students with a valid school ID.
RSVP here.
https://www.themorgan.org/programs/free-college-night
The
Lightning Thief
Longacre Theater,
220 W 48th St,
New York, NY 10036
20 September 2019―5
January 2020
(Opens 16 Oct. 2019)
Tickets
$39.00 - $129.00
Writing
Center Grammar Review Workshops (1 point each)
Topics include:
Sentence Building and Avoiding Run-ons, Comma Splices, and Fragments
Using Correct Punctuation: Commas, Semicolons, and Colons
Subject-Verb Agreement, Verb Formation, Tense Usage
Tuesday &
Thursday Club Hour Series
|
Tuesday |
October 1 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm Bradley Ballroom |
Building Compound Sentences |
|
Tuesday |
October 15 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm Bradley Ballroom |
Building Complex Sentences |
|
Tuesday |
October 22 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm Bradley Y 04 |
Subject-Verb Agreement |
|
Tuesday |
October 29 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm |
The Verb Phrase |
|
Thursday |
October 31 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm Library L233A |
Verb Tenses |
|
Tuesday |
November 5 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm |
Conjunctions |
Tuesday & Thursday Evening Series
|
Tuesday |
September 24* |
8:30 pm to 9:50 pm |
Building Compound Sentences |
|
Tuesday |
October 1 |
5:30 pm to 6:50 pm Library L233A |
Building Complex Sentences |
|
Thursday |
October 10 |
5:30 pm to 6:50 pm Library L233A |
Punctuation Usage |
|
Tuesday |
October 15 |
7:00 pm to 8:20 pm |
Pronoun Usage |
|
Thursday |
October 22* |
7:00 pm to 8:20 pm |
Relative Pronoun Usage |
*These workshops take place during Evening Activity Hour. Regular classes are cancelled so that students can attend, but check with your classroom instructor.
Space is limited. To
register, call 572-7195 or 572-3595.
The Writing Centers are located in Bradley Hall (Bldg. Y) and on the second
floor of the Library, room L233
[email protected]����� www.ncc.edu/writingcenter
Writing
Center MLA
Research and Documentation Workshops (1
point)
Topics include:
Locating and Evaluating Sources
Integrating Sources into an Essay
Creating and Formatting a Works Cited List
MLA Sessions
|
Tuesday w/Prof. D'Angelo |
November5 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
Bradley Ballroom |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. D'Angelo |
November19 |
11:30 am to 12:45 pm |
Bradley Ballroom |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. Posillico |
November19 |
5:30 pm to 6:45 pm |
G Bldg. (Room TBA) |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. D'Angelo |
November26 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
Bradley Ballroom |
|
Wednesday w/Prof. D'Angelo |
December4 |
2:00 pm to 3:15 pm |
Bradley Ballroom |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. Posillico |
December10 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
Library L233A |
|
Thursday w/Prof. D'Angelo |
December12 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
Bradley Ballroom |
APA Sessions
|
Tuesday w/Prof. Posillico |
November 12 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
|
Library L233A |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. Posillico |
November 26 |
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm |
|
Library L233A |
|
Tuesday w/Prof. Posillico |
December 3 |
11:30 am to 12:45pm |
|
Library L233A |
*5:30pm classes are cancelled but check with your instructor (room location to be determined).
Space is limited. To
register, call 572-7195 or 572-3595.
The Writing Centers are located in Bradley Hall (Bldg. Y) and on the second
floor of the Library, room L233
[email protected]����� www.ncc.edu/writingcenter
Academic
Success Workshops and Learning Skills Workshops (1 point each)
NCC
Center for Educational and Retention Counseling
IT'S "ABOUT TIME"
MANAGING, TIME. SELF & COLLEGE
October 15
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 109
Learning Skills Workshops
It is RECOMMENDED that students attend all
five of the following
Listening/Note-Taking
October 22
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 109
Studying
and Organizing for Classes
October 29
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 109
Reading
College Textbooks
November 5
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 121
Test-Taking
November 12
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 109
Managing
Test Anxiety
November 19
11:30 AM―12:45 PM
G 109
For questions, call 516-572-7141
CERC
Office, Nassau Hall, M19
�
Final grades will be determined as follows:
|
7.5% |
|
|
7.5% |
|
|
Response Papers: 10 @ 10% |
50% |
|
35% |
|
|
Proposal/Topic Selection (2.5%) |
|
|
|
|
|
Preliminary Draft (2.5%) |
|
|
Presentation (5%) |
|
|
Final Draft (20 %) |
|
|
Extra Credit (if any) will be added to the final total. |
|
Total Points earned (Final Average) will
determine the grade received for the course, as follows:
|
Final
Percentage |
Final
Grade |
|
90�100+ |
A |
|
85�89 |
� B+ |
|
80�84 |
B |
|
75�79 |
� C+ |
|
70�74 |
C |
|
65�69 |
D+ |
|
60�64 |
D |
|
0�59 |
F |
|
Note: Percentages ending
in .5 or greater are rounded up. |
|
�
�
�
SCHEDULE AND PROJECTED OUTLINE
|
IMPORTANT
DATES: FALL SEMESTER 2019 |
|
|
Mon., 2 Sept. |
Labor Day: Classes do NOT meet |
|
Tues., 3 Sept. |
DAY, EVENING, and ONLINE EDUCATION classes begin |
|
Fri., 6 Sept. |
WEEKEND classes begin and |
|
Mon., 9 Sept. |
Last day to Drop/Add |
|
Mon., 23 Sept. |
Last day to drop full semester classes without a W grade |
|
Mon., 30 Sept. |
Rosh Hashanah: Classes do NOT meet |
|
Tues., 8 Oct. |
DAY classes meet on a Monday
schedule; |
|
Wed., 9 Oct. |
Yom Kippur: Classes do NOT meet |
|
Mon., 11 Nov. |
Veterans� Day: Classes do NOT meet |
|
Wed., 27 Nov. |
EVENING classes do not meet |
|
Thurs., 28 Nov. |
Thanksgiving Day: Classes do NOT meet |
|
Fri., 29 Nov.―Sun., 1 Dec. |
Classes do NOT meet |
|
Fri., 8 Nov. |
Last day automatic W |
|
Thurs., 12 Dec. |
EVENING classes extended by 5 minutes for final exams |
|
Sun., 15 Dec. |
WEEKEND classes end |
|
Tues., 17 Dec. |
EVENING classes extended by 5 minutes for final exams |
|
Wed., 18 Dec. |
EVENING classes extended by 5 minutes for final exams |
|
Thurs., 19 Dec. |
EVENING
classes do not meet |
|
Fri., 20 Dec. |
EVENING classes do not meet (Friday night Weekend College). |
|
Sat., 21 Dec. |
Makeup Weekend � If necessary, WEEKEND classes meet. |
|
Sun., 22 Dec. |
Classes do NOT meet |
|
Mon., 23 Dec. |
EVENING classes extended by 5
minutes for final exams; |
|
Tues., 24 Dec. |
Makeup Day � If necessary, DAY classes meet |
|
NOTE: ALL DATES SUBJECT TO
CHANGE; |
|
�
�
Readings and Assignments:
Readings from The World
of Myth: An Anthology and required additional
readings are identified below by title and page numbers, e.g., Leeming� �The Pantheons� (89-115), Gaiman,
�Before the Beginning, and After� in Norse
Mythology (27-35, Handout). All readings
below are required and must be completed by the class indicated; the only
exceptions are those indicated with an asterisk (*), which are recommended
additional readings or resources. Additional readings may also be assigned. Viewings
include select online resources and may be shown in class or can be viewed at
home. To access streaming videos from home, click on the individual link. Then,
when prompted, enter your username (N #) and password (PIN).
Red
text indicates important dates or links
to assignment descriptions; Blue text indicates links to assignments, resources, or online
versions of texts. (Note: While every effort is made to verify the accuracy and
usefulness of these links and their contents, no guarantees are made. Please notify
me of any broken or outdated links).
Note: This schedule is subject to revision
according to the instructor�s discretion, the Academic Calendar for
the semester, school closings due to inclement weather or other reasons, and
the progress of the class. Additions or changes will be announced in class, and
they will also be posted here as well as on the class Announcements page.
|
|
�Labor Day: College Closed |
|
Tue., 3 Sep. |
�Day, Evening & Distance Education
(online) Classes Begin �Course Introduction: Syllabus, texts, policies, assignments |
|
Thu., 5 Sep. |
�What Is
Myth? �Readings: �*Recommended additional readings: � Harari, Yuval Noah. �The Law of Religion.� Sapiens:
A Brief History of Mankind. HarperCollins, 2015: 209-236. |
|
Tue., 10 Sep. |
Cosmogony and Creation Myths: Beginnings �Readings: �*Recommended additional readings: � Foster and Cummings, �The Story of the Beginning� in Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology � Helms, Randel.
�The Major Themes: Mythology in The Silmarillion.� Tolkien
and the Silmarils. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981: 21-40. � Lewis, Mesopotamian
Cosmology and Mythology � Milton, John. Paradise Lost Book 7 � Spence, �The Making of the World and of Man (Cosmogony)� in An Introduction to Mythology �*Complete versions of select texts excerpted in
Leeming: � Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth � Creation Legend of Sun Worshippers, an Egyptian creation myth �*Recommended Viewings:
|
|
Thu., 12 Sep. |
�Cosmogony and
Creation Myths: Beginnings, cont. |
|
Tue., 17 Sep. |
�Cosmogony and Creation Myths: Creation and
Fall of Man Readings: *Recommended additional
readings: � Mark, Joshua J �The Atrahasis Epic: The Great Flood and the Meaning
of Suffering.� |
|
Thu., 19 Sep. |
�Cosmogony and Creation Myths: Creation and
Fall of Man, cont. �*Mentioned in today�s class: |
|
Mon., 23 Sep. |
�Last
day to drop without W grade |
|
Tue., 24 Sep. |
Pantheons �Readings: �*Recommended additional readings: � �The Descent of the Gods� and � �*Recommended Viewings:
|
|
Thu., 26 Sep. |
�Pantheons, cont. |
|
Tue., 1 Oct. |
�� �Flood Narratives �Readings: �*Recommended additional readings: � �The Great Flood.� Livius.org � Helms, Randel. �Reading Akallab�th.�
Tolkien and the Silmarils. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981: 64-72. � Mark, Joshua J �The Atrahasis Epic: The Great Flood and the Meaning
of Suffering.� � Morrow, James. �Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge.� Bible Stories for Adults. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996. 1-14. �*Recommended Viewings: �*See also: � Donovan, �Atlantis� |
|
Thu., 3 Oct, |
�Flood Narratives, cont. |
|
Tue., 8 Oct. |
�DAY classes meet on a Monday schedule; |
|
Thu., 10 Oct. |
�Flood Narratives, cont. �Readings: |
|
Tue., 15 Oct. |
� �Trickster
Tales �Readings: �*Recommended Viewings:
|
|
Thu., 17 Oct. |
�Trickster
Tales, cont. |
|
Tue., 22 Oct. |
�Trickster
Tales: Brer
Rabbit and Bugs Bunny �Readings: �Viewings: |
|
Thu., 24 Oct. |
�Trickster
Tales: Brer
Rabbit and Bugs Bunny �Readings: �Recommended listening: �Viewings: |
|
Tue., 29 Oct. |
�Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest �Readings: �*Recommended
additional readings: � Flieger, Verlyn. �Frodo and Aragorn: The Concept of the Hero.� Understanding
The Lord of
the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism. Eds. Rose A. Zimbardo and Neil D. Isaacs. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 122-145. �*Recommended Viewings: |
|
Thu., 31 Oct. |
�Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest, cont. �Viewing: |
|
Tue., 5 Nov. |
�Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest, cont. �Readings: |
|
Thu., 7 Nov. |
�Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest, cont. �Readings: |
|
Fri., 8 Nov. |
|
|
Tue., 12 Nov. |
� Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest, cont. �Readings: *See also, Echard, Si�n. �The Quest for the Holy Grail� (pictorial) *Recommended additional readings: Foulon, Charles. �Wace.� Loomis, ed. 94-103. Jackson, Kenneth H. �The Arthur of
History.� Loomis, ed. 1-11. Loomis, Laura Hibbard. �Gawain and
the Green Knight.� Loomis, ed. 528-540. Loomis, Roger Sherman, ed. Arthurian
Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1959, 2001. ---. �Layamon�s Brut.� Loomis,
ed. 104-111. ---. �The Oral Diffusion of the
Arthurian Legend.� Loomis, ed. 52-63. Parry, John Jay and Robert A. Caldwell.
�Geoffrey of Monmouth.� Loomis, ed. 72-93. Tolkien,
J. R. R., trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo. New York:
Ballantine, 1975. |
|
Thu., 14 Nov. |
�Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest, cont. �Viewings: �*Recommended Viewings: |
|
Tue., 19 Nov. |
�Ragnar�k
and Apocalypse �Readings:
�See also, �*Recommended additional
readings: �� Foster and
Cummings, �The Twilight of the Gods� in� Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology �� Keary and Keary, �Ragnar�k, or, The Twilight of the Gods� in The Heroes of Asgard: Tales from Scandinavian Mythology �Viewings: |
|
Thu., 21 Nov. |
�Ragnar�k
and Apocalypse, cont. |
|
Tue., 26 Nov. |
�Ragnar�k and Apocalypse, cont. �Viewings: �* Recommended additional readings: |
|
Thu., 28 Nov. |
�Thanksgiving Day: Classes
do NOT meet |
|
Tue., 3 Dec. |
�Folklore, Kinder- and Hausm�rchen,
and Fairy Tales �Readings: 1.
Charles Perrault, �Cinderella� 2.
Catherine-Maire d'Aulnoy, �Finette Cendron� 3.
Jakob and Wilhelm
Grimm, �Ashputtle� (Note: This is a new link to the complete
text.) 4.
Tuan Ch'�ng-shih, �Yeh-Hsien (A
Chinese 'Cinderella')� 5.
�The Maiden, the
Frog, and the Chief's Son (An African 'Cinderella')� 6.
�Oochigeaskw�The
Rough-Faced Girl (A Native American 'Cinderella')� 7.
Grant, Campbell,
adapter. �Walt Disney's 'Cinderella'� 8.
Sexton, Anne. �Cinderella� �as well as � Bruno Bettleheim, �'Cinderella': A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts.� The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Knopf, 1976. 236-277. � Jane Yolen, �America's 'Cinderella.'� (Children's Literature in Education 8.1 (1970): 21-29.) (in .pdf) � Rafferty, Terrence. �The Better to Entertain You With, My Dear.� New York Times 25 March 2012 �Tolkien, �On
Fairy Stories� (Handout) *See also, The
Cinderella Bibliography (U of Rochester) and� The Cinderella Project (University of Southern Mississippi) ��*Recommended additional readings: � Bettleheim,
Bruno. �Fairy Tale versus Myth:
Optimism versus Pessimism� and �Fear of Fantasy: Why Were
Fairy Tales Outlawed?� The
Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Knopf, 1976. 35-41, 116-123. �� ---. �Fairy Tales and Modern Stories.� �� Cullen, Bonnie �The Rise of Perrault's
'Cinderella'� �� Orenstein, Peggy. Cinderella
Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl
Culture. New York: Harper, 2012. �� ---.�
�Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality.� �� ---.�
�Cinderella and the Princess Culture.� � Pagel, Mark. �Anthropology: The Long
Lives of Fairy Tales.� Current Biology 26.7 (4 Apr. 2016): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.042. � Panttaja,
Elisabeth �Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior� ��Poniewozik, James. �The Princess Paradox.� � Schectman,
Jacqueline M. ��Cinderella� and the Loss of Father-Love.� � Tatar, Maria. �An Introduction to Fairy
Tales.� � Thompson, Stith. �Universality of the Folktale.� � Wilson,
Margot. The Truth About Cinderella: A Darwinian View of
Parental Love. Yale UP, 1999. �Research Paper Due: Typed,
finished draft for comments and suggestions |
|
Thu., 5 Dec. |
�Folklore, Kinder- and Hausm�rchen,
and Fairy Tales, cont. |
|
Tue., 10 Dec. |
�Folklore,
Kinder- and Hausm�rchen, and Fairy Tales, cont. |
|
Thu., 12 Dec. |
�Folklore,
Kinder- and Hausm�rchen, and Fairy Tales, cont. |
|
Tue., 17 Dec. |
�Presentations: Final
Projects �Research Paper Revisions Due (Final research
project, in folder with all ancillary materials) |
|
Thu., 19 Dec. |
�Presentations: Final
Projects, cont. |
|
Mon., 23 Dec. |
�Day, Evening, & Distance Education Classes End |
|
|
|
�
WRITING TOPICS AND GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
For each of the writing assignments, a topic or
list of topic choices is provided. Your essay must be on one of the assigned
topics for that assignment or developed in consultation with the instructor.
All essays must be submitted on or before the due date, by the beginning of the
class period; late work will not be accepted.
Be sure to focus carefully on the topic: formulate
a strong, objectively worded thesis, and avoid plot summary. Remember that
these are formal essays: they must have an appropriate, original title; contain
an introduction, body, and conclusion; have a clear, explicit, assertive,
objectively worded thesis statement; and avoid use of �I� or �you� throughout.
See Jack Lynch�s �Getting
an A on an English Paper� at , especially �The Thesis� and �
Also, one would think that this would not even
need to be stated, but read the work or works about which you are
writing, and read carefully! Do not rely upon your general impressions
based on what you think was said in class, or on what you read online. There is
no reason for your essays to contain factual errors.
Please feel free to communicate any concerns or
questions to me before assignments are due; I will be available to meet with
any student who needs assistance or additional instruction. Please speak to me
before or after class or email me
to set up an appointment during my office hours.
RESPONSE PAPER TOPICS:
For each
week, a question or topic will be provided. You may complete any ten
response papers, but� your response must
be on the assigned topic for the week it is submitted, and must be submitted on
or before the due date, by the beginning of the class period, or it will
receive a zero (0). Late work will not be accepted. Students may complete more
than ten response papers for extra credit: only the best ten scores will be
utilized in determining final grades.
Instructions: Respond to each question or
topic in a brief, well-developed, coherent, and thoughtful essay of at
least two to three pages (500-750 words). Your essay should include
independent analysis and demonstrate careful thought, but no research is
necessary, nor should any secondary sources be used. This is not
a research essay; the only sources utilized or quoted should be the texts
themselves. Use of secondary sources, whether credited or not, will be
considered grounds for failure. Although these are personal responses,
and therefore there is no �correct� answer, remember that they are still formal
essays: in your analyses, formulate a clear, explicit, assertive (persuasive),
objectively-worded thesis statement, and avoid use of �I� or �you� throughout.
Do not attempt to address all aspects of the text, but carefully focus your
topic, and avoid merely paraphrasing or summarizing the work. Be sure to
support your answers with specific references to the work. Essays must be
typed, double-spaced, and grammatically correct; essays
will be evaluated according to the Model for
Evaluation of Student Writing.
1) Due Thursday, 5 Sept.
Choose from
one of the following:
A. In �Why Mythology Is Still Important Today,� Bryan N. Griffin, Jr., states, �For one thing, it makes up a
major part of anybody�s heritage.� It is
a constant reminder of who we are and where we come from....But the reason why
mythology is still important is that it is pure storytelling. Everybody either
likes to tell a good story or listen to someone tell a good story.� Heritage
and story-telling: are these adequate reasons to study mythology? Why read
and study mythology? What is its value, be it in our current socio-cultural
milieu, or ever?
B. Joseph Campbell, in The
Power of Myth, makes the following
recommendation: �Read other people's myths, not those of your own religion,
because you tend to interpret your own religion in terms of facts―but if
you read the other ones, you begin to get the message� Other than the
obvious, what might Campbell mean when he refers to �your own religion,� and
what myths do we accept as truths?
2) Due Thursday, 12 Sept.
According to Leeming (16),
Charles Long�s Alpha: The Myth of Creation identifies five archetypes of
creation: ex nihilo, chaos, world parent, emergence,
and earth diver creation myths. As we look at the creation myths from
numerous cultures and different eras, we do see that certain themes or elements
repeat, and that these categories, while overlapping, do apply, at least to
those discussed by Leeming. Why do so many different cultures share these
common motifs or ideas? That is, what does this indicate about the nature of
myths or about humans and human culture?
3) Due Thursday, 19 Sept.
Many
cultures present humanity as somehow �fallen�; that is, inferior to Primordial
Man or the original created beings from whom we are literally and figuratively
�descended.� Consider the story of Adam and Eve�s fall and expulsion from Eden, the sequence of ages in the Works and Days of Hesiod or the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and others. Why is the focus on entropy or devolution
so common, and how does it reflect the purpose(s) of mythology as discussed by
Leeming, Biallas, and others?
4) Due Thursday, 26 Sept.
Choose from
one of the following:
A. David Leeming suggests that the pantheon of a culture
�reflect[s] that culture�s value system and view of itself� (89); furthermore,
it could also be argued that these pantheons also shape cultural norms
and beliefs. Consider at least two or three of the different pantheons
presented in the text, and contrast the cultural mores or values suggested by
them.
B. Apply what you have learned concerning the role of
mythological pantheons in both shaping and reflecting culture to a
non-traditional �pantheon�; for example, consider the original Avengers or Justice League, or the main crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Castaways on Gilligan�s
Island�
5) Due Thursday, 10 Oct.
Choose from
one of the following:
A. In �Questions to Consider,� David Leeming writes, �Can a single
archetypal flood myth be derived from these many cultural dreams of the flood? What
are the necessary details of that myth? How are these details significant?�
(44). Considering both those flood narratives Leeming presents and others, define
the elements of an archetypal flood myth; that is, what elements do all
(or most) of the flood narratives include? Which are not universal, but at
least relatively frequent? And which are not common to the archetype at
all, but specific to a single tale or culture?
B. Compare �Akallab�th: The Downfall of N�menor� in The Silmarillion (Handout) with the story of Atlantis as told in Plato�s Critias. Discuss the way that Tolkien draws on the Atlantis tradition but modifies it to suit his invented mythology. That is, compare and contrast �The Downfall of N�menor� and the legend of Atlantis. How are they similar, how do they differ, and why?
6) Due Tuesday, 15 Oct.
Leeming
states that often, tricksters are �working companions of the creator� but also
�[work] to undermine the creation itself� (104); he also states that the
trickster, such as Enki, �resembles culture heroes in that he teaches the
people, whom he creates � the art of survival through agriculture and the
social order� (157). Consider the trickster in both the stories presented by
Leeming in this section and in other myths and legends: creator and
subverter of creation, cultural hero and amoral child, �good� and
�bad.� Why is the Trickster a near-universal figure, and why this dual nature?
7) Due Thursday, 24 Oct.
According
to Leeming, the Trickster figure is �at once wise and foolish, the perpetrator
of tricks and the butt of his own jokes. Always male, he is promiscuous and
amoral; he is outrageous in his actions; he emphasizes the �lower� bodily functions�
Yet the trickster is profoundly inventive, creative by nature, and in some ways
a helper to mankind� (156-7). Given this explanation, and in comparison to
figures such as Hermes, Loki, Coyote, and Ananse, is Bugs Bunny a
Trickster figure? Why, or why not, and if so, in what ways?
8) Due Tuesday, 29 Oct.
Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest: The Hero
Analyze� a traditional hero not
addressed by Leeming, or whose story is only briefly covered, such as Odysseus,
Aeneas, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, but not Parsifal, Jesus, or Gilgamesh. Or, analyze
a hero from popular culture, in literature, film, and/or television,
such as Bilbo (or Frodo) Baggins, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen
(The Hunger Games), Lyra in Pullman's Dark Materials series, or
Clarissa "Clary" Fray from The Mortal Instruments. In what
ways does this figure conform to the definition of The Hero or the
heroic archetype as defined by Leeming, Biallas, and
Joseph Campbell? (Note that here we are concerned mostly
about the character, not the quest.)
9)� Due Tuesday,
5 Nov.
Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest: The Quest
As above, consider the story of a traditional hero (one not addressed by
Leeming, or whose story is only briefly covered) or a hero from popular
culture. In what ways does this figure�s experience or story� conform to the the
mythic structure of The Hero�s Journey as defined by Leeming, Biallas, and especially Joseph Campbell? (Note that here we
are concerned mostly about the quest, not the character.)
10) Due Thursday, 7 Nov.
Hero Tales
and the Heroic Quest: The Holy Grail
I
specifically left this one open-ended, so it is up to you. One student is
writing about the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; another is
writing about the film Ready, Player One as a version of the
Grail quest. (It helps that the protagonist's avatar is named Parzival!) I'm
curious if anyone will consider writing about The Da Vinci
Code, the novel or the film.
Explore the
meaning/significance/current symbolism of the term, in whatever way appeals to
you. Is it a universal symbol, or is it merely a clich� we use to refer to an
attainable goal? So long as your response is thoughtful (and well written!) I
will accept just about any approach here.
11) Due Tuesday, 19 Nov.
Ragnar�k and Apocalypse
�Traditional� apocalypse
narratives largely follow one of two patterns: one, the end of time, posits a
radical break with history and the creation of a new, eternal kingdom; the
other, circular rebirth, presents the apocalyptic event as one in a series of recurring
cycles or patterns. Consider, for example, the difference between the Christian
and Islamic tradition with that in Hindu and Mayan traditions. Why do some
cultures posit a linear event while others present a circular pattern, and what
does this particular form of cosmic history suggest
about each culture and its sense of self?
12) Due
Tuesday, 26 Nov.
Ragnar�k and Apocalypse
If cultural identity is bound up in and reflected by its myths, consider
contemporary American myths of Apocalypse, especially as depicted in recent
cinema. The world will end, or nearly so, due to alien invasion (Independence
Day, War of the Worlds), asteroid impact (Deep
Impact, Armageddon),
disease (Contagion, Outbreak,
The Last Man on Earth), environmental collapse (Waterworld, The Day after Tomorrow, 2012),
machine uprisings (Terminator,
9, I Robot), nuclear war (On the Beach, The Day After, A Boy and His Dog),
zombies (Dawn of the Dead, I
Am Legend, World War Z)�.. What do our ideas of apocalypse
suggest about our hopes and fears, especially considering how our focus shifts
over time?
Bonus topic. Due Tuesday, 26
Nov.
By this point in the
semester, you have read a large number of myths from various traditions,
including examples of Cosmogony and Creation Myths, Flood Narratives,
Trickster Tales, Hero Tales and the Heroic Quest, and Ragnar�k
and Apocalypse. Using specific examples from both western and non-western
cultures, discuss how mythology reveals the ways in which people in
different cultural traditions perceive and experience their lives.
13) Due Tuesday, 3 Dec.
According
to Bruno Bettleheim, in The Uses of Enchantment, �Each fairy tale is a magic mirror which reflects some aspects
of our inner worlds, and of the steps required by our evolution from immaturity
to maturity� (309). Other than �Cinderella,� is this true of fairy tales in
general? If so, is it somehow more true of fairy tales than of other
forms of literature?
14) Due Tuesday, 10 Dec.
Consider the way in which the various versions of the Cinderella story
present a society and its cultural values and beliefs.� What purpose and/or effect do these values and
beliefs have? Focus especially on how men and women are depicted in each
version: what norms or standards are presented for each gender, and how do
these represent or reflect the texts� socio-cultural milieu?
15) Due Tuesday, 17 Dec.
Reflect upon the past semester and write about how this course has impacted
you, asking yourself questions such as the following:
- What did you initially expect to get
out of this class, and what have you actually learned?
- Have you taken away from this
experience as much as you could have, and are you satisfied with your
growth and performance? What if anything would you do differently if you
had the chance?
- What was your perception of
mythology before this semester, and how does it differ from your current beliefs
about the value and purpose of mythology?
Do not just mechanically answer each of the above questions.
Rather, take time to think carefully about your experience this semester, and
present a thoughtful, personal response.
FINAL PROJECT/RESEARCH PAPER: Due in stages
(see below)
Students will complete either an
independent creative or scholarly project (see topics 4 and 5, below) or� a traditional research essay of at least
seven to twelve pages (1500-2500 words minimum), with a cover page and Works Cited page (cover page and Works Cited do not count toward the seven-page requirement). The paper
must be argumentative (persuasive), with a clear, explicit, and assertive
thesis statement, and must use a minimum of five to seven sources, up to
three primary sources and a minimum of three to five secondary sources.
Secondary sources must be scholarly criticism or analysis, not summaries,
reviews, or �analysis� from sites such as e-Notes, SparkNotes, Wikipedia*, 123HelpMe, or Gradesaver.com; instead, use the library
resources, including the available electronic databases such as Academic Search
Complete, Literary Sources
through Artemis, Literature Resource
Center, Bloom�s Literary
Reference, Literature Criticism
Online, Humanities Source, Project MUSE -
Standard Collection, MagillOnLiterature
Plus, and JSTOR Arts & Sciences I Current
Collection� to locate appropriate sources. To access the databases from home, click on the individual
database link. Then, when prompted, enter your username (N #) and password
(PIN). Essays must contain quotations from or other
references to your sources, and these references should be used to support your
assertions about the text; you must include at least one short quotation, one
long�block�quotation, and one paraphrase, and these sources must be properly
documented (utilizing MLA
format), and integrated
into your writing smoothly and correctly. See also Research
Paper checklist.
* On use of Wikipedia in
college-level research, see Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on PBS
NewsHour, here: �I don't think at a university level it
makes sense to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper. That's just not what
an encyclopedia's role is in the research process. Maybe if you're in junior
high, you know? If some kid out there is twelve years old and they wrote
something and they put in a footnote, we should be thrilled, right? That's his
first start on the idea of crediting other people with ideas and things like
that, but at the university level? No, it's a bit junior high to cite an
encyclopedia.�
Please refer to the following as well:
�� Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue Online Writing Lab)
�� Incorporating Sources (class handout)
�� Class
Plagiarism Policy (on syllabus), as
well as the Nassau Community College Policy on Academic Dishonesty and
Plagiarism (page 63 in the college catalog).
You might also
find the following additional resources useful:
�� Works Cited page (Instructions &
Sample) (Microsoft Word
document)
�� Avoiding Plagiarism (Houghton-Mifflin web site)
�� Practice Incorporating Sources into Your
Work (Houghton-Mifflin
web site)
�� MLA
format (Purdue
university's Online Writing Lab)
Proposal/Topic Selection and Preliminary
Thesis: Due Thursday, 26
September
Whether you are writing a traditional
research paper or an alternative final project, you must establish a plan and a
clear thesis before you can begin to put together a focused, well-organized,
and purposeful product. Therefore, as your first step in the assignment, you
must develop and submit a clear, well-written, one-page explanation of the
topic you have chosen, your reason for the selection, your focus and opinion,
and a clear, well-written, explicit, and assertive preliminary thesis. This
proposal may also include a preliminary idea of the plan of the paper, its
intention or research question. Note: Choose your topic carefully. You
will not be allowed to change your topic once you have made your
selection, although you may change your position on the particular issue and
will, presumably, modify your thesis during the process of research and
writing. *Note: Students must obtain prior approval for
independent topics; speak to me before or after class or email me to set up an appointment during my office hours.
Your proposal must take the
following form:
Topic: the specific
topic selected from the list provided or one you have developed in consultation
with the instructor.
Rationale: why you have chosen to research and write about this
particular topic.
Focus: a narrowed form of the subject, and the issue or debate involved.
Opinion: your subjective opinion on the debate or issue.
Thesis: your opinion, worded objectively.
For example:
Topic: W. B. Yeats� The Death of Cuchulain
Rationale: We read about Cuchulain in Prof. Anderson�s History
of Ireland class last year, and she mentioned Yeats� use of mythology, too,
so I�m curious about it.
Focus: How does Yeats use Irish legends in Cuchulain, and why? What is
his intent?
Opinion: I think that Yeats wants to rekindle an interest in Irish
tradition and mythology, which were being ignored in favor of English versions.
Preliminary Thesis: In The Death of Cuchulain, Yeats rewrites
Irish legend in order to emphasize the richness of his native tradition, as a
reaction against English dominance in art, politics, and religion.
Topic
Choices:
1)� Analysis of Another Culture�s Myths/Legends:
Research a body of cultural myths or folklore that we have not extensively
covered, perhaps related to aspects of your personal heritage (for example,
African myths, Celtic myths, Italian folklore, Caribbean legends, Latin
American myths, Native American mythology, et cetera).� Then narrow and focus your topic more
closely on an aspect of cultural myth that interests you.� You may consider focusing on how one culture
treats one or more of the following, or on how two cultures contrast in their
versions of them:
Flood
Narratives
Trickster
Tales
Hero
Tales and the Heroic Quest
Ragnar�k and Apocalypse
For
example, you might research how the West African Anansi (trickster spider)
stories were brought to the
2)� Case Study of Folklore, Kinderm�rchen,
or Fairy Tales:
Based on the example of Cinderella: A Case Study,
develop an analysis of a folktale, fairy tale, or motif that exists in multiple
versions; for example,� Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty
and the Beast (including Cupid and Psyche), The Mermaid Wife, Changelings and Fairy Abductions,
and others. Consider the way in which the
various versions of the story present a society and its cultural values and
beliefs.� What purpose and/or effect do
these values and beliefs have, and how do these represent or reflect the texts�
socio-cultural milieu?
3) Analysis of
Adaptation(s):
Many myths, legends, or fairy tales, in addition to those discussed in
class, have been adapted into modern short stories, novels, plays, even films
or graphic novels. Others have been adapted in a manner more free than that
employed for those listed above. These adaptations are generally less
�faithful� to the text, essentially involving a radical transformation or
expansion or a complete revision of the original, often including a shift in
setting, both time and place. (Consider Amy Heckerling�s Clueless and its radical, Suzanne Ferriss
might say reactionary� revision of Jane
Austen�s Emma as an
example of this kind of treatment.) �Choose one such text and analyze at
least two different modern revisions or adaptations. How does the modern revision alter or adapt the ancient text, and to
what end? That is, not only how are the texts different, but why? How
does each version adapt, revise, or alter the story? What is changed or left
out, and why? How do all of these individual changes contribute to a different
interpretation of the text; that is, what is the significant difference
between the versions? And, finally, how does the socio-cultural milieu of each
film inform these differences? Some suggested works (see me if you have others
in mind):
�[Anonymous.] Ballads, such as the 13th-century Swedish �T�res d�ttrar i W�nge,�:
Adapted by screenwriter Ulla Isaksson as Ingmar Bergman�s Jungfruk�llan, a.k.a. The Virgin Spring, 1960
Adapted by Wes Craven as Last House on the Left, 1972 (Seriously! See here, for example. See also, Dennis Iliadis�s remake of The Last House on the Left, 2009).
�Apollonius of
Rhodes, Argonautica, or, The Voyage of the Argo :
Graves, Robert. The Golden Fleece (1944 UK version; aka Hercules, My
Shipmate, 1945 US version)
Riordan, Rick. The Sea of Monsters. (2006)
Treece, Henry. Jason (1961)
Several film versions, including the classic Jason and the Argonauts, aka Jason
and the Golden Fleece
with effects by Ray Harryhausen, the not-so-classic made-for-television 2000
remake., and (I kid you not) a
1968 Soviet musical version.
�Beowulf :
Crichton, Michael. Eaters
of the Dead,� filmed as The 13th Warrior
Gardner, John. Grendel, filmed as the
animated Australian Grendel, Grendel, Grendel
Headley, Maria Dahvana. The Mere Wife.
Hinds, Gareth, adapt. and illus. Beowulf [graphic novel]. Cambridge, MA:
Candelwick P, 2007.
Several
other film versions,
including the
2007 version
and the
vaguely futuristic science fiction version
Homer, The Iliad and
related tales:
Shanower, Eric. Age of Bronze, Vol. 1: A
Thousand Ships.
Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2001. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 1-9).
---. Age
of Bronze,
Vol. 2: Sacrifice. Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2005. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 10-19).
---. Age
of Bronze,
Vol. 3: Betrayal. Orange, CA: Image Comics, 2007. (originally published as Age of Bronze issues 20-24).
Morrow, James. �Arms and the Woman.� Bible Stories for Adults. New York:
Harcourt Brace, 1996. 215-243.
Twenty-eight
movies about the Trojan War
Homer, The Odyssey and related tales:
Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad:
The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus
Joyce, James. Ulysses.
Georges M�li�s 1905 L'�le de Calypso: Ulysse et le g�ant
Polyph�me
O
Brother, Where Art Thou?
Ovid, Metamorphoses and Classical Mythology
Philips, Marie. Gods Behaving Badly. Boston: Little
Brown, 2007.
Terry, Philip, ed. Ovid Metamorphosed. London:
Vintage, 2001.
Numerous
film adaptations of individual myths and legends, ranging from Walt
Disney�s The
Goddess of Spring and the classic� Black
Orpheus to Clash
of the Titans
Thomas
Malory, Le Morte Darthur and Arthurian Legends
Too many literary and cinematic adaptions to mention,
including about
100 film versions, including George Romero�s classic (camp) 1981 Knightriders.
Folklore, Kinder- and
Huasm�rchen, and Fairy Tales:
Adaptations to numerus to mention,
including �Little Red Riding Hood� adapted as Red Riding Hood (2011) or Angela Carter�s �The
Company of Wolves� in The Bloody
Chamber, adapted as a radio play and then filmed as The Company of Wolves.
4)� Mythopoeia and Explication (Create your own
mythology):
Jut as The
Silmarillion provides an entire
mythological/historical background for J.R.R. Tolkien�s tales of Middle Earth,
develop a myth or series of myths that could be appropriate to a specific
culture of your imagining, and analyze/explain its importance and significance
in terms of cultural identity, transmission of norms and standards, and so on.
That is, contrast your mythology and its use with that of an extant body of
myth or legends, such as those of the Norse, Egyptian, or Blackfoot.) Your
created mythology could include any or all of the following:
Cosmogony and Creation Myths
Flood Narratives
Trickster Tales
Hero Tales and the Heroic Quest
Ragnar�k and Apocalypse
5)� A topic of your own.
If you wish to write on a
topic other than those listed above, or to develop an alternative project (An
illustrated book of Sumerian myths for children? An animated version, with
commentary, of creation as depicted in the Rig Veda?), you must obtain
approval at least one full week in advance of the Proposal/Topic Selection
due date. You must discuss
with me your proposed project, its scope, and your plans; please speak to me
before or after class or email me to set up an appointment during my office
hours.
Please feel free to communicate any concerns or questions
to me; I will be available to meet with any student who needs assistance or
additional instruction.
Annotated Preliminary Bibliography: Due Thursday, 31 October
You must submit an� annotated preliminary bibliography with a
minimum of five to seven sources, correctly cited according to MLA style. This may include up to three primary sources and a minimum
of three to five secondary sources; secondary sources must be scholarly
criticism or analysis, not summaries, reviews, or �analysis� from sites such as
e-Notes, SparkNotes, Wikipedia*, 123HelpMe, or Gradesaver.com; instead, use
the library resources, including the available electronic databases such as Academic
Search Complete, InfoTrac
General OneFile, Lexis-Nexis
Academic, Opposing
Viewpoints in Context, Points
of View Reference Center, and CQ
Researcher, to locate
appropriate sources. To access the databases from home, click on the individual
database link. Then, when prompted, enter your username (N #) and password
(PIN). You may also utilize MRQE.com, The Movie Review Query Engine, but be sure to select only professional, reliable
reviews: New York Times? Probably okay. JoBlo's Movie Emporium?
Not so much.
In
addition to a correct citation for each source, you must include a description
or summary of the source, at least one paragraph long, and an explanation of
how you foresee incorporating it into your essay. For additional information on
Annotated Bibliographies, see the Purdue
University Online Writing Lab (OWL)�s Annotated Bibliographies, as well as �Sample Annotated Bibliography� and Ebel, Kimberly, �Class and Gender in Cinderella: Annotated
Bibliography.�
You might also
find the following additional resources useful:
�� MLA Documentation of Films: Works Cited
and In-Text Citations
�� Works Cited page (Instructions &
Sample) (Microsoft Word
document)
�� MLA
format (Purdue
university's Online Writing Lab)
Preliminary
Draft: Due Tuesday, 3 December
A finished, typed draft of the completed
research essay must be submitted for review, evaluation, and comments. This
should be a complete draft of your research essay, using a minimum
of three to five secondary sources, five to seven pages, and including both a cover page and Works Cited page. This draft is worth 5% of your final
grade; failure to bring the required essay will result in a zero for the
assignment.
Note: You do not
need to submit the folder containing copies of your sources at this time.
Presentations:
Tuesday and Thursday, 17 & 19 December
Students will present to the class a
summary and explanation of their final project or research essay. Each
presentation must be five to ten minutes long, and,
ideally, open-ended, leading into class discussions with questions, major
themes, or topics for further thought. Handouts, visual aids, or multi-media
presentations are not required, but certainly allowed. You must be
present on the day you have signed up for to give your presentation.
Research
Paper: Due Tuesday, 17 December
The final research essay must be submitted, in its
folder with all supporting materials: photocopies or printouts of all
sources, Topic Selection and Preliminary Thesis, Annotated Preliminary Bibliography, Preliminary Draft, outline�if you have completed one�and any other related
materials. Be sure to print out or photocopy all secondary sources, and highlight all relevant passages, whether
quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Failure to submit a complete folder
according to these instructions will be grounds for failure on the assignment.
In addition, plagiarism, either in whole or in part, will result in automatic
failure (a grade of zero) for the assignment. You
must also submit a copy via TurnItIn.com.
Failure
to submit the complete folder on the due date will result in a zero for the
assignment.
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Grammar, Writing, and Research Papers: |
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Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature |
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Used Textbooks: Bigwords.com |
E-Books: Bkstore.com (B&N)
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Textbook Rental: Bookrenter.com |
Comparison Shopping: Abebooks.com |
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Links to sites for textbook purchase or rental are provided for students seeking textbook options; no guarantees or recommendations concerning these services are intended, either express or implied. |
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Research should begin with the available electronic databases such as Academic Search Complete, InfoTrac General OneFile, Lexis-Nexis Academic, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Points of View Reference Center, and CQ Researcher. Especially useful should be Literary Sources through Artemis, Literature Resource Center, Bloom�s Literary Reference, Literature Criticism Online, Humanities Source, Project MUSE - Standard Collection, MagillOnLiterature Plus, and JSTOR Arts & Sciences I Current Collection. To access the databases from home, click on the individual database link. Then, when prompted, enter your username (N #) and password (PIN). Folklore
and Mythology Electronic Texts
Additional links from the
New York Public Library that may be of use or interest (Aesop)
Aesop's Fables Online (Andersen )
Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories (Ireland) Irish
Literature, Mythology, Folklore, and Drama Aesop's Fables Online African Mythology American Folklife Center American Folklore American Folklore Society Ancient Nordic Spirituality Annotated
bibliography of Melanesian Folklore Benjamin
A. Botkin Folklife Lecture Series Online Archives Bulfinch's Mythology Camelot Project Camelot Project at the
University of Rochester Chinese
Myths and Fantasies Classical Myth: the
Ancient Sources Cutting to the
Essence, Shaping to the Fire Dr. Shaw's World
Mythology Encyclopedia Mythica Encyclopedia of Hotcak (Winnebago)
Mythology Encyclopedia
of the Celts Endicott Studio for Mythic Arts English
Fairy Tales Fairies and Ghosts Fairy Faith Folklore and Mythology
Electronic Texts Folkstreams Germanic Myths, Legends, and
Sagas Gods,
Ghosts, and Ancestors Greek
Mythology and Prehistory Greek Mythology Link Grimm's Fairy Tales Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and
Stories In Search of Myths and Heroes Indian Mythology Irish Literature,
Mythology, Folkore and Drama IUScholarWorks
: Folklore and Folk Music Archivist Jack and the
Beanstalk Project Legends Little Red
Riding Hood Project Moonlit Road Mythology and Folklore
Electronic Texts Myths and Legends Myths
and Legends of the Sioux New York Folklore Society Old
Indian Legends Purportal.com Robin Hood Project Sagnaneti? : Icelandic Medieval
Literature Smithsonian Center for Folklife and
Cultural Heritage Snow White South African Voices SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages Tales of Wonder The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and
Religion Transformations Trojan War Myth in
Ancient Art Urban Legend Reference Pages � Icelandic & Germanic/Nordic (3) . |
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Notify me of any broken or
outdated links at [email protected] |
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Last Revised: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Site maintained by Brian T. Murphy
Main page: www.Brian-T-Murphy.com