Dr. Yoder
English 2337.10     World Literature
Fall 2006     T-Th 10:50-12:05     Ross Hall 317

Office: Stabler Hall 501V     Office Hrs.: M 1-2; T-Th 1:45-3; by appt.

Office Phone: 569-8321       email: rpyoder@ualr.edu

Text: Rosenberg, Donna, ed. World Literature. 2004.

Goals:

1. Students will read a variety of types of literature from different times and different cultures
   in both western and non-western traditions.


2. Students will learn to do close reading of a literary text, with emphasis on analysis of form
   (poetry, fiction, drama), stylistic features (such as word choice, imagery, or
   characterization), and content (ideas; literary, historical, cultural traditions), and to
   make connections between what they are learning in this course and knowledge they
   have acquired from other areas.


3. Students will participate in both oral and written discussions of ideas, moral issues, and
   values reflected in the literature read for class.


4. Students will learn to examine a text from within a context or from a variety of perspectives.


5. Students will be given the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which ideas and values
   depicted in literary works from other times and cultures interact with or contrast with
   those of American culture or the culture of the studentsı countries of origin, and to
   present the conclusions drawn from their analyses in both written and oral forms.
   

Objectives:

1. To write about meaning and form in a specific literary text at a higher stage of development
   at the end of the course than at the beginning.


2. To write a well-developed essay analyzing how one or more literary texts reflect the culture
   that produced them.


3. To write a well-developed essay comparing and contrasting the cultural values reflected in
   one or more literary texts with values in American culture or the culture of the
   students' country of origin.

Course / Departmental Assessment
The English Departmentıs assessment of World Literature (English 2337) involves both cultural
and aesthetic perspectives. On a semester rotation, World Literature students will be asked to
respond to a question designed to assess their understanding of either cultural or aesthetic
issues. In my class, this assessment will be part of the final exam. Using the final exam is
efficient and insures that students take the assessment seriously, thus yielding the most
valuable results for the department. While the final exam will obviously have an impact on your
grade for the course, you should also understand that regarding the assessment process, it is
the course and program that are being assessed and not you as a student.

My course will also include an ongoing assessment of my teaching in the form of weekly
journals. These journals consist of a 250 word (minimum requirement) written response to the
class readings or discussion. These journals allow me to assess how well students are
understanding what I think I am teaching them, and I make adjustments to my class
presentations and assignments accordingly. Taken as a whole, the journals count for 15% of
the studentıs final grade, thus insuring that the students take this assessment seriously.

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