Introductions and Choosing Topics

 

Introductions and Choosing Topics

1. Begin by introducing yourself. Tell us who you are, where you’re from, and what you do, and then give us some details about yourself that will help us to get a feel for who you really are. For instance: do you have any favorite foods? What kinds of books or movies do you like? What’s your biggest pet peeve?

1. Next, give us a little bit of background on your experience with world literature. What do you think is meant by “world literature,” and have you ever read any works that fit this category, or seen movies based on a piece of world literature? If so, what did you find the most challenging? If not, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in this class?

1. Last, please look over the required forum assignments for Weeks 3 through 14 (see below for titles, and the forum itself for a complete prompt), and list your top three choices for which forums you would like to lead (everyone will act as a discussion leader for a week). Feel free to include a sentence or two about why you want to lead those weeks, as that will help me arrange everyone into a week that is interesting to him or her.

Your initial forum post needs to be 300-600 words

Week 2

Forum

The Trojan War and Human Will

Discussion Leader: Instructor

Discussion leaders, after reading I,VI, VIII, IX, XVI, XVII, XXVI in the Iliad, respond to one of the following questions, using specific examples and direct quotation from the reading to support your answer.

• Human Will in the Story: Consider the conflict between fate/destiny on one hand and free will on the other. How do the characters if theIliad seem to see themselves in regards to these ideas?Does one seem to dominate their understanding of their lives? Choose one character specifically and explain how he or she seems to understand this aspect of his/her existence. Be sure to use quotations and specific examples to support your arguments.
• Human Will and Our Lives: How do you feel that fate/destiny and free will play a role in YOUR life? How would you describe your own views of this these ideas, and how do your views compare to the way these ideas are depicted in the Iliad? Be sure to reference specific passages from the Iliad to help us see the connections.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above is due on Wednesday of Week

Week 3
Considering Odysseus

Discussion Leaders: Joel Alexander, Matt Kostielney, Ashlee Pollock

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned sections of the Odyssey, respond to ONE of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders). Please divide your response into logical paragraphs to help the rest of us read it more easily.

• Describe Odysseus’ character in terms of the good choices and the poor choices he makes. Overall, do you think he makes more good choices or poor ones? How does that affect your view of Odysseus as a hero? Be sure to use lines from the reading to explain your stance.

• Compare Odysseus to one of the heroes in the Iliad. Is he a hero in the same way that the other hero is? Make sure to illustrate your response with direct references to the two epics.

Compare the Odyssey to the Iliad sections we read in terms of focus. Does it change the “feel” of the epic in any way to have theOdyssey focus on a single person, rather than the “ensemble cast” of the Iliad?

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above ar

Week 5
The Ramayana as Education

Discussion Leaders: Bill Long, Isaac Renfro, Catric Whaley

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned sections of the Ramayana, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders). Please divide your response into logical paragraphs to help the rest of us read it more easily.

1. Choose two characters from the Ramayana and discuss at them in terms of what sorts of lessons readers can learn from them. Try to boil your discussion of each down into a single sentence “moral,” and then explain, using examples from the work, how you came to that conclusion. Do these seem to you to be useful morals in our own time? Explain why or why not using specific examples from your life and/or our own culture.
2. The lessons of the Ramayana are deeply rooted within the Hindu concept of dharma, or right behavior, and karma, the idea that an individual’s actions shape his or her destiny by visiting evil on evil and good on good. Choose two characters from the Ramayana to discuss, one of whom “gets what he/she deserves” and one character that you thought did not get what he or she deserved. Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the epic as support. Follow this with a discussion of dharma and karma in your own life; what role do you believe dharma and karma play, if any?
3. Think about the Ramayana in comparison to the two Greek epics from which we read excerpts, and put forth an argument about what seemed similar and what seemed different. Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the epics as support.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednes

Week 6
The Sakuntala: An Eastern Fairy Tale

Discussion Leaders: Jeremy Bailey, Heidi Nagel, Luana Stefanovic

Discussion Leaders, after reading The Sakuntala, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. Think about the Sakuntala in terms of conflict. What seems to be the main conflict driving the action in this play? Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the play as support.
2. Consider the concepts of dharma and karma that we discussed in Week 5. Do these seem to be as important here in The Sakuntala as they are in The Ramayana? Support your response with specific evidence from both works.
3. Think about your own experience with Western fairy tales like “Cinderella” and “Snow White,” and choose one well-known western fairy tale to compare to the Sakuntala. What are two things that seemed similar, and two that seemed different? Make sure to tell us what Western fairy tale you have chosen, and if possible, link to an online copy of the version you’re thinking of, or, if that’s not possible, tell us what version you’re thinking about, such as, for instance, “the Disney version” or “the Grimm brothers’ version.” Cite specific passages from each work to support your discussion.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 6

Week 8

Reading Themes in African Stories and Considering Oral Culture

Discussion Leaders: Curtis Barholomew, Maurice Edmonds, Justin Symons

Discussion Leaders, after reading the African tales assigned this week, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. Discuss one or two common themes you found in any two of these tales. What was similar and dissimilar in the treatment of the themes in each story? Support your answer with discussions of specific examples from each story.
2. After reading these stories, do you see “Africa” as a unified culture, or were the tales too different to be grouped together in such a large category? Consider the tales in comparison to other texts that we’ve read, and support your response with direct references to the stories you discuss. Aspects of the story that you could discuss include setting, themes, characters, symbolism, and so forth. Follow this up by thinking about American culture; do we have any shared cultural stories that establish us as a unified culture? Why or why not? Support your answer with specific examples.

1. These tales were passed down through oral tradition. Please read the lesson materials on the oral tradition, and if possible, view some of the linked videos as well. What about these stories seem to make them so suitable for being passed down orally? Follow this up by discussing the role of oral tradition in your own life. Do you and your family and/or friends have oral traditions of any kind (stories that you tell about one another, stories that you learned from your older relatives, etc.)? How does passing down these stories help to create a shared culture among your relations and friends?

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 8.

Week 10

Evaluating Crimes and Considering Punishments

Discussion Leaders: Veronica Ailes, Chris Frey, Jeff Olsen

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned passages from Dante’s Inferno, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. 1. What seems to you to be Dante’s main interest in describing Hell as he does? Is he interested in morality? Politics? Salvation? Something else? Give specific, well-discussed examples from the text to support your response.
2. Focus on two or three related examples from the text, and explain whether or not you believe that the penalties suit the crimes. Do the penalties seem harsh? Lenient? Do they have any sort of “poetic justice” that makes them especially appropriate to the types of crimes they punish? Support your response with specific passages from the text. Follow this up by considering crime and punishment in our own culture. Have you ever heard of any legal punishment in our own justice system that seem especially suited to the crimes that were committed? Explain what it was and why it seems to work so well.

1. Consider Dante’s Hell and the people trapped therein. What seems to be the underlying philosophy of Dante’s Hell, given his choices of who to include and the ways in which they are punished? Follow this up by comparing and contrasting Dante’s concept of Hell with your own. Does your concept of Hell “mesh” with Dante’s in terms of the sort of underlying philosophy? Make sure to clearly describe your concept of Hell—don’t assume that everyone will know what it is—and to illustrate your response with specific passages from Dante’s work.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 10

Week 11
Chaucer as a Window into Medieval England

Discussion Leaders: Amy Isom, Cynthia Johnson, Jennifer Simmons

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned selections from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (please also make sure to read the Wife of Bath’s Tale, and not just her Prologue), respond to ONE (1) of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. Choose one tale and its teller, and discuss the juxtaposition of the two. Does the tale seem to you to particularly suit this teller? Why or why not? Support your response with specific, well-explained examples from the tale and the description of the teller in the Prologue.
2. This week, we’ve read the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and four different tales. Look closely at one character whose tale we read, and explain how you think that character’s tale might be different if it were told by one of the other characters in the Tales. Do you think the theme would change? The perspective? Would the story end the same way? Support your discussion with specific passages from the text. Follow this up by considering an event in your own life, big or small. Give us a brief summary of that event, and then explain what you think might change about the telling if someone else involved were to tell us about the story. Would they focus on different things?
3. Explain one thing about medieval English culture and/or literature, as shown through these selections and/or the supplementary readings, that surprised you. Why did it surprise you so much? Did it change you view of the time period at all?

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 11

Week 13
Arthurian Heroes and the Fall of Camelot

Discussion Leaders: Jamie Brigham, Noah Clifton, Robert Roan

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned sections of Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur (called “King Arthur” in our textbook) and the summaries of the other chapters atArthurian-Legend.com, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. 1. Camelot as a society seems to be rather strongly separated into different classes with different roles, but the two main roles that we see in the Morte are that of king and that of knight. What are the similarities and differences between these two roles? Are there any ways in which we might argue that knights are more powerful than kings? Bring in quotations from the reading to support your answer; you may also use information from the summaries of chapters that were not assigned.
2. We’ve read a few sections of Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur now, and these sections tell us about the feats and accomplishments of few of the main Arthurian heroes. Use the main figures in our reading–Arthur, Lancelot, and Galahad–to come up with a basic definition of the Arthurian hero. What seem to be the main defining traits as we’ve seen them in these sections of the Morte? Bring in quotations from the reading to support your answer. Follow this up with a brief discussion of your own definition of a hero: how similar are the Arthurian hero and your own concept of a hero?

1. In the last section of the reading, we see the final fallout from the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle. How do we end up reading the three main characters in this section? Is any one person really to blame for the fall of Camelot? Make sure to consider events given in the summarized sections, as well as issues such as Lancelot’s conflicting loyalties as both Arthur’s vassal and Guinevere’s pledged knight, and the difficulties that Arthur’s role as supreme earthly authority cause here. Bring in quotations from the reading to support your answer; you may also use information from the summaries of chapters that were not assigned.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 13

Week 14: Character Motivation in Othello ( 77 messages – 73 unread ) Click the “Read full description” link for assignment details.Hide Full Description

Week 14
Character Motivation in Othello

Discussion Leaders: James Barker, Neiman Maske, Suzanne Sudder

Discussion Leaders, after reading Othello, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. How do we draw lines of “victim” and “criminal” in this play? Is Othello the main one to blame for what happens, or is he, in fact, a victim in the whole mess? Point out specific lines and events to support your answer.
2. Brabantio protests the marriage of his daughter, Desdemona, to Othello, claiming Othello used “spells and medicines” to dull her senses so that she would marry “against all rules of nature.” Some critics, however, have claimed that Brabantio’s real motive is racial prejudice. Do you think they are correct? Does Brabantio object because Othello is a Moor, or does the play give us a different picture of Brabantio’s motivations? Support your answer with specific passages from the text.
3. Iago is one of Shakespeare’s best-known antagonists in large part because of the massive amounts of destruction he wreaks without really getting his own hands dirty. Does Iago have reasonable and understandable motivations, or is he motivated instead by his own psychotically evil core? Discuss this issue in terms of Iago’s interactions with two characters OTHER THAN Othello. What can these interactions show us about the “inner Iago”? Be sure to bring in direct evidence to support your response.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 14.