Litr 421: Topics in World Literature Star-Crossed Lovers

LITR 421: Topics in World Literature

Star-Crossed Lovers

Dr. Lindsay Ann Reid ([e-mail])

Class Meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 17:00-18:15

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 16:00-16:45 in SOS Z13C

Course Description and Learning Outcomes

Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolt, Layla and Majnun—what do these famous literary couples all have in common? The textual traditions surrounding each of these pairs invariably join love with tragedy. Since the late 16^th century, when Shakespeare first coined the expression “star-crossed” to describe his ill-fated Veronese characters, this term has often be used to refer to unfortunate lovers who find their relationships thwarted—and often their lives threatened—by forces beyond their control. Impossible couplings and doomed romances have often been represented by writers of fiction, and in this reading- and writing-intensive course we will examine a variety of star-crossed lovers from across world literature. While our main focus will be upon the development of the star-crossed archetype in the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, our readings will include texts from the modern era. Bringing together works from a variety of linguistic contexts (English, Spanish, Italian, German, Persian, and Arabic) as well as time periods, this course will also enable the consideration of cross-cultural literary resonances.

Students who successfully complete this course will:

• 
  develop their analytical and critical thinking skills through close reading and class discussions
  
• 
  deepen their awareness of the nature and techniques of textual analysis
  
• 
  acquire familiarity with a range of literary terms and concepts
  
• 
  develop and exercise their research and essay-writing skills through the completion of a 3000-word essay assignment
  

Required Texts

• 
  William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (Prestwick). ISBN: 9781580495783
  
• 
  Gabriel García Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons (Vintage). ISBN: 9781400034925
  
• 
  Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda (Vintage). ISBN: 9780679777502
  
• 
  Nizami, The Story of Layla and Majnun, trans. Gelpke, Khan, and Safi (Omega). ISBN:
  

9780930872526

• 
  LITR 421 Course Reader
  

Contact Policy
If you have questions, ideas, problems, or anything you want to discuss, I’d be delighted to see you! Drop by SOS Z13C during my office hours (or, if you have a conflict, we may be able to arrange an alternative appointment). I prefer to answer queries in person, so I ask that you use email only when you are unable to consult with me face-to-face.

Academic Integrity

Koç University is committed to a culture of integrity within and beyond the classroom. This culture values honesty and reliability. Together, we have a shared responsibility to uphold this culture in our academic behaviour. Along with collusion and other forms of cheating, plagiarism (which is the unacknowledged use of another person's words or ideas) is one of the most serious academic offences, as it involves fraud and misrepresentation. If you have any questions about plagiarism or doubts about the documentation in your assignments, you should consult with your instructor before the assignment is due. Ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is not a defense, and all cases of suspected academic misconduct will be subject to disciplinary action.

Method of Evaluation
10% Attendance, Participation, and Class Preparedness

Attendance will be taken in every class throughout the term. Everyone will be given one grace absence; each further unexcused absence will result in a –½% penalty, and >15 absences will result in automatic course failure. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what we covered that day from one of your classmates. You are expected to keep up to date on your reading assignments and to participate in our ongoing class discussions.

20% Blog Participation

We will have a course blog, where you are all invited to share your thoughts about the texts that we are reading and pose questions for discussion. Each student in the class will be individually assigned two dates when you will be required to contribute an entry of approximately 300 words about any topic related to the course. In addition, you are expected to comment on your classmates’ entries on an ongoing basis.

10% Essay Proposal with Annotated Bibliography

Prior to writing your essay, you will be required to submit a 250-word proposal outlining your topic and stating your tentative thesis. This proposal must be accompanied by an annotated bibliography of 4-6 sources. Your proposal will be posted on the course blog so that you can get feedback from your peers.

35% Essay

At the end of the term, you will submit a 3000-word essay written on a topic of your choice.

25% Final Exam

Please note that you must receive a mark >55% on the final exam to pass this course.

Completion and Submission of Assignments
You are responsible for the timely completion and submission of your assignments. Essays must be handed in via turnitin.com by midnight on January 14 at the very latest; if you would like written feedback on your essay, you must submit it to me both through turnitin.com and in hardcopy no later than January 5.
You must keep backup copies of all assignments that you submit for this course.
Under no circumstances will it be possible to complete additional assignments for extra credit in this course.
Marking Scale

A	4.00	93.5-100.0%	B-	2.70	79.5-83.0%	D+	1.30	66.5-69.5%
A-	3.70	89.5-93.5%	C+	2.30	77.0-79.5%	D	1.00	60.0-66.5%
B+	3.30	87.0-89.5%	C	2.00	73.0-77.0%	F	0.00	Below 60.0%
B	3.00	83.0-87.0%	C-	1.70	69.5-73.0%	I	n/a	Incomplete

Week	Topic		Read	Other	Date
1		Course Introduction			Sept. 20
	British	William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595)	Act 1		Sept. 22
2			Acts 2-3		Sept. 27
			Act 4		Sept. 29
3			Act 5		Oct. 4
	German	Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan and Isolt (c. 1210)	Reader 10-21		Oct. 6
4			Reader 22-34		Oct. 11
			Reader 35-46		Oct. 13
5			Reader 47-57		Oct. 18
	American	John Updike’s “Four Sides of One Story” (1965)	Reader 58-63		Oct. 20
6	Arabic	“The Story of Nur al-Din Ali ibn-Bakkar and the Slave-Girl Shams al-Nahar” from the Arabian Nights (c. 900-1300)	Reader 64-86		Oct. 25
			Reader 86-101		Oct. 27
7	Persian	Nizami Gencevi’s The Story of Layla and Majnun (c. 1188)	Chapters 1-14		Nov. 1
			Chapters 15-27		Nov. 3
8			Chapters 28-40		Nov. 15
			Chapters 41-54		Nov. 17
9	Italian	Excerpts from Dante Aligheri’s La Vita Nuova (1295)	Reader 102-105		Nov. 22
	American	Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844)	Reader 106-117		Nov. 24
10	Colombian	Gabriel García Márquez’s Of Love and Other Demons (1994)	Chapters 1-2		Nov. 29
			Chapter 3		Dec. 1
11			Chapter 4		Dec. 6
			Chapter 5		Dec. 8
12	Italian	Excerpts from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (c. 1351)	Reader 118-126		Dec. 13
	Australian	Excerpts from Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda (1988) and screening of Gillian Armstrong’s Oscar and Lucinda (1997)	Chapters 1, 3-6, 11-13, 42-43		Dec. 15
13			Chapters 21, 25, 31-34	Proposal	Dec. 20
			Chapters 36, 40, 46, 50, 56-57, 59		Dec. 22
14			Chapters 62, 64, 72-73, 77-82, 92-93		Dec. 27
			Chapters 83, 105, 107-111		Dec. 29
Class Over				Essay	Jan.5-Jan.14
				Exam	TBA