Distance Learning

Western Literature I (LIT213)

Course Description

This course will deal with representative masterpieces of the Classical Era, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Literary accomplishments will be placed in the context of the culture and intellectual history of each age.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: none

Additional Details

Students will come to understand how the selected texts are interrelated and have both shaped and reflected western culture. Students will learn how elements of literature such as the following contribute to literary quality: rhythm, meter, rhyme, diction, imagery, symbolism, genre, conflict, and character. Students will learn to think critically and Christianly about these works, respond to professional criticism on one of the works, and create original literary criticism of their own.

This course promotes the learning objectives for the Classical Liberal Arts Core Curriculum by requiring students to enhance reading and writing skills, refine critical thinking skills, and apply the Judeo-Christian worldview to the study of the liberal arts.

Literature to be Studied

Required:

First 10 chapters of Confessions (Augustine)

Inferno from The Divine Comedy (Dante)

"The Franklin's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)

As You Like It (Shakespeare)

King Lear (Shakespeare)

an excerpt from Don Quixote (Cervantes)

Paradise Lost (Milton)

Suggested:

The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis

A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis

In addition, Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations should be on hand as your reference for correct formatting of your papers.

About the Editions in the PHC Online Bookstore

All of these works except the most recent can be readily obtained on the Internet for free because their copyright status is Public Domain. (Many of those works not originally in English have old translations that by now are also Public Domain.) Many different inexpensive editions can also be found in used bookstores. However, please note:

The editions in the PHC Online Bookstore were chosen because they are both inexpensive and up-to-date, if translated. You should avoid a translation that is hard to understand because it has been translated into archaic English. All of our works except those by Shakespeare and Milton are translations.
Referring to specific pages and lines of these works will be easier if we all have the same edition.

Technical Requirements

Western Literature I has a bi-weekly live (real-time) audio class discussion. In the past, students have found these discussions to be enormously helpful and enjoyable. They are one hour long. In Fall 2010 audio discussions will be every second Thursday from 8-9 p.m. Eastern Time, and the first one takes place on Sept 2.

Our distance learning system, E-College, provides all the software needed, and you will receive instructions on how to use it.

Technical requirements for taking part are:

· A headset with microphone for your computer. Good headsets can be found online and in stores for under $20.

· Broadband Internet connection.

Am I Prepared?

Western Literature I and II at Patrick Henry College are considered sophomore-level courses. Students are expected to already be able to write clear, organized essays in correct English that have the structure of an argument: a thesis that you attempt to prove.

Course Requirements

a) Reading assigned texts

b) Semi-weekly discussion forums—30% of course grade. In a full week (no holidays), 800 words per week.

c) Bi-weekly live chats

d) Mid-term exam

e) Final exam

f) Critical Dialogue essay (700 words)

g) Your own Literary Criticism essay (1400 words)

h) Participation in writing groups. Students will be placed in a writing group of four to six students. They will critique their fellow members’ drafts of the above papers. Afterwards, each member will evaluate the quality of fellow members’ participation.

The Odyssey (Homer)

Clouds (Aristophanes)

The Aeneid (Virgil)