Faculty Syllabus

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/GRADING 

● Writing assignments, including analytical essays and tests, will constitute at least two-thirds of the student’s final grade. 

● The instructor may count other types of class projects, together accounting for no more than one-third of a student’s final grade. Projects might include quizzes, readings, 

dramatizations, journal writing, brief literary writing exercises, oral book readings, reports on authors, or other activities. 

● The instructor will provide more specific course objectives and requirements. A student not complying with these requirements may be withdrawn from the course at any time up to the last official withdrawal date. 

Daily Assignments: Throughout the semester there will be assessments and activities to measure if students are critically reading and engaged with the course materials. Daily assignments will vary between reading notes, graded seminars, group work, writing exercises, and reading quizzes. Be warned, reading quizzes will not be announced. 

Exams: This class will have a Midterm and a Final Exam. Exams will be held in class and will consist of  multiple choice, short answer, essay, and identification questions drawing upon class lectures and readings. Students will be allowed to use any hand-written notes on the exam.

Group Project: During our novel study, students will be assigned to groups. Each group will present two assigned chapters of Homegoing. You will conduct a close read of the text, and lead the class through a discussion of the characterization and conflict in the chapters, as well as a historical analysis and a cross-text synthesis. 

Essay: Students will write one essay in the course. The essay will be a literary analysis of the novel Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. The essay will incorporate close reading of the novel and secondary source research. The professor will discuss in class the essay expectations when they are assigned, and students will also be provided an assignment sheet and rubric for the essay with clear directions, expectations, and due dates. 

Participation: Attendance and active participation in class are requirements for this course. Participation will be assessed through attendance in class,  participation in class activities such as group assignments, discussion, and attentiveness to lecture, as well as self assessments. 

Textbook: Norton Anthology of World Literature - Volume D, E, F ISBN 13 : 9780393893090

Paper Edition Required

Novel: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

COURSE OBJECTIVES / RATIONALE 

The goals of sophomore literature courses are 

● To provide a working knowledge of the characteristics of various literary genres. ● To develop analytical skills and critical thinking through reading, discussion, and written assignments. ● To broaden a student’s intercultural reading experience. 

● To deepen a student’s awareness of the universal human concerns that are the basis for literary works. ● To stimulate a greater appreciation of language as an artistic medium and of the aesthetic principles that shape literary works. 

● To understand literature as an expression of human values within an historical and social context. 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Upon completion of sophomore literature, students should be able to 

● Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different periods or regions. ● Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods. 

● Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of expression during different historical periods or in different regions. 

● Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities. 

● Write research based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and grammatically correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature. 

COMPOSITION & LITERARY STUDIES DEPARTMENT STUDENTS LEARNING OUTCOMES 

The following outcomes are developed in all sophomore literature students regardless of student age or course location: 

● Write clearly, coherently and effectively about various genres in literature 

● In discussions and writing, address the culture and context of the work of literature ● Write about and discuss elements of literary texts and relate these to the work as a whole. 

CORE OBJECTIVES (General Education Learning Outcomes) Upon completion of the general education component of an associate’s degree, students will demonstrate competence in: 

● Critical Thinking Skills (CT) - creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information 

● Communication Skills (COM) - effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication 

● Teamwork (TW) - ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal 

● Social Responsibility (SR) - intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities 

● Personal Responsibility (PR) - ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making