Course Syllabus
THE QUESTING SELF
HUMANITIES CORE SEMINAR John Pagano
HU 02 Spring 2018 TuTh 10:30-12
THE QUESTING SELF: CRISIS & RESOLUTION
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A continuation of HU01 which surveys World Literature from the Middle Ages to the present, focusing on the paradigm of the individual’s quest for happiness and fulfillment in a perilous world. Representative works from a variety of cultures feature the transformative adventures of questing individuals who advance through spiritual and existential crises toward salvation and self-realization by fully developing their inherent potentialities. The heroes and heroines of these narratives navigate challenges that include Evil, Death, ideology, race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality, hoping to emerge from their experience with a newfound identity and successful future orientation.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES IN HUMANITIES CORE
- Develop skills of critical and creative thinking, effective speaking and writing
- Learn to analyze and interpret literary works, using textual evidence in support of oral and written arguments
- Explore important issues presented by culturally significant texts ranging across genres, disciplines, and historical periods
- Appreciate the workings of the literary imagination and recognize its capacity to enhance individual creativity
- Make connections between literature and their own lives as artists and individuals to develop a viable personal philosophy
COURSE BOOKS
Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Dante, The Inferno
A Thousand and One Nights
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Cervantes, Don Quixote
**Norton Anthology of World Literature Volumes B & C contain the above **
Voltaire, Candide (Dover)
Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories (Dover)
Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper)
**Please buy these editions, available at MSM Campus Bookstore, Book Culture & Columbia University Bookstore. Request them by name of course & instructor before midterm.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Attendance will be taken each time we meet. If you must miss class, please let me know in advance (voice mail, x4459; email, jpagano@msmnyc.edu ) and be sure to keep up with the material. Consequences of excessive absence are outlined in the Uniform Attendance Policy --see below. Class is conducted as a seminar, with most of our time spent discussing the assigned readings. Your ideas constitute the basis of our engagement, so I encourage you to share them with us. The intensity of your engagement with the material will determine the level of success and enjoyment we achieve as a community.
Active participation will positively affect your grade.
RESPONSE PARAGRAPHS = DISCUSSION PROMPTS
Once a week, on either Tuesday or Thursday, you are expected to submit a response paragraph that shows your engagement with a key issue in the literary work we are reading. The Canvas portal "Assignments" tab will alert you in advance to some issues we might focus upon in our class discussion. The response paragraphs—to be completed before you come to class--ensure that you have completed the reading assignment and are ready to contribute something to our conversation. They will be collected and figured into your final grade as indicators of your engagement. They will also determine how many questions you must answer on the midterm and final exams: if you regularly submit response paragraphs, you will be allowed to answer fewer questions on the exams.
MIDTERM & FINAL EXAMS
- Take-home, full-paragraph responses to key passages and conceptual centers of assigned readings, as well as a longer essay response to overarching issues.
GRADING
Your grade for the course will be determined according to the following distribution:
Response Paragraphs: 20%
Class Participation: 20%
Midterm Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
Please recognize that your active participation in discussions will be a significant factor in the evaluation of your performance: this means you should arrive promptly and be prepared to advance our conversation on the assigned readings.
PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC HONESTY
Plagiarism--the presentation of someone else’s ideas or words as if they were your own—is a serious offense in academic culture and public life. The establishment of the Internet as an information resource has made it particularly tempting for students to plagiarize, presenting passages or even whole papers written by someone else as if this writing were their own work. Submitting work that is not your own, failing to acknowledge your research by citing your sources, unauthorized collaboration with a tutor—these are all examples of plagiarism punishable per school policies. Plagiarism is a conspicuous violation of academic honesty that compromises your personal integrity, undermines your relationship with your teacher, and discredits your reputation in the School community. In some cases, it can lead to loss of scholarship and even expulsion.
Please resist the temptation to plagiarize that may seem appealing in a moment of fatigue or panic, as paper deadlines and exams threaten to overwhelm you—the consequences of such actions are considerably severe and most definitely not worth the risk. If you can stay focused on one of the primary goals of the Humanities Program and the educational mission of the School—to assist you in the development of a voice, a perspective, and a system of values that are genuinely your own—you will understand that such a goal can be achieved only if you are willing to work diligently and honestly at meeting the challenges before you. The rewards of such an endeavor are immensely valuable, and your teachers are available to assist you in this endeavor every step of the way. Trust to your relationship with your teacher, not the impulse to cheat and misrepresent yourself, and your progress will be assured. If you are at all unclear about plagiarism, speak with your instructor to clarify your understanding.
ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR CORE CLASSES
- STUDENTS WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL ABSENCES.
Students are required to explain to their teachers the reason for their absence. When possible, they should notify teachers in advance (via phone mail or email) that they will be missing class. Students must be ready to demonstrate knowledge of the material presented in classes missed.
- THE ONLY LEGITIMATE REASONS FOR ABSENCE ARE PERSONAL ILLNESS, FAMILY EMERGENCY, RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY, OR PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT.
- Personal illness must be documented with a doctor’s note.
- Absence due to professional engagement must be cleared in advance through the Dean’s Office.
- The School’s policy on Religious Holidays is as follows:
Manhattan School of Music is sensitive to the needs of students who wish to observe religious holidays during the academic year. To accommodate the planning needs of studio teachers, classroom teachers, and ensemble directors as well as to fulfill the educational and artistic requirements of the semester’s work, students who anticipate being absent for religious holidays need to inform in writing their teachers and ensemble directors during the first week of classes at the beginning of each semester of the exact date/dates the student will be absent. The students should also give a copy of the request to the Dean of Academics & Students. If students follow the preceding policy and understand that they are responsible for classroom work and ensemble obligations missed, absence for religious holidays will be excused. Students who do not inform their teachers in writing with a copy to be sent to the Dean of Academics & Students during the first week of classes will not be excused.
- LEGITIMATE ABSENCES WILL BE EXCUSED, BUT TEACHERS WILL KEEP TRACK OF ALL ABSENCES, TO ASSESS THE EXTENT TO WHICH ABSENCES HAVE COMPROMISED STUDENT PERFORMANCE
- LATENESS : 3 LATENESSES WILL CONSTITUTE 1 ABSENCE.
Lateness = 10+ minutes in 50-minute class / 15+ minutes in 80-minute class
¨ CONFLICTS
Any absences, latenesses, or early departures from class due to conflicts with another class must be fully documented by the Registrar’s Office and approved by the teachers involved.
CRITICAL THRESHOLDS
*Lecture Attendance is included in teacher’s calculation of these thresholds.
1ST THRESHOLD: 4 ABSENCES = LOWERING GRADE BY 2 GRADE STEPS (E.G., B TO C+)
2ND THRESHOLD: 7 ABSENCES = LOWERING GRADE BY 2 FULL GRADES (E.G., B TO D)
3RD THRESHOLD: 10 ABSENCES = FAILURE (GRADE OF “F”)
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1: The Quest Paradigm: Direction & Meaning?
Introduction
Kafka parables (handout)
Week 2: Epic Quest: Hero and Monsters
Beowulf
Week 3: Spiritual Quest: The Path to Salvation
Dante, Inferno, Cantos 1-7
Inferno, 12-14, 26, 33, 34
Week 4: Storytelling Quest: An Act of Survival
The Thousand and One Nights
Week 5: Romantic Quest: The Perils of Chivalric Adventure
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I & II
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, III & IV
Week 6: Imaginative Quest: Faith, Providence & Tragic Redemption
Shakespeare, Hamlet: Act 1-2
Hamlet, Act 3
Week 7: Imaginative Quest: Faith, Providence & Tragic Redemption
Hamlet, Act 4-5
***SPRING HOLIDAYS***
Week 8: Phantasmal Quest: Pursuit of Illusions
***MIDTERM DUE***
Cervantes, Don Quixote
Week 9: Enlightened Quest: Pursuit of Happiness
Voltaire, Candide
Week 10: Romantic Quest: Episodes of Enchantment
Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Keats, “La Belle Dame sans Merci”
Tennyson, “Lady of Shalott” (handouts)
Week 11: Existential Quest: The Perils of Modern Consciousness
Tolstoy, Death of Ivan Ilych (in Kreutzer Sonata)
Nietzsche, “God is Dead”
Sartre—“Existentialism” (handouts)
Week 12: Feminine Quest: Romance & Self-Realization
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Week 13: Feminine Quest: Mythic Self-Realization
Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Maxine Hong Kingston, "White Tigers" (from The Woman Warrior)
Week 14: Otherworldly Quest
Film—Heaven Can Wait
Week 15: JURY EXAM WEEK (NO CLASSES)
Week 16: FINAL EXAM DUE TUE MAY 8
Course Summary:
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