Classical Traditions

LIT 230
Term:  Spring 2005
Time:  10:00-11:20 a.m. MR
Place:  Bliss 145

Prof. G. Steinberg
Office: Bliss 216
Office Phone: 771-2106
Office Hours: 10:00-11:20 a.m. WF
and by appointment
TCNJ E-mail Username: gsteinbe
 

TEXTBOOKS.

COURSE DESCRIPTION.  In this course, we will focus on a pivotal literary text from the Classical period – Virgil’s Aeneid.  Around this pivotal text, the course will explore literary and historical relations – the textual “ancestors” and “progeny” that influenced or rewrote the Aeneid, as well as the philological, social, and political contexts that surrounded Virgil’s text.

GOALS.  By the end of the course, I want you

  1. to appreciate the literary achievements of Classical societies,
  2. to acquire perceptual habits and conceptual lenses conducive to the appreciation of specific media, genres, and styles of literature,
  3. to engage in the analysis and interpretation of texts in their concrete historicity – that is, in their diverse philological, historical, aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical contexts,
  4. to practice comparative literary and historical analysis,
  5. to read critically, interpret responsibly, write and speak with clarity and grace, reason intelligently, and argue thoughtfully and persuasively, and
  6. to enlarge the body of literature that you have read by becoming familiar with texts from other times and cultures, written in languages other than your own, texts within – and on the margins of – a variety of literary traditions.

REQUIREMENTS.  For this course, you must complete the following graded assignments:

  1. a mid-term exam (260 points),
  2. 12 two-page response papers (15 points each),
  3. PAPER 1 (100 points),
  4. PAPER 2 (200 points), and
  5. a final exam (260 points).

Your final grade will be based on a 1000-point scale:  A = 930-1000, A- = 900-929, B+ = 870-899, B = 830-869, B- = 800-829, C+ = 770-799, C = 730-769, C- = 700-729, D+ = 670-699, D = 600-669, and F = below 600.

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of the exams and papers in this class.  Class exercises and discussion constitute important, useful preparation for the course’s graded assignments.  If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared – without excuses – to the next class meeting.

OFFICE HOURS.  My office is Bliss 216, and my office hours are 10-11:20 a.m. on WF.  If you cannot see me during my office hours, however, feel free as needed to call my office (771-2106) or talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time.  You may also contact me by e-mail (through SOCS), or you may leave a message for me in my box at the English department offices in Bliss 124.  E-mail is generally the fastest way to contact me in an emergency.

EMAIL.  I may, on occasion, want to e-mail everyone in class.  I generally only have access to your TCNJ e-mail addresses, however.  As a result, if you regularly use an e-mail address other than your TCNJ address, I recommend that you have mail from your TCNJ address forwarded to the address you use more regularly.  That way, if I e-mail your TCNJ address, my message will be forwarded to your other address automatically.  To forward mail from your TCNJ address, just go to http://managemail.tcnj.edu/  and click “Mail Forwarding Manager.”  Follow the directions there to set up the mail forwarding.

If you would like to send an e-mail message to one or more of your classmates, you can do so through SOCS.  To access SOCS, go to http://socs.tcnj.edu and, after you have logged in with your TCNJ e-mail username and password, choose this class from the list of your courses this semester.  Then, when our course page comes up, click the “Email” button.  From there, you can select individual e-mail addresses or the entire class and send a message to the addresses you’ve selected.

LANGUAGES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM.  Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC) is an initiative to infuse foreign language study across the curriculum, thus building on the skills of language-proficient students in courses where foreign language sources are not a regular component of the curriculum. Those students who have completed at least two 200-level courses in a foreign language or have intermediate level proficiency in a language and are interested in enhancing their work in this course through complementary readings or research in that language may enroll in a one credit Languages Across the Curriculum Independent Study, LAC 391. The specific assignments will be identified by the course professor and the LAC supervisor, Deborah Compte of the Modern Languages Department. Dr. Compte will assist you in accessing appropriate materials and engaging in course-related research and activities in another language, and will monitor your progress. A brief biweekly report of ongoing progress in relation to the LAC component of the course is required. The LAC independent study is offered on a Pass/Fail basis only and thus does not impact on your GPA, but indicates your initiative in utilizing your language skills to enhance your coursework. It will be noted as LAC 391 on your transcript.

You must register for the LAC independent study by the end of the first week of classes. The specific work involved in the independent study will be clearly identified and articulated in the Independent Study Summary Proposal which you will draw up with Dr. Compte, with the approval of the course professor. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Compte promptly at dcompte@tcnj.edu or at 771-2392 so that the necessary forms can be completed by the College’s deadline. This is an exciting opportunity for students with the requisite language skills to build on their expertise and complement their academic studies.

Students with Disabilities.  Any student who has a documented disability and is in need of academic accommodations should notify me and contact the Office of Differing Abilities Services (771-2571). Accommodations are individualized and in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992.

RESPONSE PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to write 12 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the readings for class.  You may choose which days and which readings you want to respond to.  I will post questions about each day’s reading assignment for you to consider as the basis of your response.

Response papers will be graded Pass/Fail.  I ask you to type them (so that they are easier for me to read), but they need not be a perfect, polished product.  Rather, response papers should be just what their name says – a response.  Think about the question(s) that I ask you to consider for a particular day’s reading assignment; then, write a response.  Don’t worry about typos or comma splices or organization.  Don’t worry about answering every question I ask in the assignment.  In fact, focus on the one question that seems most interesting to you, and be as specific as you can, getting down as much as you can, as quickly as you can.  Treat response papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper.  I don’t want a five-paragraph theme.  Rather, I want an exploration – as detailed and specific as possible – of the reading assignment for the day.

Normally, as long as you submit a response paper of suitable length, detail, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you turn it in on time in class on the assigned day), you will receive all the points that the response paper is worth.  The purpose of the response papers is

  1. to help you in your preparation for class discussion,
  2. to help me see where you’re struggling with the readings for class,
  3. to help you develop your intellectual independence, and
  4. to help you develop your confidence as a reader of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance literature.

You may submit more than 12 response papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any response papers that do not receive a grade of Pass), but no matter how many extra response papers you turn in, you will not receive credit for more than 12 total.  You may not submit more than one response paper on a single day, nor may you submit a response paper for a day that you are absent from class – absolutely no exceptions.  (NOTE:  Even if you do not submit a response paper on a particular day, you should still come to class prepared to discuss the assigned questions for that day, since we will focus on those questions in the in-class discussion of the reading assignment.)

PAPER 1.  Odysseus/Ulysses was definitely a popular figure in ancient literature.  He appears as a major or minor character in Homer, Virgil, and Ovid, all three.  How has Ovid altered or maintained the tradition of Odysseus/Ulysses?  What characteristics from one other incarnation of Odysseus/Ulysses does Ovid use and admire?  What characteristics does he revise or criticize?  In a paper of 5-7 pages, argue a clear and specific thesis about Ovid’s use of the tradition of Odysseus/Ulysses by comparing Ovid’s Ulysses to one other incarnation of the Odysseus/Ulysses character.  Note: You need not use outside sources for this paper (that is, sources in addition to the texts of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources.  You will submit this paper to me electronically in the “dropbox” in SOCS (not in hard copy or in class), but you must submit it in the “dropbox” before coming to class on the assigned day.  Your paper will be evaluated according to the criteria below.

PAPER 2.  How has Dante altered or maintained the tradition of Odysseus/Ulysses?  What characteristics from other incarnations of the character does Dante use and admire?  What characteristics does he revise or criticize?  How does Dante’s characterization of the figure of Ulysses relate to his characterization of other pagan figures in the Inferno (e.g., Virgil)?  In 5-7 pages, argue a clear and specific thesis about Dante’s use of the tradition of Odysseus/Ulysses by comparing Dante’s Ulysses to one other incarnation of the Odysseus/Ulysses character.  Note: You need not use outside sources for this paper (that is, sources in addition to the texts of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, and Dante); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources.  You will submit this paper to me electronically in the “dropbox” in SOCS (not in hard copy or in class), but you must submit it in the “dropbox” before coming to class on the assigned day.  Your paper will be evaluated according to the criteria below.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING PAPERS.  Your papers in this course will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  1. Does the paper have a clear, specific thesis?
  2. Does the paper’s comparative analysis progress logically?  Does the paper have a clear and consistent overall organization that relates all the ideas of the paper together in support of the thesis (rather than simply a list of random similarities and differences without relation to one another or to the thesis)?  Does the paper have appropriate transitions to aid the reader (rather than weak transitions, such as "The first similarity...," "Another difference...," and "Also...")?
  3. Does the paper provide relevant, concrete evidence and logically persuasive reasons for every assertion?
  4. Does the paper show sensitivity to the concrete historicity of the literary works under consideration (rather than treat them as timeless museum pieces or reflect on them anachronistically)?
  5. Does the paper exhibit confidence and insight when analyzing literary works not yet discussed in class?
  6. Does the introduction to the paper offer an interesting, helpful preview of the content, logic, and organization of the paper?
  7. Is factual information in the paper accurate?
  8. Is the writing in the paper clear, effective, correct (according to the norms of standard American English), and appropriate to an academic setting?

COURSE SCHEDULE.  This schedule is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.  Changes in the schedule will be shown in red.
Date Assignment
M Jan 17 Introductions
R Jan 20 Homer, Odyssey, Books I-IV
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Jan 24 Homer, Odyssey, Books V-VI and IX-X
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Jan 27 Homer, Odyssey, Books XI-XIV
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Jan 31 Homer, Odyssey, Books XVIII and XXI-XXIII
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Feb 3 Aeschylus, Agamemnon (in The Oresteia, pp. 98-172)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Feb 7 Aeschylus, the Eumenides (in The Oresteia, pp. 227-277)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Feb 10 Virgil, Aeneid, Books I-II; Galinsky, Augustan Culture, pp. 80-90 (available in SOCS under “resources”)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Feb 14 Virgil, Aeneid, Books IV-V; Wood, Imperial Women, pp. 1-26 (availabe in SOCS under “resources”)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Feb 17 Virgil, Aeneid, Books VI and VIII
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M Feb 21 Virgil, Aeneid, Books X and XII
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R Feb 24 MID-TERM EXAM
M Feb 28 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 1-3
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Mar 3 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 10-11; THESIS PARAGRAPH for PAPER 1 DUE (submit a thesis paragraph in the “collaboratory” of SOCS by the end of the day)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Mar 7 NO CLASS (Spring Break)
R Mar 10 NO CLASS (Spring Break)
M Mar 14 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 13; PAPER 1 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS before coming to class)
R Mar 17 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 14-15; Gruen, Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy, pp. 158-192 (available in SOCS under “resources”)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Mar 21 Livy, The War with Hannibal, Book XXI; Raaflaub and Toher, Between Republic and Empire, pp. 139-154 (available in SOCS under “resources”)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Mar 24 Livy, The War with Hannibal, Book XXVIII
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M Mar 28 Livy, The War with Hannibal, Book XXX
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R Mar 31 Acts and 1 Corinthians (from the Bible); Introduction from The Cults of the Roman Empire (available in SOCS under “resources”)
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M Apr 4 1 John (the first Epistle of John from the Bible, not the Gospel of John); Marie de France, Lanval (available in SOCS under “resources”); Dante, Inferno, Cantos I-V
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R Apr 7 Brunetto Latini, the opening to Il Tesoretto; Dante, Inferno, Cantos VIII-XI, XIII, XV; THESIS PARAGRAPH for PAPER 2 DUE (submit a thesis paragraph in the “collaboratory” of SOCS by the end of the day)
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Apr 11 Dante, Inferno, Cantos XVIII, XXI-XXV
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Apr 14 Dante, Inferno, Canto XXVI; PAPER 2 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS before coming to class)
M Apr 18 Bertran de Born, “In Praise of War” (available in SOCS under “resources”); Dante, Inferno, Cantos XXVIII, XXX-XXXIV
Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Apr 21 Genesis, Chapters 1-3 (from the Bible); Milton, Paradise Lost, Books I-III
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M Apr 25 Milton, Paradise Lost, Books V and IX-X
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Finals Week FINAL EXAM (in our regularly scheduled room)

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