Comparative Literature 30B
Major Works of European Literature: Renaissance to Neoclassical

Lecture time and location: MTWR 11:00-12:25, Phelps 3523
Instructor: James Donelan
Office: 2715 South Hall
Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 10-11, or by appointment.

Books: The books listed below are available in the UCen bookstore.

Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140449302

Margarite de Navarre, The Heptameron
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 014044355X

Lope de Vega, Three Major Plays: Fuente Ovejuna/the Knight from Olmedo/Punishment Without Revenge
Publisher: Oxford Press
ISBN: 0192833375

William Shakespeare, The Sonnets
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140714537

Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
Publisher: Hackett
ISBN: 0872204200

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0141439491

Mozart/da Ponte, The Marriage of Figaro
Publisher: Riverrun Press
ISBN: 0-7145-3771-3

Course Requirements:
Students must attend all lectures and discussion sections. The amount of reading expected for each class meeting varies; students are urged to plan their reading schedules carefully. Students will write two five-page essays, a midterm, and a final, along with a brief prospectus for each essay.

Grades will be determined as follows:

• first essay, 20%
• midterm, 20%
• second essay, 25%
• final, 30%
• participation 5%

The essays will be critical interpretations of a work or works examined in the course, using proper MLA citation style and scholarly secondary sources where appropriate. The midterm will examine the works and lectures from the first half of the course. The final will be a comprehensive examination of the entire course with emphasis on the second half. Paper topic suggestions, course policies, lecture outlines, and other materials will be posted on the course web site.  In addition, keep in mind the following:

• Regulations regarding academic honesty will be strictly enforced.
• I am happy to assist students with disabilities in any way I can.
• Success in the course depends on attendance, reading, and writing at the required times. Please do not let the assignments get ahead of you.
• Papers should be in standard MLA format and have a descriptive title and numbered pages.

Syllabus

8/2       The Study of Literature; Introduction to Boccaccio
8/3       Boccaccio, Decameron: I, Prologue, 1-3; II, 4-7; III, 1, 2, 8-10; IV, Prologue, 1, 2, 5 (Numbers in the assignments for the Decameron refer to day, story.)
8/4       Boccaccio, cont.: V, 1, 6-8; VI, 1, 5, 7, 10;

8/5       Boccaccio, cont.: VII, 2, 9, 10; VIII, 1, 7, 8

8/9       Boccaccio, cont.: IX, 1, 5, 6; X, 7, 9, 10, Conclusion, Epilogue.
8/10     Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron: Prologue, 1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 21, 24
            (Numbers refer to the number of the particular story.)
8/11     de Navarre, cont.: 30-32, 35, 38, 40, 45, 49, 56, 57, 64, 67

8/12     de Navarre, cont. First essay due.

8/16     de Vega, Fuente Ovejuna

8/17     Shakespeare, Sonnets 1-3, 15, 17, 18, 57, 58, 60, 64,
8/18     Shakespeare, Sonnets 66, 81, 84, 105, 116, 121, 130, 135, 138, 154
8/19     Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy

8/23     Midterm
8/24     Workshop on literary criticism and research.
8/25     Swift, Gulliver's Travels Part I
8/26     Swift, Gulliver's Travels Part II

8/30     Swift, Gulliver's Travels Part IV
8/31     Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (libretto)
9/1       Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (opera)

9/2       Mozart, continued. Second essay due in section.

9/6       Labor Day
9/7       Mozart, continued.
9/8       Conclusions and Final Review
9/9       Final Examination