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Texts:
Required: Bedford Anthology of World Literature, Vol. 6. New York: Bedford St. Martin's Press, 2003. (Abbreviated as BA within
the weekly schedule).
Choice for Final Exam: You will choose one of the following novels during the third week of the course. You'll have the whole
semester to read the novel in your own time, informed by the reading strategies discussed in class, and then take a part of
your final exam related to the novel of your choice.
Khedairi, Betool. A Sky so Close. Trans. Muhayman Jamil. New York: Pantheon, 2001.
Rahimi, Atiq. Earth and Ashes. Trans. Erdag M. Goknar. New York: Harcourt, 2000.
Attendance: You can only miss up to four class sessions in this course. Any students missing more than four class sessions
will be in danger of failing the course.
Evaluation: Your course grade will be based on the following:
Mid-term Exam 300 Points
Reading Journals (20 Points each) 200 Points
Participation 100 Points
Class Notes 100 Points
Final Exam 300 Points
Total: 1000 Points
Mid-Term Exam (300): Your Mid-Term exam will be administered on the date mentioned in the weekly schedule. The exam will include
all the materials covered until the day before the date of the exam. You will be given a detailed exam guide a week prior
to the exam. The exam would mostly contain short essay questions, with at least one question about one of the authors.
Journals (200): Every Monday and Thursday you will turn in a journal responding to the assigned readings of the week I expect
you to have read the next weeks texts over the week-end.
Class Discussion (100): This class will be a combination of lecture and discussion. You are expected to come prepared to contribute
to the class discussion. I expect each student to respect others's opinions and respond to each other politely and respectfully.
Class Notes (100): You are required to take good class notes to do well in this course. Twice during the semester, you will
be asked to turn in your class notes folder for grading. I would like to see all your notes organized according to the dates
on which the notes were taken. Each entry should, therefore, clearly state on the top: date, day, and topic of discussion.
This part of your assignment will be graded both for content and degree of effort.
Final Exam (300): The final exam will consist of two parts:
Part 1: In-class exam about the texts covered in class from Mid-term till the last day of course.
Part 2: take home exam about your chosen novel. You will be asked to answer, at least, two questions in an essay format.
You will turn in typed (double spaced, font 12) hard copies of your exam on the due date. I will not accept any electronic
or late submissions!
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this class; it will not be
tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism will be reported to the Director of First-Year Writing and the Director of Undergraduate
Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended aid the growth
of individual writers. Plagiarism is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section b, paragraph
2, as follows: Regarding academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor Code shall include representing another's
work or any part thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one’s own.”
ADA: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the first
week of classes 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a
letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating the need for academic accommodations. This and all other class materials are
available in alternative format upon request.
Grading Scale:
A = 950-1000 Points
A- = 900-949 Points
B+ = 860-899 Points
B = 830-859 Points
B- = 800-829 Points
C+ = 760-799 Points
C = 730-759 Points
C- = 700-729 Points
D+ = 660-699 Points
D = 630-659 Points
D- = 600-629 Points
F = Lower than 600 Points
This course might seem intimidating, but together we can make it into a wonderful learning experience. I hope by the end of
this course your world view would have broadened and that you’ll be motivated to become critically engaged and active
world citizens.
Weekly Schedule
Note: This is a tentative schedule. I may change this schedule during the semester. You will be informed of the changes well
in advance, but it will be your responsibility to keep any such changes in mind while preparing for the class.
The assigned readings are for the whole week. Generally, we will discuss the assigned readings, spread over the week, in
the order in which they are listed below. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ THE ASSIGNED TEXTS OVER THE WEEK-END.
Week One
Introduction to the course.
In-Class diagnostic Journal
New Terms: Center/periphery, Colonialism, Imperialism, Third World
Readings: “In the World.” (BA 97). Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden.” (BA 104), Conrad
“Heart of Darkness” (BA pp. 61, 63, and 83)
Class Discussion: “ In the World.” Kipling. <
New Terms: Binarism, Othering, Going native
Readings: Achebe, “An Image of Africa,” (BA 107), Frantz Fanon, “ Black Skin White Masks,” (BA 760)
“From Wretched of the Earth” (BA 128).
Week Two
Choose your novel for Final Exam
Class Discussion: Achebe and Fanon.
New Terms: Diaspora, Discourse
Readings: Aime Cesaire, “A Tempest,” (BA 135), Chinweizu, “Decolonizing the . . .” (BA 142).
Class Discussion: Cesaire and Chinweizu.
New Terms: Filiation/Affiliation
Readings: Senghor, “Negritude,” (BA 884), Ngugi, “Creating Space . . .” (BA 149).
Week Three
Class Discussion: Senghor, Ngugi.
New Terms: Hybridity, Hegemony, Dominance
Readings: P’bitek (BA 894-898), Head, “The Deep River,” (BA 1205)
Class Discussion: P’bitek, Head.
New Terms: Native, Nativism
Revision for Mid-term
Readings: Mckay (BA 875-76), Gordimer (BA 910).
Week Four
Mid-term
Class Discussion: Mckay and Gordimer
New Terms: Authenticity, Social Darwinism
Readings: Edward Said, “From Question of Palestine,” (Handout), Darwish (BA 543-46)
Class Discussion: Said and Darwish
New Terms: Neoliberalism, Cosmopolitanism, Globalization
Readings: Mahfouz, “Zaabalawi,” (BA 797), Rifaat, “My World of the Unknown,” (BA 1130).
Week Five
Class Discussion: Mahfouz and Rifaat
New Terms: Subaltern, Appropriation, Abrogation
Readings: Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story,” (BA 1316), Hossain, “Sultana’s Dream,” (BA 323).
Class Discussion: Mukherjee, Hossain
New Terms: Agency, Mimicry
Readings: Narayan, “A Horse and Two Goats,” (BA 785), Rao, “Foreword . . .” (BA 1300), Naipaul, “Our
Universal Civilization,” (BA 1313).
Week Six
Class Discussion: Narayan, Rao, and Naipaul.
New Terms: Magic Realism
Readings: Marquez, “ A Very Old Man . . .” (BA 924), Fuentes, “The Prisoner of . . .” (BA 938).
Class Discussion: Marquez, Fuentes.
New Terms: Neoimperialism, Militarization, Corporatization
Revision for Finals.
Good Bye—May you have the courage to change the world.
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