THE LITERARY PRESENTATION OF SELF

LIBST 721X WV                                                                                                                                            Professor A. Streiter

INTENT OF THE COURSE

This course discusses the question, How should the self relate to the world? That is to say, it discusses the question, How should human beings live? That question is subdivided as follows: How should human beings relate to transcendence (if it exists), to themselves, to people they love, to family, to friends, to society, and to nature?

The basic question, as subdivided, is discussed through the careful analysis of important works of literature. Much of the analysis is structural, as the term is understood by Aristotle.

TEXTS

Euripides Bacchae University of Chicago Press
Strassburg Tristan Penguin
Shakespeare The Tempest Washington Square Press
Austen Sense and Sensibility Penguin
Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Houghton Mifflin
Chekhov A Boring Story Penguin
EXAMINATIONS

A Mid-Term examination occurs after The Tempest has been discussed. It poses questions about Euripides, Strassburg, and Shakespeare.

A Final Examination occurs during the regular examination period. It poses questions about all of the works read during the semester.

Both examinations are open-book, and require that essays be written.

A ten-minute quiz occurs before each reading assignment is discussed. Each quiz contains ten questions testing basic knowledge of the text to be discussed. One-third (33%) of the grade in the course is determined by the cumulative grade on the quizzes.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is mandatory. Four excused absences are permitted. Students absent more than four times will not receive a passing grade for the course. Attendance is taken at the beginning of each session. Students who enter thereafter will be considered absent.