Each culture's literature is a window into the soul of the people--Betty Staley

Course Syllabus and Course Schedule

for
Modern World Literature
Portland Waldorf School
September 2014
Instructor: Tracy Trefethen
971-563-8127 (text me)
tracy.trefethen@portlandwaldorf.org

How do place, history and culture shape the stories people tell? How do stories and poems reveal
the soul of a people? How does literature teach us about ourselves and about the issues we must
face in life? These questions will guide us through the extraordinary journey of modern world
literature. The 20th century was a century of enormous social change. From its literature, we
will explore the fundamental conflicts between personal freedom and responsibility, obedience
and rebellion, and the possibility of universal human aims (brotherhood) amid our capacity for
good and evil.

We will explore samplings from literature around the world, looking for common themes and
distinct perspectives. With some notable exceptions, our focus will be on literature written
within the last 100+ years.

Important Dates
Week Two: Timeline reports due.
Thursday, Sept. 18: Homework Commentaries on the daily questions due.
Tuesday, Sept. 30: Oral Reports Due.
Thursday, Oct 2: In class recitation of poem and Reflections on a Poem.
Friday, Oct 3: Main lesson book due, including concluding essay.

Main Lesson Book or Portfolio Contents
Title page
Table of Contents
Daily Commentaries (11 total)
Write up of your Timeline report
Reflections on a Poem
A copy of the poem you memorized
Write up of your Oral Presentation
Concluding essay

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Daily Commentaries (35%)


You will write commentaries on a question or theme given in class. Create a thoughtful
reflection, not a summary of material covered in class. Each commentary should include your
name, date, the title of the piece of literature we are working from, and the question you are
commenting on. There are eleven commentaries total, to be handed in in final form and they
may be typed. Submit at least three commentaries by Thursday, Sept 18 for book check (10% of
final grade). Length: 250-400 words.

Timeline Presentation (10%)
Research one category of major change in the 20th century, and present your findings to
the class during Week Two. Neatly and artistically add your material to the visual timeline we
will create together on the classroom wall.

Oral report (5-10 minutes 20%)
Read a book from the provided list of World Literature titles and give a presentation to
the class (during the last week of the block). This should not be a book report or summary, but a
presentation about a theme the stands out to you in the book. Include relevant information about
the history and region of the people on which the book is based, and bring to life the place and
time of the story.
The oral report should be presented with attention to clarity of speech, eye contact, and
grasp of content. Your own interpretations are what are required for the assignment: take care
not to rely on Spark Notes or online sources, including but not limited to Wikipedia.

Recitation of a poem or except from a text (5%)
Each student will memorize and present one poem or excerpt from modern world
literature (from a short story, novel, or memoir, etc.) that they have not previously worked. A
copy of the recitation should be in your main lesson book.

Reflections on a poem (5%)
A one- to two-page commentary discussion of a poem from the collection handed out in
class. This should include the significant imagery, rhythm, and figures of speech (metaphor,
simile, personification, alliteration) of the poem. The poem should be beautifully handwritten in
your MLB and the commentary may be typed.

Concluding essay (10%)
This essay should include key aspects from the course, what has been most interesting for
you, and how your perceptions or thoughts may have changed? Three pages minimum, typed or
handwritten.

Class readiness, preparation, participation, punctuality (15%)

Late Work Policy
All deadlines for oral reports, presentations and major assignments for the block are final. Late
work for oral reports and presentations will lose 20% of grade for each day late. Main lesson
books will not be accepted after the deadline without serious cause (serious illness, family
emergency, etc.) and without the approval of the instructor at least 48 hours prior to the deadline.


Homework Commentaries submitted after Sept. 19 will cause a 10% reduction in your final
grade for the course.

Daily Schedule

Wed. Sept. 3: Course Intro. Homework Commentary: write about what change means to you.

Thurs. Sept. 4: Read Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning (Due Monday).

Fri. Sept. 5: NO CLASS. Freshmen/Senior Overnight Retreat!!

Week One: Russian/European Literature
Mon. Sept. 8: Brief timeline reports. Homework Commentary: What is the purpose of suffering?

Tues. Sept 9: Brief timeline reports. Read Kafka's Metamorphosis for tomorrow.

Wed. Sept. 10: Brief timeline reports. Homework Commentary:

Thurs. Sept 11: Brief timeline reports. Homework Commentary:

Fri. Sept. 12: Brief timeline reports. Homework Commentary

Week Two: Latin America
Mon. Sept. 15: Reading due: tba. Homework Commentary:

Tues. Sept. 16: Reading assignment: tba. Homework Commentary.

Wed. Sept. 17: Homework Commentary:

Thurs. Sept 18: DUE: at least 3 Homework Commentaries for mid-block check.

Fri. Sept 19: Homework Commentary:

OUTDOOR WEEK Sept 21-6, No class!!

Week Three: Africa, and student reports
Mon. Sept 29: Homework Commentary:

Tues. Sept 30: Oral Reports. Homework Commentary:

Wed. Oct 1: Oral Reports. Recitation of poetry. Homework: Concluding Essay, and Polish
recitation for tomorrow.

Thurs. Oct 2: Oral reports. Recitation of poetry/prose excerpts.

Fri. Oct 3: Oral Reports. Main Lesson Book due.




Reading List (you may submit another title for consideration)

Africa
Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone (NF) OR Radiance of Tomorrow
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun
Dave Eggers, What is the What (NF) (American author)
Nadine Gordimer, Burger's Daughter, OR No Time Like the Present
Nelson Mandela, A Long Walk to Freedom (NF)
Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age
in Apartheid S. Africa

Western and Eastern Europe
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Russian)
George Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier OR Burmese Days (NF) (English)
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
Erich Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (European)
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Russian)
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (English)
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, OR Mrs. Dalloway (English)

Asia
Vikram Chandra, Red Earth and Pouring Rain (Indian)
Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss (Indian)
Amitav Ghosh, The Glass Palace (Indian/Burma)
Jhumpa Lahiri, The Interpreter of Maladies (short stories, Indian)
Maxine Hong Kingston, A Woman Warrior (NF) (Chinese American)
Ha Jin, Waiting (Chinese)
Salmon Rushdie, Midnight's Children (Indian)
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club (Chinese American)
Can Xou, Dialogues in Paradise OR Old Floating Cloud (Chinese)

Middle East and Northern Africa
Emile Habby, The Secret Life of Saeed (Palestinian)
Khalid Houssani, A Thousand Splendid Suns (Afghanistan)
Latifa, My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban (NF)
Naguib Mahouz, The Day the Leader Was Killed (Egyptian)
must be combined with another short novel
Margave Satrapi, Persepolis I (Iranian) (graphic novel)
Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone (Egyptian)


Minority America and Central/South America
Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues (Native American)


James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (NF) (African American)
Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road (Canadian)
Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage, AND The Alchemist (read BOTH) (Brazilian)
Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Dominican American)
Louise Erdrich, Tracks (Native American)
Carlos Fuentes, Death of Artemio Cruz (Mexican)
Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes (Canadian)
Zora Neal Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (African American)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Columbian)
Clarise Lispector, The Hour of the Star (Mexican)
Mario Vargas Llosa, Conversation in the Cathedral (Peruvian)
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (Native American)
Alice Walker, The Color Purple (African American)
James Welch, Fools Crow (Native American)






Recitation

The Sun Burst!
A million golden splinters
Fell upon the earth
And then night came...

Now men are beating each other
For a spark of Light.
But I have hidden in my heart
A splinter of the sun,
Therefore I am not cold.
--Kulagin