WORLD LITERATURE SYLLABUS
This is a survey course that will challenge you to think and to grow mentally and spiritually through class interaction and through your work with different literary selections from both non-American and American authors. We will concentrate on the ideas/themes and the characterization found in the selections, but you will also be responsible for knowing and applying other literary devices to the literature.
There will also be some vocabulary work that will enable you to communicate more effectively and to comprehend more easily what you read.
The reading list is assigned in hopes that you will learn from the reading, analyze the ideas found in the books, and practice applying skills that you have learned in this and other classes—all while enjoying what you read.
The writing that you do will be mostly informal and geared to get you to think through ideas and to clarify your thinking on topics found in your reading and on topics of your own choosing.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
**There will be class devotional openings that you will be asked to do.
**There will be books from a prescribed list that you will be asked to read and report on.
**There will a vocabulary list that you will work with.
**There will be journal writing that you will do, turned in in a folder with clips.
**There will be reading assignments from Prentice Hall’s World Masterpieces textbook that we will
discuss in class; quizzes on these are frequent. The following selections will likely be assigned:
excerpts from the Epic of Gilgamesh
various Psalms
various Chinese and Japanese poems
“The Cricket Boy”
excerpts from 1001 Nights
excerpts from the Panchatantra and the Mahabharata***
excerpts from the Iliad***
Oedipus the King and/or Antigone***
excerpts from the Inferno
excerpts from Canterbury Tales***
Othello***
various short stories from our text***
***indicates the end of a unit
There will be a test at the end of each unit that I will use to evaluate your understanding and to judge if you have comprehended the material in the unit. Retests are possible, granted on an individual basis, always preceded by correctives. Your grade will be determined by the amount of work you choose to do and the quality of that work. The guidelines are outlined on the back of this sheet and explain the basis I use to determine your grade. Please familiarize yourself with them and follow them to the best of your ability.
I will be following the Academic Support Program, referrals given out if vouchers are used too quickly. I will also follow the Academic Integrity Policy, so please be people of integrity in all you do. If an assignment is made the day you are on a fieldtrip and is due the next day, you have one extra day to complete it; all other assignments are due on the assigned due date.
I am usually available for assistance before school (T–Fri) and 3rd hour (4th hour 2nd semester). My extension is #269.
I hope that you will enjoy the course as well as learn and grow from it and that you will see modeled, and model for each other, the love and concern of Christ.
Mr. Weyhrich
WORLD LITERATURE GRADING PROCEDURE
You should be able to earn an A or B in this class if you follow the guidelines below.
A – In order to receive an A in class you need to:
1) Do all assignments -- written and reading ones; **
2) Average 85-100+% on major tests/exams (including final);
3) Average 85-100+% on all vocabulary work;
4) Earn 200+ points on book reports.
What if you do not meet all the above criteria?
Fail to meet one of the above criteria, your grade drops to a B.
Fail to meet two of the above criteria, your grade drops to a C.
Fail to meet three of the above criteria, your grade drops to a D.
Fail to meet all four of the above criteria, you fail the course.
B – In order to earn a B in class you must:
1) Do all assignments – written and reading ones;**
2) Average 85-100+% on major tests/exams (including final);*
3) Average 85-100+% on all vocabulary work;*
4) Earn 160+ points on book reports.
(* You may use your text and notes as you complete these.)
What if you do not meet all the above criteria?
Fail to meet one of the above criteria, your grade drops to a C.
Fail to meet two of the above criteria, your grade drops to a D.
Fail to meet three of the above, you fail the course.
Automatic Failure
Do any of the following and you will automatically fail the course:
1) Miss more than 12 assignments.**
2) Average less than 70% on tests or vocabulary quizzes.
3) Earn fewer than 100 points on book reports.
(**You will receive 6 vouchers that can be used in place of an assignment.)
(I determine if you did a reading assignment by administering quizzes; you must earn at least
a 60% to get credit for the assignment.)
I reserve the right of making exceptions to the above criteria,
but only on an individual basis.