English 396A
Junior Proseminar: Literature and Myth
MWF 1:00-1:50. Professor Willard
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The four winds according to Ovid (Metamorphoses, book 1)

Description:  This junior-level proseminar introduces students to methods and materials of literary research. Content of individual seminars will vary, based upon instructor. Our section is devoted to mythological writing in English, from Elizabethans to Pulitzer and Tony award winners. Students will gain experience with a variety of reference sources, both online and in the library. Prerequisites: ENGL 373A and 380.

Required Texts

  1. Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (MLA, 2003). ISBN 0873529863. Paperback $17.50.
  2. Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. David Raeburn (Penguin, 2004). ISBN 014044789X. $11. Amazon $8.47.
Assignments
  • Seminar paper and presentation. 15 percent of course grade
  • Research report and presentation. 25 percent
  • Mid-term test 1. 10 percent
  • Mid-term test 2. 15 percent
  • Lab assignments. 15 percent
  • Final exam. 20 percent
Syllabus
Week 1 (Jan. 10-12)
 
Wed            Introduction
Fri            Read prefatory material in Metamorphoses (pages ix-xli)
 
Week 2 (Jan. 15-19)
Mon            MLK Day: No class meeting
Wed            Read Metamorphoses, book 1 (pages 3-44)
Fri            Peruse Gibaldi, esp. pages v-xv
 
Week 3 (Jan. 22-26)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 2 (pages 45-90)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 1
Fri           
 
Week 4 (Jan. 29-Feb. 2)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 3 (pages 91-128)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 2
Fri            Report proposal due
 
Week 5 (Feb. 5-9)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 4 (pages 129-71)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 3. Report proposal due
Fri            In-class exercise 1: William Golding and the daughters of Minyas
 
Week 6 (Feb. 12-16)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 5 (pages 172-207)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 4
Fri            First mid-term test
 
Week 7 (Feb. 19-23)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 6 (pages 208-45)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 5
Fri            Project 2 due. Comparison of two translations
 
Week 8 (Feb. 26-Mar. 2)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 7 (pages 246-91)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 6. Report outline due
Fri            Report outline due
 
Week 9 (Mar. 5-9)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 8 (pages 292-336)
Wed            Read Gibaldi, chapter 7
Fri           
 
Spring Break (Mar. 12-16)
 
Week 10 (Mar. 19-23)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 9 (pages 337-79)
Wed           
Fri            Report draft due
 
Week 11 (Mar. 26-30)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 10 (pages 380-419)
Wed           
Fri            Second mid-term test
 
Week 12 (Apr. 2-6)
Mon            Read Metamorphoses, book 11 (pages 420-61)
Wed            PowerPoint slides due           
Fri.           
 
Week 13 (Apr. 9-13)
Mon.            Read Metamorphoses, book 12 (pages 462-94)
Wed.           
Fri.            Research report due
 
Week 14 (Apr. 16-20)
Mon.            Read Metamorphoses, book 13 (pages 495-545)
Wed.            Oral reports (10 mins. with PowerPoint slides)
Fri.            Oral reports continue
 
Week 15 (Apr. 23-27)
Mon.            Read Metamorphoses, book 14 (546-91)
Wed.            Oral reports conclude
Fri.            TBA
 
Week 16 (Apr. 30-May 2)
Mon.            Read Metamorphoses, book 15 (592-636)
Wed.            Review
 
Exam Week (May 7-11)
Mon.            Comprehensive final exam (11:00-1:00)

Outcomes. To complete this course successfully, you must demonstrate understanding at least, and full achievement at best, of seven outcomes. They were framed by a committee of faculty who teach the course; numbers are for reference only and do not suggest relative importance.
 

  1. Make effective use of library resources at the University of Arizona and around the world, recognizing how information is organized and disseminated.
  2. Show familiarity with the major databases, essential reference works (such as concordances, dictionaries, and bibliographies), and scholarly articles and books in language and literature as well as related disciplines.
  3. Make correct, appropriate, and ethical presentation of research findings.
  4. Make fair representation of an author’s work, using paraphrase and quotation appropriately and documenting sources correctly.
  5. Summarize, evaluate, and critique secondary sources.
  6. Use primary and secondary sources to support original arguments in a variety of ways (e.g., as a point of departure, as theoretical grounding, as historical background, as evidence).
  7. Follow MLA guidelines for documentation and conventions (e.g., punctuation, subtitles, endnotes, bibliography), while sustaining a coherent and original argument about one or more texts.
 
Note: You demonstrate understanding and achievement of an objective by identifying and discussing successful examples from your graded course work. You demonstrate understanding only by identifying relevant examples from your graded course work and describing how you could make them fully successful. You do so in your portfolio of work from this and other courses.