Overview
English 341 is a six-credit senior-level course that introduces students to literature from around the world. Students will read literary works from the ancient world to today in a variety of forms, including epic poetry, Athenian drama, religious song, modern verse, haiku, modernist prose, short fiction, autobiography, political treatise, letter, report, and travelogue. Canonical and lesser-known authors—from Homer to Jamaica Kincaid, Confucius to Hanan Al-Shaykh—reflect the scope and complexity of this contested field of literary studies. By facilitating the comparative analysis of form and content, the course explores the history of communication in global contexts and speaks to the relevance of world literature in the twenty-first century.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- evaluate historical developments and prominent topics in world literature
- apply close reading and research skills to consider assigned texts and course topics
- assess how thematic resources in course texts communicate cultural practices
- analyze how literary concepts operate within specific texts
- reflect on the relationship between world literature and modern life
- create thoughtful, articulate, original critical analyses of one (or more) assigned texts
Evaluation
To receive credit for English 341 you must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on the two exams and achieve a composite course grade of at least D (50 percent). All assignments are required in order to pass the course. The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1: Study Questions | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Literary Analysis | 15% |
| Midterm Exam | 20% |
| Assignment 3: Making Connections | 10% |
| Assignment 4: Comparative Research | 25% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Puchner, Martin, general editor. The Norton Anthology: World Literature: Shorter Fourth Edition: Volume 1. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.
Puchner, Martin, general editor. The Norton Anthology: World Literature: Shorter Fourth Edition: Volume 2. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.