World Literature Syllabus, Reading List, and Reflective Essay

This will be done in class. Students who are at-home learners ("H" in Skyward) should complete the essay the day your class meets, preferably synchronously (i.e. at the same time your class meets).

In the time allowed (45 minutes), write a well-organized essay in which you reflect on the following:

• Discuss which of the attitudes toward choosing what to read (see Damrosch, Pollitt, Bloom, Tachtiris, Puchner, etc.) makes the most sense to you and why you believe that attitude is appropriate to embrace for creating a reading list for this imagined class.
• Why did you choose the authors and books that you did?  How did your attitude toward making choices influence the choices you made?
• What challenges did you face in constructing your syllabus?  Which of these are similar to the ones presented in the secondary sources we read? (i.e. the names listed above, any of the articles/essays we've read this year, etc.)
• In what ways does having to create your reading list caused you to reflect on or understand the first question asked this year: what should a world literature course do?

Notes:

• You should push yourself to write at least three paragraphs.
• If you quote or paraphrase from an external source, be sure you use appropriate signal phrases and parenthetical documentation. You do not need to do a works cited page.
• The sequence of questions above is not intended to imply the order of your thinking in your response, though you may certainly approach your response in that way.
• Better responses will:
  • Be thorough and sincere.
  • Connect the work of constructing your reading list with course content.
  • Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of issues surrounding the choices that a reader/teacher of world literature must make and why they matter.
  • Be specific.
    • I would recommend that you specifically discuss 2-4 of your selections.