This assignment asks you to reimagine our Literature Humanities Syllabus, as a way of
reflecting on the entire year’s readings and drawing out the central themes and
questions you found most enduring and most compelling. The primary goal of this
assignment is to show your individual, original, creative take on the readings, from a
bird’s eye perspective.
Instructions
1. Reorganize the reading list of the entire year by a logic other than chronological;
the organizing principle can be thematic, formal, generic, or any other frame you
come up with. You should create at least 6 different units, over two semesters. Each
unit should include at least 2 texts.
2. Each unit should have a title, and a short (under 200 words) rationale explaining
what makes this unit cohesive.
3. Under each text on the syllabus, provide a short quote from that text that will help
illuminate the logic of your organization, and highlight the dynamic connections
between the texts in a particular unit.
4. Give the course a subtitle: “Literature Humanities: [XYZ ABC],” and write a short
(under 400 words) course description which reflects both your subjective
experience of the readings, and the themes and questions we shared as a group. If
helpful, imagine you are explaining what “Literature Humanities” is to next year’s
students.
5. Optional: you may include an image that you think captures something about the
course, its themes, questions, dynamics. If you do, make sure to include full
information (creator, title, year, etc.).
Requirements
1. Your syllabus should look like a syllabus: Course title, followed by a general course
description, and then the reading list, with unit and semester breakdown.
2. Your syllabus should be in a professional 12pt font (e.g. Time New Roman,
Garamond, Helvetica), single-spaced, with 1-inch margins and pagination.
3. Your work should be submitted to CourseWorks by 11:59, April 24. If you wish to
ask for extension, please consult our syllabus for instructions.
2
Grading and feedback
You will receive a letter grade for the assignment, as well as a rubric meant to explain
your grade and some short comments. As always, you’re welcome to schedule a
meeting with me for additional feedback.
List of Works:
Fall
Homer, The Iliad
Enheduanna, “The Exaltation of Inana”
Enuma Elish
Genesis
Homer, The Odyssey
Sappho, If Not, Winter
Song of Songs
Aeschylus, The Oresteia
Parks, Father Comes Home From the Wars
Plato, Symposium
Vergil, Aeneid
Life of Aesop
Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John
Spring
Augustine, Confessions
Ibn ‘Arabi, Translator of Desires
The Lais of Marie de France
Dante, Inferno
Cervantes, Don Quixote
Shakespeare, Othello
Austen, Pride and Prejudice
de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubás
Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Morrison, Song of Solomon
Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (which you may or may not include
