Academic Catalogs

ENGL G161: Masterpieces of World Literature II (From the Mid-17th Century to the Present)

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 10/19/2021
Top Code 150100 - English
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours 0
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S)
Local General Education (GE)
  • GWC Arts, Lit, Phil, Lang (GC)
Diversity Requirement (GCD) Yes
California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
  • Cal-GETC 3B Humanities (3B)
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
  • IGETC 3B Humanities (3B)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)
  • CSU C2 Humanities (C2)

Course Description

Formerly: ENGL G165 – Masterpieces of World Literature. This course is a study of world literary masterpieces, in translation and English, from the mid-17th century to the present. The important literary contributions and achievements from the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, and other regions are studied for their artistic merit, historical significance, and influences on modern cultures. PREREQUISITE: ENGL C1000, ENGL C1000E, or achieve qualifying score on English Placement. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC: Credit Limitation: ENGL G161 or ENGL G161H combined: maximum credit, 1 course. C-ID: ENGL 145. C-ID: ENGL 145.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Course Outcomes
  2. Investigate literary, historical, social, and/or cultural significance to critically interpret texts.
  3. Evaluate artistic and/or historical contributions to literature by analyzing the stylistic, formal, thematic, and/or rhetorical elements of texts.
  4. Select relevant and appropriate scholarly sources and compose a paper synthesizing these sources to augment, strengthen, and complement an original analysis of texts that represent masterpieces of world literature since the Renaissance.
  5. Investigate religious, economic, and/or political ideas contained in the texs to allow for a fuller, more complete understanding of the historical data.
  6. Evaluate artistic and/or historical contributions to literature by analyzing the stylistic, formal, thematic, and/or rhetorical elements of texts.

Course Objectives

  • 1. Read, analyze and discuss canonical post-Renaissance masterworks.
  • 2. Summarize major philosophical, political, scientific, and religious concepts in terms of their significance to contemporary literature and cultures, as well as exploring how these works helped to shape the defining ideas of our modern post-Enlightenment period.
  • 3. Explain the effect of literary genre on the interpretations of selected works.
  • 4. Develop each students capacity for critical thinking, especially as it relates to literary analysis and textual close reading.

Lecture Content

A. Introduction to World Literature    1. Overview of different approaches: formalist, genre, thematic, historical    2. Brief review: literary history from the Ancient World to the RenaissanceB. The Age of Reason    1. Historical overview: philosophical, political and scientific developments    2. Neoclassic and Enlightenment ideas, values and assumptions    3. Analysis of Selected Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century authors and genres            i. The philosophical poem           ii. Satire in prose, poetry and drama    4. Definition of ClassicismC. The Romantic Reaction    1. Historical overview: philosophical and political developments    2. Romantic values and assumptions    3. Analysis of selected works embodying Romantic values            i. Lyric poetry           ii. The pastoral    4. Major distinctions between the Classic and Romantic sensibilitiesD. The Realist Response.    1. Historical overview: developments in politics, biology and psychology    2. Discussion of realism and naturalism in relation to historical developments    3. Definition of realism and naturalism through comparison with literary predecessors    4. Analysis of selected Nineteenth Century works            i. Realist fiction           ii. Naturalist prose and/or poetry          iii . Symbolist poetryE. Colonialism, Modernism and Contemporary Developments    1. Overview of historical and intellectual developments    2. Analysis of readings from colonial, modern and contemporary works    3. Approaches to colonialism    4. Definition of modernism    5. Tentative definitions: contemporary values and intellectual trendsF. Student syntheses of issues and themes embodied in literary works. Possible examples:    1. Classicism and Romanticism as tendencies in literature and life    2. Romanticism and the pastoral: attitudes regarding nature and the natural    3. Differing responses to the literary treatment of colonialism    4. Alienation in modern life and the possibilities of transcendence    5. Broad differences and similarities between Western and Eastern literatures

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)
  • DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
  • DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Lecture and application of ideas, discussion, instructor feedback on written papers and discussion, peer feedback.

Reading Assignments

1. Regular reading from texts as assigned by the instructor. 2. Selected library materials and instructor handouts.

Writing Assignments

1. Students will write documented critical papers, using paraphrase, summary, quotation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation to argue a position. 2. Students will participate in class discussions and in-class collaborative learning projects, analyzing and interpreting different genres. 3. Students will write critical essays in class on major works, paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, analyzing,  interpreting, and evaluating. 4. Students will complete satisfactorily a final examination, using paraphrase, summary, quotation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation to argue positions.

Out-of-class Assignments

1. Students will attend films and read cross-disciplinary works. 2. Students will generate discussion questions, present reports, or create short poems. 3. Students will listen to recordings, watch films, and view art reproductions.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students will  Analyze and evaluate selections from the texts to demonstrate understanding.  Discriminate among literary critics interpretations in formulating their own independent interpretations of works.                                             Analyze and evaluate the historical, regional and cultural aspects of selected works.                                                                                    Analyze and evaluate generic development and influences in individual works.  Explain gender-based and socio-political issues as well as the impact of historical context on selected literary works.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Students will  Write documented critical papers, using paraphrase, summary, quotation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation to argue a position.                      Participate in class discussions and in-class collaborative learning projects, analyzing and interpreting different genres.                              Write critical essays in class on major works, paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating.                                      Successfully complete a final examination, using paraphrase, summary, quotation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation to argue positions.

Eligible Disciplines

English: Masters degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Puchner, Martin. (Editor). The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volumes D, E,and F, Third Edition ed. W.W. Norton (Classic) , 2012 Rationale: The Norton Anthology of World Literature--of which the 3rd Edition is the most recent iteration--remains an excellent textbook for this course: the readings are excellent, the introductions are superb, and the editorial footnotes are top-notch. 2. Required Basho, Matsuo. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Penguin Classics ed. Penguin (Classic), 1967 Rationale: Should the professor teaching this course choose to include a handful of single-author texts on the course syllabus, Bashos travel narrative--which employs both prose and poetry--is a worthy addition. 3. Required Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Nights Dream, ed. Barnes and Noble (Classic) , 2007 Rationale: A Shakespeare play that most students will not have read during their high school years is a worthy addition to the English 161 course syllabus.  4. Required Woolf, Virgina. To the Lighthouse, ed. Mariner Books (Classic), 2005 Rationale: Given that a professor may want to forgo a textbook and instead select several stand-alone works, Woolfs classic novel is a wonderful way to introduce students to Modernism, stream-of-consciousness, and feminist theory. 5. Required Kinkaid, Jamaica. A Small Place, ed. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Classic), 2000 Rationale: This book is an ideal way to introduce students to anti-colonialist, structuralist, and reader-response theories. 6. Required Milosz, Czeslaw (Editor). A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry, ed. Mariner Books (Classic), 1998 Rationale: Simply put, the finest anthology of world poetry on the market.

Other Resources

1. Student-selected library materials.