LIT 3300: Western Literary Tradition

Fall 2009 MW 9:30-10:45 AM

Theresa M. Towner

Course Description and Requirements

Required for all literary studies majors, this course introduces students to several works at the core of
Western literary themes and practices as well as to the concept of “tradition” in literature and culture.
“Tradition” and “culture”--however staid and stuffy they may sound in the abstract--are always in flux:
they change in response to challenges, and they evolve also as individual artists attempt to explain them for
new audiences. Course requirements include three examinations, including a comprehensive final exam,
and in-class writing assignments.

Texts

Homer, The Odyssey

Aeschylus, The Oresteia
Sophocles, Three Theban Plays
Aristotle, Poetics
Plato, The Republic (selections)
Dante, Inferno
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (selections)
Shakespeare, Hamlet
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems
William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
LIT 3300: Western Literary Tradition
Fall 2009 MW 9:30-10:45 AM
Theresa M. Towner

Course Description and Requirements

Required for all literary studies majors, this course introduces students to several works at the core of
Western literary themes and practices as well as to the concept of “tradition” in literature and culture.
“Tradition” and “culture”—however staid and stuffy they may sound in the abstract—are always in flux:
they change in response to challenges, and they evolve also as individual artists attempt to explain them for
new audiences. Course requirements include two examinations during the semester, each worth 30% of
your course grade, and a comprehensive final exam, worth the remaining 40%. Attendance, participation,
and occasional in-class writing assignments are also required; the quality of these performances will
determine cases of borderline grades. Please note that all of the written work for this course must be
completed in order for you to pass the course.

You cannot hope to pass this class if you do not attend it and complete all of the required work; more than
two unexcused absences will adversely affect your course grade. I do not accept late work or schedule
makeup exams; I do not issue grades of incomplete. This course will be conducted according to strict codes
of academic honesty. All breaches of these codes will be reported to the University’s judiciary officer.
Penalties for deliberate cheating may include failing the assignment in question, failing the course, or
suspension and expulsion from the University. Students are expected to know the University’s policies and
procedures on such matters, as well as those governing student services, conduct, and obligations.

My office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 2-3 PM (and by appointment) in JO 5.620. You may
telephone me at 972-883-2031 or send e-mail to tmtowner@utdallas.edu.

Texts

The texts marked on the attached syllabus as PDF will be sent by the instructor via e-mail at your request.
The following REQUIRED EDITIONS are available at the UTD Book Store, Off-Campus Books, and
commercially.

Homer, The Odyssey (tr. Robert Fitzgerald; Farrar-Strauss)

Aeschylus, The Oresteia (tr. Richmond Lattimore; Chicago)
Sophocles, Three Theban Plays (tr. Robert Fagles; Penguin)
Aristotle, Poetics (Penguin)
Dante, Inferno (tr. Allen Mandelbaum; Bantam)
Shakespeare, Hamlet (Signet)
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems (Harcourt)
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (Penguin/Plume)
LIT 3300: Western Literary Tradition
Fall 2009 MW 9:30-10:45 AM
Towner

24 August: Course introduction

26 August: Homer, Odyssey, Books I-VIII

31 August: Odyssey, Books IX-XVI

2 September: Odyssey, Books XVII-XXIV

7 September: Labor Day: no class

9 September: Aeschylus, Agamemnon

14 September: Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides

16 September: Sophocles, Antigone

21 September: Sophocles, Oedipus the King

23 September: Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

28 September: Plato, The Republic, Books III and X (PDF)

30 September: Aristotle, Poetics

5 October: Poetics
7 October: First examination

12 October: Dante, Inferno, Cantos I-VIII

14 October: Inferno, Cantos IX-XVII

19 October: Inferno, Cantos XVIII-XXX

21 October: Inferno, Cantos XXXI-XXXIV

26 October: Chaucer, Canterbury Tales: General Prologue; Knight’s Prologue (lines 1-34); Miller’s
Prologue and Tale (PDF)
28 October: Canterbury Tales: Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale; Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale (PDF)

2 November: Shakespeare, Hamlet

4 November: Hamlet

9 November: Second examination

11 November: T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

16 and 18 November: Eliot, The Waste Land

23 November: Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (PDF)

25 November: Thanksgiving: no class

30 November and 2 December: Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

7 December: Course review

16 December: 8-10 AM: Final examination