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University of Texas Dallas

School of Arts, Technology, and Humanities
LIT 2331: Introduction to World Literature
Art and Literary Appreciation
LIT 2331.003 | Spring 2023| Tues/Thurs 10-11:15 AM | AD 2.216
Consultation Hours: Tues/Thurs 11:30 Am-1 PM | Rm. JO 3.704 | [email protected]
Instructor of Record: Mr. Cristian Carlo Suller, M. Litt.

Course Description
As an introduction to literature, this course offers a vast variety of literary forms, perspectives, cultural contexts, and
ways of reading. Meanwhile, it also serves as a space for exploration and appreciation of literary works—and
cognate forms—that have been marginalized or obscured by dominant Western paradigms and traditions.

At its core, this course aims to critique traditional understanding of literary genre, time, and location, yet invoking
them at the same time. Through Eagleton’s “What is Literature?” the class will problematize what gets to be
included (and excluded) in what we consider “literary”; to temporally locate literatures outside the Western-centric
paradigm; and to critically examine hybrid literatures that elide neat categorizations in terms of location (as in
diasporic writing or the anomalies in what we consider “national” literatures).

Rationale
Readings in this course range from the most conventional forms written by identifiably canonical figures (sonnet by
Elizabeth Barret Browning, short fiction by Giovanni Boccaccio, a novel by Mary Shelley, etc.) to the more
contemporary ones (a graphic novel by Victor LaValle; online column by Jelani Cobb; magazine article by Viet
Thanh Nguyen, etc.). Each chapter is made up of different literary forms and genres that talk to each other and
concludes with one cognate form of cultural/artistic production (a film, a song, or hybrid/popular media content) to
create a wholistic experience and appreciation of a theme in literature.

This version of World Literature is guided by loosely structured themes —an organizing principle of sorts for
pedagogical purposes— to encourage a congenial treatment of literature where art and literary appreciation is the
primary goal. Whether this appreciation comes from the lens of New Criticism and Formalism, Affect or Reader
Response, Marxism and Cultural Materialism, Postcolonialism, Gender Studies, Politics and Sociology, New
Historicism, Pragmatism, etc.—so long as students can raise the discourse to the level of “academic,” this course
will have succeeded. The intersection of all these perspectives creates diverse, nuanced, culture-sensitive, and
historically informed literary conversations.

Learning Objectives
Primarily, this course is designed to get students invested in reading, engaging, and appreciating literature. The
course commits to providing meaningful and relatable content, stimulating activities, and reasonable formative-
evaluative assessments aimed at developing these skills:

1. Critical Thinking: enhancing the ability to read various texts on multiple levels, to understand their cultural
significance in their historical moment, and evaluate their underlying assumptions;
2. Competition and Collaboration: working together as a class to create an environment built on trust and
respect, while fueling the competitive spirit when tasked to work as a group to encourage optimal
involvement;
3. Effective Communication: tactfully expressing ideas from different—sometimes opposing—perspectives to
gain a deeper understanding of both sides, and acknowledging the value in engaging oneself in ideological
debates to modify one’s extremist and absolutist tendencies; and
4. Cultural/Linguistic/Racial/Gender/Sexual/Religious Sensitivity: cultivating awareness regarding the
implications of one’s statements and actions and understanding the motivations of people why they say the
things they say and do the things they do by putting themselves in others’ shoes (yet never tolerating forms
of discrimination, disrespect, and violation be underplayed, ignored, or disregarded).

Required Texts and Materials

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Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls (Penguin, 0140157654) (Feb. 21)

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Penguin, ISBN: 9780141439471) (Apr. 20)
Victor LaValle, Destroyer (BOOM! Studios, ISBN: 978-1684150557) (Apr. 27)

PDF copies or direct links to other readings, music, movies, and movie clips may be posted on e-Learning.

Academic Calendar

Jan. 17 Syllabus, Introductions

Jan. 19 Diagnostic Writing, Team Building

Jan. 24 What is Literature? What is the difference between what is “aesthetic” and what is “art?”
How do we qualify “literature” in this class?

Required Readings:
“What is Literature?” (Terry Eagleton)
“Art as Technique” (Viktor Shklovsky)

Jan. 26 How do we read literature? What factors and elements do we consider consequential in
our interpretation of texts? Is it important to know the intent of the author?
What is your inclination in reading and making sense of texts?

Required Readings:
“The Death of the Author” (Roland Barthes)
“Against Theory” (Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels)
“There Is No Textualist Position” (Stanley Fish)

Feb. 7 How do we read a poem (part 1)? How do critics evaluate poetry? Are there general
criteria for evaluating poetry across cultures? What do you look for in a (good) poem?

Readings:
“Keats’ Sylvan Historian: history without footnotes” (Cleanth Brooks)
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” (John Keats)
“A Formalist Approach to Reading Literary Works: What Questions One Does Ask of a
Poem, a Story, a Play?" (Gemino Abad)

Feb. 9 Quiz #1

Feb. 14 How do we read a poem (part 2)? Poems on poetry: the Ars Poetica form.

“Ars Poetica” (Archibald McLeish)

“First, a Poem Be Magical” (Jose Garcia Villa)
“Ars Poetica” (Andrea Carter Brown)
“Read Me” (Ophelia Dimalanta)

Feb. 16 Chapter I: Literature and the Self #Hazim #Sam #Gabe

“A Hanging” (George Orwell)

“The Spleen Monologues” (Jessica Zafra)
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“Araby” (James Joyce)

Feb. 21 “’HOWL!’ and Me” (Phillip Lopate)

“I’m Nobody” (Emily Dickinson)
“Indian Summer” (Dorothy Parker)

Feb. 23 Quiz #2

Feb. 28 Chapter II: Love and Literature #Sebastian #Elizabeth #Briyett

“How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways” (Elizabeth Barret-Browning)

“Cupid and Psyche” (in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology)
“A Decade” (Amy Lowell)

Mar. 2 “The Falcon of Don Federigo” (Giovanni Boccaccio) #David #Madison #James
“Tanabata’s Wife” (Sinai Hamada) & #Christine

Mar. 7 “Savitri and Satyavan” (from Mahabharata) #Kiet #Benjamin #Jenny

“A Kind of Burning” (Ophelia Dimalanta)
“You Don’t Know Me” (Song by Jann Arden)

Mar. 9 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Movie (Ang Lee, 2001)

Mar. 21 “Lord Randall” (Anonymous)

“To Celia” (Ben Jonson)
“Divide by Two” (Francisco Arcellana)
“Bridges” (Song by Sergio Mendes)

Mar. 23 Midterm Exam: Part I

Mar. 28 Chapter III: The ‘Other’ in Literature (Race)

“Seeing Like a Cop” (Lisa Guenther)

Mar. 30 “’Black Panther” and the Invention of ‘Africa’” (Jelani Cobb) #Chioniso #Joshua #Sam

“I, Too” (Langston Hughes)

“Push” (Sapphire)
“Summer, Somewhere” (Danez Smith)

Apr. 4 “How the Model Minority Myth of Asian Americans…” (Viet Thanh Nguyen)
“Skin-Light” (Natalie Diaz)

Apr. 6 Quiz #3

Apr. 11 The ‘Other’ in Literature: (Gender)

“Mythos of Patriarchy in X-Men Films” (Betty Kaklamanidou)

“Soledad” and “Revolt from Hymen” (Angela Manalang Gloria)

Apr. 13 “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Emily Prager)

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“Pagkat Lalaki Ka” (Michael Coroza)

Apr. 18 Monsters, Outcasts, Freaks and other ‘Others’ in Literature and Popular Culture

“The Lure of Horror” (Christian Jarrett)

Apr. 20 Frankenstein (preface to Ch. 10): Part I (Mary Shelley) #Jewel #Amina #Roz

Apr. 25 Frankenstein (Ch. 11-24): Part II #Jewel #Amina #Roz

Apr. 27 Destroyer (Victor LaValle) #William #Kyle #Saketh

May 2 Review Day

May 4 Final Exam

May 8 Final Exam (Come to class to know your tentative final grade. This is optional.)

Grading

Final Exam (Multiple Choice, Short Response Type) 20%

Recorded Class Participation 20%
Scheduled Quizzes 15%
Midterm Exam (2 Parts) 15%
Group Presentation 15%
Group Works/Activities/Formative Assessments 15%
Total 100%

Letter Grade Equivalent

A+ 97-100 A 93-96.9 A- 90-92.9

B+ 87-89.9 B 83-86.9 B- 80-82.9
C+ 77-79.9 C 73-76.9 C- 70-72.9
D+ 67-69.9 D 63-66.9 D- 60-62.9
F 59.9 and under

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

1. There is only one essay requirement in this course, late submission—without official documentation—will not be
permitted. Students with accommodation/s will be implemented as determined by the OSA.

2. If a student is absent on the exam day, s/he will either get an “F” if her/his outstanding average is below 62.9% or
an “INC,” which gives her/him the chance to complete his grade within the following semester.

3. If a student is absent on the date of her/his group presentation, s/he automatically loses 15% of her/his final grade.

4. While attendance is not part of the grading criteria, a student’s absence will affect the computation of her/his class
participation.

5. Each student is allowed a total of three (3) class days in an M/W schedule. Beyond the number of allowable
absences, her/his grade goes down by one level every instance of absence thereafter (for example, the 4th absence
will bring the grade down to A- from A, 5th absence will bring the grade further down to B+, and so on).
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6. Inversely, students with zero absence in the entire semester will get a grade that is one level higher (if the
computed grade of a student is equivalent to an A, s/he will get A+). Note, though, that three counts of tardiness will
be counted as one absence.

7. The only way to get extra credit in this class is to sign up for an additional presentation, preferably in groups of
three. A student may be allowed to present more than twice only if her/his outstanding average is D+ or below.

8. Every instance of meaningful class participation is noted and recorded. Both frequency and quality of active
participation determine one’s grade in this criterion. On day 2 (Jan. 23), everyone is expected to submit a 3x5 index
card where absences, participation and quiz/test scores are recorded. For complete transparency, students may
request access to their “class cards” in class. Additionally, they may schedule a consult if they have questions and
contentions regarding their scores.

9. Everyone is expected to have read scheduled texts or have watched and listened to the songs and films for that
meeting before coming to class to generate a meaningful discussion. It is also recommended that the films be
watched as a group, when possible.

Academic Integrity
Students of UTD are expected to maintain a high level of responsibility and academic honesty. It is critically
important you produce original written work and document all sources accurately using MLA format.

Please consult the following web sites addressing academic integrity as well as what constitutes cheating at UTD:

• https://conduct.utdallas.edu
• https://conduct.utdallas.edu/students
• https://conduct.utdallas.edu/policies
• https://conduct.utdallas.edu/integrity
• https://policy.utdallas.edu/utdsp5003

Ask your instructor should you become concerned that you are possibly committing an act of scholastic dishonesty.
UTD will hold you accountable regardless of whether or not you intended to plagiarize your paper. Self-plagiarism
is plagiarism, unless given the permission of the former and the present instructor-of-record.

Sharing Confidential Information

Students considering sharing personal information in email, in person, or within assignments or exams should be
aware that faculty members and teaching/research assistants are required by UT Dallas policy to report information
about sexual misconduct to the UT Dallas Title IX Coordinator. Per university policy, faculty have been informed
that they must identify the student to the UT Dallas Title IX Coordinator. Students who wish to have confidential
discussions of incidents related to sexual harassment or sexual misconduct should contact the Student Counseling
Center (972-883-2527 or after hours 972-UTD-TALK or 972-883-8255), the Women's Center (972-883-8255), a
health care provider in the Student Health Center (972-883-2747), a clergyperson (or other legally recognized
religious advisor) of their choice, or an off-campus resource (i.e., rape crisis center, doctor, psychologist). Students
who are sexually assaulted, harassed, or victims of sexual misconduct, domestic violence, or stalking, are
encouraged to directly report these incidents to the UT Dallas Police Department at 972-883-2222 or to the Title IX
Coordinator at 972-883-2218. Additional information and resources may be found at
http://www.utdallas.edu/oiec/title-ix/resources.

Comet Creed
This creed was voted on by the UT Dallas student body in 2014. It is a standard that Comets choose to live by and
encourage others to do the same:

“As a Comet, I pledge honesty, integrity, and service in all that I do.”

University Policies
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Please review the university policies at http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies.

(The descriptions and timelines contained in this syllabus are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.)