Identify, describe, and apply various appropriate critical-reading approaches to literature.
Order Instructions
This week will focus on two primary subjects, Colonialism and Post-colonialism. The study of colonialism and its aftermath engenders discussions of many subjects, including power, race, cultural differences, and language. You will explore some of these subjects in your readings.
The assignments this week are as follows:
A discussion assignment
An analysis of a literary text
Your Learning Objectives for the Week:
Identify, describe, and apply various appropriate critical-reading approaches to literature.
Demonstrate an ability to compare and contrast different literary works within and across cultures and time periods, showing an awareness of differences over time and place.
Create effective analytical essays that express and defend claims about literary works using one’s own interpretation, textual evidence, and appropriate literary critical approaches when required, and using correct grammar, mechanics, and documentation using the APA referencing system.
Colonialism
During the nineteenth century, European countries competed to gain control over more and more colonies that were less developed than Europe, and exploited them for their natural resources. By 1914, the beginning of World War I, 85 percent of the world was controlled by European interests.
Colonialism and its effects are the focus of this week’s readings.
Keep in mind that colonialism is not a modern European phenomenon. The ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Moors, and the Ottomans all looked to expand their empires. World history is full of examples of one society gradually expanding its reach into newly conquered territory. Therefore, colonialism is not restricted to a specific time or place.
Also, the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century contributed to a rising European dominance. The development of the shipping trade and the invention of the steam engine created more opportunities for industry and commercialism to advance and grow. Raw materials, such as coal and iron, and cotton, were in high demand.
Industrialization greatly increased the economic and political strength of Europe.
Post-colonialism and Derek Walcott
The second half of the twentieth century, roughly after World War II (1939–1945 for the United States), marks the beginning of post-colonialism. After World War II, many nations began to achieve political independence from Europe. With this new independence came a restructuring of physical and cultural maps.
Typically, postcolonial texts explore questions relating to culture, identity, and assimilation. Africa, for instance, is a large continent made up of many different countries, and each country has diverse concerns, classes, ethnic and religious groups, and local customs. Furthermore, people of African descent are all over the world, each with his or her own unique experience mediated by the customs and values of the country in which he or she lives.
Derek Walcott (1930) was born in St. Lucia in the Caribbean while it was still a British colony. In fact, the island would not gain its independence until 1979. A West Indian of both African and European ancestry, Walcott as a poet and playwright has become an influential voice regarding the history of colonialism and race. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992.
Published in 1990, Omeros is considered to be Walcott’s most important work. Based on the great epic poems of the past such as The Odyssey, the poem attempts to tell the history of colonialism through the quest of a St. Lucian fisherman, Achille, to be with the woman he loves.
By Thursday, May 25, respond to the discussion question in the Discussion Area. Your answers should:
Answer all parts of the question thoroughly and accurately in at least one fully developed paragraph for each topic.
Provide examples to support and illustrate your points.
By Monday, May 29, review and comment on at least two, preferably more, of your peers’ answers.
Ensure your responses are substantive. Provide a significant level of detail in your responses and show active engagement through referencing the readings. Draw on your own experiences and give your opinions. Agree or disagree respectfully and ask questions that are designed to generate further discussion.
Question: It’s time to take stock of your experience in this course. You have read masterpieces of world literature and discussed the cultural ideas and changes that informed them. You have completed library research and explored peer-reviewed, scholarly articles on our readings. You have incorporated some of those ideas into your analytical essays. Now, it’s time to review your accomplishments and evaluate your progress.
As you reflect on the session, consider the following questions. Choose as many as you like to respond to in a paragraph response. After you respond, participate by commenting on classmates’ posts.
What was your favorite reading? Why?
Which assignment are most proud of? Why?
What surprised you or made you think this session?
What was the most important thing you learned?
How was your experience with the South University Online Library?
What was your favorite part of the course?
What would you change about the course?
What is your advice to a future student who is just beginning this course?
Textbook
Akbarj, S., Denecke, W., Fuchs, B., Levine, C., Lewis, P., & Wilson, E. (2018). The Norton anthology of world literature (Shorter 4th ed., Vol. 2). W. W. Norton. ISBN: 9780393602883
Maimon, E. & Yancy, K. (2023). A writer’s resource: A handbook for writing and research (7th ed.) McGraw-Hill.
ISBN: 9781264307876
Dickinson’s and Voltaire’s Poetry
Dickinson, E. (2018). My life had stood a loaded gun. In Puchner (ed.) The Norton Anthology of World Literature, (p. 574). Norton.
Voltaire. (2020). Candide. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN-13: 978-1503253797
Annotated Bibliography of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry
Cazé, A. (2022). Gathering and scattering Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Sillages Critiques, (33). https://doi.org/10.4000/sillagescritiques.13464
Miller, C., & Sánchez-Eppler, K. (Eds.). (2022). The Oxford Handbook of Emily Dickinson. Oxford University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0198833932
Stonum, G. L. (2022). The Poetry of emily dickinson: Philosophical Perspectives ed. by Elisabeth Camp. The Emily Dickinson Journal, 31(1), 70–73. https://doi.org/10.1353/edj.2022.0005
Through The Character of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy
Tolstoy, L. (2018). The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In M. Puchner(Ed.) The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 2, (shorter 4th edition) (pp. 769-806). Norton. ISBN-13: 978-0307951335
Kafka’s Metamorphosis
Kafka, F. (2018). The Metamorphosis. In M. Puchner (Ed.) The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 2, (shorter 4th edition) (pp. 995-1027). Norton.
My favorite reading
Through The Character of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy
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