Great Books I is a lecture/discussion course on influential works of world literature. We begin with early and originally oral works (Gilgamesh and Homer) through Greek tragedy, poetry to masterpieces of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Our focus will be on the contribution these works made to their culture and to ours in literary, historical, and philosophical terms. Although this is often taught as a survey course, we will spend more time on fewer works so that we have a better sense of each of these works. Still, there is significant reading, significant difficult reading.

Texts:
The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, 7th ed., vol. 1

Some additional course materials will be available on the course web site in Web Vista and at my website; students will be expected to use personal or university computers to access these additional materials.

Papers, Exams, etc.: A final exam of short answer essays that will account for a major portion of your grade. Along the way, you will also participate in small group online discussions on WebVista based on critical problems in the texts, and complete online study questions. You will need to allow time out of class for the online work.

Grading: Final exam is worth 100 points; Group discussion participation is worth 100 points; Study questions are worth 150 points. Final grades will be based on a possible 300 points (so there is a 50 point "bonus" in the study question grade). 90% & above is an A; 80% & above is a B; and so on. So, if you attend regularly, keep up with the reading and assignments, you can make up for any "stumbles" on papers or the exam and do well in this class. Consistency will be the key.

Office & Hours: I will be in my office (205B SFH) for consultation after class on Tuesday and Thursday each week and by appointment. In addition, I will be online in Vista in the evenings for impromptu consultation. I encourage you to contact me via email at rcraig2@kent.edu for questions and to arrange meetings. My office phone is 672-1741 (but I more often check email than I check voicemail).

You will be using Web Vista at vista.kent.edu.