QuestionWeek 1 Forum: Introductions and Choosing Topics

Week 1 Forum: Introductions and Choosing Topics

Introductions and Choosing Topics

1. Begin by introducing yourself. Tell us who you are, where you’re from, and what you do, and then give us some details about yourself that will help us to get a feel for who you really are. For instance: do you have any favorite foods? What kinds of books or movies do you like? What’s your biggest pet peeve?

1. Next, give us a little bit of background on your experience with world literature. What do you think is meant by “world literature,” and have you ever read any works that fit this category, or seen movies based on a piece of world literature? If so, what did you find the most challenging? If not, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in this class?

1. Last, please look over the required forum assignments for Weeks 3 through 14 (see below for titles, and the forum itself for a complete prompt), and list your top three choices for which forums you would like to lead (everyone will act as a discussion leader for a week). Feel free to include a sentence or two about why you want to lead those weeks, as that will help me arrange everyone into a week that is interesting to him or her.

Your initial forum post needs to be 300-600 words

Week 2

Forum

The Trojan War and Human Will

Discussion Leader: Instructor

Discussion leaders, after reading I,VI, VIII, IX, XVI, XVII, XXVI in the Iliad, respond to one of the following questions, using specific examples and direct quotation from the reading to support your answer.

• Human Will in the Story: Consider the conflict between fate/destiny on one hand and free will on the other. How do the characters if the Iliad seem to see themselves in regards to these ideas?Does one seem to dominate their understanding of their lives? Choose one character specifically and explain how he or she seems to understand this aspect of his/her existence. Be sure to use quotations and specific examples to support your arguments.
• Human Will and Our Lives: How do you feel that fate/destiny and free will play a role in YOUR life? How would you describe your own views of this these ideas, and how do your views compare to the way these ideas are depicted in the Iliad? Be sure to reference specific passages from the Iliad to help us see the connections.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above is due on Wednesday of Week

Week 3
Considering Odysseus

Discussion Leaders: Joel Alexander, Matt Kostielney, Ashlee Pollock

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned sections of the Odyssey, respond to ONE of the following questions (choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders). Please divide your response into logical paragraphs to help the rest of us read it more easily.

• Describe Odysseus’ character in terms of the good choices and the poor choices he makes. Overall, do you think he makes more good choices or poor ones? How does that affect your view of Odysseus as a hero? Be sure to use lines from the reading to explain your stance.

• Compare Odysseus to one of the heroes in the Iliad. Is he a hero in the same way that the other hero is? Make sure to illustrate your response with direct references to the two epics.

Compare the Odyssey to the Iliad sections we read in terms of focus. Does it change the “feel” of the epic in any way to have the Odyssey focus on a single person, rather than the “ensemble cast” of the Iliad?

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above ar

Week 5
The Ramayana as Education

Discussion Leaders: Bill Long, Isaac Renfro, Catric Whaley

Discussion Leaders, after reading the assigned sections of the Ramayana, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders). Please divide your response into logical paragraphs to help the rest of us read it more easily.

1. Choose two characters from the Ramayana and discuss at them in terms of what sorts of lessons readers can learn from them. Try to boil your discussion of each down into a single sentence “moral,” and then explain, using examples from the work, how you came to that conclusion. Do these seem to you to be useful morals in our own time? Explain why or why not using specific examples from your life and/or our own culture.
2. The lessons of the Ramayana are deeply rooted within the Hindu concept of dharma, or right behavior, and karma, the idea that an individual’s actions shape his or her destiny by visiting evil on evil and good on good. Choose two characters from the Ramayana to discuss, one of whom “gets what he/she deserves” and one character that you thought did not get what he or she deserved. Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the epic as support. Follow this with a discussion of dharma and karma in your own life; what role do you believe dharma and karma play, if any?
3. Think about the Ramayana in comparison to the two Greek epics from which we read excerpts, and put forth an argument about what seemed similar and what seemed different. Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the epics as support.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednes

Week 6
The Sakuntala: An Eastern Fairy Tale

Discussion Leaders: Jeremy Bailey, Heidi Nagel, Luana Stefanovic

Discussion Leaders, after reading The Sakuntala, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. Think about the Sakuntala in terms of conflict. What seems to be the main conflict driving the action in this play? Explain your responses, citing specific passages and quotations from the play as support.
2. Consider the concepts of dharma and karma that we discussed in Week 5. Do these seem to be as important here in The Sakuntala as they are in The Ramayana? Support your response with specific evidence from both works.
3. Think about your own experience with Western fairy tales like “Cinderella” and “Snow White,” and choose one well-known western fairy tale to compare to the Sakuntala. What are two things that seemed similar, and two that seemed different? Make sure to tell us what Western fairy tale you have chosen, and if possible, link to an online copy of the version you’re thinking of, or, if that’s not possible, tell us what version you’re thinking about, such as, for instance, “the Disney version” or “the Grimm brothers’ version.” Cite specific passages from each work to support your discussion.

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 6

Week 8

Reading Themes in African Stories and Considering Oral Culture

Discussion Leaders: Curtis Barholomew, Maurice Edmonds, Justin Symons

Discussion Leaders, after reading the African tales assigned this week, respond to ONE (1) of the following questions(choose a question that has not already been addressed by one of your fellow discussion leaders):

1. Discuss one or two common themes you found in any two of these tales. What was similar and dissimilar in the treatment of the themes in each story? Support your answer with discussions of specific examples from each story.
2. After reading these stories, do you see “Africa” as a unified culture, or were the tales too different to be grouped together in such a large category? Consider the tales in comparison to other texts that we’ve read, and support your response with direct references to the stories you discuss. Aspects of the story that you could discuss include setting, themes, characters, symbolism, and so forth. Follow this up by thinking about American culture; do we have any shared cultural stories that establish us as a unified culture? Why or why not? Support your answer with specific examples.

1. These tales were passed down through oral tradition. Please read the lesson materials on the oral tradition, and if possible, view some of the linked videos as well. What about these stories seem to make them so suitable for being passed down orally? Follow this up by discussing the role of oral tradition in your own life. Do you and your family and/or friends have oral traditions of any kind (stories that you tell about one another, stories that you learned from your older relatives, etc.)? How does passing down these stories help to create a shared culture among your relations and friends?

If you are NOT a discussion leader: please post at least one (1) response to EACH discussion leader’s main post. Posting the minimum number of responses will earn a C-range grade; responding more and helping to turn the forum into a true back-and-forth discussion will result in a higher forum grade.

Please divide your post into paragraphs for easier reading, and make sure to reference, paraphrase, or quote specific passages from the text to support and illustrate what you say (and cite the passages using MLA citation format). Also remember that required forums are multi-part assignments; discussion leaders’ 300-500 word posts responding to the questions above are due on Wednesday of Week 8.

Week 10

Evaluating Crimes and Considering Punishments

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