FFC 100: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN THOUGHT
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, FALL 2002

*2023 Note. Most links have been removed from this archival version of the syllabus.

COURSE INFORMATION. Freshman Foundations 100: Foundations of Western Thought. Fall 2002 at Chapman University. Room: Argyros Forum (AF) 202. Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office: 21 Wilkinson Hall. Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:30. Email: ajdrake_at_ajdrake.com. Course Web: www.ajdrake.com/ff100.

REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Transl. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Bantam, 1982.

Borges, Jorge Luis. Ficciones. Transl. Anthony Bonner. New York: Grove Press, 1989.

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Transl. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage, 1989.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground/The Double. Transl. J. Coulson. NY: Penguin, 1972.

Homer. The Odyssey. Transl. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1999.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. 2nd edition. New York: Norton, 1992.

Marx, Karl and F. Engels. The Communist Manifesto. New York: International Publishers, 1948.

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Transl. A.D. Melville. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986.

Plato. The Symposium. Transl. Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Confessions. Transl. Angela Scholar. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.

Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. New York: Penguin, 2000.

Voltaire. Candide. Transl. Robert Adams. New York: Norton, 1991.

Required E-Texts are available at no charge — just click on the hyperlinks on the course website.

COURSE RATIONALE AND ACTIVITIES

FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES. We will study texts from western literature, philosophy, science, and political science. The course is broad in scope, beginning with Homer’s Odyssey and continuing on to Plato, Ovid, Dante, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Rousseau, the English Romantics, Darwin, Marx and Engels, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and ending with twentieth-century authors Jorge Luis Borges and Albert Camus. Lectures will provide an understanding of the works’ historical context, structures, and themes, while classroom discussion will center on attention to key points in the texts. My aim is to communicate what I find valuable in the readings and challenge you to do the same. By the time you complete this course, my primary aim is that you will have gained considerable confidence in your ability to read excellent literature and to talk and write about it in a compelling way. Another aim is to point you towards further exploration of the areas and styles of literature that most interest you.

ACTIVITIES. In class, there will be a mix of lectures, whole-class and smaller-group discussion, occasional quizzes, an essay, a midterm exam, and a final exam. I encourage questions and comments—class sessions improve when students take an active part. Outside class, do the assigned readings before the relevant discussion dates, complete your journal sets as outlined below, and start planning and drafting your essays early. In literary studies, the aim is to read and discuss actively and thereby to develop your own voice in response to the texts you read. Insightful interpretation and the ability to make compelling connections are central goals. The essay, discussions, and journal-keeping should combine to help you work towards these goals.

COURSE POLICIES. Missing more than three classes is likely to result in a lower course grade. Make-up exams will be possible at the mutual convenience of instructor and student. Late final drafts of papers will be marked down 2/3 grade for the first three days of lateness, and one full grade thereafter. I will not accept final drafts not preceded by a rough draft. If you email your paper, I will respond with a verification that I’ve received it; contact me if you don’t receive prompt verification.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. Cheating on papers and tests will result in an “F” for the course, and in severe or repeated cases, it can lead to suspension or even expulsion from school. But since many problems in this area are caused by students not yet knowing how to handle source materials, please read my guides Proper Citation and Plagiphrasing.

QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALS AND DISCUSSION

*2023 Note. Visitors may download the following questions in PDF format : WORLD LITERATURE TO 1650 | WORLD LITERATURE SINCE 1650. A more course-specific set of questions: FFC QUESTIONS.

Homer | Plato | Ovid | Dante | Machiavelli | Shakespeare | Voltaire | Rousseau | English Romantics | Darwin | Marx & Engels | Dostoevsky | Borges | Camus

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES BELOW

WEEK 1

Mon. 08/26. Intro to class and to Homer’s Odyssey.

Wed. 08/28. Homer. The Odyssey.

WEEK 2

Mon. 09/02. Labor Day Holiday.

Wed. 09/04. Homer. The Odyssey.

WEEK 3

Mon. 09/09. Homer. The Odyssey.

Wed. 09/11. Plato. The Symposium.

WEEK 4

Mon. 09/16. Plato. The Symposium.

Wed. 09/18. Ovid. From Metamorphoses. Paper 1 rough draft due.

WEEK 5

Mon. 09/23. Intro to Medieval period. Dante. Inferno.

Wed. 09/25. Dante. Inferno.

WEEK 6

Mon. 09/30. Dante. Inferno.

Wed. 10/02. Intro to Renaissance. Machiavelli. The Prince. Paper 1 final draft due.

WEEK 7

Mon. 10/07. Machiavelli. The Prince.

Wed. 10/09. Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus.

WEEK 8

Mon. 10/14. Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus.

Wed. 10/16. Midterm Exam.

WEEK 9

Mon. 10/20. Intro to Enlightenment. Voltaire. Candide.

Wed. 10/22. Voltaire. Candide.

WEEK 10

Mon. 10/27. Rousseau. From Confessions.

Wed. 10/29. Rousseau. From Confessions.

WEEK 11

Mon. 11/04. Intro to English Romanticism. Blake. From Songs of Innocence and of Experience; Wordsworth, “Tintern Abbey.”

Wed. 11/06. Coleridge. “Dejection: an Ode.” Shelley, “To a Skylark.”

WEEK 12

Mon. 11/11. Intro to mid-C19. Darwin. From The Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man. E-text excerpts available online.

Wed. 11/13. Marx and Engels. The Communist Manifesto.

WEEK 13

Mon. 11/18. Dostoevsky. Notes from Underground.

Wed. 11/20. Dostoevsky. Notes from Underground. Paper 2 rough draft due.

WEEK 14

Mon. 11/25. Intro to twentieth-century literature. Borges. From Ficciones.

Wed. 11/27. Thanksgiving Holiday.

WEEK 15

Mon. 12/02. Camus. The Stranger.

Wed. 12/04. Camus. The Stranger.

FINALS WEEK

12/09-12/14. Final Exam on 12/13 beginning at regular class time. Paper 2 final draft due Friday of finals week.