Dr. Cynthia Jenéy

Office: SSC 222K

Phone: 271-4447

Office Hours: MTW 1:30-2:30

E-mail: jeney@missouriwestern.edu

Required Texts:

Gardner and Maier, Translators Gilgamesh

Aristotle, Poetics (trans. Malcolm Heath)

Homer, Odyssey, (trans. Robert Fagles)

Heaney, Seamus (trans.) Beowulf

Siegel and Shuster, The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1

Handout articles

· Bring your book(s) to class every day.

· Make sure you have read assigned sections before coming to class on the day readings are listed (i.e., read Tablets I-VII of Gilgamesh for Tuesday, July 1)

· Come to class prepared for freewriting, WebBoard posting, and especially roundtable discussion based on the assigned reading.

Course Description:

The course will discuss themes, stylistic elements, ideas, and structures employed by classic and modern authors whose main characters are epic heroes. The course will explore definitions and arguments about the nature of the epic hero, the origins, purposes, and sustainability of epic heroes in art, literature, film, television, and other cultural artifacts. Bring your “A” game: the course is an upper-division, senior level literature course and requires critical reading and thinking, as well as writing.

Attendance:

A total of 2 absences or more (exceeds 2 “weeks”) will result in a failing grade for the course. It is your responsibility to keep track of your attendance. Contact a classmate to get notes and assignments if you miss a class meeting, and make sure you consult the schedule (coming soon).

Email:

Email is a wonderful thing. It does not, however, replace attendance. Please do not email your instructor asking for a review/narrative of the class you missed—but if you have a study-mate in class, perhaps you could email notes to each other, in the event of illness or emergency absence. The telephone is also a wonderful thing, but it does not replace class attendance. If you miss class, you could use the phone to call a classmate for notes or information that you have missed.

Please DO contact your instructor in case of the following:

* You don’t understand the assignment, or want to clarify some point from class reading or discussion;

* You want to arrange a time to talk with me outside of class;

* You have drafted something that you aren’t sure about, and would like some feedback early in the process;

* Your Mom has been kidnapped by rogue foreign spies, and you must leave the country to rescue her.

Electronic communications among students and instructors shall remain mature, polite, and appropriate to the context of the class and the college setting. Nastygrams are copied and forwarded to the Dean of Students.

Disabilities:

Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities should contact the Disability Services as soon as possible so that we can discuss alternative ways to satisfy class requirements.

Academic Honesty:

You will receive a grade of an F for any paper that shows evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism. You have the burden of proving that a paper showing evidence of cheating or plagiarism has in fact been written by you. You should keep thorough evidence of your writing processes for all papers so that you can meet this burden of proof. Anytime another writer’s words, ideas, or information appear in your paper they must be properly punctuated and cited. Evidence proving plagiarism may lead to further penalties. Please not carefully the statement on plagiarism on the department website found at, http://www.missouriwestern.edu/`engdept/plagiarism.html.

Papers:

Please use MLA research paper formatting/style for critical literary papers. Formal Assignments should be typed (word-processed), double-spaced, with 1” margins all around. The preferred typeface is Times New Roman (or a similar font), and the preferred size is 12 point. If you need a “refreshminder” for using MLA citation / bibliography formatting and style, please ask for guidance! J

Course Grading:

10% Short Paper

20% Midterm

20% Prospectus/Annotated bibliography

30% Term Paper

20% In Class Participation, WebBoard Participation, Attendance, etc.

100% Total

ENG 430: EPIC HERO

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

SUMMER SESSION II 2008

	JUNE
M	30	Intro. WebBoard
	JULY
T	1	Gilgamesh (Tablets I-VII)
W	2	Gilgamesh (Tablets VIII-XII); GS Kirk “Five Monolithic Theories”
TH	3	Aristotle, Poetics
M	7	Poetics; Homer, Odyssey
T	8	Homer, Odyssey
W	9	Homer, Odyssey
TH	10	Homer, Odyssey; Judges 13-16 (Story of Samson); Short Paper Due (2-21/2 pp.)
M	14	Midterm; Beowulf
T	15	Beowulf
W	16	Beowulf; Spenser, Faerie Queene (excerpt); “The Rape of the Lock” (excerpt)
TH	17	Siegel & Schuster The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1
M	21	The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1 (cont.);
T	22	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
W	23	Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Heroes
TH	24	FINAL TERM PAPER DUE

Additional Handout readings.