World Literature, Spring 2018 -- Mr Furr

Homework Page

Back to Home Page for this course.

I will post all writing assignments on this page.. You should create a 'bookmark' of your own to this page, so you can go to it without having to first go to the Home Page for the course.

NOTE: BE SURE TO USE THE PROPER SUBJECT LINE ON ALL YOUR EMAILS TO ME! SEE BOTTOM OF HOME PAGE FOR EXAMPLE!

BE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO PRODUCE PLAIN TEXT ONLY!

Be sure to "send a copy to yourself" of ALL your homework assignments!

Here are my plans for what to do in case of a snowstorm or any weather emergency.

1. Unless Montclair State U. officially closes I will hold class as scheduled.
I'm prepared to get up and get on the road as early as it takes - 5 a.m., 4 a.m., whatever. I'll expect you to do the same thing.
Allow lots and lots of extra time to drive carefully and slowly.

2.If MSU officially closes, then of course we will not hold classes until MSU officially opens again. Then see point 1.

3.But you will have to email in your Homework on time even if MSU closes.

You can do your HW at home or wherever you have an Internet connection.

Sincerely, Grover Furr

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

IMPORTANT

We cannot have good in-class discussions unless each student has 1. the TEXT we are discussing that day; and 2. a copy of his/her HW assignment, to refresh your memory about what you have written.

Therefore, be sure to bring with you to class, every day:

  • The TEXT WE ARE DISCUSSING THAT DAY and on which you have written your HW assignment;
  • A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR HW ASSIGNMENT for that day.

If you have either or both of these on a laptop or tablet and bring that to class, you do not need to print them.

Be sure these items are clearly visible on your desk as I take attendance each day. I will take note.

THIS IS A REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT. The fact that it is over the Internet doesn't mean it is "optional" or "extra." If it is not sent in on time, you will get an "F" for this assignment.

NOTE: If you are listening to these lectures over the Internet (i.e. from off-campus, rather than on the MSU network), do not try to do so during "peak net use hours" -- roughly, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, and maybe a little longer on weekends.

NOTE 2: If you prefer, you can download these eight files to your home computer. Then you can listen to them by using the "File-Open" menu. They will "stream" smoothly, regardless of how busy the Internet is, because they are on your on Hard Drive. At the end of the class, you can simply delete them.

Here are the links for the 8 files -- just right-click on them to download them:

But try streaming them off the 'Net first -- it's easier.

NOTE 3: I have also created a 'slide show' on these 8 themes and put it on the web. The link to it is here. It is also in one of the link boxes on our Home Page. USE IT -- it is like a summary, or brief notes.

: For Tuesday, January 23:

Assignments on Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Papers due Tuesday, January 23)

Please read this page: "Now that we have completed the first two weeks of the class..."

Assignments on Sembene, God's Bits of Wood. (Papers due Thursday, February 8)

Read the Wikipedia article on Sembene Ousmane

Here is a helpful website on this novel, God's Bits of Wood.

Here is Prof. James Jones' great article "Fact and Fiction in God's Bits of Wood" (Research in African Literatures, 2000). Jones interviewed some of the surviving veterans of the Dakar-Niger Railroad strike.

Here is a good, brief article on the November, 1944, French massacre of Senegalese soldiers, who had fought for France in World War II, because the French Army did not want to pay them and they were demanding pay.

Assignments on Ngugi, Matigari. (Papers due Thursday, March 1)

Assignments on Argueta, One Day of Life (Papers due Tuesday, March 27)

Assignments on Barrios de Chúngara, Let Me Speak! (Papers due Tuesday, April 17)

* You should read the Wikipedia page on our author, Domitila Chúngara. (If this does not work, you can either change your text encoding in your web browser to "Western"; or, go to this page and click on the first entry.)

NOTE: World Literature Students:
I have received the following directive from the General Education committee:
"Before week 12 in the semester, instructors will grade an essay of at least 4-5 pages (1,000-1,250 words) comparing two works of literature and use the above rubric to assess each essay."
Therefore, this assignment will replace our final essay for the class.
Instead of following the "Guidelines for Short Papers" as you have been doing all semester, please do a paper comparing Let Me Speak and any other book we have read this semester. Same formatting, but 1000-1250 words in length.

 Thursday, April 26: Last Day of Class. No new assignments. We'll discuss end-of-semester matters like grades; the final exam. Other important stuff too! Please attend!

http://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/wl/wlhws18.html | Email Me | created 15 Jan 18