CLAS 230-01: Classical Mythology: The Trojan War (.5 Credit)
MEETING DAYS,
TIMES, AND PLACE:
TTh,
9:30-10:45, Wallace 207, for the
second half of the semester
INSTRUCTOR
INFORMATION:
Dr. Robert
Holschuh Simmons
Office:
21 Wallace Hall
Office Phone:
309-457-2378
E-mail:
rsimmons@monmouthcollege.edu
Office Hours:
Monday and Friday 9-10 AM, Tuesday-Thursday 1-2 PM, and by appointment.
PREREQUISITES:
None
FOR WHOM
PLANNED:
This course is
designed for anyone interested in understanding the Trojan War through a variety
of lenses. We will read a number of
stories, from the ancient world to the modern, that draw upon the War, in a
range of ways—as mythology, as literature, as history, as products of their
times and circumstances, and as reflections of fascination through the ages.
It will be particularly well-suited for students who like to be
intellectually active and interactive—much of the value in this course will come
through students’ engagement with texts and other course material through
discussion and class activities.
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
This course
will ask students to understand the Trojan War and how it was used by writers
and movie-makers over thousands of years.
The core of the course will be reading and analyzing texts from ancient
Greece that use the Trojan War as their basis, but we will also explore ways in
which the Trojan War has found its way into contemporary American culture, such
as through the movie Troy.
Students will need to be willing to write about and discuss analytically
what they have read and otherwise learned in the class, and to take part in
other activities to reinforce course content.
This class fulfills half of the Beauty and Meaning in Works of Art requirement,
and can be used toward majors in Classics,
Latin, or Greek. One
caution:
this course will be dealing with a
number of topics that were prominent parts of Greek and Roman life through the
centuries, some of which may make certain people uncomfortable.
Among things that may make some students uncomfortable about our
readings, video clips, and other ideas presented and/or discussed in class are
the following: violent behavior in the readings and in some video clips;
depictions of male and female nudity in ancient vase paintings, and brief nudity
in contemporary film; portrayals of ancient slavery in our readings; and ancient
stereotypes of sexes and cultures that come up in readings, which we will
discuss in class. While I will do
my best to make our discussions inclusive, kind, and academic, some of the
content of this course may not be ideal for students who are particularly
sensitive to the sorts of matters mentioned above.
If you take issue with any of the material or discussions in this course,
please contact me.
STUDENT
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon
successful completion
of this
course,
students
should
be
able to do the following, and
more:
1)
Know a wide range of aspects of the Trojan War, both as a rich source of
mythological stories and as an event that has a certain basis in history.
2)
Know the primary sources (literary, artistic, and archaeological) from which we
understand the Trojan War and its antecedents as we do.
3)
Analyze those primary sources in speech and writing to understand them as
literature and as documents of their times and cultural contexts.
4)
Examine
social, cultural, and historical factors influencing the use and interpretation
of different aspects of the Trojan War story over several centuries.
5)
Explain
connections and overlaps between depictions of the Trojan War in the ancient and
modern worlds.
RELEVANT CLASSICS
STUDENT
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1)
Think critically about the Classical World, including knowing what questions to
ask and how to answer them.
3) Know the broad overview of Greek and
Roman history (the difference between
the Republic and Imperial periods, for example), the values prevailing within
each culture and period, and the factors that led to changes in the political,
social, and economic structures.
4) Be familiar with Classical
literature, including the major authors, genres, groupings, and relationship of
literature to history and culture.
5) Understand the role of Classics
in the modern world.
EVALUATION AND
GRADING:
PREPARATION
AND PARTICIPATION:
This will be a
highly active and interactive class.
We will be spending a lot of time talking and writing about the things we
have read and otherwise learned for, and in, class.
Thus it is critical that you be willing to take active part in class,
both intellectually and physically.
To do the best job in carrying out class activities, it will be important for
you to be well prepared for each class.
Thus a significant part of your grade will come from your participation
in class and your preparation for it.
Your grade in this category will be based on a combination of my
observations and notes and your own assessment of your performance in this area.
To help both you and me keep up with your preparation and participation
throughout the semester, you will have your own Preparation and Participation
(P&P) folder that contains a self-assessment instrument. At the end of
each class period, you will assess your own participation based on, for example,
your level of preparation for class, the quantity and quality of your
contributions to class discussion, etc. I will review your
self-assessments and, if needed, alter them to reflect my assessment of your
participation based on observation and evidence. At one or more points in
the class, you may need to provide an overall assessment of your preparation and
participation based on your daily logs.
At the end of the term, I will average the daily scores and incorporate
your written assessments to determine the final Preparation and Participation
grade.
Attendance:
Because attendance is crucial to your success, and because our class meetings
are where a great deal of the course’s value comes, I will hold you to a high
standard of attendance.
You may
occasionally, however, need to miss a class for illness or other reasons.
Thus you will not be penalized
for your first two absences, whatever the reason for them.
If you miss more than two classes, however, your grade or status in the
class will be affected according to the following parameters:
Normally, the
two-absence cushion should account for matters outside of your control that
would keep you from attending class, so the third one, even if it could be
excusable on its own, serves as the consequence for classes missed previously
that were within your control, and it underscores the importance of your being
present: any absence, for whatever the reason, detracts from your learning in
the class. However, I recognize
that a person can, at times, run into circumstances that can keep her or him out
of class on several occasions without any fault on the student’s part.
If your first two absences were all due to debilitating or contagious
illness, family emergency, mandatory religious obligation, or participation in
an authorized College activity (for any of which I may require documentation), I
will not penalize you for a third absence either, if that also was precipitated
by one of those circumstances. For
absences beyond the first two that you believe should be excused, you should
contact me beforehand if you are in position to know about the absences in
advance (such as if you have a mandatory religious or College obligation); if
the absence is the result of an emergency, you should notify me within three
days of the missed class. Please
speak with me if you have a different reason for your absence that you think may
be excusable. I will be the sole
arbiter as to whether an absence will be considered excused.
Further details:
quizzes and In-Class Writing:
Because it is
critical that people are well-prepared for class in order for the events we will
do in class to work out, I will regularly have you either take a short quiz or
write for a few minutes in response to the reading you were assigned, and
sometimes in response to questions that I have assigned along with your reading.
MISSED QUIZZES AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS MAY NOT BE MADE UP, unless you
have missed such an assessment for reasons that were fully justifiable and over
which you had no control. (I will be the
one who determines whether your circumstance justifies any mercy.)
However, I will drop students’ two
lowest scores, including missed assignments, in tabulating their final grade.
Exam:
There will be
one exam, covering assigned readings and the content of class activities,
discussions, and lectures, including visual images.
Missed exams may be made up only
if missed for one of the following reasons, and only with appropriate
documentation: debilitating illness, family emergency, mandatory religious
obligation, or participation in authorized College activities.
Please speak with me if you have a different reason for your absence that
you think may be excusable. You
must make every effort to contact me before the exam if a make-up is
necessary, and you must take the make-up exam within five class days of the
scheduled date.
PROJECT:
You will
undertake one project (most likely alone, although some projects may be
justifiable with partners) in which you will demonstrate your mastery of
significant aspects of the course through writing and perhaps other means as
well. The project will likely be
along the lines of an alternate history of some aspect of the Trojan War if
certain details of the story were to change.
Specific details of this assignment will be forthcoming.
You will hand in and present your work (in brief form) during our final
exam meeting, on Friday, Dec. 9, from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Grade Breakdown:
Preparation
and participation
20%
Quizzes and in-class writing
20%
Exam
30%
Project
30%
Percentage/Grade Equivalents:
98+
= A+ 87-89 = B+
77-79 = C+
67-69 = D+ 59 and below
= F
93-97 = A
83-86 = B
73-76 = C
63-66 = D
90-92 = A-
80-82 = B-
70-72 = C-
60-62 = D-
Required Texts
AND OTHER MATERIALS:
Homer,
The Essential Iliad, translated and
selected by Stanley Lombardo (Hackett, 1997).
Many more
texts that are, or will be, posted on Moodle.
course engagement expectations:
This course is scheduled to meet 2 days per week for 75 minutes each for seven
weeks. You should expect to spend on course reading, homework,
memorization, etc. approximately two hours outside of class for every hour in
class. Assigned activities may take each student a different amount of time to
finish; however, the weekly average for all students in the course for those
matters should be 7.5 hours. Intensive studying for exams and preparation
for your project will be in addition to the standard weekly preparation, but
will likely average out to an extra four hours per week.
The time estimates for the course thus break down as follows:
In class activities
2.5 hours
Homework, review of course material, and class preparation
5.0 hours
Intensive studying and preparing
for the project (averaged out)
4.0 hours
Average per week:
11.5 hours
class behavior Expectations:
To maintain a
classroom environment in which everyone can learn, please show the respect and
courtesy to others that you would expect in turn.
Here are a few of the ways in which you can show respect and courtesy:
·
Be in your
seat on time for class, and remain for the duration of each class.
·
Have a
notebook, pen, and relevant materials out and ready to use throughout class.
·
Be ready to
answer questions about the day’s homework and other relevant subjects, to work
on in-class assignments individually and with peers, and to share your work in
small groups with the whole class.
·
Remain quiet
while I or others in class are speaking.
·
Show support
for those who speak in class by your demeanor and body language.
·
Focus on the
content of the class, not on personal electronic devices; all such items should
be turned off and packed away during class, unless they are being used for class
matters, in a way that is not distracting to your classmates or me.
·
You may eat
and drink in class, but only if it is not distracting to other students or me.
E-mail Courtesies:
When sending
me e-mail, please observe the following courtesies:
·
Begin the
message with a salutation of some sort (Dr. Simmons, Prof. Simmons, Mr. Simmons,
etc.).
·
Include a
reasonably accurate subject line.
·
Capitalize and
punctuate where appropriate, and proofread to make sure that you are
communicating clearly.
·
At the end of
the message, please identify yourself by the name by which I know you (first
name or nickname).
I will get
back to you as soon as I can.
Sometimes a response will be immediate; on other occasions it may take me
several hours, and quite possibly a full day if you write late in the day, at
night, or on a weekend, if I need to give some thought to a response before
providing one, or if I simply have other things I need to get done before I can
get to e-mails.
Special Needs:
Anyone who has
a special need that may require some modification of seating, testing, or other
class requirements should see me as soon as possible.
I will be pleased to make the appropriate arrangements in consultation
with you. Depending on the
modification, you may need to be registered with Disability Support Services.
Disability
Support Services:
If you have a
disability or had academic accommodations in high school or another college, you
may be eligible for academic accommodations at Monmouth College under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Monmouth College is committed to equal
educational access. Students with
disabilities can apply for accommodations at the Teaching and Learning Center
(TLC). The TLC is located on the 2nd floor of Poling Hall. For more
information, call 309-457-2257 or connect online at
http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/life/disability-services/default.aspx.
Academic honesty:
From the Monmouth College Academic Honesty Policy: “We view academic
dishonesty as a threat to the integrity and intellectual mission of our
institution. Any breach of the academic honesty policy – either intentionally or
unintentionally – will be taken seriously and may result not only in failure in
the course, but in suspension or expulsion from the college. It is each
student’s responsibility to read, understand and comply with the general
academic honesty policy at Monmouth College, as defined here in the Scots Guide,
and to the specific guidelines for each course, as elaborated on the professor’s
syllabus.
“The following areas are examples of violations of the academic honesty policy:
“Please note that this list is not intended to be exhaustive.”
The complete Monmouth College Academic Honesty Policy can be found on the
College web page by clicking on “Student Life” then on “Student Handbook” in the
navigation bar on the top of the page, then “Academic Regulations” in the
navigation bar at the left. Or you can visit the web page directly by
typing in this URL: http://www.monmouthcollege.edu/life/residence-life/scots-guide/academic.aspx.
In this course, any violation of the academic honesty policy will have varying
consequences depending on the severity of the infraction as judged by the
instructor. Minimally, a violation will result in an “F” or 0 points on
the assignment in question. Additionally, the student’s course grade may be
lowered by one letter grade. In severe cases, the student will be assigned
a course grade of “F” and dismissed from the class. All cases of academic
dishonesty will be reported to the Associate Dean, who may decide to recommend
further action to the Admissions and Academic Status Committee, including
suspension or dismissal. It is assumed that students will educate
themselves regarding what is considered to be academic dishonesty, so excuses or
claims of ignorance will not mitigate the consequences of any violations.
Help outside of class:
You should not
hesitate to talk with me about any difficulties you are having—this course is
challenging, and I want to help you do the best you can at it.
Speak with me as soon as you are having trouble; letting a problem fester
is likely to make it worse. Also,
there is help available at the locations below.
Teaching &
Learning Center:
The
Teaching and Learning Center offers FREE resources to assist Monmouth College
students with their academic success. Programs include Supplemental Instruction
for difficult classes, drop-in and appointment tutoring, and individual academic
coaching. The TLC is here to help students excel academically. TLC services are
not just for struggling students, but can assist all students to get
better grades, practice stronger study skills, and manage time.
Visit Kam
Williams (Director
of Academic Support Programs and Student Disability Services)
and Rita Schwass (TLC secretary) at the TLC on 2nd floor Poling Hall
from 8am-4:30pm or online at
http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/academics/teaching-learning-center/.
Kam can be reached at
klwilliams@monmouthcollege.edu
or 309-457-2214, and Rita can be reached at
rschwass@monmouthcollege.edu
or 309-457-2213.
Like the TLC on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monmouth-College-Teaching-and-Learning-Center/203117166403210?ref=aymt_homepage_panel.
Writing Center:
The Monmouth College Writing Center offers unlimited, free peer tutoring
sessions for students at Monmouth College. Peer writing tutors work with
writers from any major, of any writing ability, on any type of writing
assignment, and at any stage of their writing processes, from planning to
drafting to revising to editing. It is located on the 3rd floor of the
Mellinger Teaching and Learning Center, and we are open Sunday-Thursday 7-10pm
and Monday-Thursday 3-5pm on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointment
necessary! Learn more about the Writing Center at its website:
http://blogs.monm.edu/writingatmc/writing-center/.
Speech Tutors:
Speech Tutors are available on a limited basis in the Writing Center to work
with students who are preparing for a presentation in any course. Speech Tutors
can help fine-tune thesis statements, review outlines, suggest organizational
strategies, provide feedback about visual aids, help students develop ways to
manage speech anxiety, and watch speech practice sessions. For information
about tutor availability, visit the Writing Center’s website at http://blogs.monm.edu/writingatmc/writing-center/.
Schedule of Assignments:
Note:
The assignments below are due on the
days on which they are listed. If
there is no other instruction given, you are to do the following:
Day 1
(Tuesday, October 18)
Assignments
due today: none—first day
Day 2
(Thursday, October 20)
Assignments
due today:
·
Euripides,
Iphigenia at Aulis lines 1-800
(posted on Moodle)
o
Notes in the
text refer to endnotes at the end of the text of the play.
You do not NEED to read these notes, but they can explain any number of
things that might not be fully clear to you.
October 22,
1-4 PM
Classics Day
(on the Quad)—optional, but extra credit for attending for at least an hour and
writing about it (if you are not already required to be there for another
reason), or for volunteering at the event
Day 3
(Tuesday, October 25)
Assignments
due today:
·
Euripides,
Iphigenia at Aulis lines 801-the end
o
Notes in the
text refer to endnotes at the end of the text of the play.
You do not NEED to read these notes, but they can explain any number of
things that might not be fully clear to you.
Day 4
(Thursday, October 27)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Book 1 (pp. 1-19)
Day 5
(Tuesday, November 1)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Books 2-6 (pp. 20-56)
Day 6
(Thursday, November 3)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Books 9-12 (pp. 56-79)
Day 7
(Tuesday, November 8)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Books 16-18 (pp. 79-113)
Day 8
(Thursday, November 10)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Books 19 (pp. 114-121) and 21
(pp. 403-421 on a Moodle printout)
Day 9
(Tuesday, November 15)
Assignments
due today:
·
Homer,
Iliad Books 22-24 (pp. 122-157)
Day 10
(Thursday, November 17)
Assignments
due today:
·
Vergil,
Aeneid Book 2 (pp. 27-53 on a Moodle
printout)
Day 11
(Tuesday, November 22)
Assignments
due today:
·
Trojan War
exam
Day 12
(Tuesday, November 29)
Assignments
due today:
·
Watch roughly
the first hour-and-a-half of the movie
Troy.
o
Watch to the
point at which the two armies are massed outside of the walls of Troy, and stop
before Agamemnon and Menelaus begin to engage Hector and Paris in conversation.
Day 13
(Thursday, December 1)
Assignments
due today:
·
Watch roughly
the second half of the movie Troy.
o
Watch starting
with the point at which the two armies are massed outside of the walls of Troy,
and go until the movie’s end.
·
Due in class: a plan for your adapted story that is at least 250 words long
(bring 4 printed copies of your paper)
Day 14
(Tuesday, December 6)
Assignments
due today:
·
Due in class: a draft that is at least 750 words long (bring 4 printed copies of
your paper)
Friday., Dec.
9
FINAL
ASSESSMENT PERIOD (11:30 AM-2:30 PM)
·
Due in class: the final draft of your paper; you will also explain your story in
a brief presentation during that meeting.