Spring 2022  |  RUSS 3422 Section 001: Literature: Tolstoy to the Present in Translation (66232)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Meets With:
RUSS 5422 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022
Mon, Wed, Fri 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, East Bank
Folwell Hall 112
Enrollment Status:
Open (14 of 30 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Survey of Russian literature from mid-19th century to the present: realism, modernism, feminism and other trends.
Class Notes:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?nclayton+RUSS3422+Spring2022
Class Description:
The course helps you meet the Liberal Education core requirement in Literature through close study of the structure, ideas, cultural context and meaning of the works we read together.

Russian 3/5422 is a thematic course exploring universal themes in five of the most significant authors of the period. The course is divided into two halves:
during the first half (before spring break) we will read selected works of Tolstoy and Chekhov. After spring break and till the end of the semester we will read two novels: Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novella One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as well as some of his selected short stories. The course as a whole may be seen as an exploration of the organic literary worldviews of each author.

Grading:
Active and informed participation in discussion 30%

Two short written textual analyses (3 pages) 30%

Final research paper (10-12 pages) 40%


Exam Format:
Final research paper (10-12 pages)
Class Format:
Informal lecture and discussion. Emphasis is on the texts themselves, their significance in the writers' creative evolution, Russian culture and human experience and developing interpretive skills.

Workload:
Good attendance is pivotal to your success in the course, so you are expected to attend regularly and on time. No more than one unexcused absence will be allowed. Excused absences are for illness or family emergency only. Excessive absences will lower the final course grade by one-half grade. Coming to class late is disruptive. Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off in class.

Active and informed participation is especially important in the seminar setting. Be generous with your comments in response to your colleagues' presentations. Always take notes on what you read, and come to class with a brief synopsis of your ideas about the text and the author as they are developing in your mind in order to try them out and hear what others have to say.


Even though the list of texts included in the course may seem long, the reading load is not excessive and does not exceed 120 pages per week - keep in mind that most of the works on the list are shorter fiction.


Two short textual analyses of selected passages from two different works on the syllabus provided by the professor should focus on the stylistic and structural elements of the text. Details and exact methodology will be covered in class before the first paper is due.


The final paper may concentrate on any literary or cultural problem which sparked your interest in the course of our readings. The topic should involve several texts which were read in class as well as independently consulted resources outside of class. I will be happy to read and critique a draft, given a week's lead time.

Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66232/1223
Past Syllabi:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/nclayton_RUSS3422_Spring2016.docx (Spring 2016)
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
9 November 2015

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