HIST 122: Western Civilization II

Spring 2015
Course Description and Schedule

Patterson Hall 200
9:30-10:45 TTh

Catalog description: SURVEYS THE DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION FROM THE REFORMATION ERA TO THE PRESENT. No prerequisites; no unusual technology skills required.

This is the second of a two-part survey of Western Civilization and introduces students to some of the leading figures, ideas, and events of the modern world. It also exposes students to the concerns and methods of historical inquiry through lectures, analysis and discussion of selected texts, and writing of short papers.  The goal of this course is for the student not only to acquire historical information but also to learn through example (lectures, textbook) and practice (discussions, essay examinations, papers) a historical/critical method of thought and expression.

Students must read all assignments, attend every lecture, take notes, participate in discussions, and secure this syllabus and all handouts--which contain chronological and geographical background to the lectures and readings--from the instructor's web page. In addition, each student writes five mini-themes of one to two pages. Students who expect to miss more than three meetings should see the instructor within the first week. Each student should plan to meet with the instructor within the first two or three weeks of class. A set of study questions, also available on-line, will assist the student preparing for examinations.  Finally, each student must maintain a portfolio containing all written work.  The portfolio will be a simple green two-pocket folder containing the minithemes and exams as they are complete.

The first midterm exam covers part seven of the course; another covers parts eight and nine; and a final exam covers parts ten and eleven. Exams consist of one long and a choice of two out of three short essay questions; the final exam includes a comprehensive essay question.

Each student writes a mini-theme on a choice of suggested topics for each reading, due on the assigned date during discussion of the topics.  The first and second midterms count 50 points each, the final 75, and the mini-themes 100 points (20 points each), for a total of 275 possible points.

Students who wish to arrange another method of evaluation should see the instructor within the first two weeks. For what not to do, consult the Top 10 Ways to Lower Your Grade in Humanities. Success in this course will require at least eight to ten hours of work each week.

Click here for required statements concerning freedom of learning, cheating, diversity, ADA policy, and outcomes of learning.

Required Books

• Joshua Cole, Carol Symes, Judith G Coffin and Robert C Stacey. Western Civilizations. 3d brief ed. New York and London: Norton, 2012. 9780393934878
• John Webster. The Duchess of Malfi. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1999. 0486406601
• Georg Büchner. Danton's Death, Leonce and Lena, Woyzeck. Trans Victor Price. Oxford: Oxford Univ Press, 1986. 0192818279
• Henrik Ibsen. A Doll's House. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1992. 0486270629
• Joseph Roth. The Radetzky March. Trans Joachim Neugroschel. New York: Overlook, 1995. 0879515589 or 9781585673261
• Derek Walcott, Omeros. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992. 0374523509

Recommended Book

Kate L Turabian. A Manual for Writers. 7^th ed. Chicago: Univ of Chicago Press, 2007.  0226823377

The Mini-themes

Each mini-theme should be between 250 and 500 words long (one to two machine-printed pages). It can earn up to 20 points as follows: 10 points for content (clarity of argument, familiarity with the work), 5 points for style (grammar, spelling, use of words), and 5 points for care in presentation. The instructors will return essays with special problems for rewriting.  Try to work a week in advance; your instructors will gladly evaluate and mark up your first clean draft and return it to you for rewriting in time for the final submission.

Unless you make special arrangements in advance or have a medical or family emergency, you must participate in the discussion in order to receive credit for a given paper.  Submit the paper inside your green binder. Keep all of your graded papers in this binder at least until you receive your final grade for this course. Your instructor will want to see that your writing improves from paper to paper. You may also need it later in your college career as you assemble a portfolio of your academic work.

As you read the assignments keep all the suggested topics in mind, and take notes. Then pick one topic and answer it carefully and concisely. Feel free to consult with fellow students and with your instructor as you prepare the assignments, but the result must be entirely your own. Be particularly careful to avoid plagiarism; you must give references for every idea or quotation you borrow as you construct your argument. See Turabian, Manual for Writers, for the proper way to indicate references. At the head of your paper write the title and your name and staple your sheets together.  You do not need a bibliographic citation unless you use an edition other than that specified in the book list. Consult the classic "Mr. Bockelman’s Guidelines for Writing Good Mini-Themes."

A. Webster's Duchess of Malfi

• "An Honorable Marriage."  Compare the various attitudes toward love and marriage that appear in the play.
• "The Ideal Servant."  Explain Bosola's motivation and compare his actions and his aspirations.
• "The Source of Virtue."  Explain the ideas in the play concerning whether people are born good or bad, or learn to be good or bad.

B. Büchner's Danton's Death

• "The Rhetoric of Revolution."Büchner took many of his speeches directly from records of the Revolution. Analyze some of the images the revolutionaries used to describe and justify their actions, particularly the bloodiest ones.
• "The People and the Revolution." Explain why the people of Paris supported the Revolution, particularly at the bloodiest stage, which is the setting for the book. Pay particular attention to the words of the anonymous citizens.
• "The Revolutionaries and the Revolution." Explain why the leaders of the Revolution (here the Jacobins) acted as they did. Were their motives selfish or selfless? Be sure to contrast Robespierre and Danton.

C. Ibsen's A Doll House

• "Bourgeois Values."  By what values do the Helmers evaluate each other and their neighbors?  What values guide their actions, relationships, style of life, and even their thoughts?
• "A Bourgeois Family."  What does Torvald want out of his family?  What does Nora want?  What happens when their desires conflict?
• "The Good Life."  What do the Helmers think they need to live a good life?  Use them as an example to illustrate what "the good life" meant to the members of a typical bourgeois family.

D. Roth's Radetzky March

1. "The Austrian Empire: Good or Bad?" Describe the positive and negative views various characters have of the empire. Evaluate those views and state your own.
2. "The Assassination of an Empire." What killed the Austrian Empire? The assassination of Ferdinand, nationalism, socialism, God, its subjects? Select one principal cause and explain why you consider it the most important.
3. "Vienna and the Provinces." Contrast life in Vienna with life in such provinces as Silesia where the District Captain works and Slovenia where his son Carl Joseph is stationed.

E. Walcott's Omeros

1. "Modernizing Achille." Walcott discusses changes its integration into the Western economy have wrought on his native island, especially with respect to tourism. Does he find these changes good or bad? How does Achille respond to the changes? Does the modernization of the island parallel what the author does with Homer's classic?
2. "Colonizing Helen." What do you learn about the history of the colonization of St Lucia? Why did the European states fight over her? What drew Major Plunkett to it?
3. "Wearing the Yellow Dress." In what ways does the poem show how native people appropriate western culture for their own use? Does the author do so himself?

Schedule

Click here for chronology sheet.

Click here for study guides.

Part 7: Absolutism and Enlightenment [Civilizations chs 15-17]

Part 8: The Age of Revolutions [Civilizations chs 18-19]

Part 9: A Century of Ideas [Civilizations chs 20-23]

Part 10: Turn of the Century [Civilizations ch 24]

Part 11: The Twentieth Century [Civilizations chs 25-29]