RUSS 324 A: Russian Folk Literature in English

Spring 2021
Meeting:
MW 1:30pm - 3:20pm / * *
SLN:
19438
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructor:
OPTIONAL WRITING CREDIT TAUGHT IN ENGLISH OFFERED AS SYNCHRONOUS LEARNING OFFERED VIA REMOTE LEARNING
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

RUSSIAN FOLK LITERATURE Syllabus RUSSIAN FOLK LITERATURE.pdf 

Russian 324 A, Spring 2021

Instructor: Ms. Veronica Muskheli, Ph.C. = Professor Veronica   Email: nika@uw.edu

Time:  Combination synchronous/asynchronous online course run on Canvas; meetings via Canvas Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays,  1:30-3:20 pm (PST) with Mondays devoted to reading texts and Wednesdays - to holding discussions.

Office hours:   Monday and Wednesday, 3:20 - 4:20 pm  (PST) and by appointment

Office: Canvas Zoom       

 

OVERVIEW

The course explores the diversity of forms, themes, types, and functions of the Russian folktale, the narrative art of the culturally marginalized Russian peasantry, and its influence on Russian literature and contemporary culture.

FORMAT

Students read folktales, literary works, and texts that provide theoretical frameworks for interpretation of the stories. On Canvas, students study a deck of Power Point slides for each topic and participate in online discussions by posting their comments and questions and in class, they continue their discussions and present their research into tales. Students write one-page analyses of texts consistently throughout the quarter and produce a longer and more in-depth final paper.

TEXTS

Required Texts:

  1. Gogol, Nikolai. The Collected Tales of, translated and annotated by Pevear and Volokhonsky (Random House, ISBN 0-375-70615-1)
  2. Ivanits, Linda J. Russian Folk Belief (M.E. Sharpe, NY, ISBN 0-87332-889-2)
  3. Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla. There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill her Neighbor's Baby (ISBN 978-0-14-311466-6)
  4. Propp, Vladimir. Morphology of the Folktale (U of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-78376-0)
  5. Russian Fairy Tales Collected by Aleksandr Afanas’ev, translated by Norbert Guterman (Pantheon Books, ISBN 0-394-73090-9)

                               —all books are available for purchase at the UBookstore and online

  1. Scanned files placed in each weekly Module on Canvas

LEARNING GOALS

-To become familiar with Russia and Russian folk narratives

-To become familiar with genres of folk literature

-To become familiar with a few theoretical frameworks for interpretation of the texts, such as Propp Morphology

-To become familiar with Thompson Motif-Index and Aarne-Thompson-Uther tale typology

-To improve critical thinking skills by exercising them in analysis of the primary texts

 

STUDENT WORK EVALUATION

Assigned Values:

Participation: 30%

Oral presentation: 5%

Quizzes: 10%

6 short written assignments: 30%

Final paper: 25%

 

Participation: Your participation is evaluated on the quality of your comments in weekly Discussions on Canvas and your participation in Zoom discussions in class.

The posts on Canvas are in response to discussion points provided by the instructor in that week’s deck of slides and/or (better yet!) comments or questions initiated by the students in response to the slides and texts.  Notice that the comments are organized by our primary texts, and you will have to find the appropriate thread before posting your comment. Sometimes, especially in comparative statements, your comment may refer equally to more than one tale, then just make a (random) choice of a thread. The comments on Canvas are not evaluated on their grammar, style, etc., but you should try to express your ideas clearly as a courtesy to fellow discussants and to avoid being misunderstood. And, of course, you all should show respect for each other’s opinions and ways of their expression.

To get full credit, 1) you have to write at least two substantive and thoughtful comments (that is, not long but having a point) for every week’s discussion: one that you initiate (due by the end of the day on Monday) and one - in response to one of your classmates’ contribution(s) (due by noon on Wednesday); and 2) you should attend at least 90% of the scheduled classes and contribute to the discussions when there.

Oral Presentation: It is a 5-10-minute talk that you deliver at a "conference" that we will hold the last week of instruction. You have two options: 1) you can present a scholarly talk on any Russian tale from our list of folktales on the week when we study that tale or 2) you can tell (artistically and engagingly) a magical, novellistic, or an animal tale either from among tales that we study, a tale that you have composed, or a tale that you have collected from yourself, your family, or friends. (We will study what it means "to collect a tale.") In the second option, you will need to explain why you have chosen or written your tale or what the circumstances of your collection of the tale are.

Quizzes: There are 4 in-class quizzes taking place on Wednesdays of Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8. These are timed at 15 minutes and test your familiarity with the primary texts and the assigned critical papers. They are formatted as multiple-choice, true-false, matching, etc. They are really easy if you keep up with your readings, and they help you confirm your understanding of the course materials.

Weekly written assignments: These are responses to weekly prompts in Assignments and could be developed from anybody’s comments in the online discussion—yours included. Weekly written assignments should have a thesis statement (1st or 2nd sentence) and textual support for the development of that thesis. The papers should be in Word (doc or docx format) and are one-page (250-300 words), double-spaced, 12 point Times Roman, 1”-margin. They should be submitted on Canvas by 11:59 pm PST on Saturday every week, starting with Week 2; to get full credit, you should submit 6 out of 8 possible weekly written assignments on time. That includes Week 6 that is required from all students. Late work is accepted with 2% off the grade as penalty for each late day.

Final Paper: The final paper is a compare-and-contrast study of two texts: a folktale from the course and another text of your choice, either from or outside the course. The paper should be 5-7 pages long, 1,500-2,000 words, MLA style https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/: double-spaced, 12 point Times Roman font, 1”-margin.  The final paper is evaluated using the same rubric as for the short written assignments. The final paper is due on Canvas by Friday, June 11, 11:59 pm PST. Late work will not be accepted unless negotiated with the instructor ahead of time due to special circumstances in the student’s life.

Writing Credit: If, in addition to the regular grade, you are interested in getting Writing Credit for the course, you will submit your first draft of 10-12-page paper by May 29. You will receive the instructor's comments on the paper no later than by the end of the day on June 4. Perhaps, you will meet with the instructor to discuss your draft of the final paper between June 5 and June 8. Your final paper, submitted with the rest of the class by the end of the day on June 11, will be then evaluated not only with the standard rubric but also based on how well you have responded to the comments.

Rubric for grading written assignments and the final paper       

%

Thesis

%

Support

%

Mechanics

 

40%

Has a substantive, specific, defensible, and clearly stated thesis that addresses the topic

40%

The thesis is persuasively argued by examples from the text(s) in an organized and clear way

20%

Has few if any grammar problems and has correct format for citations

30%

Has a substantive but too broad thesis statement, impossible to explore in the allowed space

30%

Has some logical issues with support of the thesis by selected examples and/or organization of the argument

15%

Has a few grammar and spelling errors and/or minor issues with citation format

20%

Has a superficial thesis statement

20%

Has major logical issues with support of the thesis by selected examples

10%

Has multiple grammar and spelling errors and/or major issues with citation format

10%

The  thesis statement lacks clarity

10%

Does not have enough examples and/or does not demonstrate the connection between the thesis and examples

5%

Has multiple grammar and spelling errors causing considerable problems with reader’s understanding

0%

No thesis statement or the statement is off  topic

0%

Has no examples to support the thesis

0%

Impossible to read because of poor grammar and spelling

 

Grade Conversion Table

Percent

Grade

Letter

 

Percent

Grade

Letter

 

Percent

Grade

Letter

100-99

4.0

A

 

81

2.6

B-

 

67

1.2

D+

  97-98

3.9

A

 

80

2.5

B-

 

66

1.1

D

  95-96

3.8

A-

 

79

2.4

C+

 

65

1.0

D

  93-94

3.7

A-

 

78

2.3

C+

 

64

0.9

D

  91-92

3.6

A-

 

77

2.2

C+

 

63-62

0.8

D-

       90

3.5

A-

 

76

2.1

C

 

61-60

0.7

D-

       89

3.4

B+

 

75

2.0

C

 

59

0.6

E

       88

3.3

B+

 

74

1.9

C

 

58

0.5

E

       87

3.2

B+

 

73

1.8

C-

 

57

0.4

E

       86

3.1

B

 

72

1.7

C-

 

56

0.3

E

       85

3.0

B

 

71

1.6

C-

 

55

0.2

E

       84

2.9

B

 

70

1.5

C-

 

54

0.1

E

       83

2.8

B-

 

69

1.4

D+

 

53-1

0.0

E

       82

2.7

B-

 

68

1.3

D+

 

 

 

 

 

CLASS CONDUCT POLICIES:

Inclusivity: Diversity is welcomed and celebrated. No forms of prejudice or discrimination can take place in our class, including those based on age, color, disability, gender, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. You are here to learn in a climate of civility and mutual respect.

Disability Accommodations To request academic accommodations due to disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924. If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you a have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me at the beginning of the course so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.

Academic Dishonesty You all begin this course with my full trust and confidence. To avoid any problems with plagiarism, you may wish to refer to the College of Arts and Sciences’ Policy on Academic Responsibility at http://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf You are welcome to speak to me if any of the rules remain unclear. It is my responsibility to report any warranted cases of academic dishonesty to the relevant University of Washington legal authorities.

Catalog Description:
Explores the diversity of forms, themes, and functions of the Russian folktale, the literary art of the historically and culturally marginalized Russian peasantry. Discussion of theoretical frameworks for interpretation, resistance strategies, and with dominant literary models.
GE Requirements Met:
Social Sciences (SSc)
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
November 13, 2024 - 1:29 pm