INTRODUCTION TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE I

RUSSIAN 261 - SPRING 2005

Professor Robinson

Roster of students in Russian 261

MWF 10:45-11:40

This course will treat Russian literature from the medieval period up through the end of the 19th century. There will be two major exams as well as one 3-5 page paper, one 15 page minimum paper and weekly journals (minimum of one page per each class day). The final paper will be peer-reviewed as well as submitted both in draft form and final form to the professor. The journals will be collected every week as a means of verifying that you are keeping up with the reading. Your writing style will not be graded in these journals. I just want to read your ideas as you are reading the various works. If you are inspired to write creatively based on what you have read, that is great. You will not be judged on the content or style, but only on the fact that you are ruminating on the works we are reading. It is not important that you like what is being read. Your view of the work will not alter your grade on the journal writing. In other words, don't worry if you hate my favorite author. I may well hate your favorite author! I am interested only in the fact that you think about what you are doing the assigned reading.

In addition, class discussion will be a significant portion of this course. I expect all persons in this class to participate daily in the discussions of the literary works. Even if you don't think you have anything brilliant to add to the days discussion, your observations may trigger brilliance in another! The breakdown of points for the semester are as follows:

Midterm	- 20%
Final	- 20%
Journals	- 10%
Short Essay	- 10%
Class Participation	- 15%
Long Paper	- 15%
Peer review of paper	- 10%
Total (I hope)	-100%

Paper Help

Please note that a significant portion of the grade will be based on the journals and the class participation grade. This is indeed meant to be a threat to encourage you to discuss in class and take the journals seriously.

Professor Robinson's office is in Old Main, 12B, x3160. My home address is 707 St. Olaf Ave., Home phone: 645-5554

The final exam will be given FRIDAY, MAY 20th 9-11. Do not try to get an altered test exam time. Do not make plane reservations for the 19th and expect the final to be moved around your schedule.

RUSSIAN 261

INTRODUCTION TO RUSSIAN LITERATURE I

SPRING 2005

SPRING BREAK

FINAL EXAM - FRIDAY MAY 20th 9-11

THE SHORT PAPER:

This paper is only a 3-5 page paper. You have a choice of one of the following four paper topics:

1. Discuss the role of women in medieval literature paying special attention to the story of Olga, "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" and "The Life of Peter and Fevronia".

2. Discuss the use of cleverness as a motif in medieval Russian literature focussing on "The Life of Peter and Fevronia" and "Frol Skobeev".

3. Discuss class issues in early Russian literature focussing on "The Life of Peter and Fevronia" and "Poor Liza".

4. Discuss the progression of the image of the hero from medieval literature up to Chatsky in "Woe from Wit".

This takes all that hand-wringing out of trying to figure out a topic on which to write.
The paper needs to be from 3 to 5 pages. Please make sure that you articulate your thesis succinctly in the first paragraph and then build the body of your paper with that thesis always in mind. Make sure you have a concluding paragraph that wraps up the ideas of your essay.