|| Sabo | Department | St. Olaf ||

T Th 8.00-9.25	Anne Sabo
Spring 2002	Old Main 14C
OM 15	x 8105, e-mail sabo

Norwegian 233, Nordic Literature: Medieval to Modern, is a course in which students explore great works in Nordic literature from the Viking age through the twentieth century. The course focuses on the oral and aural aspects of literature and the literary development in its historical and cultural context. First, a significant number of the texts students read in this course predate printing. They were composed orally and meant to be experienced aurally. Poetry and drama likewise highlight the oral/aural aspects of certain genres of literature. Second, oral communication skills are integral to the scholarly field of literature in terms of public lectures, conference papers, readings, interviews, and panels. Third, book clubs represent a popular mode of the oral/aural communicative aspects of the art of interpreting literature. Students in Norwegian 233 will be introduced to all of these modes of approaching literature and will learn how both to evaluate them and to engage in them as practices.

Readings, discussions, lectures and written and oral assignments are in English.

Norwegian 233 has no prerequisites and grants General Education credit in ALS-L and ORC.

Assignments and grades:

Oral communication assignments will focus on skills that support the disciplinary practices within the field of literature. These include:

1. all students do this: (10%)

participate in an engaged and informed manner in class discussion
2. students choose to do one of these: (20%)

The oral interpretation (performance) must be accompanied by a speech analyzing the piece performed, typed, to be handed in.
1. recite poetry (Voluspå, Kalevala)
2. tell story (Norse saga or Norwegian folktale)
3. stage drama (Holberg, Ibsen, or Strindberg)
4. deliver a public reading of a fictional text (Skram, Hamsun, or Dinesen)
3. all students do these:
1. participate in a reading group/book club which meets weekly throughout the semester, keep a log with notes from the discussions, and report to class (20%)
2. stage a public panel on a certain controversial text and author at the end of the semester, prepared with a 3-5 page paper defending your agenda (20%)
3. deliver main point and argument of a 7-9 page conference paper on any of the texts read at a final mini-conference (30%)

Feedback and evaluation:

Students will receive feedback on their oral assignments and their written components according to criteria drawn from assigned readings on oral and aural performances and the ORC manual edited by Jo Beld, Communication by Design: Resources and Ideas for ORC Courses. Students will receive these criteria prior to their own oral assignments and will be asked to discuss them and to comment with input. Students will also evaluate both their individual presentations, which will be videotaped, and their contribution as speakers and listeners. Students will also evaluate their peers according to the criteria agreed upon prior to the assignments.

Readings:

Original works:

• Voluspå (packet)
• Kalevala (packet)
• Palsson, Herman and Paul Edwards, trans. Egil's saga. Viking Penguin.
• Norwegian Folktales, edited by Asbjørnsen and Moe (packet)
• Ludvig Holberg: Jeppe of the Hill (packet)
• Fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen (packet)
• Henrik Ibsen: Four Major Plays: A Dolls's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder. Trans. Rolf Fjelde.
• August Strindberg: The Father. Trans. William-Alan Landes.
• Amalie Skram: Under observation. Trans. Katherine Hanson and Judith Messick.
• Knut Hamsun: Hunger. Trans. Sverre Lyngstad.
• Isak Dinesen. "The Dreamers" (SGT) and "Echoes" (LT) (packet)

• "Students Performance of Literature" from Perspectives on Talk and Learning, ed. Susan Hynds and Donald L. Rubin, Urbana: NCTE, 1990. (packet)
• Chaps. 1, 3, 11("Small Groups as the Heart of Society," "Interpersonal Communication Principles for Group Members," and "Oral Presentations") in Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills, Gloria Galanes et al. (packet)
• Sections from Chap. 3 ("Evaluate Your Speech") and Chap. 4 ("Critiquing Speeches" and "Acting on Criticism") and entire Chap. 9 ("Organizing the Body of Your Speech") from Mastering Public Speaking, George L. Grice and John J. Skinner (packet)

Secondary literature/background readings:

Final Exam:

Mini-conference entitled "Debunking the Nordic Stereotypes."

Thursday, May 16, 9:00-11:00 a.m

Calendar:

|| Sabo | Department | St. Olaf ||