English 287:  Great Books

Course Schedule -- Part 2
Spring 2005

11 Feb (F):  Quiz over Books 13-24 of The Odyssey.  Before today, though, it would be well to acquaint yourself with a few facts about the times and people associated with our next readings.  Have a look at these brief items:

You should acquaint yourself with the various features of The Last Days of Socrates so that you know what the various editorial helps are.   Note that the footnotes to the General Introduction follow immediately upon it (pP. xxxv-xxxvii), and that this pattern continues with the introductions to each of the four works by Plato.  The notes to the works themselves, however, are at the very end of the book, starting at p. 207.  Skim through and get an idea of the various topics covered in each of these introductions.

Note also that there is a page of Links pertaining to The Last Days of Socrates.  You may find it useful to consult one of the timelines now, and to return to this page later as your interest prompts.  The introduction to this page gives some idea of how these readings fit into the larger scheme of our course.

14 Feb (M):  In class today, we will continue discussion of The Odyssey, and begin our discussion of Plato's depiction of the last days of Socrates.

So over the weekend -- i.e., before come to class today (M) -- you should read Plato's Euthyphro (LDS, pp. 9-30).  Don't forget to consult the footnotes (which you'll find on p. 207-213).  Places where some of the most important issues arise are commented on in notes 9, 17 (& 25-27), 19-22, 35, 48.

We'll break our "quiz" over Plato's dialogues into 4 mini-quizzes -- one each day for the next four sessions.  Each will be worth 5 points.  Rest assured that each will be simple, and focus on the dialogue in question:  if you've read it, you should be assured of earning credit!

Today, then, will be the first of these, over the Euthyphro.

Tarrant's General Introduction to this collection is quite interesting.  At the same time, it is a bit more sophisticated than you'll need for our purposes.  Though I enthusiastically recommend that you eventually put yourself through all of what Tarrant has to say here and in his introductions to the individual works, I think this is best done after you've read Plato's works themselves -- except for some particular sections that I'll point to along the way, and these you should make it a point to read as directed.  In all of this, keep in mind that you don't need to be intimidated into accepting Tarrant's judgments of Socrates' arguments and decisions!

For today, you should read, in addition to The Euthyphro (assigned above), the following.  It might make sense to read these the first 3 before you undertake the dialogue itself.  The last one would be best to postpone until after you've worked through the dialogue itself.

Useful resource:  Guide questions for the study of Plato's Euthyphro by Diane Bowser.

Tip Ø  With each of the dialogues in LDS, you'll find it useful to begin by skimming the work to read in advance the editorial part summaries in italics, marking these with a double line in the margin for easy reference in review.

16 Feb (W):   5-point mini-quiz over Plato's Apology.  To be prepared for this, have read before coming to class:

18 Feb (F):  5-point mini-quiz over Plato's Crito.  To be prepared for this, have read before coming to class:

Recommended (not required):  after you've completed the dialogue, take in Tarrant's whole introduction (LDS:  73-77).  There are some interesting possibilities raised here!

21 Feb (M):  Come to class having read the first 2/3 or so of Plato's Phaedo (LDS:  116-175).  The footnotes pertaining to this part of the dialogue are on pp. 228-245.

This is the longest reading so far in Plato, so it's been scheduled for over the weekend.  There's a brief Study Guide to help you focus on the main questions.

Recommended (not required):  save Tennart's Introduction to this dialogue until after you've finished reading the whole, and have the time and interest for taking it on, in whole or in part.  It's quite good, but goes into depths we needn't explore in detail for the purposes of our course.  (I'll assign only one part of it, however, and this won't be until Friday.)

23 Feb (W):  5-point mini-quiz over Plato's Phaedo.  To be prepared for this,

25 Feb (F):  In class, we'll continue our discussion of Plato's portrait of Socrates' last days.  The reading assignment for today gets you started with our next project, Dante's Inferno (the first third of his Comedy, later dubbed The Divine Comedy).  Read

Here's an effective procedure for making each canto intelligible (for you as a modern reader), and leaving it easily accessible for later review:

  1. Read Ciardi's synopsis.

  2. Skim the notes at the end of the canto to notice the heading phrases, in italics, for the passages to which the notes attach.

  3. Work through the canto, consulting the notes when you recognize a heading phrase from your skimming of the notes.

  4. Quickly review the synopsis.

  5. Go through the canto again, noting in the margin of the text what you take as the most striking features, to facilitate later review.

28 Feb (M):  Have read Cantos V-XI (pp. 56-109).

2 Mar (W):  Cantos XII-XVII (pp. 110-155).  Quiz #1 over Dante's Inferno (covering the assigned introductory material and Cantos 1 through 17).

4 Mar (F):  Cantos XVIII-XXIII (pp. 156-204).

7 Mar (M):  Writing Assignment #1 is due by 5 p.m. under the office door at ECS-127.

9 Mar (W):  Cantos XXIV-XXVIII (pp. 205-241). 

11 Mar (F):  Cantos XXVIX-XXXIII [the end] (pp.205-288).  Quiz #2 over Dante's Inferno (covering Cantos 16 through 33).

14 Mar (M):  We'll still be discussing The Inferno.  But you should begin your reading of our next project, Heinrich von Kleist's novella Michael Kohlhaas.  (See the list of Texts for the Course.)

16 Mar (W):  Finish Michael Kohlhaas (pp. last ¶ of 160-212).

18 Mar (F):  Quiz over von Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas.

21 Mar (M), 23 Mar (W), 25 Mar (F):  No class -- Spring Break.

28 Mar (M):  Have read for discussion the first 6 scenes of Bertolt Brecht's play Life of Galileo (pp. 1-55 [top]).  (See the list of Texts for the Course.)

30 Mar (W):  Finish reading Life of Galileo (i.e., scenes 7 through 15, pp. 55-113).

1 Apr (F):  Quiz over Brecht's Life of Galileo.

  Go to Part 3 of the Course Schedule.

  Suggestions are welcome.  Please send your comments to lyman@ksu.edu .

   Contents copyright © 2005 by Lyman A. Baker. 

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  This page last updated 5 February 2005 .