Syllabus

RUS 424 TOLSTOY
Instructor: Tatyana Dhaliwal, Tatyana.Dhaliwal@asu.edu

Purpose:

This class intends to broaden the understanding of Russian literature, culture, art, customs, and history through exposing the students to Count Leo Tolstoy’s short stories, novellas, parables and concentrating on one major novel, Anna Karenina. It will expose the student to Tolstoy – the hedonist, Tolstoy – the mystic, and Tolstoy – the relentless humanist.
We will investigate Tolstoy’s relationships to other prominent figures of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Class lectures and discussions will focus on ideas of romanticism, realism, and humanism. Also, we will discuss Tolstoy’s religious transformation and his views on art and religion. A foray into art, music, ballet, and film inspired by Tolstoy’s work will be attempted.

The class will expose the students to the works of Bakhtin and his study of the novel, Merezhkovsky (a Tolstoy scholar), Rowe and other famous Western and Slavic critics. The class will deepen and broaden students’ understanding of the methods of literary criticism.

The in-class material will be supported by visual aides, Internet materials, and videos. Students will be encouraged to explore and research, to use their own imagination in thinking and writing about Tolstoy. The instructor will hold office hours immediately following each lecture.

Course Requirements:

The students are expected to attend all lectures and contribute to the class discussions.

The students will be given an opportunity to complete two writing and one oral assignment in addition to a midterm and a final.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is submitting someone else’s work (whether obtained through barter, paid arrangement, or copying) as your own. When using more than 3 consecutive words of someone else’s work, please do not forget to cite the source and to place the quotation in quotation marks.

Plagiarism could result in your dismissal from the university.


Writing Requirements:

All papers are to be double spaced (or 1.5 spaced) Times New Roman or Courier 12 point.
An additional page entitled “References” or “Works cited” should follow all papers where works or references were cited. Thus, a 5 page paper is actually 6 pages long. A 5 page paper constitutes 5 complete pages. Deductions will occur when incomplete work is submitted.

The student is expected to cite and draw on the reading in support of his/her assertions/conclusions.
The instructor will provide a list of possible topics for research papers/presentation. Students are encouraged to discuss other research topics with the instructor.


Grading:
Research Paper 1 – 5 to 7 pages 20%
Research Paper 2 – 5 to 7 pages 20%
Oral Presentation – 1 page, 3 visual aides 10%
Midterm – includes 2 one page essays 25%
Final - includes 2 one page essays 25%

Lecture Topics

August 23 Class Intro, Discuss Readings, Tolstoy Bio

August 30 Childhood, Boyhood, Youth – major first work; start Family Happiness, Tolstoy’s bio continued

September 6 Prisoner of the Caucasus, Father Sergius

September 13 Cossacks (romanticism, the noble savage)

September 20 Anna Karenina (AK) Part 1 – Realism; Tolstoy’s bio - Educational video
Prisoner of the Mountains – view film themed after Tolstoy’s prisoner of the Caucasus

September 27 AK Part 2 (Overview War and Peace, short summary, begin watching “War and Peace video)

October 4 AK Part 3 (continue War and Peace video)

October 11 AK Part 4 – Midterm Examination

October 18 AK Part 5 (continue War and Peace video)

October 25 AK Part 6 (continue War and Peace video)

November 7 AK Part 7 (Anna Karenina, the movie)

November 8 AK Part 8 (Anna Karenina, the ballet)

November 15 Death of Ivan Ilyich, “What is Art?” - Lecture

November 22 Master and the Man; Tolstoy and Religion - Lecture

November 29 Oral Presentations

December 6 Hadji Murat; Tolstoy’s famous 19th and 20th century acquaintances, music inspired by Tolstoy’s works

December 13 Final Examination