INTERNATIONAL MODULE
NAME: Dawn Copeland w/ Jay Stringfield
COURSE TITLE AND NUMBER: ENGL 2230, Survey of British Literature
MODULE TITLE: Student Forum on Non-American Literature
DESCRIPTION OF THE MODULE:
International literature quite often reflects a country’s history, culture, and unique perspective concerning censorship practices. By studying literature, film, art, and internet content from around the world, students will gain a better understanding of cultural differences and varying perspectives concerning censorship practices. The literary selection to be studied in this module is John Milton’s “Areopagitica.”
OBJECTIVES
Objective 1: Students will develop greater knowledge of cultures other than their own and the impact of diverse cultural perspectives on world events and censorship in the media.
SLOs (Knowledge)
1a. Students will increase their knowledge of cultures in the world around them, and in particular how culture influences literature and censorship.
1b. Students will recognize the role that differing cultural perspectives plan in shaping world events and censorship through the study of British literature.
Objective 2: Students will acquire increased understanding of the international aspects of literature and media censorship.
SLOs (Comprehension)
2a. Students will understand how international cultural diversity shapes the foundational elements, theory, research, and practice of British literature and related occupations/professions.
Objective 3: Students will demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the interdependency and consequences of international events and issues, such as censorship practices, as related to British literature.
SLOs (Application)
3a. Students will recognize how events in other nations affect the United States, how events in this country affect other nations, and how international, historic events and contemporary issues, including media censorship, shape British literature.
3b. Students will articulate the perspectives of other cultures and nations when analyzing world events and media censorship, describing in their literary analysis essay how different cultures may emphasize differing literary genres and tropes to reflect censorship practices.
METHODOLOGY
Lectures/Discussions:
The instructor will present lectures on poems, plays, short stories, novels, essays, films, art, and internet sources to be studied in and outside of class to familiarize the students with themes found in John Milton’s “Areopagitica.” The various art forms studied will address specific censorship practices found in nations other than the United States. Students will participate in group discussions.
Audio-Visuals:
Feature-length plays and/or films, slides depicting art, and/or websites may be incorporated into classroom meetings and discussed to demonstrate how cultural differences shape literature and international censorship thematically.
Readings:
Students will read from the textbook, supplemental texts, and additional resources, as assigned.
Assignment:
Students are required to write a four-page documented essay in which they assess the censorship practices (including literature, art, film, and internet) of a nation other than the United States. The students will discuss the positive or negative effects of the censorship and how the censorship either justifies or challenges the ideas in Milton’s “Areopagitica.”
The essay will need to include the following information. (This section is addressed to and may be distributed to the students.)
Part 1: Introduction- Here, you should grab the audience’s attention with an effective hook and give any background information you deem necessary to prepare your audience for your thesis. The most important part of this section, though, is the thesis statement, which should clearly present your main opinion and indicate the ideas that support it. Here are a couple of sample thesis statements for this assignment:
“The North Korean government’s stranglehold over all media allows manipulation of truth to keep an entire population bound by ignorance. North Korea’s censorship justifies the fears John Milton expresses in ‘Areopagitica.’”
“Saudi Arabia’s censorship practices serve the nation well by upholding moral value and eliminating possible corruptive influence. The overall social benefit gained by this censorship challenges John Milton’s attack against it in ‘Areopagitica.’”
Part 2: Exploration of the nation’s censorship practices- Here, you will inform your audience about the censorship policies of the nation you select. Questions to look at could include the following:
· What are the censorship policies involved?
· Which media are policed? Is the scope of literature available to the public limited?
· What agencies control the censorship?
· What is the nation’s censorship motivation (moral, political, traditional, historical, and cultural, etc.)?
· What are some controversial or milestone examples of violations/challenges to the policies?
· What punishment is associated with violation of censorship policies?
· How does the population covered by the censorship policies feel about them?
In this section, you will need to locate and effectively incorporate outside sources that help you answer these and similar questions. This section of the paper will contain the least amount of opinion; your goal is to set up the social system to which you will respond in later sections of the essay.
Part 3: Evaluation of the censorship practices- Here, you will judge the benefit or threat of the nation’s censorship system. This section requires your opinion, but you will validate it by clearly showing your logic that leads you to your judgment. If you see the system as ultimately beneficial, prove its benefits by showing them to your audience and suggesting the ultimate destination such censorship could allow. If you see the system as problematic, show your audience what the problems are and anticipate where they could eventually lead the society. Ultimately, here you look at the system’s effects and either defend their potential or illustrate their problems.
Part 4: Connect with “Areopagitica”- Here, you will incorporate the arguments Milton makes in his essay to reinforce your own judgment. If you are criticizing the nation’s censorship policies, you will explore how they validate Milton’s concerns. You will argue what Milton is correct about and why. If you are defending the nation’s censorship policies, you will explain how Milton’s fears are not justified. You will argue what Milton misunderstands and why. This section will require support, both direct and indirect, from “Areopagitica,” but keep in mind the majority should be your opinion and defense of it.
Part 5: Conclusion- Here, you will resound your argument and main points. You will also leave your audience with a call to action, a suggestion of what they should do next.
Advice:
· Be sure you defend a specific stance. Do not try to argue for and against the censorship practices; select a clear opinion that either embraces the nation’s censorship practice and the protection it provides or condemns the censorship for the freedom it infringes. Basically, pick a side and stick with it.
· When using direct quotes, incorporate your own voice by introducing it or explaining the quote’s significance to your argument. For example: Milton’s argument, “------“ illustrates the needless presence of censorship (111).
· Use outside support/paraphrases sparingly. Remember, the vast majority of the paper is your opinion. Use outside support to highlight your main arguments.
· Give yourself time to complete proper research. A window of a few days will not be enough time to adequately prepare a researched argument for this assignment.
· You have freedom to select whichever nation you desire, but here are a few suggestions of nations with interesting censorship practices: China, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran.
Essay will be double-spaced and in Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Essays will have a works cited page, and all quoted, paraphrased, and summarized source material will be documented. The minimum length is four full pages, 12 point font, Times New Roman, with one-inch margins and no extra spacing between paragraphs. No exceptions.
Evaluation:
The documented essay is worth fifteen percent of the final grade, and at least seventy percent of the students will score a three or above in all areas of the rubric.
Resources:
Supplemental texts and additional resources, including a PowerPoint in D2L
Library and library databases