SemesterSpring Semester, 2018
DepartmentJunior Class of Department of Arabic Language and Culture Senior Class of Department of Arabic Language and Culture
Course NameTopics on Literature
InstructorSU I-WEN
Credit2.0
Course TypeSelectively
PrerequisiteTopics on Literature
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule

Schedule



W1 (2/27) Induction



W2 (3/6) Akhbār (I) — Quiz



W3 (3/13) Akhbār (II) — Quiz



W4 (3/20) Biography — Quiz



W5 (3/27) Biography



W6 (4/3) Biography



W7 (4/10) The Qur’an and Interpretation — Quiz



W8 (4/17) The Qur’an and Interpretation



W9 (4/24) The Qur’an and Interpretation



W10 (5/1) Midterm



W11 (5/8) Poetry and Wine — Quiz



W12 (5/15) Poetry and Wine



W13 (5/22) Poetry and Wine — Quiz



W14 (5/29) Poetry and Wine



W15 (6/5) Maqāmāt — Quiz



W16 (6/12) Maqāmāt



W17 (6/19) Akhbār (III)



W18 (6/26) Final



 


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant

X


Requirement/Grading

Evaluation



Attendance: 5%



Presentation/ Assignment: 30%



Midterm Examination: 20%



Final Examination: 25%



Quizzes: 20%



 



*Failing to attend the lectures for more than three times means no mark will be given for Attendance (5%), unless under objective circumstance that is unforeseeable, unavoidable, and insurmountable.



*Please note that cheating in quizzes and exams is unacceptable in any circumstance. If you cheat in a quiz or exam, you will be failed.



Presentation and Assignment Guideline



 




  • Each student will have to make one presentation on one of the following topics (see below, Presentation and Assignment Topics). Each presentation lasts 10-15 minutes (depending on the number of the students enrolled in the course), including Q & A session.

  • Each student has to select his/her topic on Moodle, by Week 2 (3/6). Each topic only allows for a limited number of presenters (depending upon the number of students enrolled in the course).

  • Students will be informed of the time of their presentation by Week 3 (3/13).

  • With each presentation, students will have to turn in one written assignment addressing the given topic before the presentation. Without either (i.e. presentation and written assignment), the mark of Presentation (30% in total) will not be given.

  • The assignments have to be submitted via email in electronic (Word) format to the course organiser (isu@nccu.edu.tw), before his or her presentation.

  • The assignment must be written in formal English, less than five pages (A4 in size), 1.5-spaced, font size 12. Referencing is obligatory, if an idea, statement, or evidence is taken from others’ works. Students must use referencing (for referencing style, students should follow The Chicago Manual of Style: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html)

  • Plagiarism, once spotted, will be severely penalised (no mark given to Presentation, 30%).  

  • Copying other students’ assignments is also considered plagiarism.

  • Unless certain circumstances prevail (selon University policy), the assignments must be submitted before the presentations. Late submission will not be accepted.



 



 



 



Presentation and Assignment Topics



 



1. Write a news article about one of the following subjects: Abū al-ʿIbar, Taʾabbaṭā Sharran, al-Walīd b. ʿUqba, Khālid al-Qasrī, al-ʿArjī, al-Ḥuṭayʾa, al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḍaḥḥāk, based on the biographies in Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī. Every of these subjects did something sensational. You need to write a news-report about the subject and his deed or misdeed. In the news article, you will have to provide the following information: (1) basics about the subject (dates and places of birth and death, if known; his occupation; his associates, including relatives, friends and/or patrons; any information that is relevant to this news); (2) his deed or misdeed that is newsworthy (explain what he did and why it is controversial, from your perspective); (3) include an eyewitness report about the deed or misdeed (you have to provide the name of this witness, as noted in the Kitāb al-Aghānī). Every piece of information has to be referenced (for example, when the birthplace of the subject is given, you need to note the page number, where this information is found in the al-Aghānī).



 



2. Write a biography about one of the following subjects: ʿAmr b. Kulthūm, Abū Nuwās, and Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī. The information should include: the dates and places of the subject’s birth and demise (if available), his upbringing (family background, education, or anything that may inform his personality), and evaluation of his achievement(s). You need to use at least three primary sources to provide the above information for the biographee. Every piece of information has to be referenced.



 



3. Write a comparative analysis of the story of a prophet mentioned in the Qur’an. You need to outline what the Qur’an and al-Thaʿlabī say about the prophet in question. You have to compare the elements or details missing in the Qur’an but fleshed out by al-Thaʿlabī as the conclusion (references are required).



 



4. Write an analysis of one of the following maqāmāt by Badīʿ al-Zaman: al-Baghdādhiyya (71–74), al-Makfūfiyya (93–96), al-Sāsāniyya (108–112), al-Iblīsiyya (208–212). You need to outline the plot of the maqāma in question, and identify its punch-line(s) (quote the key sentences, if necessary). That is, you need to analyse what makes the given maqāma funny.



 



 



 



 


Textbook & Reference

Reading



*Coverage of quizzes in bold.



 



Week 2 Akhbār (I)



Ibn al-Marzubān. Tafīl Al-Kalb ʿAlā Kathīr Mimmā Labisa Al-Thiyāb. Edited by ‘Iṣām Muḥammad Sabārū. Cairo: Mu’assasat al-Ahrām, 1998, 45–47, 50–53 [Quiz], 57, 61–64, 79–80, 85–90.



 



Week 3  Akhbār (II)



Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Muāarāt al-udabāʾ wa-muāwarāt al-shuʿarāʾ wa-l-bulaghāʾ. Beirut: Dār al-Arqam b. Abī al-Arqam, 1999, vol.2, 660–666 [Quiz].



 



Weeks 4–6 Biography



Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī. Kitāb Al-Aghānī. Edited by Iḥsān ʿAbbās, Bakr ʿAbbās, and Ibrāhīm al-Saʿʿāfīn. 3rd ed. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 2008, vol. 18, 122–152 [Quiz: 122–124].



 



Weeks 7–9 The Qur’an and Interpretation



The Qurʾān, 18:83–98 [Quiz W7].



 



Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr. Jāmiʿ Al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Al-Qurʾān. Edited by Maḥmūd M. Shākir and Aḥmad M. Shākir. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1954–1969, vol.15, 368–412.



 



Al-Thaʿlabī. Qia Al-Anbiyāʾ. Cairo: Maktabat al-Jumhūriyya al-ʿArabiyya, n.d., 409–415 [Quiz W9]. 



 



Weeks 11–14 Poetry and Wine



ʿAmr b. Kulthūm. Muʿallaqat ʿAmr B. Kulthūm. Edited by Muḥammad ʿA. al-Ḥasanī. Abu Dhabi: Dār al-Kutub al-Waṭaniyya, 2012, 18–69 [Quiz W11: 19–21].



 



Abū Nuwās. Dīwān Abī Nuwās. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, n.d., 7–8 [Quiz W11].



 



Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī. Dīwān afī Al-Dīn Al-illī. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥawwar. Beirut: al-Muʾassasat al-ʿArabiyya li-l-Dirāsāt wa-l-Nashr, 2000, 601–602. [Quiz W13]



 



Weeks 15–16 Maqāmāt



Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī. Maqāmāt Badīʿ Al-Zamān Al-Hamadhānī. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbduh. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2005, 62–66 (al-maqāma al-ifahāniyya) [quiz].



 



Week 17 Akhbār (III)



Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Muāarāt al-udabāʾ wa-muāwarāt al-shuʿarāʾ wa-l-bulaghāʾ. Beirut: Dār al-Arqam b. Abī al-Arqam, 1999, vol.2, 264–304 [quiz; 264–270].



 



 



 



 



 



 



 


Urls about Course
X
Attachment

TL II.pdf