Literary-Cultural Casebook
Assignment Guidelines

Objective: Engage in research of the cultural and historical contexts of a non-Western or non-English-language literary work. Explain how external research can enrich our understanding of a literary work.

Procedure:

1. Form into groups of 3-4 students.

2. Identify a specific cultural or historical topic that will help you understand one of the works on the English 1582 syllabus.

3. Research the topic using online or print sources.

4. Elaborate on your research in a class presentation in which each group member speaks for five minutes. Link your group's research to the literary work in question and use some sort of visual aidÑposter, Power Point, physical artifact or other.

Topics:

This is not an exhaustive list. Please feel free to refine topics as needed:

Countries/time periods:

Nineteenth-century Norway, Feudal China, Colonial Nigeria, China under Mao, Revolutionary Iran, Present-Day Kerala, etc.

Historical events:

The Cultural Revolution, The Iranian Revolution, The Chinese Communist Revolution, The Iranian Coup of 1921, The Naxalite-Maoist Insurgency, The Partition, etc.

Cultural elements:

Dramatic Realism, Chinese Imperial Examinations, Confucianism, Igbo, The Kola Nut Ritual, The British Empire and its Legacy, India's caste system, Kathakali Dance, Hinduism, etc.

Deadlines:

Group presentations take place during a class when we are discussing the related literary work, and groups will work that out with me.