Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for RUS 242 archive revision 201904

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Effective Term:
Fall 2019 through Summer 2021

Course Number:
RUS 242
Course Title:
Great Russian Writers-20th Century
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces Russian literature's great writers of the 20th-century, including but not limited to Zoshchenko, Olesha, Bulgakov, Zamyatin, Solzhenitsyn, Akhmatova, and Grossman. Explores themes, genres, style, historical context, and social and cultural issues. Conducted in English and all readings in English. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students will be able to: 

  1. Use knowledge of Russian cultural concepts and historical events to interpret Russian literary texts and their meaning for the time period of 1900-2000.

  2. Make connections between Russian literary texts written during different Russian historical and political times from 1900-2000.

  3. Recognize literary conventions and use a critical vocabulary with which to discuss and write about literature, including, but not limited to: avant-garde, post-modernism, expressionism, utopian and dystopian literature, samizdat, tamizdat parody, satire, and picaresque.

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

Course Activities and Design

1. Lecture and Powerpoint presentations

2. Small and large group discussions with guided discussion questions

3. Class discussions

4. Think-Pair-Share

5. Collaborative groups

6. Videos

Outcome Assessment Strategies

1.      Large group discussions

2.      Small group discussions

3.      Response journals

4.      Short analytical essays

5.      Longer analytical essays

6.      Oral presentations

7.      Quizzes

8.      Written or oral exams

9.      Creative project

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

THEMES, CONCEPTS, ISSUES

1.       Literary genres

2.      Literary themes

3.       Literary conventions and allusions

4.       Literary vocabulary

5.       Narrative devices

6.       Analysis and synthesis

7.       Contextualization

8.       Critical reading and thinking

9.       Essay and response writing

10.     Close reading and explication

11.     Cultural and historical influences

12.     Development of early-mid 20th century literature

13.     Russian/Soviet culture and society in early-mid 20th century

14.     1917 Russian revolution and effects on society and culture

15.     Post-revolutionary satire.

16.     Eugenics and experiments in Soviet science

17.     Communist utopia and utopian literature

18.     Avant-garde and expressionism in Russian art and literature

19.     Socialist realism in Russian literature and art

20.     Dystopian literature

21.     Stalinist terror and repression

22.     Collectivization and effects on rural society

23.     Ukrainian genocide holodomor of 1932-1933

24.     Oppression of minority groups and nationalities in USSR

25.     Development of mid to late 20th century literature

26.     Russian/Soviet culture and society in mid-late 20th century

27.     Gulag prison system and prison literature

28.     Confession and memory in 20th century Russian literature

29.     De-Stalinization, political, and social changes during Krushchev’s Thaw

30.     Censorship in Russian literature

31.     Samizdat and tamizdat publishing

32.     Soviet dissident movement

33.     Social, cultural, and economic stagnation under Brezhnev

34.     Alcohol and alcoholism in Russian culture and society

COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS

1.       Analysis

2.       Synthesis

3.       Understanding literary texts through contexts such as society, politics, artistic conventions,        multiple interpretations of an author, etc.

4.       Writing about literature using supporting evidence from text

5.       Close readings

6.      Critical reading employing reviews and critical essays

7.       Speaking and listening reflectively

8.       Small-group collaboration