Syllabus supplement

Written Assignments for Introduction to the Humanities I

William Jamison - Instructor

Directions: For each assignment you are to write an essay that may be as long as you feel necessary, but must be at least 300 words, and should demonstrate an understanding of the main point of the topic and it's relevance for us today. Avoid plagiarism! E-mail essays to: wsjamison@UAA.ALASKA.EDU.

Assignment 2 due October 1

We listened again to the song "Erlkonig" based on the poem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlk%C3%B6nig

For a look at the score visit here: http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN048628865X&id=cktBBP9zGrcC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&vq=erlkonig&dq=franz+schubert+erlkonig&sig=dUrXr6ZVJ0GjKC1YvaOSw3mTcFk   The essay can be about the music, the poem, the fear of losing a child, or even the whole topic of "Kindertotenlieder."

Some students brought up the Sarah Brightman album "La Luna" where she sings a song titled "Figlio Perduto" as described here with lyrics: http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/sb/sb903.html

Notice that even though the poem used was based on Goethe's, the complete poem was not used and the music is from Beethoven instead of Schubert. This is certainly interesting though since it demonstrates the great interest in the poem and the state of affairs depicted. This is every parents nightmare.

The challenge is to write something that is beautiful, well written, and interesting! To help you may already start forming the group that will help with your term paper and use that group to edit your essay and make suggestions. Writing is a dialogue, not a voice crying in the wilderness. 

mailto:wsjamison@uaa.alaska.edu