|
| Syllabus
- English 534 |
|
.
|
| January
21 |
Introduction;
General Prologue, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Sign up for Individual
Reading. Choose a pilgrim. |
| January
28 |
General
Prologue. |
| February
4 |
Finish
General Prologue. Written Translation. Begin Miller's Tale?
|
| February
11 |
Written
Translation. Finish Miller's Tale. Reeve's Tale. Oral Reports
begin. |
| February
18 |
Friar's
tale; Summoner's Tale. |
| February
25 |
Wife
of Bath's Prologue and Tale. |
| March
4 |
Shipman's
Tale, [Wife tale #2?] Clerk's Prologue and Tale. |
| March
11 |
Pass Out Take home Midterm Merchant's Prologue, Tale, Epilogue.
Squire's Tale (incomplete tale). |
|
SPRING
BREAK
|
| March
25 |
The
Franklin's Prologue and Tale. Pardoner's Introduction, Prologue
and Tale |
| April
1 |
Knight's Tale |
| April
8 |
Nun's
Priest's Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue. Retraction. |
| April
15 |
Troilus
and Creseyde Book Three |
| April
22 |
Troilus
and Creseyde Book Three |
| April
29 |
Troilus
and Creseyde Book IV |
| May
6 |
Troilus
and Creseyde Book V |
| May
13 |
FINAL
EXAM |
|
|
|
Individual
Reading List
Select Your Own
|
| Anonymous |
Beowulf
(circa 750). This is Old English, not Middle English, and would
therefore require a very ambitious student. But if anyone wants
to, I will work with you. |
| Anonymous |
Gawain
and the Green Knight (circa 1375-1400) |
| Anonymous |
The
Pearl (circa 1375-1400)
Note: Sir Gawain and The Pearl were written by the same unknown,
Northern English poet) |
| Anonymous |
Middle
English Romances. There are MANY possibilities here (i.e. King
Horm, Sir Orfeo, Sir Perceval of Galles, etc).
See me for a complete list. |
| Anonymous |
The
Wakefield Cycle Mystery Plays (?)
(also called Towneley Cycle) |
| Anonymous |
The
York Cycle Mystery Plays (?)(a long cycle; selections are possible) |
| Geoffrey
Chaucer |
The
Legend of Good Women |
| John
Gowe |
Confessio
Amantis (1330-1408). A Long work; probably selected books) |
| Margery
Kempe |
The
Book of Margery Kempe (1373-1438) |
| William
Langland |
Piers
Plowman (1330-1387) |
| Sir
Thomas Malory |
Morte Darthur (1405-1471) |
| The
Pastons |
The
Paston Letters |
|
. |
| TEXT:
The Riverside Chaucer, edited by Larry Benson, third edition,
l987. |
|
.
|
Course
Objectives: Think of this course as an intensive introduction
to late Middle Ages in England, intended for students with a
good deal of general reading experience, but limited exposure
to Middle English. By the end of the semester any student patient
enough to work through Middle English in class and out of it
will read the rich literature of the Middle Ages with ease,
affection, and understanding. Because the evolution of the English
language has kept Chaucer and his fellow poets from being accessible
to many readers, we will begin with a line by line rendition
and discussion of the General Prologue (a cast of characters
for The Canterbury Tales with detailed descriptions and setting).
We will move slowly at this point, but as the course progresses
we will pick up the pace, so that we will finally read all the
major Tales, plus Chaucer'sTroilus and Creseyde.
Nor is that all. In addition to Chaucer's poetry, everyone in
the class will read some Medieval literature on their own, keep
a journal, and present brief oral reports to the class. By the
end of the class, then, all of you will have
1) A thorough understanding of all Chaucer's major poetry,
2) A sound introduction to at least one other major work of
the Medieval period, and
3) a fair idea of the variety of literature out there, that
you have not yet read - and the means to read it, on your own. |
|
.
|
Secondary
Objectives: Because most of the writers you will read in this
course wrote six or seven hundred years ago, and because many
of them (i.e. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Langland's Piers Plowman,
the Mystery Plays, etc) cover a wide variety of social classes
and literary genres, it is impossible to read them without being
immersed in all sorts of "Medieval Facts of Life."
Expect, therefore, to hear and deliver (during your turn as
class leader) impromptu mini-lectures and oral reports on whatever
they knew, and we don't: history (i.e. Bubonic Plague or the
Peasant's rebellion, say), class structure, medicine, astrology,
marriage customs and birth control practices, to name only a
few. By the end of the course you will know fourteenth century
British life more intimately than you ever thought possible.
However, scholarly limitations being what they are: please get
in the habit, not only of asking questions, but listening to
all answers (including mine) with a skeptical mind. It is woefully
easy to give pat, general answers to some of the huge, sociological
and historical questions you will want answered, and some of
the most frequently repeated assumptions about medieval life
have recently been proved wrong by scholars examining the records
-- i.e. that medieval peasant families tended to be very large,
with a child born every year or two; or that medieval "peasants"
could be treated, socially, as a homogeneous group, whereas
they can probably be divided into at least three distinct economic
groups, each with conflicting interests, etc, etc. I am chagrined
to remember how many misleading over-generalizations I myself
foisted onto innocent students in bygone years. So: Make me,
and anyone else who gives you information, cite their sources. |
|
.
|
Background:
Because Chaucer is the one Medieval author everyone in class
will read, it might be helpful to include a few words here about
him. Chaucer was born and raised in a portion of London inhabited
almost exclusively by wine merchants; some of these merchants
were wealthy, but they were not "gentry." Sometime
in his teens he was attached to the Countess of Ulter's household
in some very minor capacity (probably as a page). From there
he followed his patrons into the army and then court employment,
making a number of trips to the continent (at least France and
Italy) on the King's business. After the death of King Edward
he left court with an annuity and lived in London, working as
controller at the custom-house and writing (we think) both Troilus
and Creseyde and The Canterbury Tales.
These two works - Chaucer's major poetry - are very different
in nature. Troilus and Creseyde is an elaborate courtly love
tale in five books, funny and grave in turns. It contains dialogue,
epic machinery, soliloquy's, narrative comment, etc. The Canterbury
Tales, on the other hand, are a tightly woven group of tales
told by people of widely different professions and prospectives.
These tales (told to beguile the time while on pilgrimage together)
do not stand in isolation, for their tellers alternately refute
each other, revenge themselves on competitors, imitate, parody,
and complement one another. They have their own, distinctive
voices. And there would have been many more voices, had Chaucer
lived long enough to write them; four tales from each pilgrim.
Canterbury Tales was thus conceived on an immense scale. |
|
.
|
On
Thriving and Prospering, Productively: There is one, inflexible
rule which you must adhere to religiously if you want to read
Middle English with pleasure in the original: NO TRANSLATIONS!
Translations do, of course, have their uses - after you become
deft in Middle English. But you will NEVER learn to read deftly
or even comfortably if you lean on that crutch! Bury your translations
-- mail them to your parents -- loan them to your most irresponsible
friends -- but do not peek at them! If you give in to temptation
in the first weeks, when you are still reading very slowly,
you will find yourself left behind, struggling, when the rest
of us are enjoying ourselves. I have taught Chaucer who knows
how many times, and I promise that EVERY student in this class
will learn to read Middle English with ease, if, and only if:
1 he or she reads the assignment carefully and regularly before
each class, and,
2 Nobody touches a translation.
|
|
.
|
Evaluation
Policy: For the first six weeks, while you are still learning
to read Middle English comfortably, I ask my students to focus
all their energies on
1) reading assignments painstakingly,
2) attending class, and
3) leading one class discussion. By the time you take the midterm
you should be at least moderately comfortable, reading Chaucer.
Therefore, when you lead the class discussion in the last half
of the course, I will expect you to begin research, and to weave
the results into your presentation.
Pass/Fail
translation quiz 0 %
General Participation 15%
Reading Journal 15%
Oral Reports 15%
Final
Paper: 20%
Midterm 15%
Final Exam 20%
Quizzes: Very early (probably by the third week of
class) I will begin asking for brief translations. The first
time, this will be practice only. The second time I will collect
it, and grade it on a pass/fail basis. Everybody will pass
it, either on that date, or later. There is only ONE purpose
for this test: to let you know how readily you are translating,
and to help me pace the course accordingly. Please Note: there
is NO penalty for failure; I never even mark a failure to
pass on my record book. Those who pass receive a "P"
beside their names. Those who do not will retake it later,
when they have read more. If somebody still does not pass,
they should talk to me about preparation, and then retake
it, as often as necessary. There is, therefore, no distinction
made between those who pass immediately, and those who retake
it several times. But the sooner you become adept at translating,
the sooner you can participate in the literary analysis that
is the heart of this course.
Journals:
Everyone in the class will be reading at least TWO authors:
Chaucer, and an author of their choice. Chaucer will be discussed
in class. But while reading Chaucer, you should also be reading
the author you contracted with me to study. Keep a reading
journal of your experience with, and reaction to, this author.
Please choose a binder or loose-leaf folder that allows you
to add and remove pages freely. Then bring your journals to
class. I will collect them when the spirit moves me, to make
sure your reading is progressing regularly. You will be expected
to keep up with your reading even when I have collected them;
just add the pages to the whole when I have given them back.
Feel free to discuss plot, word choice, sentence structure,
style, narrative pose, design, or anything else that seems
striking to you in your author. But you MUST focus on the
author: do not daydream on unrelated subjects, and do not
use your author as a jumping-off point for a mini-essay on
something else entirely.
Oral Reports: Everyone in class will deliver at least
two oral reports based on their individual reading.
The first time, you may not have finished the entire work;
focus on the portion you have read, and identify that portion.
Allow a maximum of 3-4 minutes only, introducing the work
itself to readers who have no familiarity with it: no extended
paraphrases! Then launch into some sort of unified observations
about the work. Consider including BRIEF hand-outs, with a
selection from your author.
By your second report, you should have finished your reading
(or, depending on the work, the sub-section we agreed upon),
and have begun research on it. By now you should have a fully
developed argument to present to the class. I will ask you
to turn in a working bibliography (it need not be complete)
and outline of your argument at this time.
Final
Paper: This paper is usually (but not necessarily) an
off-shoot of the second oral report. Aim at around 8-12 pages.
In this paper, assume that your reader has read the work in
question (in your oral reports, you must make the opposite
assumption). This is a research paper, the final fruit of
the individual reading you have done throughout the semester.
I expect a works cited page or bibliography, a well-developed
argument, and signs of your own individual contribution (not,
in otherwords, a rehash of other critics point of view).
Exams:
The exams will cover Chaucer ONLY; your individual reading
will not be included. I will pass out one take-home exams
with a 6-8 page length limit on the last class before Spring
break, and collected the first class afterwards. You will
thus have at least a week to prepare a polished, typed response.
The final exam will be an open-book test held during during
the scheduled time. You will thus have one opportunity to
write a prepared piece, and one chance to show me how well
you can think on your feet.
Participation:
Students are expected to be present at each class, to
be prepared, and to contribute to class discussion. They are
also expected to serve as class discussion leader on demand
(with prior warning).
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory. Since there are only 15 classes in
the semester, no one is permitted to miss more than one class.
Students who face unmitigated disasters that keep them from
attending should get in touch with me as soon as possible;
I will, in these cases, allow students to turn in a 2-3 page
report on the tales we covered that class, in lieu of attending.
Otherwise, students missing more than one class will see their
grade drop 10% for each class. Students are also expected
to attend class On Time.
Plagiarism:
To use someone else's ideas without crediting them is to plagiarize,
even if you alter the author's language, and even if the author
is a personal acquaintance instead of a book from the library.
This is intellectual fraud, and I will fail all papers and
exams that engage in it.
|
|
.
|
|
|
