Medieval Literature in England

Tentative Syllabus

 

ENGL 4110.01 (Independent Studies Version)

TLC 2-225

 

 

Instructor: Dr Micheal Crafton

Office hours: MW 1-3

Office location: TLC 2-225; Bonner House

 

Course description: An in-depth study of medieval English literature in its various aspects, considering texts in their historical context.

 

Required Texts and other readings/materials:

LITT    Trapp, J.B, Douglas Gray and Julia Boffey, eds.  Medieval English Literature.   2nd ed.  Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002.

 

VIEW Cook, William R., and Ronald B. Herzman.  The Medieval World View: An Introduction 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.

Learning Outcomes:

 

·        Students will develop the ability to discuss, analyze, and critique selected literature from the Anglo-Saxon to the Middle English period so as to become conversant with its content and defining traits.

·        Students will develop a theoretical and critical foundation for interpreting medieval literature.

·        Students will gain the ability to understand the interrelationship between the texts and their cultural contexts.

·        Students will develop the rhetorical skills required for reporting on topics of medievalism in oral presentations.

·        Students will demonstrate in both oral and written work a discipline-specific critical facility through convincing and well-supported analysis of course-related material.

·        Students will demonstrate their command of academic English and of the tenets of sound composition by means of thesis-driven analytical prose.

·

 

Relationship of Course Goals to English Degree Program Goals:

 

This course fulfills one of departmental requirements for the completion of the English major.

The course will contribute to the larger goal of equipping students with a foundation in literary history and the issues surrounding literary study in contemporary culture.

Students will develop the analytical, oral and written skills to pursue graduate study or careers in teaching, writing, business and a variety of other fields.

Students will be able to define and pursue independent research agendas.

Courses seek to broaden students' desire and ability to take pleasure in their encounter with literature.

 

Tests and other assessment activities:

 

1. Periodic Essays        = 75%

2. Research Project      = 25 %

 

Class Project 

1. A standard research paper (10 pages long, 8 to 10 references) on one of the primary texts of the course, which provides a reading of the text or supports a reading of the text by means of historical context.

Class Policies: 

 

Attendance: We will meet on average once every other week and on every other meeting (about once a month), you will have an essay due.  Meeting time, place, dates TBA.

 

Late Work: Generally, my policy for unexcused late work is that it loses a letter grade for every day it is late. There are, of course, extenuating circumstances, but these need to be made and made well. 

 

Plagiarism: Intentional plagiarism, that is, the conscious adoption of someone else's writing or ideas as your own is a profanation to everything I hold important. If a student is clearly guilty of this, the result will be an F for the class and a report to the disciplinary officials of the University. 

 

Daily Assignments:

Page number references are to the texts

--------- week 1 ---------- (Meet)

W 7     First day of class: Introductions, overview, begin reading VIEW

 --------- week2----------(Meet)

M 12    VIEW 1-85

W 14   OE intro xi-xiii; xvi-xix; Caedmon’s Hymn

R 15     Meet

--------- week3----------

M 19    MLK, Jr. Holiday

W 21   VIEW 129-142; OE poetry Judith, Genesis B, Gnomic Verses, Riddles, Elegies

R 22     Meet with essay on View

--------- week4----------

M 26    Beowulf; VIEW 143-174

W 28   Beowulf

R 29     No meeting

--------- week5----------

M 2      VIEW 178-278

W 4     VIEW 178-278

R 5       Meet with Essay on Beowulf

--------- week6---------- (Meet)

M 9      Intro to English Literature after OE

W 11   Romance: Marie de France (online http://web.english.ufl.edu/exemplaria/intro.html   Read Prologue and the first four lais)

R 12     No meeting      

--------- week7----------

M 16    Sir Orfeo, Thomas the Rhymer; Land of Cockayne

W 18   Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

R 19     Meet with essay to turn in next week (essay on romance)

--------- week8---------- (Meet w/essay)

M 23    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

W 25   Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

R 26     No meeting

--------- week9----------

M 1      Piers Plowman

W 3     Piers Plowman

R 4       Meeting

--------- week10---------- (Meet)

M 8       Women’s Literature: Selections

W 10   Women’s Literature: Selections

R 11     No meeting

--------- week11----------

 M 15   Legend of Good Women

W 17   Troilus and Criseyde

R 18     Meet with essay (spiritual topics)

--------- week12----------

M 22    Spring Break

W 24   Spring Break

R 25     No meeting

--------- week13---------- (Meet w/essay)

M 29    Canterbury Tales: General Prologue

W 31   Canterbury Tales: Franklin’s Tale

R 1       Meeting

--------- week14----------

M 5      Canterbury Tales: Miller’s Tale (Research project topic due)

W 7     Field Trip to Emory:

R 8       No meeting

--------- week15---------- (Meet)

M 12    Canterbury Tales: Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale (Research project prospectus due)

W 14   Canterbury Tales: Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale

R 15     Meeting with essay

--------- week16----------

M 19    Second Shepherd’s Play

W 21    Everyman (and Castle of Perseverance selection)

R  22    No meeting

--------- week17---------- (Meet w/essay)

M 26    Malory (Research project due)

T 27     Last Day of Class: Lyrics and Ballads

W 28   Reading Day 

Final Exam: Final meeting