Medieval Literature in
Tentative Syllabus
ENGL 4110.01
HUM 209
T, Th
Instructor: Dr Micheal Crafton
Office hours: M 4-5; T,
Office location: TLC 2-225
Catalogue course description: An in-depth study of medieval English literature in
its various aspects, considering texts in their historical context.
Course Description:
A Knight’s Tale, The
Thirteenth Warrior, Excalibur, Joan of Arc, The Name of the Rose, Camelot, The Lion
in Winter, these titles of successful
popular movies on medieval subjects, not to mention such things as Gothic art
and architecture, tapestries, illuminated books, games like Dungeons and
Dragons, and lay groups like the Society for Creative Anachronism, speak to the
enduring appeal of the medieval world, but the "medieval world"
represented by these various forms of popular art are very different from each
other and differ even more radically from scholarly representations of that
epoch, if it can even be called an epoch. In this course, we will
compare these popular versions with the literature that the medievals
themselves wrote and with the scholarly interpretations of same in order to see
for ourselves how much, say The Thirteenth Warrior, is more about the
modern world and the medieval world. We will do this as part of our
survey of medieval literature in
Required Texts and other
readings/materials:
LITT Trapp, J.B, Douglas Gray and Julia Boffey, eds. Medieval English Literature.
2nd ed.
VIEW
Cook, William R., and Ronald B. Herzman. The
Medieval World View: An Introduction 2nd ed.
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.
Required texts and
other readings/materials:
Relationship to 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. Mid-Term Exam = 20 %
2. Final Exam = 25 %
3. Two Response Essays = 20 %
4. Participation = 10 %
5. Research Essay = 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: Since this class
meets only twice a week, attendance is all the more important. Attendance
should be understood as more than merely occupying space in a passive manner;
rather, it should be understand as a productive act. In fact, it should be considered
a production in the way that creating a paper or report is considered as a
production. In order to get full credit, your presence must be known, and it
must be known as that of a prepared student working to make the class an event
of learning, of intellectual and artistic exchange.
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:
All chapter references and
page number references are to the texts listed above.
Week 1: Introduction of
Medieval World
T 24 Introduction to
course and medieval history
R 26 VIEW 1-37
-------------------------------
Week 2: Medieval History
Continued
T 31 VIEW 38-85
R 2 VIEW
90-128 (Skim pages 129-174 on Monasticism and Charlemagne); Begin to sample
some of the short Old English poems such as Caedmon's
Hymn and the Enigmas and Riddles, Genesis, Dream of the Rood
-------------------------------
Week 3: Anglo-Saxon
Literature
T 7 Caedmon's Hymn, Elegies, Judith, and AS Prosody (30 min of
film)
R 9 No class – Out of
town for conference
-------------------------------
Week 4:
T 14 (Rest of film)
Dream of the Rood, Genesis
R 16 More Dream
of the Rood
------------------------------
Week 5: Anglo-Saxon
Literature
T 21 Battle of Maldon and begin Beowulf
R 23 Beowulf
-------------------------------
Week 6: History of the High
Middle Ages
T 28 Finish Beowulf: VIEW
178-237
R 30 VIEW 238-278
(Essay # 1 due)
-------------------------------
Week 7: Anglo-Norman
Literature and the Romance Middle English Period (Romance)
T 5
Introduction of Anglo-Norman history (tour of Bayeaux
Tapestry) and Marie de France
Thomas the Rhymer
R 7
Marie de France – On-line text
-------------------------------
Week 8: Middle English Period
(Romance)
T 12 Thomas the Rhymer, Land of Cockayne,
Romance cont'd
R 14 No class:
Study for Mid Term: Old Test ; Test Tips
-------------------------------
Week 9: Middle English Period
(Romance)
T 19 Mid Term Exam
R 21: Start thinking about a
possible paper topic.
-------------------------------
Week 10: Middle English
Period (Pear Poet
T 26 Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
R 28 Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight
-------------------------------
Week 11: Middle English
Period (Chaucer)
T 2 Selections
from Literature by Women (Essay # 2 due)
R 4 Piers
Plowman
-------------------------------
Week 12: Middle English
Period (Chaucer)
T 9 General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales:
Paper topic due.
R 11 Canterbury Tales:
Miller’s Tale
-------------------------------
Week 13: Middle English
Period (Chaucer and the Drama)
T 16
Canterbury Tales: Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale: Outline of paper: Reading
Questions
R 18
Canterbury Tales: Nun’s Priest’s Tale:
Reading Questions
-------------------------------
Week 14: Middle English
Period (Theater)Rough draft of paper.
T 23
Second Shepherd’s Play: : Reading
Questions
(Play group assignments: Five
plays of three or four students each): Go to the this site for the texts that
we will use in the Production: .Click here for the
texts for our productions:
Here are some other sites of
interest in medieval drama: Some good links:
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/english/everyman.htm
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/MEDrama.htm
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~medieval/www/pls/
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/guilds.htm
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html#med-em
http://english.cua.edu/toronto/york98.htm?nohead=1
R 25 Thanksgiving Holidays
-------------------------------
Week 15: Middle English
Period (Theater)
T 30
Production: Creation (Debra, Quintin,
Sara); Joseph’s Return (Giselle, Kristen,
R 2
Production: Temptation (Tia, Anisa, Denise, Shanna); Woman
Taken in Adultery (DeAnna, Joanna, Briane, Wendy); Raising of Lazarus (Jennifer, Scott, Kasey, Dave, James, Viola)
-------------------------------
Week 15: Final Things
T 7 Last Day of
Classes: Course Evaluation, Review for Final: Last Production (if necessary):
Final Draft of paper due.
-------------------------------
Final Exam
2-3:15
classes...........................................................Tuesday, Dec.
14,
SHORT
PAPERS: Theses
papers should be about four pages long (double spaced, 12 pt font, standard
margins) 3.5 to 4.5 about two different subjects. They are designed to
reveal your ability to write short, tight academic prose and reveal your
ability to analyze texts.
Paper
# 1: In the first essay, you will demonstrate your knowledge of a minor
Old English poem and how it can be read intertextually
with Beowulf. A very minor example might be reading the first
Biblical excursus in Beowulf part 1 as intertextually
linked with Bede and Caedmon’s
Hymn. You will want to demonstrate that you know the minor poem and Beowulf
and how reading the two together either a) opens up something in your reading
of Beowulf or b) provides a more historically grounded context for
reading in Beowulf the heroic code or the elegiac mode or some of the
cultural characteristics of Germanic society.
Paper
# 2: In this essay, most students will write about the romance as a
genre. You will use more than one of the selections that we will have
read by that point and demonstrate something of the criteria for a medieval
romance; your main text will likely be Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
but Sir Orfeo can also provide a good base
text.
TERM
PAPER: The research
paper must be on a single text, e.g. a Chaucer tale, a romance, a Anglo-Saxon
poem. The essay can employ any scholarly methodology. It could
provide a reading of the text by elucidating something about the tale (e.g.,
the critical history of the tale, the relationship of the sources of the tale,
the historical environment of the tale) or it could argue for the importance of
a historical context or provide a psychoanalytic reading or a feminist reading
of one school or another. The paper should be about 10 pages long, using
the latest MLA documentation style, and the research should be thorough, not
rely exclusively on the internet and reflective of our library's holdings.
In the process of writing this paper, each student should select a topic by
mid-term or a little later and then work toward the paper with a little more
work each week: prospectus, rough bibliography, outline of argument, abstract,
rough draft and final draft.