Pronunciation Assignment
All students must master the pronunciation of Middle English and read 20 or more lines of your choice satisfactorily in private with the instructor. I will be happy to hear several rehearsals of such a reading. Once you are ready to read for a grade, I will give you two tries--if the first reading is unsuccessful or you are displeased by it, you may try again on a different day. You must complete this assignment by Wednesday March 12. 

You may pick the passage, and it can be one we've covered in class. I am expecting to hear the passage read for pronunciation and effect--i.e., not one word at a time, but as dramatic poetry. Chaucer's language is beautiful when read aloud and you should try to convey some of that beauty. I strongly suggest that you listen to a variety of the readings on the Chaucer Metapages' Audio Files page to get a sense of how this poetry sounds when read aloud as you practice.

Traditionally students are required to memorize their passage. If you do not memorize, but read your assignment from the book or a prompt sheet, the highest grade you can get on this assignment is a B- (82). Successful memorization means learning the poetry the way Chaucer and his audience would have learned it--not "conning on boke" but "knowing" in the true sense. That's why students who successfully memorize their passage are eligible to get a higher score.

Responses to Critical Readings

Part of the goals of a 500-level course is to encourage you to analyze and understand various critical perspectives from which literary critics approach the works you are reading. As part of this class, you will be asked to submit 2-3 page critical responses to some of the criticism we are reading for the course. These should be analytical or even argumentative, not summaries. (I already know what's in the essay. You can decide for yourself whether you liked the reading or not.) What I want to read is a critical response to that essay: whether you agree with it, how it may (or may not) have shaped your thinking about Chaucer, etc. I don't want to over-prescribe these responses because I want you to have room to take them where you want to go with them, but each one must have a thesis and some obvious sense of organization, cite specific evidence from the source texts, conform to scholarly standards of editing and documentation, and be submitted through www.turnitin.com as well as in hard copy (the class ID for www.turnitin.com is 2123952; I will give you the password). It's quite likely that one of these response papers may give you an initial direction or idea for your longer researched paper, so take them seriously! Here is one possible response to the Nolan essay to give you an idea of what a successful response paper can look like; remember that successful responses can take many forms besides this one.

Critical Book Review (for Graduate Students Only)
Due no later than March 26. 

Choose a critical book written since 1996 on some aspect of Chaucer studies. You should clear the book you choose with me; I'll be happy to suggest some if you can't find one in the library that appeals to you. Your objective is to show the depth of your critical reading skills and how you can take what you are learning in this class and connect it to some other scholar’s work. 

In 4-6 double-spaced pages, your review should

·        Briefly summarize the book’s argument (by brief, I mean around 300 words—this is not a book report)

·        Describe the author/editor’s critical and theoretical approach(es)

·        Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the book or collection. What assumptions, themes, or beliefs is it furthering?

·        Discuss how useful the book is in furthering your understanding and furthering of Chaucer

·        Assess its overall success (you may wish to consult reviews of the book if you can find them; the MLA Online Bibliography may be of service here).

If you use any secondary sources, such as reviews, please make sure to document them carefully using MLA documentation. Any quotations or paraphrases from the book you’re reviewing must also be documented appropriately.

You should submit the final version in hard copy as well as submitting it to www.turnitin.com. If you want some tips for writing a book review, try this handout, and as always, feel free to bring drafts by the office for discussion. 

Feel free to discuss drafts or outlines with me and/or to use the services of the Writing Center, should you so desire. I’ve attached a handout that offers some good tips on writing critical book reviews if you want to refresh your memory. You can find some good sample reviews (in history, not literature, but pretty applicable) archived on the Web at http://web.archive.org/web/20010513204416/http://www.uccs.edu/~history/samples/samples.html. Look at the papers by Cowen, Culbert, Johnson, Gunn, and Harvey for solid examples.

Major Critical Paper

Among the goals for graduate courses in the Department are these:

These goals are echoed in our undergraduate program goals as well. Here's my grading rubric for 500-level papers.

Therefore, when you choose a topic for your big paper, think about choosing one that will demonstrate the range and depth of learning you have achieved in this class. I encourage you to bring by outlines and drafts for discussion as you're working on the paper. The final paper must be submitted in hard copy (and to www.turnitin.com, ID# 2123952 ) on the last day of class. I will discuss specific requirements for this paper later on in the course. The abstract and rough draft of this paper count towards its final grade, so take it seriously from the beginning!

Deadlines