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Jan 11
Snow Day. Sent assignment by e-mail.
Course introductions; materials and methods; overview. After class is
over, review Longman 3-26. Work on your Ten Questions assignment.
Medieval Attitudes, Values, and Literary Principles; the Aims of Middle
English Literature
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Jan 13
Assignment due: Ten Questions. Medieval Lyrics (591-607). The Thorny
Question of Genre in Middle English. If you want to play with the
"Wessex Parallel Web Texts" website (http://www.soton.ac.uk/~wpwt/)
you can find parallel Middle English/Modern English texts of some of the
lyrics with notes and bibliography.
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Jan 18
Finish medieval lyrics. Begin Pearl (Borroff), intro and parts
I-X. Short Secondary reading: Deb Schwartz, “Pearl,”
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl512/pearl.html. Here is the
Pearl
slide show if you want
to see more diptychs or the illustrations from the Cotton Nero
manuscript.
The classic study on Pearl's imagery is
W.S. Johnson's "The
Imagery and the Diction of the Pearl: Towards an Interpretation,"
ELH 20 (1953): 161-80, which is available in J-STOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2871994. I'm not assigning this but if
you're interested, it's there and very good.
If you want to hear snippets of "Pearl" in the original, read by
Alan Gaylord for
the Chaucer Studio recordings, try these:
(.wav, 207KB)
(.au, 207KB)
(.aiff, 285KB)
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Jan 20
Continue Pearl. Read more on
the structure of Pearl in the intro to the TEAMS edition by Sarah
Stanbury:
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/pearlint.htm.
Tony Davenport's "Jewels
and Jewellers in Pearl," Review of English Studies
59 (2008): 508-520, is a good rebuke to those who want to make the poem
into a kind of class-warfare document.
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Jan 25
Last day to declare S/U option. Finish
Pearl. Secondary Reading:
Britton J. Harwood, "Pearl
as Diptych," from Text and Matter: New Critical Perspectives on the
Pearl-Poet (1991).
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Jan 27
Vernacular religion and repression (Longman 559-71); Chaucer, The
General Prologue (Longman 318-332, through the Clerk's portrait.
There's a modern English facing-page translation; don't panic.) If you
want interlinear translations, try the
Harvard
Chaucer Pages. For the best introduction to estates satire in
print, you may want to read the selections from the Introduction and the
analysis of the Monk in Jill Mann's Chaucer and Medieval Estates
Satire, which is available (though with some pages missing) on
Google books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=MF04AAAAIAAJ&dq=chaucer+and+medieval+estates+satire&printsec=frontcover&
source=bl&ots=soO6uuQYyz&sig=M9Jd7RHz8D0DDLdMkjwNkUHH81k&hl=en&sa=
X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA37,M1
If you want to see a Wycliffite New Testament, here's one at Penn: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/pageturn.html?q=Wycliffe&id=MEDREN_1551783&rotation=0&fq=collection_facet%3A%22Medieval%20%26%20Renaissance%20Manuscripts%22¤tpage=16.
I will go over the
first short paper today.
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Feb 1
Piers Plowman
selections (Longman); perspectives (495-507). Secondary reading: J. A.
Burrow, "Lady Meed and the Power of Money," Medium Aevum 74.1
(2005): 113-118. Available thru MLA International Bibliography database,
search term "piers plowman."
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Feb 3
The Second Shepherds’ Play
(Longman 532-551. Secondary reading: M. F. Vaughan, "Mak and the
Proportions of the Second Shepherd's Play, "Papers in Language
and Literature 18/4 (Winter 1982): 355-367. Available thru MLA
International Bibliography (use subject heading "second shepherd's
play"). Discussant: Christina.
There's a neat little bit of video on YouTube of
the play's ending.
If you want to see some good images of the manuscript,
click here.
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Feb 8
The York Play of the Crucifixion
(Longman 551-59). (Tony
Harrison's adaptation in The Mysteries is a good
trot.) Secondary reading (with audio and video): Dennis G.
Jerz, “Religious, Political, Economic and Artistic Contexts,”
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/PSim/yorkintro.html. Discussant:
Steven C. For
contrast between mysteries and moralities, skim
Mankind (Longman 631-58).
There's a bit of the live
York Creation play
from 2007 on YouTube.
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Feb 9
Essay questions submitted to Dr K by e-mail by 5 PM. Everyone is
required to submit at least one potential essay question.
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Feb 10
First midterm exam.
Should you wish some light weekend reading, here's "A Valentine for
Chaucer" from the New York Times:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0DF133CF937A25751C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
Political and Social Mythmaking; Continental Influences on Content and
Genre; the Audience(s) of Middle English Literature
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Feb 15
Introduction to King Arthur and Arthurian Romance, Longman 163-81; secondary reading:
Geoffrey
Ashe's article on the historical origins of the Arthurian legend;
requires Adobe Acrobat: Available at
http://faculty.smu.edu/bwheeler/ARTHUR/ashe.pdf. You may want to
supplement these readings with Peter N. Wilson's "Early British History
part 3: Arthurian Britain" at
http://www.britannia.com/history/nararthist.html; and Judy Shoaf's
Growth of
the Arthurian Legend timeline at
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Arthchart.html.
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Feb 16
Short Paper 1 is due by 5 PM in
turnitin.com.
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Feb 17
Marie de France, Lais: Read the
prologue and Lanval, Lefresne, Bisclavret, Equitan, and
Chevrefoil.
Read Andreas Capellanus'
31 rules for courtly love and
Professor Kip Wheeler's brief overview on courtly love. Secondary
reading: E. W. Poe,
"Love in the Afternoon: Courtly Play in the Lai de Lanval,"
Neuphilologische Mitteillungen 84.3 (1983): 301-310.
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Feb 22
Finish Marie; back to the Pearl
manuscript. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, introduction
and Fitts 1 & 2. Secondary Reading: Peter Whiteford, "Rereading Gawain's
Five Wits," Medium Aevum 73.2 (2004): 225-234. Available thru MLA
International Bibliography database, search term "sir gawain and the
green knight".
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Feb 24
SGGK,
Fitts 3 & 4. Secondary Reading: Secondary Reading,
John Plummer, "Signifiying
the Self: Language and Identity in SGGK," in Text and
Matter (PDF file). Discussant: Crystal.
At the end of class I'd like to talk to graduate
students for a few minutes about their
book review. I'll also
talk about short paper #2.
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Mar 1
Vinaver, “Introduction;”
Malory, “Merlin." Secondary Reading:
Meredith Reynolds, "Malory's
Use of 'Counsel' and 'Advice' in Creating a King," Arthuriana
16. 2 (Summer 2006): 40-44.
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Mar 3
Malory, "The Knight of the Cart,” “Lancelot and Elaine”. Secondary
reading: Larry D. Benson, “Courtly Love and Chivalry in the Middle
Ages,”
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/lifemann/love/ben-love.htm.
Talk about the research
paper.
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Mar 8
Malory, “The Holy Grail.” Secondary reading:
Here's a
little bit of background on the Vulgate cycle if you're curious.
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Mar 9
Last day to withdraw from courses (automatic ‘N’) without documentation
of extenuating circumstances. Last day to rescind S/U option.
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Mar 10
Malory, “The Poisoned Apple,” “The Fair Maid of Astolat,” “the
"Healing of Sir Urré,” and “The
Death of King Arthur.". Secondary reading: E. Kay Harris, “Evidence
against Lancelot and Guinevere in Malory's Morte Darthur: Treason
by Imagination,” Exemplaria 7.1 (1995): 179-208. Retrieve from
the Wayback Machine by using this link:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070716100216/http://web.english.ufl.edu/exemplaria/harris.html.
Discussant:
Javy. Essay questions to Dr. K by
e-mail by 5 PM today.
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Mar 15
Spring Break
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Mar 17
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Mar 22
Second in-class exam. It will consist of some passages to identify/
discuss and one or two essays (there will be some choice of topic). The
essay will involve familiarity with both the primary and secondary
readings. No blue book is needed.
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Mar 23
Advising begins
Gender Roles and Rules; the Vexed Questions of Literacy and Textuality
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Mar 24
Preface to Millett ; “A Letter on Virginity” and “Saint Margaret”. Secondary reading: Clarissa Atkinson essay in Staley; Discussant: Demese.
For some great
background written by a master's student, read Marsha Waggoner,
"Anchoritic Spirituality in Medieval England: The Form, the Substance,
the Rule,"
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Garden/3741/papers/awtext.htm.
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Mar 28
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Mar 29
Start discussion of Ancrene Wisse. Secondary Reading: Robert
Hasenfratz, “Introduction” to the TEAMS edition,
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/awintro.htm.
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Mar 31
Graduate Book Review Due.
Finish discussing Ancrene Wisse. In Longman, Julian of Norwich,
selections from the Shewings; secondary reading: Sister Benedicta
Ward, "Julian the
Solitary," in Julian Reconsidered (Oxford: SLG
Press, 1992, 11-35.
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Apr 4
Optional Activity. Christopher de Hamel lecture on the history of the medieval Bible. Hollings Library, USC. 4:30 PM. http://www.sc.edu/library/news/index.php?mode=view&id=522.
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Apr 5
No class. Instructor at a professional meeting. Outside of class, read Paston letters (handouts). Secondary reading: Introduction to Norman Davis's edition (PDF file); Koster, "Sexing the Master."
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Apr 5
Optional Activity. Christopher de Hamel lecture on medieval books of hours. Columbia Museum of Art. (6 PM. http://www.columbiamuseum.org/programs/index.php?calDate=2011-04-05&gm=04&gd=05&gy=2011&calID=4234. There is an admissions fee; I will see if we can get you in with a WU ID card.
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Apr 6
Registration begins
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Apr 7
Proposal and bibliography for research paper/project due. This can be
sent by e-mail and should contain, if not a thesis statement, the
question at issue you are going to wrestle with. Your preliminary
bibliography may vary in length but I will expect at least half a dozen
entries, with a brief (2-3 sentence) annotation
of each. These items
should be in 2009 MLA form and listed alphabetically as they would
appear in a Works Cited list. You may attach the proposal and
bibliography to your e-mail or simply cut and paste them into the body
of the message.
Staley, introduction; Book of Margery Kempe to p. 150.
Essays in Staley by Staley (Discussant:
Ben), Lochrie, Ashley, and Watson
(Discussant: Morey); optional: essay
by Koster (on class
website).
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Apr 12
Book of Margery Kempe
to end. Essays by Gibson, Beckwith
, and Bynum (Discussant:
Nicholas) in Staley. See also the
text of a a great exhibit at the University of Rochester in Fall 2004:
Sex,
Society, and Medieval Women.
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Apr 14
Codicology and medieval books.
Medieval bookbinding workshop. Bring a pair of outside "boards" for your
book that are 4.25" wide and 5.5" high (one for the front, one for the
back). You may decorate these however you please, or just use plain
cardboard. Something from the thickness of a file folder to the
thickness of the back of a legal pad will work just fine (for instance,
the back of an old spiral notebook).
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Apr 19
Christine de Pizan, excerpts. Longman 658-66 and
online; click
here for
more selections. Conferences on research papers/projects will
be held this week; you will need a full draft to discuss.
Sign up in
class today. Secondary reading:
Laura DuFresne's article
on the illustrations in Christine's manuscripts.
Discussant: Lauren. We will have
conferences on your paper drafts on Thursday and Friday.
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Apr 21
Last Day of Classes. Discuss how to write an
abstract for your paper. Summation, class evaluations, and exam
review. Bring Milk.
If you want to review my paper grading rubric
to know what I look for, here's the link:
http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/500Rubric.pdf.
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Apr 25
Rough draft conferences.
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Apr 26
Study Day
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Apr 27
Final examination, 11:30 AM. Travel plans or work schedules are not
reasons to reschedule examinations. Research paper or project
due at the beginning of the exam.