ENGL 310 Arthurian Tradition

 Class Schedule Spring 2010

This schedule is subject to change, so please check it often! Last updated on 04/19/2010.

 

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Jan 12

Introduction and materials 

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Jan 14

The historicity of Arthur.  Read Bonnie Wheeler, “King Arthur and the Seductions of Chivalry” to get a framework for what we’re going to do. Here is the "Evolution of Arthur" slide show.

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Jan 19

Wilhelm [W], "Arthur in the Latin Chronicles (slideshow)."

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Jan 21

The Spin Doctor: Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth [WI]. Here is the Geoffrey slideshow.

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Jan 26

[W] Wace; Layamon; Arthur in the Welsh Tradition (slideshow). Clarity quiz.  Plan for book clubs.

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Jan 28

Fuqua, King Arthur (film; director’s cut, part I). Skim Matt Schwoebel’s blog “Historical Criticism of The Bruckheimer/Fuqua King Arthur Movie.” . Here is the script. For more resources on the film, see http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/engl321/Preview%20King%20Arthur.doc.

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Feb 2

Fuqua, King Arthur (film; director’s cut).  Read DVDTalk’s interview with Antoine Fuqua and Entertainment Weekly’s “Return of the King” to understand some of the circumstances around the movie. Submit lists for book club preferences.

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Feb 4

Discuss Fuqua, King Arthur (film; director’s cut);  read Davidson, “The Reel Arthur”  (concentrate on p. 75 to end) and Alan Lupack's Review in Arthuriana. Book clubs assigned. Here are the book club members. I'll give book clubs some time to work together today to figure out your schedules.

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Feb 9

[W] Chrétien de Troyes, The Knight of the Cart to top of p. 165. Here's what it sounds like in Old French! http://faculty.smu.edu/arthuriana/teaching/Chretien_Lancelot_Kibler.html. If you have time, check out the Princeton Charrette Project site, which has a ton of material on this work. Discuss the evolution of romance (slideshow).

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Feb 11

 [W] Chrétien de Troyes, The Knight of the Cart, p. 165 to end. We'll discuss the whole deal with "courtly love" (slideshow) (and why that's a bad term). Check out the Rules of Courtly Love.

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Feb 16

[W] Béroul, Romance of Tristan; Thomas of Britain; Cantare on the Death of Tristan.  Here is the Word file you can use for developing a timeline.

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Feb 18

Marie de France, Lanval and Chevrefoil. Clarity quiz. due in class Tuesday Feb. 23.

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Feb 23

[W] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to p. 421.

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Feb 25

[W] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to p. 452.  Start thinking about essay questions.

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Mar 2

[W] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to the end.  Some book club time.

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Mar 4

[W] The Alliterative Morte Arthure.  (Please look at these additions to the material you have in your book.) Essay questions due for study guide and test. Make sure you e-mail them by Sunday March 7 at 5 pm to engl310001@class.winthrop.edu! Here is the rubric for how I grade essay questions on exams.
M Mar 8 Study session (optional). 7 PM, our classroom.

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Mar 9

 Test 1.  Grades will be available by mid-day Weds. Mar. 10 if you submit a note to the file on www.turnitin.com; I will leave your test grade as a response to the note. Otherwise, tests will be returned on Thursday.

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Mar 11

 Discuss test and critical paper assignment. Malory, "Merlin" and "The Knight of the Cart." Optional: If you want to read the very cool story of how the Winchester manuscript of Malory was found in 1934, here’s a retelling of it from Richard Altick’s The Scholar Adventurers. Remember: you need to have read the first two books of The Once and Future King by the week after Break. So start reading now!
T Mar 16 Spring Break
R Mar 18 Spring Break

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Mar 23

Intro to Malory slideshow. Malory, "Lancelot & Elaine," "The Holy Grail," "The Poisoned Apple"
W Mar 24 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 25

Malory, "The Fair Maid of Astolat," "The Healing of Sir Urry," and "The Death of King Arthur". Paper plan due.

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Mar 30

White, The Once and Future King, book I (slideshow). Be prepared to contrast this version with Geoffrey's and Malory's versions.

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Apr 1

White, The Once and Future King, book II.  Be prepared to contrast this Gawain with the Gawain of SGGK.

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Apr 6

White, The Once and Future King, skim bk IV. Be prepared to contrast this version with Malory's version of the same events. 

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Apr 8

Book Club group reports:The Mists of Avalon; The Crystal Cave.

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Apr 13

Book Club group reports: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court; Arthur Rex.

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Apr 15

 Begin Boorman’s Excalibur.  Re- read Davidson, “The Reel Arthur”, focusing on the Excalibur discussion. Here is the Excalibur script if you want to skim it.
F Apr 16 Critical paper due by 5 pm in turnitin.com and a hard copy delivered to my office.

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Apr 20

Finish Boorman’s Excalibur; discuss movie and his revisions of earlier versions of the Arthurian story. For discussion of Boorman, you may want to consult these resources: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/engl321/ExcaliburPreview.doc.  Questions due by e-mail for study guide and final; questions involving book club presentation materials are perfectly legitimate.

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Apr 22

 Wrap-up, exam preparation, and evaluations. Revisit Bonnie Wheeler; was she right? We will watch Friz Lang,  Knighty Knight, Bugs. Bring milk.
Book Club individual papers due. Turn in your book club individual reading journal with the paper.

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Apr 27

Study Day. Matinee of Monty Python and the Holy Grail/ Study Session, 1 pm, KIN 207.

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Apr 28

Final exam, 8 AM. We will suffer together.  Travel plans or work schedules are not reasons to reschedule examinations.