ENGL 310H Group Assignment
Fall 2004

This assignment asks your teams to prepare a 25-30 minute multimedia presentation for the class that illustrates for us the lives of medieval women in various classes of society. "The Middle Ages" is a very fluid term; for the sake of this assignment, we will assume that it refers to the years c. 600--c. 1450 C.E. in western Europe (though if you want to throw in things about medieval Chinese or African women if you turn them up, go right ahead). Try to show us as full a picture as you can of what women's lives were like in this period--what did they wear, what did they eat, where and how did they live, what took up their days, what did they own, where are they buried, etc, etc, etc. Feel free to bring in examples from art, music, literature, history, religion, or whatever. (There are scanners available for your use in the ACC, Rutledge 207, the Instructional Technology Center and [I think] in the Dean of the Library's office.)

Guidelines:

• All members of the team must participate in the research, planning, and execution of the presentation. You should turn in a jointly-authored memo to me on the date of your presentation that explains how you divided your roles and prepared your work. Not all members of the team must speak during the presentation; you might appoint one person as the technology person, for instance, and another to circulate illustrations and handouts.
   
• Each team must prepare a handout for the class that lists useful research sources for following up on its presentation. It should contain accurate bibliography, tips, etc. This handout should be e-mailed to all class members as a Word document attached to an e-mail message, using the class listserv before you give your presentation. It is up to class members whether to print out the handout or retain an electronic copy. (This saves us photocopying costs and your print quota.)
   
• Margaret Wade Labarge's A Small Sound of the Trumpet (on reserve) will be a good starting point for you, but go much further. Use your critical judgment as to the reliability of your sources, especially those found on the Internet. There are a lot of sources posted by "enthusiasts" out there that are not very accurate. Make sure you cross-check. Also, do not rely only on the Internet for sources. Dacus has a good book collection and the Art Library has an excellent slide collection for sources. Remember, too, that there will be a world of difference between books like Frances and Joseph Gies' Women in the Middle Ages, published by Crowell, and Vicki Leon's Uppity Women of Medieval Times, which you can buy for $2.97 on the Barnes & Noble remainders table. Choose your information carefully and wisely, and cross-check what you find with each other.

Assessment:

Your team's presentation will be judged on four criteria: the thoroughness and appropriateness of your research, the organization and clarity of your presentation, your demonstration of teamwork, and your timeliness (both in delivering the presentation and in preparing and delivering the two written documents).

Schedule (All Presentations will be given in the Library Instructional Classroom, Dacus Basement):

• Tuesday, September 14: Noble Women, Religious Women
• Thursday, September 16: Middle / Working-Class Women, Marginal Women (Peasants, Prostitutes, etc.)
• I will arrange a classroom for our presentations that has access to a computer and to the Internet for these presentations so that you can use technology if you want to.