English 431

“In the first place, as he is the father of English poetry, I hold him in the same degree of veneration as the Grecians held Homer, or the Romans Virgil. He is a perpetual foundation of good sense; learned in all sciences, and therefore, speaks properly on all subjects.”

s John Dryden’s testimony suggests, there have been few figures in English literary history more towering than Geoffrey Chaucer, a vintner’s son born during the Great Plague of the 1340’s who in his teens fought in the King’s French campaigns. After being captured and ransomed, Chaucer remained in the King’s service and turned his attention to writing some of the most pleasurable, expert, and influential literature in the English tongue. In this course we will experience the rich variety of Chaucer’s corpus in Middle English, although no prior facility in Middle English is required. We will read selected Canterbury Tales and Chaucer’s epic love story, Troilus & Criseyde, in its entirety. This course will also feature a hands-on paleography project--you will be a part of a group that will produce a manuscript quire using medieval practices as we collectively explore issues relating to book production and book ownership in the Middle Ages.

For those of you pursuing your teaching certification, this course will help you:

Ø Emphasize the social, philosophical, aesthetic, and historical dimensions of literature.

Ø Understand regional, colloquial, cultural, and national diversity in language and literature.

Ø Know a wide range of literature from many periods and various genres and relate that knowledge to class

Ø Make connections among various literary selections and between literature and other fine arts.

Ø Relate a wide range of print and visual texts, both classical and contemporary, to students’ lives.

If you are absent while representing Union in an official capacity, you may have this absence excused with a written statement from an appropriate authority. If you are absent due to illness, I will excuse the absence provided that a physician or nurse provides a statement saying that you were too ill to attend class. Even excessive excused absences may prevent you from fulfilling basic requirements of this course, so please stay healthy!

Critical Essay 1..................................................................................................15%

Critical Essay 2..................................................................................................20%

Exam 1................................................................................................................15%

Exam 2................................................................................................................15%

Final Exam.........................................................................................................20%

Paleography assignment………………………………………………...5%

Attendance, participation, recitation, study questions.................................10%

The grading scale for this course is detailed in the Union University Undergraduate Catalogue (A 95-100; B 85-94; C 75-84; D 65-74; F 64 and below). All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments are penalized 1/3 letter for each school (not class) day late. You are responsible for getting me your papers regardless of unfavorable circumstances such as computer glitches. All work must be submitted in order to pass the course. Notify me if accommodations need to be made for disabilities of any kind.

Plagiarism can be broadly defined as using the ideas or words of others in your paper without proper acknowledgment. Using information from other term papers, websites, or even standard research tools without source citation is a serious breach of academic integrity, and ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is no excuse. When in doubt, please consult your instructor about the appropriate use of quotation marks, paraphrase, and parenthetical citation. Flagrant acts of plagiarism (e.g., downloading all or portions of a paper from the Internet without proper citation, handing in the work of another as your own, repeated instances of plagiarism, etc.) shall result in a failing grade for the course and possible further disciplinary action taken by the University. Punishment for other forms of plagiarism may range from failing the assignment to failing the course. Union University “upholds the highest standards of honesty” (2002-2003 Undergraduate Catalogue 22), and the English department’s policy regarding plagiarism is an attempt to preserve these standards.

You will write one 5-7 pp., typed and double-spaced critical essay, and one 7-10 pp. researched critical essay in this course. Details on these assignments are to follow, but some tips and samples can be found at my homepage at the “If you're going to write a paper for me, click here” link.

Exams will likely consist of objective short-answer questions, passages to identify and comment upon, and a take-home essay. A portion of the final will be cumulative, as required by the University. There will be no alternates given for these exams. If you anticipate that an excused absence will conflict with an exam, please speak with me well ahead of time. You are responsible for furnishing your own bluebooks (exam booklets), which can be purchased at Lifeway.

In lieu of pop quizzes, I will assign a study question per class meeting to help guide your reading and make sure all students are keeping up. On occasion I will ask to see your responses, which will be graded on a √-,√, and √+ basis, roughly equivalent to an C, B, and A. However, the Study Question is not merely a policing measure; often the question will deal with a core concern, a critical term, or a key passage which will help you better engage the text and which you will see again on an exam or as part of a writing assignment option. Study questions also serve as springboards into class discussion. If you are absent on the day I take up these questions, you may hand in a late assignment only if your absence is excused.

This class is a “No Cell Phone Zone.” Please turn off all cell phones. If you must have your phone on, please set it to buzz/vibrate.

EMAIL:

I often use email to communicate information regarding this course to the class at large, and I email the class via a Webadvisor option that allows me to send a note to all student accounts at once. You should regularly check your student email account, or you should make sure that all Union email is forwarded to an account you do check (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). See computing services on how to forward email.

ABOUT OUR TEXTS:

A required text means precisely that—required. Each student is required to have his or her own copy of the required textbook in the appropriate edition. The admittedly high cost of textbooks has prompted some students to consider “book sharing.” However, in an English course, such a plan is not good in theory, and even worse in practice. I am skeptical that a shared book can serve two students well, especially when one student has it at midnight on Tuesday and the other hasn’t finished his/her reading yet for the next day.

Furthermore, your course text provides you with more than just the subject matter. Each student ideally will engage in “dialogue” with the textbook, jotting notes, questions, reactions in the margins, not merely highlighting passages. If your textbook pages are clean and blank, you’re doing something wrong. A shared book does not allow for this individuated engagement with the text. In college, this is how we read—with pen or pencil in hand. If you’re concerned about the buyback potential of your book, use a pencil. But hopefully you will be more concerned about how much you’re learning in this class, which is why you came to Union instead of going to a much cheaper university a few miles down the road. Does it make sense to pay $20,000/ year to go to college, only to go cheap on the main thing, your course material?

While I am sympathetic to the cash-strapped student (I was one too not long ago), I do require each student to have his or her own textbook. After the third day of class, failure to possess your own copy of the required text will result in a 5 point participation grade penalty for each day you do not have a book.

MISCELLANY:

As per a departmental requirement, I keep all exams and papers for one year. You should also keep a copy of all out-of-class work in case I lose anything. This syllabus and first-day handout may be revised as necessary. I encourage you to call me in my office or at home (668-4888; 8:00 am-10:00 pm, please) if you need anything. If you have any concerns about this course, don’t wait until the last minute to voice them—talk to me while we can take steps to make this course a positive experience for you. My office, A-17, is located in PAC in the glassed-in Humanities Vestibule near the art gallery and wellness center, across from the language lab. Once you enter the humanities area my office is down the second corridor to the left, the last office on the left.

DAY	ASSIGNMENT	STUDY QUESTION
WEEK 1	GOD’S PLENTY
Wednesday, Aug. 30	Course syllabus, policies, and goals. Chaucer’s Life & Times
Friday, Sept. 1 (Convocation)	The General Prologue.	Vocabulary quiz, part 1. (A-M from this glossary: http://www.towson.edu/~duncan/glossary.html )
WEEK 2	GOD’S PLENTY
Monday, Sept. 4 Tomorrow is the last day to add a course.	LABOR DAY: NO CLASS
Wednesday, Sept. 6	The General Prologue.	Vocabulary quiz, part 1. (N-Z from this glossary: http://www.towson.edu/~duncan/glossary.html )
Friday, Sept. 8	The General Prologue.	To what extent do the figures in the General Prologue seem to be stereotypes? To what extent do they seem to be real people?
WEEK 3	COURTLY LOVE
Monday, Sept. 11	The Knight’s Tale.	“Courtly love” is a term invented by critics to describe love among the nobility, at least in medieval works of literature. Review the discussion of courtly love found here: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/courtly_love.html Now write a paragraph addressing how the behavior of Palamon, Arcite, and Emily adheres to and/or departs from the “rules” of courtly love.
Wednesday, Sept. 13	The Knight’s Tale.	Does either lover, Palamon or Arcite, have any more of a claim to the love of Emily than the other? Are these two lovers indistinguishable, or is one more deserving?
Friday, Sept. 15	The Miller’s Prologue and Tale.	The Miller announces that he intends to “quite” or “pay back” the Knight’s Tale. Indeed, the Miller’s Tale seems to be a vulgar perversion of the Knight’s. What parallels can you detect between the Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s? How can the Miller’s Tale be seen as a twisted version of the Knight’s?
WEEK 4	(UN)COURTLY LUST
Monday, Sept. 18	The Miller’s Prologue and Tale.	At the conclusion of the Miller’s Tale it seems that Alisoun is the only character not harmed in any way, especially since her amorous play with “hende” Nicholas is perfectly consensual. What significance, if any, do we attach to Alisoun’s punishment-free experience?
Wednesday, Sept. 20	The Reeve’s Prologue & Tale.	In the first three tales we have witnessed three widely divergent depictions of female sexuality. Compare and contrast the way that female sexuality has been portrayed in these three narratives.
Friday, Sept. 22	Catch-up/TBA.
WEEK 5	PALEOGRAPHY
Monday, Sept. 25	FExam 1. Bring a bluebook.
Wednesday, Sept. 27	Paleography day. De Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators, Chapter 1: Paper- and Parchment-Makers, pp. 8-26. In class: Goose quill cutting.	After reading chapter 1 in De Hamel, write a paragraph summarizing the steps by which a sheep in a pasture becomes a page of parchment for medieval scribes to write upon.
Friday, Sept. 29	Paleography day. De Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators, Chapter 2: Ink-Makers and Scribes, pp. 27-44.	Using the supplied letter guide and your goose quill, write letters A-Z on a separate sheet of ruled paper. Our finest “scribe” completing the best set of letters will receive a modest prize. You will need to find your own ink or paint for this exercise. I can loan you some if you want to work in groups. For ruled paper, you may use notebook paper, one of the templates noted in the next study question below, or rule your own.
WEEK 6	THE WOMAN QUESTION
Monday, Oct. 2 Tomorrow is the last day to drop a course.	Paleography day. De Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators, Chapter 3: Illuminators, Binders, and Booksellers, pp. 45-69.	Using either Page Template #1 or Page Template #2, design a manuscript page from this kids’ interactive site: http://www.philamuseum.org/micro_sites/exhibitions/leavesofgold/learn/children/make_your_own/templates.html The design can be as sparse or as detailed as you like. The image and text should be taken from the Canterbury Tales. For this exercise you must use your goose quill for the text; but you may use any means for your illustration, from quills to Crayola crayons. Once again, our finest illustrator./scribe will receive a modest prize. Note also that these templates may offer good design ideas for your group’s quire project.
Wednesday, Oct. 4	The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.	Discuss the Wife’s use of Scripture. Is it skillful? Naïve? Persuasive? Deceptive? All of the above?
Friday, Oct. 6	The Wife of Bath’s Tale.	In what ways does the Wife of Bath’s Tale reflect her own conscious or subconscious desires?
WEEK 7	ANTI-CLERICAL SATIRE
Monday, Oct. 9	The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale. *Critical Essay 1 Due.*	The Summoner tells the tale of a slick Friar trying to bilk money from a sick old man. Write a paragraph detailing how the Friar is constructed as a smooth operator.
Wednesday, Oct. 11	The Friar's Prologue and Tale.	To “quite” the Summoner’s tale of a greedy friar, the Friar tells the tale of an evil summoner. What does this tale about some medieval attitudes towards language and the intent behind language?
Friday, Oct. 13	TBA/Exploring Hengwrt. (Pew Luncheon at noon)
WEEK 8	GRACIOUS SUBMISSION?
Monday, Oct. 16 Mid-term grades are due.	The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale.	Some have suggested that in this narrative Griselde is a type of Christ. Review the tale for any Christological parallels. To what extent would you agree with this assessment? And what would be the point of such identification?
Wednesday, Oct. 18	The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale.	In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Alison claims that medieval antifeminism is largely a clerical intellectual construct. In addition to asking “Who painted the lion?” she also asserts: It is an impossible That any clerk wol speke good of wyves, But if it be of hooly seintes lyves. (688-90) In other words, no clerks will speak well of women unless they are reciting the life of a saint. Griselde is an extraordinary human being, but no saint. (She works no miracles, she doesn’t suffer martyrdom for her faith, and she doesn’t preserve her virginity as many female saints do.) So to what extent is the Clerk’s Tale a kind of “quiting” of the Wife of Bath’s prologue? How successfully does the Clerk disprove the Wife’s assertion?
Friday, Oct. 20	FALL HOLIDAY: NO CLASS.
WEEK 9	THE MARRIAGE GROUP
Monday, Oct. 23	The Merchant’s Prologue & Tale.	Review 1 Samuel 25 on the story of Abigail and Nabal. What role does the allusion to Abigail play in the Merchant’s Tale?
Wednesday, Oct. 25	The Franklin’s Prologue & Tale.	Critique Arveragus’ instruction to Dorigen to keep her promise to Aurelius. Does his emphasis upon keeping a promise ennoble the character of Arveragus? Why or why not?
Friday, Oct. 27	The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.	Review lines 603-605. Some have argued that the Pardoner forgets himself here, letting down his guard to speak genuinely about how the only true pardon for sin was purchased on the cross by Jesus Christ. Indeed, these lines have been called “a paroxysm of agonised sincerity, a moment of moral convulsion, ‘[a statement] profoundly affecting in its reminiscence of the Pardoner’s better nature, which he had himself thought dead long ago.’” Do you have such sympathy for the devil, or do you believe that these lines merely continue the Pardoner’s religious hypocrisy?
WEEK 10	ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER
Monday, Oct. 30	The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.
Wednesday, Nov. 1	The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale.	Just as scholars debate The Merchant of Venice and Shakespeare’s anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jews), so too do Chaucerians differ on how to read the Prioress’ Tale. Does Chaucer share in the Prioress’ demonizing of the Jews, or is this tale so gory, prejudicial, and inflammatory that Chaucer is really demonstrating how doctrinal differences have given way to hate?
Friday, Nov. 3	Catch-up/TBA
WEEK 11	TROILUS & CRISEYDE
Monday, Nov. 6	FExam 2. Bring a bluebook.
Wednesday, Nov. 8	DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: NO CLASS. I will likely be lecturing on paleography at USJ today. If you’ve made progress on your manuscript quire, you can join me for some “show and tell” for the high school students as your “Day of Remembrance” contribution.
Friday, Nov. 10	Troilus & Criseyde, Book I.	As you begin this epic you will probably be reminded of the Knight’s Tale; indeed, we are back once again in a world of pagan antiquity infused with medieval notions of courtly love, or fin’amors as the French called it (“fine or refined love”—Shoaf). Compare and contrast the courtly love ethic as it appears in Book I with courtly love in the Knight’s Tale.
WEEK 12	TROILUS & CRISEYDE
Monday, Nov. 13	Troilus & Criseyde, Book I.	Pandarus is a major player in this epic; indeed, the word pander comes from this character’s name and is virtually synonymous with “pimp.” What kind of man is Pandarus? How does he strike you? pan·der Pronunciation Key (pndr) intr.v. pan·dered, pan·der·ing, pan·ders To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer. To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses: “He refused to pander to nostalgia and escapism” (New York Times).
Wednesday, Nov. 15	Troilus & Criseyde, Book I.
Friday, Nov. 17	Troilus & Criseyde, Book II.	The action of this book opens with Pandarus being awakened by the swallow’s song. Here Chaucer alludes to the tale of Tereus, Procne and Philomela found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Read the story here: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Tereus1.html and discuss the significance of this allusion at this point in Chaucer’s love story.
WEEK 13	TROILUS & CRISEYDE
Monday, Nov. 20	Troilus & Criseyde, Book II.	Discuss the significance of Criseyde’s dream of the eagle that exchanges hearts.
Wednesday, Nov. 22	THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS.
Friday, Nov. 24	THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS.
WEEK 14	TROILUS & CRISEYDE
Monday, Nov. 27	Troilus & Criseyde, Book III.	It is in this book that Troilus and Criseyde consummate their affair. At times Criseyde acts as if she has no agency in matters; i.e., that her actions are dictated by her constrained circumstances as a daughter of a Trojan traitor, or are dictated by a conniving uncle, or are done to show pity to her woebegone lover Troilus, or are even affected by the rain. In short, does Criseyde have any agency (the faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality), or is her will truly not her own?
Wednesday, Nov. 29	Troilus & Criseyde, Book III.	As in the Knight’s Tale, characters refer both to the wheel of Fortune and the decisions of the gods as determiners of events. This cosmic confusion is made more complex by the fact that the narrator seems to be Christian. We will discuss the religious world of this epic more at the end of the semester; for now, write a paragraph in which you discuss the roles of the gods in Book III.
Friday, Dec. 1	Troilus & Criseyde, Book IV. FPaleography projects due tonight at my house in conjunction with the Third Occasional Chaucer Animated Film Fest. Time: 6:00 pm. Details TBA.	Let’s revisit the issue of agency, but this time let’s apply it to Troilus. When the exchange of Criseyde for Antenor is proposed, Troilus has some options, one of which is to elope. Troilus, however, is concerned to uphold Criseyde’s honor and social standing. He feels that to steal her away would be to anger the Trojan host, and thus he allows the exchange to proceed. Is Troilus, perhaps like Arveragus from the Franklin’s Tale, too concerned with notions of honor? To what extent do we fault Troilus for allowing the exchange? Does Troilus have any agency at this point in the narrative?
WEEK 15	GO, LITEL BOKE!
Monday, Dec. 4	Troilus & Criseyde, Book IV.	In lines 946-1082 (a passage not in Chaucer’s source, Bocaccio’s Il Filostrato) Troilus discourses on fate versus free will. Try to summarize his musings in your own words and comment upon the relationship of this “digression” to larger themes of this epic.
Wednesday, Dec. 6	Troilus & Criseyde, Book V. FCritical Essay #2 Due.	Ah, women. Troilus can’t live with’em, can’t live without’em. As for Criseyde, she has become, rightly or wrongly, synonymous with faithlessness, “rolled on many a tongue” as an embodiment of the stereotype of the fickle female lover. To what extent is this an accurate portrayal of Criseyde? Can any apology be made for her actions?
Friday, Dec. 8	Troilus & Criseyde, Book V.	At the conclusion of the epic the narrator’s Christian moralizing is most explicit. Troilus’, it seems, is a cautionary tale not to become too attached to the things of this world. Do we take this moralization at face value, or is the moralization merely a superficial gesture, more a literary convention than a real incitement to piety?
WEEK 16	FINAL EXAM.
Wednesday, Dec. 13	8-10 am; Final Exam. Bring 2 bluebooks.