English 501:  Chaucer and His Contemporaries

Spring 2008

                                                                                              Dr. Candace Barrington

M 6:50-9:30                                                                                          Office:  Willard 315-1

EWillard 207                                                                                         Phone:  860.832.0022

                                                                                                                        e-mail:   BarringtonC@ccsu.edu 

                                                                                                                        Hours:  M 9:30-10:00 am; 9:30-10:00 pm

                                                                                                                                    W 9:30-10:00 am; 3:15-5:15 pm

                                                                                                                                    F 9:30-10:00 am; 12:00-1:00 pm

Description

This course will carefully examine the court(ly) literature that poured out of England during and in response to the reign of Richard II (1377-1399).   To this end, we will read a variety of works by the earliest pantheon of identifiable English authors.  I suspect, however, that Chaucer is the only author with a familiar name. Of his work, we’ll sidestep the justly famous Canterbury Tales, reading instead his earlier Troilus and Criseyde, Book of the Duchess, House of Fame, Parliament of Fowles, and Legende of Good Women.  In addition, we’ll read John Gower’s Confessio Amantis, the Pearl-poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Thomas Usk’s Testament of Love, William Langland’s Pier’s Plowman, Richard Maidstone’s Concordia, and the anonymous Richard the Redeless and Mum and Soothsegger.  We will read most of these texts in their original fourteenth-century Middle English.  Of course, numerous other readings will provide a cultural framework for our studies.

Though we’ll examine their generic, linguistic, and thematic features, I’ll be most interested in examining the ways these works appropriated the performative gestures associated with Richard’s court.

Goals

My overall goal for the course will be for you to understand and appreciate the works that appeared in England at the end of the fourteenth century.  To this end, I want to help you become

• able to read (and enjoy) middle-English texts.
• well-versed in the main themes and genres of Middle English court(ly) literature.
• familiar with the cultural and historical contexts of Ricardian England (1377-1400).
• able to explore the ramifications performance theories have for our understanding of Ricardian literature.
• able to develop and write brief, well-developed, and tightly focused literary analyses.
• able to conduct research on an aspect of medieval culture and apply it to a literary text.

Books

These texts are available at the CCSU Bookstore:

v  Chaucer’s Dream Poetry, ed. Phillips & Havely (ISBN 0582040116) CDP

v  Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, ed. Barney (ISBN 9780393927559) T&C

v  Gower, Confessio Amantis, vol 1, ed. Peck (ISBN 9781580441025) CA1

v  Gower, Confessio Amantis, vol 3, ed. Peck (ISBN 1580440924) CA3

v  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. Winny (ISBN 9780921149927) SGGK

v  Langland, Piers Plowman, ed. Robertson (ISBN 9780393975598) PP

v  Usk, Testament of Love, ed. Shoaf (ISBN 1580440010) TL

v  Maidstone, Concordia, ed. Carlson (ISBN 1580440800) MC

v  Richard the Redeless, ed. Dean (ISBN 1580440681) RR

v  Saul, Richard II (9780300078756) R2

v  Booth, Coloms, and Williams, The Craft of Research (ISBN 0226065685) CR

Be sure to buy these particular editions of the texts.

Also be sure to buy all books early.  The bookstore returns unsold books to the publisher midway through the semester, and you could be caught without the necessary books.

Attendance

Because you are graduate students, I operate on the assumption that you take your studies seriously.  Therefore, the attendance policy for this course is simple:  be here every time, on time, fully prepared and ready to work hard.  Please come see me if this policy poses a problem. 

Conferences

My office is in Willard 315-1.  Please feel free to arrange for an appointment—or simply drop by during my office hours.

Academic Honesty

Cheating and plagiarism subvert both the purpose of the University and the learning students experience at CCSU and in this class.  They are offenses that harm both the offender and the students who do not cheat.   As a member of the CCSU community, therefore, I pledge to do all in my power to prevent cheating and plagiarism, and to impose impartial sanctions upon those who are academically dishonest.

Your responsibility is to

• use sources to support, not replace, independent thought,
• observe the conventions of citing sources, and
• come to me if you are unsure whether your work is too close to your sources (when in doubt, quote and cite.)

I have no patience with fraud: do not download or copy partial or complete sections of a written source and present them as your own work.  When I SUSPECT plagiarism, I will follow the university’s Academic Misconduct Policy, which requires that I

§   initiate a conference with the student, and

§   complete a University Academic Misconduct Report, which will be sent to the student, the English department chairperson, the Arts & Science Dean, and the University Judicial Officer.

If I determine that academic misconduct has occurred, the student must attend an Academic Integrity Workshop, and I will submit an F for the course.

For further information on the Academic Misconduct Policy, including your rights and responsibilities, see http://www.ccsu.edu/AcademicIntegrity/UndergradAcadMisconductPolicy.htm .

Special Needs

If you need an accommodation for any type of physical or learning disability, make an appointment or come by during my office hours as soon as possible to discuss any necessary modifications. I will need a copy of the accommodation letter from the Student Disability Services in order to arrange your class accommodations.  Contact Student Disability Services, Room 241, Copernicus Hall, if you are not already registered with them.  Student Disability Services maintains the confidential documentation of your disability and assists you in coordinating reasonable accommodations with your faculty.

Cancellations and Delays

Whenever inclement weather forces delays or cancellations, the most accurate information for Central Connecticut State University will be made available on the Snow Phone: (860) 832-3333 and on the Web: http://www.ccsu.edu/cancellation. These services will be updated twice daily at 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and more often as weather conditions warrant.

The University will notify the broadcast media of delays or cancellations. WTIC-AM 1080 is the principal radio outlet. WFSB-TV 3, WTNH-TV 8 and WVIT-TV 30 are the principal television outlets. However, radio and television stations are geared heavily toward broadcasting delay and closing announcements for public elementary and secondary schools. Since the most accurate and reliable information about CCSU's closings or delays will be found on the Snow Phone or on the Web, I recommend that you rely only on these services.

Class Wiki

I will post all class documents and information to the course’s wiki accessible at barrington.pbwiki.com. Please consult this site regularly for announcements, updates, corrections, study guides, and to retrieve hard copies of assignments and class handouts.

E-mail

I check my email frequently, and it is the best way to reach me. 

Three points you should keep in mind.

1.       My primary mode of communicating with you outside of class will be through announcements at barrington.pbwiki.com and by e-mail. To ensure that I can reach you by email, please keep your CCSU e-mail preferences up to date. Go to http://accounts.ccsu.edu, access your BlueNet ID, and choose either a CCSU e-mail box or e-mail forwarding. Please take of this by the end of the first week of classes.

2.       Please take your e-mail communication with me as seriously as you would face-to-face communication.

GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS

Grading

I will calculate your final grades on the following basis:

• Oral Reports (2)                                                                           ≤          20%
• Research Essay                                                                             ≤          40%
• Midterm Exam                                                                            ≤          10%
• Final Exam                                                                                  ≤          30%

It is your responsibility to keep up with all returned and graded work.  If you have any questions about your final grade, you will need all of it to verify my calculations.

Assignments

1.       Reading. To complete this course successfully, you need to read all assignments carefully and thoroughly.  You are expected to have read the selections (as listed for each day on the syllabus) by the time class begins. 

Successfully completing this course means learning to read Middle English, understanding late-medieval culture and society, and approaching literature from a non-modern sensibility.  Achieving these capabilities requires a steady diligence in your preparation for class.  To encourage your consistent study habits, I have developed some basic techniques for preparing for each class.  If you are unable to put in the requisite time and mental effort, you may want to reconsider taking this course.

• Allow at least eight to ten hours per class to read all primary and secondary sources carefully and thoroughly by the time class begins and to prepare for each class discussion. 

§ As you read, practice becoming more than a passive reader.  Become an interactive reader. 

§ Keep a pencil and paper nearby when reading. 

§ Make notes, jot down questions, circle important features in the book.  DO NOT USE A HIGHLIGHTER.

§ Make interlinear notes of Middle English words that keep appearing.  I also suggest that you keep the A Short Word List (Yellow handout) handy and note words that keep reappearing.

§ Use the Middle English dictionary to explore word etymologies and multiple denotations.  Find it online at http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/m/mec/ . 

§   Learn to keep up with the relationships among characters and to follow the chronology of the narrative. 

§   Mark important ideas and images, especially those we’ve noted in class discussion.

• During and after reading, reflect on what you’ve read; work to place it in the larger context of other literature works and of late-medieval English culture.

Although we will clarify any basic questions in class, you are responsible for coming to class with at least most of them answered or ready to ask.  If you are not fully prepared (which means not only having read the entire text, but also having thought about it), you will not be able to participate productively in class discussion.

If you have trouble fully preparing for class, please contact me.

2.       Oral Reports.  Each student will give two oral reports (12-15 minutes each):

§   One analyzing a passage from the assigned literary text using translation and close reading skills, and

§   A second synthesizing secondary literary criticism and using research and reading comprehension skills.

See handout for specifics.

3.       Research Essay. You will write one literary research paper (from 10 to 13 pages).  See handout for specifics.   

Exams

1.       Mid-term exam. This exam will allow you and me to see how well you have begun both to master the basics of reading Middle English and to understand the fundamental aspects of Ricardian history and culture.  Though it contributes only 10% of your grade, it provides an important barometer of your progress.

2.       Final exam. The final exam will cover the entire semester. It will include two sections.  The first will be a short answer section in which you identify such basic aspects of Middle English court(ly) literature as dates, authors, titles, characters, historical figures, and genres.  The second will be short essay questions. The exam will be worth 20% of your grade.

Extra-Credit

On Saturday, 19 April, SCSU’s English Department is holding its Graduate English Conference from 9:00 to 5:00 in New Haven.  You are invited to present a literary analysis or creative work from. 

v  If you present a paper, you will receive 10 extra-credit points.

v  If you attend the entire conference (but do not present a paper), you will receive 5 extra-credit points.

Course Abroad: A Millennium of British Literature: Field Excursion to the Countryside and City Sites of British Literature

23 May – 7 June 2008

Professors Candace Barrington (English) & Richard Benfield (Geography)

This field study is dedicated to seeing and understanding the locations in Great Britain associated with the vast canon of British Literature from Beowulf to Tolkien, both as inspirations for the creation of literature and as tourist destinations that have been significantly reshaped by the their associations with canonical literature.

In this course, students can visit The North Yorkshire Moors (for Brönte’s Wuthering Heights), Dorset (for Thomas Hardy’s novels), Oxford (for Tolkien and C. S. Lewis fantasy novels), Stratford-on-Avon (for Shakespeare), Stonehenge (for Beowulf), and Canterbury Cathedral (for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales)—as well as spend significant time in London.  In the city, the group could explore The Olde Curiosity Shoppe and Broadstairs (for Charles Dickens’s novels), the Tabard Inn (again, for Chaucer), and the Bloomsbury district (not only for twentieth-century poetry and novels, by such notables as Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster, but also where we will stay). Of course, the trip could include a Shakespeare play at the reconstructed Globe Theatre and an evening in the West End’s theatre district catching the latest dramatic hit.

Students will be expected to read a significant selection of British Literature provided by the instructors prior to departure and to write essays exploring the intersection of geography and literature: both the ways English geography influenced the production of literature and the ways literature and the resulting tourism have reshaped British geography.