ENG 427: Chaucer, Fall 2006

Louise M. Bishop, voicemail 346-0733, 308 Chapman Hall
Office hours Please note that these office hours are shared with the Clark Honors College undergraduates; you may take your chances, or you may reserve office hour time via sign-up sheets on my office door (sign-up sheets list hours for the entire term); make an appointment if these hours don't work.

Class hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:00 am to noon in 360 Condon CRN 13799

Please note that plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course.

Requirements | Sign-up list for words | Sign-up list for presentations | Daily reading assignments | Web resources | Paper format | Tips for topics | What is an "A" paper?

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Requirements

1. Term assignment: memorize the first 18 lines of the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales

• You'll recite the lines to me during office hours or, if those aren't possible, we'll arrange a time. Must be completed before the last week of class (which means before Thanksgiving).

2. A brief exercise in Middle English language

• You'll choose one word from a list,
• find the word (and its Middle English spelling) in the General Prologue
• look it up in the Middle English Compendium (available on-line: type in "Middle English Compendium" as a title on library home page and click; click on the Website; then click on "Middle English Dictionary"; then click on "look up" to get a field for entering your query)
• and write a brief paper (less than 1000 words) on the word's subtleties: how do its Middle English definitions and Chaucer's uses fit, contradict, or amplify modern definitions? Due Friday, September 29.

Because Middle English spelling is not regularized, you'll probably need to use "wildcards" in your search, especially for longer words and words that are derived from Latin (often with a -tion ending). "Wildcards" are noted by an asterisk (*). Generally, replace the vowels with an asterisk, and also put one at the end of your word. For the word "affection," for instance, searching for af*e*n* gives you all words that have those letters in that order, without regard to how many letters are BETWEEN those particular letters. Af*e*n* results in 71 hits, and brings up affeccioun, which is the spelling of the word the Middle English Dictionary uses.

3. A first paper (1000-1500 words) on The General Prologue or The Knight's Tale, due Wednesday, October 18. Be sure to use proper citation form. See the link to paper format.

4. A second paper (1500- 2000 words), on the The Miller's Prologue and Tale, The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, and/or The Merchant's Prologue and Tale. Due Friday, Nov. 10.

5. A final paper (1500-2000 words) The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale and/or The Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale. Due Friday, Dec. 1.

6. Periodic surprise quizzes to make sure you're keeping up with the reading of both the Chaucer text and Cooper's analysis.

7. A 15 minute group presentation and a short paragraph on our Blackboard website (under Discussion) for one of the background readings in our Chaucer text. See daily reading assignments below. The purpose of your presentation is to give you classmates a sense of your background reading. What's the most important thing the rest of the class should know about your background reading? Be organized. Make copies of relevant information for the class or use the classroom computer. Your presentation's goal is to help deepen the class's understanding of one of the Canterbury Tales, in light of our work during the term.

8.A cumulative, translation, identification, and short answer final exam at 10:15 pm, Tuesday, December 5

Grading

Successful Prologue recitation constitutes 5% of your grade; the Middle English language exercise constitutes 10%; the first paper, 15%; the second paper, 15%; the final paper, 15%; the quizzes, cumulatively, 15%; the final exam, 15%; the backgrounds synopsis and presentation, 10%. Please note the University's "grade point value" system effective 9/90, as I will be using this system to grade your work (unless otherwise noted):

A+ = 4.3	B+ = 3.3	C+ = 2.3	D+ = 1.3
A = 4.0	B = 3.0	C = 2.0	D = 1.0
A- = 3.7	B- = 2.7	C- = 1.7	D- = 0.7

Note that a grade of "C" is, according to academic regulations, "satisfactory," while a "B" is "good." That means that a "B" is better than average, better than satisfactory, better than adequate. The average grade, then, is a "C"; a grade of "B" requires effort and accomplishment.

Daily reading assignments

Casting about for paper topics? Check this out.

See librarian Heather Ward's instructions for using the International Medieval Bibliography) Back to top of page Back to schedule

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog | The Labyrinth | The Chaucer Metapage | Harvard Chaucer Page |

General resources

• Cambridge History of English Literature. Ed. David Wallace. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. PR255 .C35 1999
• Aers, David. Community,Gender, and Individual Identity: English Writing, 1360-1430. London: Routledge, 1988. PR275.I34 A35 1988
• Beckwith, Sarah. Christ's Body: Identity, Culture, and Society in Late Medieval Writings. London: Routledge, 1993.
• Bynum, Caroline. Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. New York: Zone Books, 1992. BT741.2 .B95 1992
• Carruthers, Mary. The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990. BF371 .C325 1990