English 414: Chaucer

414Header2

Chaucer is at once one of the greatest and the most dynamic of English poets. His best-known work, The Canterbury Tales, shows him as a master of narrative and of stylistic variety which has few rivals. His minor works focus on themes of particular interest in present-day criticism, such as the cultural formations embodied in the literary landscape, gender politics, and the workings of dreams and the imagination. In this course we will explore Chaucer’s most important themes and literary strategies by reading a selection of The Canterbury Tales and some of Chaucer’s shorter poems in his original Middle English. The scope of the course also embraces the study of Chaucer’s sources and literary analogues and will reflect on his influence on later writers.

Course Objectives

Students in this course will:

  • Acquire a basic reading knowledge of Chaucerian Middle English.
  • Acquire knowledge of the historical and cultural background which informs Chaucer’s works, as well as a familiarity with the issues that have been discussed in Chaucer scholarship.
  • Learn to read and discuss Chaucer’s works for enjoyment and for their insight into the human condition.
  • Demonstrate the skills associated with the professional practices of literary criticism, including writing and formatting conventions, research skills, and methods of analysis.

Course Information

  • Days: Monday/Wednesday
  • Time: 2:00 PM-3:15 PM
  • Location: Jerome Richfield 244
  • Course Number: 18963
  • Office Hours: Monday 1:00-1:45, Wednesday 1:00-1:30
  • Moodle Login Page

Textbook

The Canterbury Tales
Canterbury Tales, edited by Larry Benson

Note: If the Matador Bookstore has not ordered enough texts, the best way to purchase texts is through the link(s) to Amazon.com above. (Fair disclosure: Amazon.com may pay me a small fee for this referral service.) You may also purchase directly from this web site’s Amazon Store.

I am frequently asked whether another edition of the Canterbury Tales is suitable for this course. I certainly understand the impulse to save money if you already have a copy. However, this must be balanced against the ways in which you will be disadvantaged in your learning. The assigned textbook is an extract from The Riverside Chaucer, which is the standard edition for scholars and students. Scholarly editions inevitably refer to this edition, as do certain essential tools to help you learn to read Chaucer’s Middle English. Because of the nature of Chaucer’s works, some editions actually give different readings of the text. There is no single case in which the differences between editions will have much of an impact, but, cumulatively, the impact may be great enough to negatively impact your learning–and your grade.

In addition to the assigned textbook, many course readings will be made available through the class Moodle site.

Coursework and Grading

Your grade will consist of 6 elements: Preparation and Participation, a series of text analyses, a midterm exam, a palaeographical exericise, an annotated bibliography, and a final essay. Important: All quotations from the Middle English texts must be made in Middle English, not in translation. Assignments quoting the text from a translation will not be accepted and will be receive an automatic F.

Preparation and Participation (10%)

Preparation and Participation reflects my assessment of your in-class contribution. I will assign points based factors such as on-time attendance, classroom participation/disruption, bringing your textbook to class, and so on. For further information, see under Class Policies below.

Middle English Analyses (25%)

These assignments are designed to increase your engagement with the language of the text, as well as to help you to learn Middle English. The assignments will ask you to perform a series of tasks: identifying examples of particular grammatical forms, looking up words in the Middle English Dictionary, or thinking about the implications of certain words or phrases. Some questions will also relate be designed to engage you with certain patterns of reading and writing scholarship about Chaucer.

Annotated Bibliography (20%)

This assignment is designed to increase your engagement with scholarly literature about Chaucer. Over the course of semester, you will be given a bibliography of scholarly publications about the literature we will be reading, and you will be asked to provide paragraph-long descriptions of the content of these publications and the insight they provide for you about the literature. You will also add publications from your own research to the list. The annotated bibliography will form the basis for your final essay.

Midterm Exam (10%)

This is not a true midterm, but rather an exam to make sure that you are familiar with the many basic technical terms and concepts relevant to the understanding of Chaucer, as well as your understanding of the basic plots of the Canterbury Tales.

Palaeographical Exercise (5%)

For this exercise, you will transcribe some of the Canterbury Tales from a digitized version of an original manuscript. This is mostly for fun, since it is only recently that students have had much exposure to medieval texts. However, interpretation of literature in its material context is a growing area of scholarly focus, so it will also be a chance for you to make some observations about the differences between reading modern “student” editions and reading the text in its original form.

Final Essay (30%)

Using the scaffolding of the other coursework you have done throughout the semester, you will produce an essay of approximately 5-6 pages on a topic of your choice from a number of prompts. This will allow you to synthesize the many scholarly perspectives you have read with your own interpretation of the Canterbury Tales. Unless otherwise specified, the essay will be due by midnight on the university scheduled date for final exams for our class time slot.

Class Policies

By enrolling in this course you agree to be bound for the purposes of this class by the policies below, which serve as a formal legal agreement. You may reject these policies by dropping the class within the time allotted by the University.

Grading

Grades are A, B, C, D, or F and can receive a plus or minus. To receive a grade other than a WU, you must have completed more than half the coursework (no exceptions).

Since students in English courses are expected by society at large to be acquiring writing skills, I privilege grammar, spelling, and editing in my grading. Work containing distracting numbers of typos, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors will be graded primarily on these criteria on a sliding scale which may supersede the percentages given in the Coursework and Grading section above. That is, the more distracting these factors are, the more they are worth (up to 100% of your grade). A rough guide to what is distracting is any sign that might give an employer pause when evaluating a job application.

Extra Credit

Although I may award extra credit for some non-required activities (such as attendance at guest lectures), I regret that I am unable to grade assignments beyond those required for class in order to award extra credit.

Preparation and Participation

Enrolling in this class requires a commitment to participate in a community of learners in which you agree to contribute to and not to detract from the learning environment. In order to receive full credit for participation, you must do the readings in advance, bring assigned textbooks to each class, be prepared to discuss the materials, and complete all assignments. You must also arrive to class on time and remain in the class room for the duration of the class period. For disruptive behaviour, I reserve the right to increase the proportion of your final grade allotted to participation, as I feel appropriate.

Inappropriate Use of Technology in Class

Ringing and/or vibrating cell phones in class disrupt my concentration and that of your fellow students, inevitably lowering the quality of the learning environment. If your cell phone goes off in class, I reserve the right to impose penalties to your grade or to ask you to leave the classroom, as I deem appropriate. If your cell phone disrupts my thought process as I am teaching, I may call a “class break” in order to recover from the distraction. It is in your interest to remember that you will have deprived your fellow classmates of this class time.

If you have a computer or smart phone in the classroom, it will be very tempting to check your e-mail, read Facebook, or generally surf the web for purposes unrelated to the class. Resist. If I catch you engaged in these activities, I reserve the right to impose penalties to your grade or ask you to leave the classroom, as I deem appropriate. Please be aware that this has the same effect on my teaching as cell phones and may also trigger the “class break” response.

Academic Honesty

It is extremely important that all aspects of your work are come by honourably. Efforts to gain an advantage not given to all students are dishonest and regarded as an extremely serious matter by the academic community. Consequences range from probation to expulsion. University policy stipulates that plagiarism, the submission of another person’s work as your own, is a violation of academic honesty, even if it arises out of ignorance or oversight, rather than deliberate cheating. Enrolling in this class means that you agree to abide by my decision regarding the appropriate action to take in cases of academic dishonesty. If you have any questions about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, please consult me.

Add/Drop Policy

Students should make sure that they follow the university’s add/drop deadlines, outlined in the Schedule of Classes. According to university policy, drops are only allowed after the set date when “a) there is a serious and compelling reason–specifically the student’s emotional or physical health or financial condition is clearly in jeopardy, and b) there is no viable alternative–including repeating the class”. Students will need to provide documentation on official letterhead–a letter, on official stationery, from a doctor or an employer–to support their reasons. No adds will be allowed unless a student can provide documented proof–e.g., a clerical error–for the reason for the tardiness. Please make sure to meet the deadline!

Withdrawals and Incompletes

The standard grade if a student fails to complete the work for a class is a “WU”. This is the equivalent of an “F”, but the grade may be changed if you re-take the course at a future time. This grade is also assigned to students who have not attended after the first few classes of the semester but have not officially “withdrawn” from the course.

I may assign an Incomplete (“I”) if and only if you meet all of the following conditions:

  • You have completed the vast bulk of the work;
  • You are passing the class;
  • You fill out and bring to me a “Request for an Incomplete” form (also available from the English Department office), on which I detail exactly what is still needed for completion of the course.
  • I can make no exceptions to this policy, even if it affects your financial aid.

Once you take an incomplete, you have a year from the date recorded on the form to complete the requirements of the course and have your grade changed; therefore, you should submit work early enough to allow me to grade your work and fill out the necessary forms to assign you a new grade.

Keep in mind that, after you take an Incomplete, any grading of your work becomes an added burden on my busy timetable during the following year. Therefore you should not expect the normal amount of comments on your work or any extra teaching beyond my normal office hours.

Note: All references to sections of the Canterbury Tales below include the prologues and epilogues to the tales. Please check the schedule regularly, as there may be adjustments based on our progress during the semester. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you have missed.

The California Faculty Association is in the midst of a difficult contract dispute with management. It is possible that the faculty union will call a strike or other work stoppage this term. I will inform the class as soon as possible of any disruption to our class meeting schedule caused by the long-term failure of the CSU administration and the State of California for provide CSU faculty with fair compensation for their labour.

Jan 25 Introduction
Jan 27 Reading Middle English
Feb 1 Learning Middle English
Feb 3 Glossing Lab
Feb 8 Glossing the General Prologue
Feb 10 The General Prologue
Feb 15 The Knight’s Tale
Feb 17 The Knight’s Tale
Feb 22 The Knight’s Tale
Feb 24 The Miller’s Tale
Feb 29 The Miller’s Tale
Mar 2 The Reeve’s Tale
Mar 7 The Reeve’s Tale
Mar 9 The Cook’s Tale
Mar 14 The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Mar 16 The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Apr 4 The Friar and the Summoner’s Tales
Apr 6 The Friar and the Summoner’s Tales
Apr 11 The Clerk’s Tale
Apr 13 The Merchant’s Tale
Apr 18 The Merchant’s Tale
Apr 20 The Squire’s Tal
Apr 25 The Franklin’s Tale
Apr 27 The Franklin’s Tale
May 2 The Pardoner’s Tale
May 4 The Pardoner’s Tale
May 9 Chaucer’s Apology

Handouts

Web Sites and Bibliography

Manuscripts

Frequently Asked Questions about Chaucer Tests

Q: How many questions will be on the test?
A: If you’re worried about the number of questions, it is probably just to ease your anxiety. The test is designed to be finished easily with lots of time to spare. Really. You may also be trying to perform some weird calculation about how much studying you should do. The worst thing you can do is make the number of questions an excuse to learn less. I can assess your understanding of the material regardless of the number of questions. My advice is that your make it a priority to use studying for tests as an excuse to make sure that the course material does not just go into short term memory. Remember that your education should be about personal growth.

Q: What should I focus on.
A: Focusing involves narrowing your vision and letting items on the periphery fade from your consciousness. To study for the test, focus on what we have covered in our class, and let other classes and other areas of your life (temporarily) fade. But don’t do that with anything we covered in the class. To understand the material, you need to pay attention to how all the pieces of the puzzle work together. Try to create a story based on the material we covered. Some items may be less important in the story than others, but deciding which items are and aren’t important will help you learn the story without ignoring things.

Q: How should I decide what is important?
A: You need a multi-part plan.

  1. Creating a mental timeline is important. Certain things occur in order relative to each other. Who wrote texts at what point in history? What was happening–either historical events or intellectual ideas–at the time of writing that might have had an impact on the Chaucer’s work? Remembering some dates is important for constructing mental timelines. They may be rough benchmarks, dates indicating beginnings and ends of period, or landmarks, dates of events that had particularly consequential results for long-term literary history. If you see dates in your notes, ask yourself whether they are rough benchmarks, landmarks, or incidental events that flesh out the historical period for you. If you don’t see dates in your notes, think about what dates could serve as rough benchmarks or landmarks.
  2. Understanding any period in history requires familiarity with the names of its more important people, places, events, and cultural concepts. You should able to name them (and spelling them correctly) for any given period you have studied after just a few seconds of thought. This is not just rote memorisation. You need to decide whether you can relate these names to works of literature. That is a measure of their importance.
  3. You can only understand the ideas embedded literary texts if you understand the words on the most basic level. Make sure you know the plots and the names of the characters (again, you don’t really know them if you can’t spell them correctly). You need to re-read the texts and, if possible, re-read them again. Break them down into sections and write summaries of the sections. Look especially at the sections we highlighted in class. There’s a reason why I brought them to your attention or why they came out in class discsussion.
  4. Make sure you know all the technical terms for literary genres and techniques. If the terms are not in English, make sure you know how to spell them. Failure to learn the simplest of details about a work of literature almost always correlates to a lack of understanding of its complexities.

Q: How should I study for the midterm?
A: Pretty much like any other test. But here are a few tips:

  1. You need to refresh your memory of the earlier texts we looked at. Go back and re-read them. However, look for things we have studied in or relevant to portions of the text. What themes, cultural concepts, ideas, historical events, and so on can you now see as relevant to an understanding of individual passages, which you may not have on your first reading? You may even wish to draw up some charts with individual passages and arrows to the things you think help to illuminate our understanding of the literary work.
  2. By this time in the semester, your command of Middle English should be getting pretty good. Go back over your vocabulary lists. Try reading the words without the definitions and see if you can name what they mean. Practice translating a few short passages.

Q: What specifically should I know for the midterm?

  1. The format of the midterm will be a selection of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer (1-2 paragraph) questions. All the questions will be designed to make sure that you have a good command of the vocabulary and background knowledge to interpret Chaucer’s work, a good working knowledge of Middle English, and an understanding of the plots and themes of the General Prologue and the tales in Fragment I.
  2. Remember to study all technical terminology, such as the estates and the terms used for medieval rhetorical devices. Since many technical terms are in French or Latin, make sure you know their correct spellings.
  3. In class, students often refer to passages in the tales in which “the guy, I can’t remember his name” does something. For the test, remember his name. Sometimes the names have multiple spellings, so choose one. For names like Emily and titles like the Prioress–which have Modern English forms–use the Modern English spellings (unless you are quoting).
  4. Remember that much medieval literature borders on plagiarism to our eyes today. Although we haven’t talked about all of Chaucer’s source material (that would take a very long time), you should know the sources I have pointed out in class (such as Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophia) and what there significance is in the tales.
  5. Make sure that you know all the Middle English terms on your vocabulary list. Although you should continue to add to the list, the aim for the second half of the course is to not have to look up the words that you have included so far. With this knowledge, you should be able to read any passage of text I give you with some minor glossing of rarer words.
  6. A good idea is to break the tales down into sections. Make sure that you know what is going on in each section. Write a short summary. Further, you can say in your summary how the section contributes to the theme(s) of the tale.
  7. Don’t forget to go over the General Prologue again.