  Course
Objectives:
In this seminar, we will use Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the major literary landmark of the English Middle Ages, as a vehicle to explore medieval literary production. Readings have been chosen as examples of the major literary genres practiced in the Middle Ages, to illustrate key themes, or to showcase Chaucer's literary talent, his innovation, and his considerable wit. Students will explore a topic in depth in a research paper. By the end of the quarter, you should feel confident of your ability to read Chaucer in Middle English. In addition, you will have gained an understanding of how medieval literature differs from modern literature (and from modern notions of what literature is): e.g. the distinction between a printed edition and a medieval manuscript; the different definitions of what constitutes a literary work in manuscript and print cultures; the tension between Latin and vernacular literatures; the emphasis on literature as an on-going process rather than an end product (and thus the inappropriateness of notions such as "originality" or "intellectual property" in the medieval context); the sort of decisions facing the editor of a medieval text (and in particular, those facing an editor of the Canterbury Tales). You will know something about Chaucer's life and about Middle English literature at the end of the fourteenth century. You will be able to identify and distinguish between the various genres read in class. Additionally, you will have experience using a number of electronic and print research tools to identify, locate and access useful research materials at Cal Poly, at other institutions, and on the Web, and you should know how to document these sources correctly in a research paper. You will be aware of some of the pitfalls and pleasures of doing research on the Web, and at Cal Poly. Overall goals: to convince you that medieval literature in general,
and Chaucer in particular, are neither boring nor "too hard"; that this
stuff is fun to read; and that this is a book you'll want to keep at the
end of the quarter!
You are expected to have an email account and to check it regularly. Important announcements will be sent over the class email alias: engl-430-01-2074@calpoly.edu. The class email alias is automatically generated using the email address of each enrolled student found in the Cal Poly Directory server. If your Cal Poly email account is NOT your preferred email address, you must
You are also expected to facilitate collaboration with your classmates by submitting regular research progress reports and records of works ordered via LINK+ or ILL to the class research archive, located in a Blackboard "Discussion Board." To access Blackboard, log in at MyCalpoly, go to "Blackboard Access" and select "ENGL 430" from the classes you are taking; then click on "Discussion Board" and link to the "forum" for the research topic you are interested in. There will be a "forum" for each reading on which there are oral presentations. Keep a copy of your research reports in case of technological glitches. Be sure to check after each posting to verify that your submissions have made it into the archive. If you have trouble posting to the archive, contact the Help Desk (756-7000) and let me know at our next class meeting. Your complete set of Research Progress Reports will factor into the participation component of your final course grade.
Please note that only absences resulting from illness, a family emergency, or circumstances truly beyond your control count as excused. Absences taken for personal convenience are a matter of choice rather than necessity; they will be recorded as unexcused. Please note that deadlines for other courses, work conflicts and job interviews are NOT valid reasons for missing class. Exception: a graduating senior will be granted ONE excused absence for an out-of-town job interview. FOR ANY ABSENCE TO BE EXCUSED, YOU MUST SUBMIT A SIGNED, WRITTEN NOTE with course number, date missed and an explanation of the circumstances leading to your absence. (Although I do appreciate your courtesy in letting me know why you have missed a class, an Email or a phone message will not suffice; a written statement with your signature is required for an absence to be excused.)
Remember: reading a modern translation is NOT cheating -- that's why a translation is a required text for this class! You are advised to BEGIN with the translation and refer back to it as you read the Middle English. But if you ONLY read the translation, you will not do well in ENGL 430. Any quizzes and passages on both midterm exams are based on the original Middle English text as printed in the Riverside Chaucer. You must refer to that edition (not to a translation) in class discussion, in your oral presentation, and in your research paper. Be prepared to DISCUSS readings in class. Note that the length and difficulty of assignments vary, so look ahead in the reading list when you are planning your time. You will be responsible for ALL the assigned readings, whether fully discussed in class or not, as well as for the additional background material presented in lectures, online readings, handouts and in class discussion. All students will be required to READ ALOUD
IN CLASS, with reasonably correct Middle English pronunciation and inflection,
the first 42 lines of the General Prologue AND a total of at least 20 lines
of their own choosing from another tale (as part of their Oral
Presentation). Readings will be graded pass/fail. Only non-performance
will earn an F (averaged into the Participation
component of your final grade), but quality of reading will be recorded
as a "+" or "-" used to help decide borderline grades at the end of term.
Particularly energetic or enthusiastic recitation earns applause, smiles,
good will -- perhaps even cookies? (Extra
credit for memorization!!)
Graded
Work:
In 400-level classes, I assume a certain level of commitment from my students, since no one is required to take a given seminar. For this reason, I typically do not use reading quizzes in a seminar. The one exception has been this Chaucer seminar, where I have in the past used reading quizzes to keep tabs on students' progress in mastering Chaucer's language. This quarter, I have decided to try an experiment: I will dispense with the reading quizzes, and instead begin class with oral discussion of the material that might have been on a quiz, and group translation of a passage from the assigned reading. BUT. . . if I perceive that students are NOT doing the readings -- or appear to be reading ONLY the modern English translation -- I reserve the right to BEGIN class with an unannounced READING QUIZ. Any quizzes will resemble those you may have taken if you had me for a Core class. They will consist of two parts: factual questions based on assigned background readings (e.g. biographical information on Chaucer; important concepts and terms presented in background readings or associated with primary readings -- genres of tales, sources of tales, dates of tales if known, the fragments of the CT, the "marriage group," the "Bradshaw shift," etc.). There may also be IDs of key characters or terms found in primary readings. Part two will consist of passage IDs from the assigned primary reading(s), including brief translations of selected Middle English lines. If we end up having reading quizzes, there will be some element of choice in each section; you will have the opportunity to answer extra questions for additional points; and your quiz average (after dropping the lowest score) will be factored into your in-class work grade.
RESEARCH EXERCISES: found in the third column on the calendar of assignments, this series of exercises is designed to guide you as you begin your research. Completing these exercises will ensure that you are familiar with (and have in fact used) the most important bibliographic research tools in preparing your oral presentation and in writing your research paper. As you complete these exercises, you will post a series of research reports to the class research archive outlining how you have conducted your research and what you have found. These research reports and the Annotated Bibliography you prepare for your Oral Presentation will become an important resource for your classmates, and are therefore an integral part of your participation in the seminar. Please endeavor to complete the various assignments and submit your research reports to the class research archive by the dates on which they appear on the syllabus. Exception: the Prospectus of the research paper should be submitted in hard copy to me (or to my departmental mailbox) by noon on Friday of week 5 (May 4). Research Exercises will be graded for accuracy and completeness; please follow directions. Each student must meet with me to discuss possible angles and report any problems with research assignments by the end of week 3 at the latest! Failure to do so will cause an "F" to be averaged into the Research Report component of your final course grade. Please endeavor to complete the various assignments by the dates on which they appear on the syllabus. Research Exercises will be graded for accuracy and completeness; please follow directions! ORAL PRESENTATION: Starting in week four, each reading will be introduced by a student presentation prepared by one student (or if necessary two, working together to avoid repetition); sign-ups for presentation topics will occur the first week of class (see schedule). These brief presentations (15-20 min. for a single presenter, or approx. 1/2 hour total if there are any joint presentations) will be the starting point for class discussion, led jointly by the presenter(s) and the instructor. The presentation should illuminate some aspect of the reading, suggesting one or more thematic, stylistic or structural approach(es) to the work (or to one or more of its episodes, motifs or characters) which enhance our understanding or appreciation of the primary text. Each presenter must read at least 20 lines of his/her text aloud in the original Middle English as part of the Oral Presentation. Students are encouraged (but not required) to develop presentation topic more fully in the final research paper. Please note: you are NOT expected to become a world expert on your assigned text; you are merely responsible for helping to introduce it to your classmates! See the Oral Presentation Guidelines for more information. Each presenter will prepare and distribute an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY of at least five secondary sources dealing with the primary reading. Entries should be alphabetized as on a List of Works Cited and should begin with full citations in correct bibliographic format (see Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Research) followed by an indication of the mode used to access the work and a brief summary of the primary thrust of the article or essay (not a critique of it). Among the five items on the Bibliography, you should include at least one of each of the following types of resources: journal articles, essays in edited collections, and single-author books; also, you must include items obtained using each of the following modes of access: an item found in hard copy in Cal Poly's print collections (state "Cal Poly" and give call number in parentheses at end of the bibliographic citation); an item ordered through LINK+; an item ordered through ILL (state mode of access in parentheses at end of citation); and an item accessed electronically from a subscription database (full-text journal article or e-book from NetLibrary). The Annotated Bibliography will be graded for complete and correct bibliographic references (formatted according to MLA guidelines for a List of Works Cited entry); for the distribution of items over the required types of resources and modes of access; and for the expression and quality of the summary. See the Oral Presentation Guidelines for more detailed information. Your Oral Presentation and Annotated Bibliography will count as part of your in-class work grade. Please note: you will need to start researching your topic immediately in order to obtain required materials through LINK+ and Interlibrary Loan. All students should meet with Prof. Schwartz (and with joint presenters, if applicable) by the end of the third week of class to discuss the focus of their presentations. PAPER PROSPECTUS: Normally ungraded; due at the end of week 5 (by noon on Friday, May 4). Prospectus must include a working title which clearly identifies work(s) discussed as well as topic of your paper; a fully articulated explanation of the interpretation you intend to argue (not just a statement of general topic); a tentative outline of paper; and a working bibliography of at least eight sources (alphabetized and in correct MLA bibliographic format). NOTE: If an acceptable Prospectus is submitted on time, it will be used solely for feedback to help you write a stronger final research paper; it will be returned to you in an individual conference held some time in weeks 6-8 (sign-ups during class following the first midterm exam). BUT: if no prospectus is submitted or if the prospectus does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment, it will be graded and will count for 10% of your final course grade. In that case ONLY, the Research Paper component of your final grade will decrease to 25%. (So: failure to submit a prospectus will result in 10% of your final course grade = F!) See the Prospectus Guidelines for more detailed information. RESEARCH PAPER: 15-20 pp. long, using at least 6 secondary sources (Senior Project Students: 20-25 pp. and 8 secondary sources); OR, with my approval, a well-designed and researched WEBSITE on one Canterbury Pilgrim, including appropriate links, images, bibliography, and online resources, incorporating the equivalent of a SHORTER ANALYTIC PAPER (8-10 pp.), along with a written explanation of the methodology used and problems encountered in putting together the website. Final paper may be connected to oral presentation. Due at time of Final Oral Exercise. Worth 35% of final course grade (except as noted above). FINAL ORAL EXERCISE:
Starting
at a mutually agreed upon time no later than Wednesday of Final Exam week,
there will be a required final oral exercise: a brief presentation
to your classmates of the premise and conclusions of your final research
paper (due at that time).
While the presentation will be ungraded, failure
to complete the Final Oral Exercise will result in a grade of "F" being
averaged into the 35% of your course grade which is based upon the two
Midterm
Exams. If possible, the Final Oral Exercise will take place at
my home (maps to be distributed) in conjunction with a celebratory Chaucerian
meal. But if we are unable to agree upon a day and time, it will take place
in our classroom, sans meal, at our normally scheduled final exam time:
T 6/12 from 10 AM to 1 PM.
Extra Credit is available for reciting
from memory (rather than reading aloud) the required Canterbury
Tales passages in a reasonable approximation of Middle English.
You may do so either during a class meeting or at our final class dinner.
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Each
student starts out with a 4.0 for attendance. This component of your
final grade drops by .3 for the first UNEXCUSED absence; the penalty
increases by .1 for each subsequent unexcused absence (from A [4.0] to
A- [3.7] to B+ [3.3], to B- [2.8], etc.). Additionally, it drops
.1 for the first EXCUSED absence (4.0 to 3.9) and .2 for the second
excused absence (3.9 to 3.7). Excused absences in excess of
two (a full week, 10% of the class) count the same as unexcused
absences.
Required
Texts:
Readings
are to be completed BEFORE coming to class on the date assigned. You are
expected as a matter of course to read the introductory Explanatory
Notes for each reading (found in the Appendices of the Riverside
Chaucer), as well as the footnotes in the text, assigned
pages in the general introduction, and any assigned online readings
or
handouts. You should be aware of, and consult as needed, the more detailed
explanatory notes (listed by line number in Appendix 1) and should
consult the textual notes for your tale (found in Appendix 2) when
preparing your class presentation and writing your research paper. Be sure
to read the background material FIRST -- it provides a context within which
the primary readings will be more meaningful.
Should
I end up reinstituting reading quizzes in ENGL 430 this quarter, please
be aware of the following:
