Week 1: (4/1-4/3)
|
Topic and Readings
|
Research Assignment
(Electronic Databases and Web-based Resources)
|
| Day 1: |
Introduction: course requirements; the medieval origins
of Arthurian legend. |
NOTE: In this class, you will hone your research skills
using a number of electronic research tools accessible online. However,
please note that you should NOT use in your research material found on
websites other than reputable online journals or encylopedias
(see
research assignment for week 3).
With the exception of scholarly work (e.g. unpublished
conference papers, previously published essays, book chapters or journal
articles) made available on a reputable scholarly website
by a recognized, academic author, material found online is HIGHLY
UNLIKELY to be suitable for citation in a research paper. If you
DO choose to look for other resources on the web, be sure to consult Finding
and Evaluating Websites for tips on how to evaluate the scholarly validity
of a website or resource found online. One sign of a reputable scholarly
source MAY be a URL (web address) ending with ".edu"; but keep in mind
that such web-sites may also be student-authored work (posted on his or
her own or a professor's website) which is not typically suitable
for citation in a research paper. |
| Day 2: |
The
Arthurian Handbook CH 1-2. Historical development of Arthurian
literature.
Start reading T. H. White, The
Once and Future King. |
In addition to readings at left, read COMPLETELY
through class
homepage
and this calendar of assignments; decide on preferred date/topic of oral
research presentation (sign-ups in class). |
|
Week 2: (4/8-4/10)
| Day 1: |
The
Arthurian Handbook 137-8, 181-2.
The
Once and Future King 9-209 (The Sword in the Stone). |
Use LINK+
to do subject, keyword and title searches on your research topic.
Search under the title of the work/film you are researching; the author's/director's/artist's
name; and more general topics that seem applicable (e.g. film; Arthurian
romance, adaptations; etc.) If these terms do not yield satisfactory results,
try a word search using the same search terms. HINT: if you
come across a promising work on your topic, click on the subject listings
(found within the catalogue entry for that work) to look for other works
indexed under the same categories.
Use LINK+
to order secondary sources which are NOT available at Kennedy Library
(check in Polycat
or on the list of LINK+ libraries which have the item and do NOT order
items available at Cal Poly). NOTE: a secondary source is
a study ABOUT your author, topic or work, NOT an edition or translation
of your work.
Submit to hypermail
archive a first REPORT
of the number of items found for EACH of the above searches; comment on
the differing results generated using different search categories and terms.
Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title] Link+
RESULTS" or something of that nature.
Submit to hypermail
archive a second REPORT
listing ALL items ordered from
LINK+,
including complete "List of Works Cited" entries in CORRECT BIBLIOGRAPHIC
FORMAT. Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title] Link+
ORDERS" or something of that nature.
NOTE: LINK+
is used only to order BOOKS, it can't provide journal articles. |
| Day 2: |
The
Once and Future King 211-312 (The Queen of Air and Darkness). |
Use the MLA
Bibliography to do a KEYWORD and a SUBJECT search on your topic, using
the following search terms: title of work/film; author's/director's/artist's
name. To do a SUBJECT search, select "advanced search" at left and
scroll down at right to replace "keyword" by "subject." (If these two searches
do not yield adequate results, try a TITLE search using the same search
terms.)
In the event that you are researching an author who wrote
many works besides the one you are interested in (e.g. Steinbeck) or a
topic for which there is voluminous secondary criticism (e.g. Tennyson's
Idylls
of the King), note that you can use "OR" or "AND" in your searches
and use them intelligently:
-
"OR" will increase the number of hits
by providing all hits for each of two search terms (e.g. a search
on "Marion Zimmer Bradley" OR "Mists of Avalon" will yield a greater number
of hits than "Marion Zimmer Bradley" AND "Mists of Avalon"; the latter
would not include works on MZB unless MOA is specifically listed
as an indexing term).
-
"AND" will decrease the number of hits by providing
a more targetted search; it limits hits to items
which have BOTH of the search terms you are searching for (e.g. "Steinbeck"
AND "Acts of King Arthur" will eliminate hits for items which forcus exclusively
on other novels by Steinbeck).
-
You should experiement with different combinations of
search terms (or add additional search terms) for an increasingly targetted
search. For example, if searching under "Tennyson" AND "Idylls" yields
too many hits to be useful, try "Tennyson" AND the title of a SPECIFIC
IDYLL; or "Tennyson" AND the name of a SPECIFIC CHARACTER; or "Tennyson"
AND a more general TOPIC (e.g. "women"); or "Tennyson" AND "Idylls" AND
"Women"; or "Tennyson" AND "Merlin" OR "Vivien" etc.
As you search, keeps NOTES on the types of search attempted,
the specific search terms used, and the total number of entries generated
for each separate search (you will need this information for your first
report
to
the hypermail archive).
Then LIMIT the list of search results by language to titles in English,
and again note by document type, noting for each specific search how many
of the entries generated were for English-language works of each of the
following types: Journal, Book, Book Article, Book Collection.
Keep careful NOTES of what you find for your first report
to
the hypermail archive.
Now, go back to the list generated by limiting your search(es)
by document type and language to journal articles in English, locate
at least one relevant journal article that is NOT available in the Cal
Poly library and order it using Interlibrary
Loan (=ILL). (To check whether a specific journal volume
is available, search under "Journal/ Magazine Titles" in Polycat
to determine whether Kennedy Library has it in print AND search in Serials
Solutions to see if it is available electronically through the
Kennedy Library subscription databases.) Do NOT order a journal article
available in the Cal Poly collections, either in printed form or electronically.
Submit to the hypermail
archive a first REPORT
of the number of items found for each specific MLA Bibliography search
(NOT a full list of the specific titles found); comment on the different
results generated using different search categories and terms. Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title] MLA
search results" or something of that nature.
Submit to hypermail
archive a second REPORT
listing ALL items ordered from ILL, including complete MLA entries
for these items or complete "List of Works Cited" entries in CORRECT BIBLIOGRAPHIC
FORMAT.
Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title] ILL
orders" or something of that nature. |
|
Week 3: (4/15-4/17)
| Day 1: |
The
Once and Future King 313-514 (The Ill-Made Knight). |
Using the usual assortment
of search terms, and any others you think might be useful, search
for online
FULL-TEXT ARTICLES and E-BOOKS on your topic available
through the electronic journal and eBook databases to which Cal
Poly subscribes:
Academic
Search Elite
Expanded
Academic Index
Project
Muse
JSTOR
E-Books
Submit to the hypermail
archive five separate REPORTS
of how many relevant articles/books you found in each of the databases
(note: in some databases, you many not find ANY relevant full-text sources
on your topic).
Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title] ASE
search results" (or, substitute "EAI," "Muse," "JSTOR" or "eBook" for "ASE").
Be sure you know how to cite an online article using correct
MLA
bibliographic format for electronic sources (follow link and/or
see MLA Handbook, 5th ed., sections 4.9.4 and 4.9.7). |
| Day 2: |
The
Once and Future King 515-639 (The Candle in the Wind).
PRESENTATIONS (up to two) on The Once and Future King. |
COMPLETE THIS
ASSIGNMENT *ONLY* if you were unable to find a useful full-text article
or e-book
in one of the five online journal or
eBook databases. If no online scholarly article is available
in the four journal databases, you will need CAUTIOUSLY to look for another
web-based resource. But remember: you should cite ONLY REPUTABLE
SCHOLARLY SOURCES in a research assignment; most of what you will find
doing a random web-search is NOT appropriate!! You should begin by
consulting a reputable online encylopedia and targetted search engines,
e.g.
Britannica
Online
The
Camelot Project
The Voice
of the Shuttle
If you do not find an appropriate resource using one
of these tools, proceed to a websearch using your favorite search engine.
First, read Finding
and Evaluating Websites. As you search, keep careful notes of
what you have searched for and where (you will need this information for
your report to the hypermail
archive). You report should also list the useful sources
you found, your assessment of WHY they should be considered REPUTABLE SCHOLARLY
SOURCES, AND the specific website, online encyclopedia, etc. in which you
found them.
Be sure to include a "List
of Works Cited" entry using correct MLA
bibliographic format for a website (or see
MLA Handbook section
4.9.2). Don't
forget to include site author and title, the URL of the site and the date
accessed.
Subject
line of hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title of your
research topic] [abbreviated title of specific online source]" or something
similar.
Please recall that as a rule, you should NOT
use material found on websites in your research (with the exception of
reputable online journals or encylopedias or, RARELY, real
scholarship posted by a reputable scholar on a reputable site).
Other web-based resources are HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be suitable for
citation in a research paper. If you DO find something which
you consider valuable elsewhere on the web, submit to the
hypermail
archive a REPORT
of what you have found and your reasons for considering it to be a reputable
scholarly source. (Follow the guidelines on Finding
and Evaluating Websites). The subject
line of your hypermail posting should read "[abbreviated title]
Useful Web Resources" or something of that nature. |
|
Week 4: (4/22-4/24)
| Day 1: |
Adaptations/Continuations of T. H. White: 1) Lerner and
Loewe's musical Camelot;
2) Disney's animated The
Sword in the Stone; 3) T. H. White's own The Book Of Merlyn
(posthumously published conclusion to The Once and Future King).
Remember that the films The
Sword in the Stone (79 min.) and Camelot
(180 min.) MUST BE SCREENED BEFORE CLASS TIME!! Group screenings in the
LRC (2nd floor of Cal Poly library) will take place at the following dates
and times: Camelot: Friday 4/18, 1:30-4:45 PM; Monday 4/21,
9:10 -12:30 PM. Sword in the Stone: Friday 4/18, 9:10-11
AM; Monday 4/21, 2:10-4 PM.
Remember that in addition to viewing the two videos, you must have attended
a performance of the musical Camelot
at SLO Little Theatre BEFORE TODAY'S CLASS; for tickets,
contact the box office (well in advance!)
Assigned readings: The
Arthurian Handbook 257-64; and two handouts: Alice Grellner's
"Two Films that Sparkle: The Sword in the Stone and Camelot"
(from Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty [New York: Garland,
1991], pp. 71-81); and Elisabeth Brewer's analysis of T. H. White's The
Book of Merlyn (from her T.H. White's The Once and Future King
[Cambridge, UK: D. S. Brewer; New York: Boydell and Brewer, 1993], pp.
150-164).
PRESENTATIONS (up to three): Disney's The Sword in the Stone;
the musical Camelot; T. H. White's The Book Of Merlyn: The Unpublished
Conclusion to The Once And Future King. |
Begin work on prospectus
of Research
Paper, due by TUESDAY, MAY 13 (first day of week
7). Prospectus must include a working title which clearly
identifies work(s) discussed as well as topic of your paper; a fully
articulated thesis (not just a statement of general topic); a tentative
outline
of paper; and a working bibliography of at least eight
sources, alphabetized and listed using correct MLA bibliographic format
(consult
MLA Handbook!).
In choosing your sources, be sure to include at least
one of each of the following: a book by a single author
(of which you may use a single chapter, if desired); an essay from
an edited collection; and a journal article.
Additionally, your sources must include at least one item found in the
Cal
Poly library (put call number in parentheses after entry; don't
neglect to consult the items on Reserve!
); at least one item obtained through ILL
(indicate ILL in parentheses after entry); at least one item obtained through
LINK+
(indicate LINK+ in parentheses after entry); and at least one REPUTABLE
SCHOLARLY SOURCE accessed electronically (typically an online
journal article , eBook
or encyclopedia entry): be sure to cite this
item correctly, using correct MLA
bibliographic format for electronic sources (also described in 5th
ed. of MLA Handbook). |
| Day 2: |
John Steinbeck, The
Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, vi-xiv (Author's Dedication
and Introduction); 77-96 ("The Wedding of King Arthur"); 207-293 ("The
Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot of the Lake"); Writer's Block (Appendix: 296-364).
Other readings: The
Arthurian Handbook 128-33, 137-8, 171-5; Dante, Inferno,
canto V: Paola and Francesca (handout).
PRESENTATIONS (up to two): 1) Fatal Kisse(r)s (modern): Steinbeck's
writer's block. 2) fatal kisses (medieval): Dante's Inferno
V (Paolo and Francesca) and the kiss in medieval manuscript illumination. |
Continue work on paper
prospectus
and begin review for midterm
exam (remember, there will be a "Paper Preview" section on the midterm!!) |
|
Week 5: (4/29-5/1)
| Day 1: |
"Victorian" Sensibilities: Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelites;
Jerry Zucker's film First
Knight.
Remember that First
Knight (134 min.) MUST BE SCREENED BEFORE CLASS TIME!! Group screenings
in the LRC (2nd floor of Cal Poly library) will take place at the following
dates and times: Friday 4/25, 2:10-4:30 PM; Monday 4/28, 9:10 -11:30 PM.
Readings: The
Arthurian Handbook 157-64, 217-48; Tennyson's The
Idylls of the King 19-20 ("Dedication"; also online);
301-2 ("To the Queen"; also online);
21-35 ("The Coming of Arthur"; also online);
168-205 ("Lancelot and Elaine"; also online);
Tennyson,
"The
Lady of Shalott" (1833 and 1842 versions) (online reading: PRINT AND
BRING TO CLASS!!); essay by Jacqueline Jenkins, "The Aging of the King:
Arthur and America in First Knight" (in King Arthur's Modern
Return, ed. Debra N. Mancoff [New York: Garland, 1998], pp. 199-212).
PRESENTATIONS (up to three): Tennyson's Idylls
of the King (up to two; may include relevant Pre-Raphaelite illustrations);
First
Knight. |
| Day 2: |
Visions of Guinevere: The
Idylls of the King 248-68 ("The Last Tournament"; also online);
269-87 ("Guinevere"; also online);
288-300 ("The Passing of Arthur"; also online);
Tennyson, "Sir
Launcelot and Queen Guinevere: A Fragment" (1842; online reading: PRINT
AND BRING TO CLASS!); William
Morris, "The
Defence of Guenevere" (online reading: PRINT AND BRING TO CLASS!).
PRESENTATIONS (up to three): Visions of Guinevere in 1) the Idylls
of the King (as assigned); 2) William Morris's "Defence
of Guenevere"; 3) Pre-Raphaelite paintings (illustrations, with emphasis
on connections to themes and/or imagery in assigned readings). |
|
Week 6: (5/6-5/8)
| Day 1: |
The
Idylls of the King 206-230, "The Holy Grail" (also available online);
other selected Grail
texts (online readings: PRINT OUT AND BRING TO CLASS!): Tennyson, "Sir
Galahad" (1834); James
Russell Lowell, "The
Vision of Sir Launfaul" (1838); William
Morris, "Sir
Galahad: A Christmas Mystery" and "The
Chapel in Lyoness" (both 1858); Eugene Field, "The
Vision of the Grail" (1905); Sophie Jewett, "The
Dwarf's Quest: A Ballad" (1905).
Other reading: The
Arthurian Handbook 248-254 (on Wagner's Parsifal).
PRESENTATIONS (up to three): Visions
of the Grail: 1) in Tennyson and the other poets 2) in Pre-Raphaelite
and other artwork
related to the assigned readings 3) in Wagner's
Parsifal. |
| Day 2: |
Steinbeck, The
Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights 3-47 ("Merlin"); 99-123
("The Death of Merlin"); Tennyson, The
Idylls of the King 142-67, "Merlin and Vivien" (also available
online);
other selected online readings (PRINT OUT AND BRING TO CLASS!): Robert
Buchanan, "Merlin's
Tomb" (1859); Tennyson, "Merlin
and the Gleam" (1889); Wildfrid Scawen Blunt, "To
Nimue" (1914); Thomas de Beverley, "The
Story of Nimue" (1925). OPTIONAL: check out Howard
Pyle's reworking of the story for children (1903).
Steinbeck, The
Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights 109-123 ("Morgan le Fay").
OPTIONAL: explore the Morgan
links at the Camelot
Project.
PRESENTATIONS (up to two): Magic and Seduction: the Femme Fatale
in literature; Illustrating the Femme Fatale. |
|
Week 7: (5/13-5/15)
| Day 1: |
CATCH UP day on Tennyson. Prospectus
of Research
Paper due. |
| Day 2: |
Discussion of the film Excalibur
(141 min.), WHICH MUST BE SCREENED BY CLASS TIME!! Group screenings in
the LRC (2nd floor of Cal Poly library) will take place at the following
dates and times: Monday 5/12, 9:10-11:45 PM; Wednesday 5/14, 2:10-4:45
PM.
Essay by Norris J. Lacy, "Mythopoeia in Excalibur" (in
Cinema
Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty [New York: Garland, 1991], pp. 121-134).
Start reading Marion Zimmer Bradley, The
Mists of Avalon!!
PRESENTATIONS (up to two): on Boorman's film Excalibur
(one suggested topic: his depiction of Morgan). |
|
Week 8: (5/20-5/22)
|
Week 9: (5/27-5/29)
|
Week 10: (6/3-6/5)
| Day 1: |
The Mists of Avalon 655-876.
PRESENTATION. |
| Day 2: |
Discussion of the film Monty
Python's Holy Grail (90 mins.), WHICH MUST BE SCREENED BY CLASS
TIME!! Group screenings in the LRC (2nd floor of Cal Poly library) will
take place at the following dates and times: Friday 5/30, 2:10-4:00 PM;
Monday 6/2, 9:10-11:00 PM.
Optional: peruse Steinbeck, The
Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights 127-203 ("Gawain, Ewain
and Marhalt") for a taste of the type of interlaced chivalric adventures
found in Malory and parodied by Monty Python.
Review Tennyson, The
Idylls of the King 206-230 ("The Holy Grail," revisited).
Essays by Mark Burde ("Monty Python's Medieval Masterpiece," in The
Arthurian Yearbook 3 [1993]: 3-20) and David D. Day ("Monty Python
and the Medieval Other," in Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty
[New York: Garland, 1991], pp. 83-92).
PRESENTATION: Monty
Python's Holy Grail. |
|
| FINAL
ORAL EXERCISE: at a mutually convenient time, preferably late afternoon/early
evening the week-end preceding final exams, or no later than WEDNESDAY
of final exam week. (In the event that we cannot schedule such a meeting,
the final oral exercise shall occur during the regularly scheduled final
exam time, on Wednesday, 6/11, from 10 AM - 1 PM.) FINAL ORAL EXERCISE
(required) is a BRIEF summary, for your classmates, of the premise
and findings of your research paper. It is normally held in conjunction
with a festive class meal (optional). The FINAL
RESEARCH PAPER is due at time of the final oral presentation. |