Winter, 2005 Class Meetings: TR 6:10-8:00, 2-13 Office: 47-35G, tel. 756-2636  Office Hours: T 5-6, WR 3-4, R 1-2, and by appt.

Dr. Debora B. Schwartz  http://www.calpoly.edu/~dschwart Main English Office:  756-2597 e-mail: dschwart@calpoly.edu

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Week 1 (January 4-6)
 

	Topics	Readings	Research Assignment
Day 1	Course format, schedule and requirements. Introduction to Medieval Textuality. Introduction to Old English: the Anglo-Saxon Tradition.	In class:  Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, including transcription of Caedmon's Hymn.  NA 23-26.  Background: NA 1-6; 14; 19-22; W. F. Bolton, "The Conditions of Literary Composition in Medieval England" (previous link is to Bolton study guide; click HERE to access and PRINT OUT the Bolton reading on e-reserve).  Complete these readings before the second week of class.	In this class, you will hone your research skills using a number of electronic research tools accessible online through the Kennedy Library's subscription databases.  Please be aware that little if any material found using standard web search engines (Google, Lycos, etc.) is suitable for citation in a research paper.  Relatively few reliable scholarly journals,  ebooks  or encylopedias are currently available free on the web (although many valid scholarly resources can be accessed through online subscription databases which you will learn to use week 3). Be aware that, with the exception of reputable scholarly work (e.g. unpublished conference papers, original or previously published essays, book chapters or journal articles) made available by an academic author, in an online scholarly journal, or on the website of a scholarly project, material found on the web is HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be suitable for citation in a research paper.  If you DO choose to use Web Search Engines for your research, be sure to consult Research Step 6: Finding and Evaluating Web-Based Resources for tips on how to evaluate the scholarly validity of a website or resource found online. (This optional assignment can be submitted for extra credit.)
Day 2	Heroic Values:  Pagan and Christian in dream vision and epic.	The Dream of the Rood, NA 26-8; Beowulf  1 (up to "The Dragon Wakes") NA 32-79. Background: NA 1-6; 14; 19-22; 26; 29-32.	Read COMPLETELY through class homepage and this calendar of assignments.  Read through the oral research presentation guidelines and the schedule of oral presentations. to decide on your preferred dates/topics; sign-ups in class Thursday.

Week 2 (January 11 - 13)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Heroic Values, Conclusion. Transition: the effects of the Norman Conquest. Middle English Secular Values: the Chivalrous Ideal.	Beowulf, conclusion: NA 79-99.  The Middle English world view; women and Romance. Online readings: "Translatio studii et imperii" and Courtly Love.  Additional background on the Middle English period:  NA 7-12, Anglo-Norman England and the Fourteenth Century. Introduction to Chaucer: background CH 1-13, NA 210-13; introduction to Troilus and Cressida CH 345-353 and two handouts on e-reserve (click on links and PRINT THEM OUT): 1) Introduction to Troilus and Cressida and 2) opening stanzas of poem in Middle English. Chaucer's lyric poems "Truth" and "Gentilesse". Middle English texts:  "Truth" NA 315 and "Gentilesse" (click link and PRINT OUT this online reading).  Modern translations: CH  602-4. NOTE:  discussion of these readings will doubtless spill over to our next class meeting, but please complete all assigned readings prior to class so you will be able to follow the lecture.	Click on the link for detailed instructions for your first research assignment: Research Step 1: Kennedy Library via Polycat By following these directions, you should be able to find some  useful secondary sources -- which are studies ABOUT your author, topic or work, not an edition or translation of the text itself  -- in the Kennedy Library collections. The directions will also guide you trhough submitting your first two research reports to the class research archive, "Searching Polycat" and "Kennedy Library Results." Reminder: the class research archive is located in a Blackboard "Discussion Board."  To access Blackboard, log in at MyCalpoly, go to "Blackboard Access" and select "ENGL 512" from the classes you are taking; then click on "Discussion Board" and enter the "forum" for the topic you researching.  (I will create a separate "forum" for each author/text.)
Day 2	Chaucer's Troilus and  Cressida I: Translatio romance	Review the introductory materials on Troilus and Cressida assigned for our last class meeting: CH 345-353 and the two handouts on e-reserve: 1) Introduction to Troilus and Cressida and 2) opening stanzas of poem in Middle English. (click links and PRINT THEM OUT if you did not do so prior to last class meeting). Primary reading: Troilus and Cressida bk. 1, CH 353-379.	Click on the link for detailed instructions for the second research assignment: Research Step 2: Using LINK+ By following these directions, you will learn how to use LINK+ to order additional secondary sources from cooperating libraries.  LINK+ can be used to order books only -- not journal articles.  It is fast -- books ordered through LINK+ typically arrive within 2-3 days.  The directions will also guide you though submitting your next two research reports to the class research archive, "LINK+ Search Results" and "LINK+ Orders 1."

Week 3 (January 18 - 20)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Chaucer's Troilus and  Cressida II: the plot thickens	Troilus and Cressida bks. 2-3:  CH 379-471.	Click on the link for detailed instructions for the third research assignment: Research Step 3: Using the MLA Bibliography to Identify Additional Sources on Your Topic (and then figure out how to access them!) By following these directions, you will learn to use the MLA Bibliography to identify additional secondary sources on your topic and Interlibrary Loan to access articles and books which are not available at Cal Poly (or through LINK+). The directions will also help you prepare your next research reports for the class research archive, "MLA Search Results" and "ILL Orders" (as well as "LINK+ Orders 2" if applicable).
Day 2	Chaucer's Troilus and  Cressida III: medieval misogyny?	Troilus and Cressida bks. 4-5: CH 472-555.  Handout on e-reserve (click on link and PRINT OUT): Introduction to and Text of the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women; see also information on CH 599.	Click on the link for detailed instructions for the fourth research assignment: Research Step 4: Using Full-Text Subscription Databases This exercise will guide you as you learn to search for full-text journal articles on your topic in four of Cal Poly's subscription databases.  The directions will also help you prepare your next four research reports for the class research archive: "Muse Results," "EAI Results," ASE Results" and "JSTOR Results."

Week 4 (January 25 - 27)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Middle English Spirituality I: the 13th century.	Hali Meidhad ("A Letter on Virginity"): background NA 9 (on ME religious prose); PW xi-xx, xxxviii, xli-xliii; online reading: Introduction to Medieval Allegory; text PW 2-43. Seinte Margarete: background PW xx-xxv, xxxiv-xxxviii; text PW 44-85.	Click on the link for detailed instructions for the fifth research assignment: Research Step 5: Searching the E-books in NetLibrary This exercise will guide you as you learn to search directly in the ebooks found in NetLibrary, another of Cal Poly's subscription databases. The directions will also help you prepare your next research report for the class research archive, "NetLibraryResults."
Day 2	Middle English Spirituality II: the Pearl Poet and the Alliterative Revival	The Pearl: background NA 9-12, PRL vii-xxi; review  Introduction to Medieval Allegory; text PRL 1-39. (If you were unable to purchase The Pearl, click on the links and PRINT OUT the text and the introduction on e-reserve.) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, through line 669 (text in NA 158-172). Background NA 12, 19-20, 156-8; online reading: The Alliterative Revival; also review Courtly Love and Translatio.	1) Click on the link and follow the guidelines to begin work on the Prospectus and Working Bibliographyfor your Research Paper, due by noon on FRIDAY FEBRUARY 11 at the latest.  Note 1: the Prospectus is normally an ungraded exercise allowing me to provide feedback that will help you write a stronger final research paper.  But if no prospectus is submitted (or if it does not follow assignment guidelines), it will count for 10% of the final course grade. Note 2:  your Prospectus MUST be turned in on Friday, February 11, as I will need it over the week-end to grade the Paper Preview component of your Midterm Exam.  2) Click on the link for instructions for an OPTIONAL research assignment (which may be completed for Extra Credit): Research Step 6: Finding and Evaluating Web-Based Resources.

Week 5 (February 1 - 3)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Arthurian Romance I	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 670 -conclusion.  Text NA 172-210. Background to Malory: NA 12-14 ("The Fifteenth Century"), 419-21; review Translatio; read handout (on e-reserve) containing Caxton's preface and the divisions of Malory's Le Morte D'arthur (PRINT OUT and bring with you to class).	Continue work on prospectus of Research Paper and working bibliography due by noon on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 at the latest. Begin review for midterm exam (remember, there will be a "Paper Preview" section on the midterm based on your prospectus and working bibliography!!)
Day 2	Arthurian Romance II	Malory's Le Morte D'arthur.  Click here for specific reading assignment.  Review NA 12-14, 419-21; Introduction to Medieval Allegory; Translatio; and handout (on electronic reserve) containing Caxton's preface and the divisions of Malory's Le Morte D'arthur (bring PRINT-OUT with you to class).	Continue work on prospectus of Research Paper and working bibliography due by noon on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 at the latest. Continue review for midterm exam (remember, there will be a "Paper Preview" section on the midterm based on your prospectus and working bibliography!!)

Week 6 (February 8 - 10)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Malory, cont.	Morte D'arthur, cont.  Click here for specific reading assignment.	Continue work on prospectus of Research Paper and working bibliography due by noon on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 at the latest. Continue review for midterm exam (remember, there will be a "Paper Preview" section on the midterm based on your prospectus and working bibliography!!)
Day 2	MIDTERM EXAM		Don't forget:  prospectus of Research Paper and working bibliography are due by noon TOMORROW, Friday, February 11, at the latest.

Paper Prospectus due to my mailbox in the main English office by noon on Friday, February 11, at the latest.

Week 8 (February 22 - 24)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Canterbury Tales III: Breton Lay and Fabliau	The Franklin's Tale: CH 292-314; click here for the Middle English text of Chaucer's Franklin's Tale (PRINT OUT this online .pdf file; specific lines assigned on study guide); The Miller's Tale: CH 123-143, NA 235-52 (specific lines assigned on study guide).	Work on Research paper.
Day 2	Canterbury Tales IV: Beast Fable; Literary Confession and Exemplum	The Nun's Priest's Tale: CH 186-206, NA 296-310 (specific lines assigned on study guide); The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale: CH 316-335, NA 281-96 (specific lines assigned on study guide).	Work on Research paper.

Week 9  (March 1 - 3)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	The Human Side of God I: Women Mystics	Ancrene Wisse, parts 7 and 8.  Background:  NA 9, 153-154; PW xxix-xxxviii; review Introduction to Medieval Allegory. Text: PW 110-49.  Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings, and Margery Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe:  Background NA 12-13, 355-6, 366-7; texts NA 356-66 and 367-79.	Work on Research paper.
Day 2	Liturgical Drama I: Mystery Plays	Background: Introduction to Mystery Plays and to The Chester Play of Noah's Flood (but not the play itself): NA 13, 379-80, 391-2.  The Second Shepherds' Play: text NA 392-419.	Work on Research paper.

Week 10  (March 8 - 10)
 

	Topic	Reading	Research Assignment  (Traditional and Web Resources)
Day 1	Liturgical Drama I:  Morality Plays	Everyman:  NA 13, 445-67; review  Introduction to Medieval Allegory.	Work on Research paper.
Day 2	NO CLASS -- Dr. Schwartz at Medieval Association of the Pacific conference		Work on Research paper.

In lieu of a written final exam, all students will participate in a Final Oral Exercise: a brief summary of his/her final research paper for the other members of the seminar.  This (required) final oral exercise normally takes place at Dr. Schwartz's home during the regularly scheduled final exam time, followed by an (optional) class dinner. Unless an extension has been arranged in advance, Research Papers are due, along with the original marked up prospectus, at the time of the final oral exercise.

In winter, 2005, our regularly scheduled final exam time is Tuesday, March 15, from 7-10 PM.  If possible, however, we will begin somewhat earlier (e.g. at 5:30 or 6:00) so that post-presentation festivities do not interfere with the bedtimes of the smaller members of my household. . .

Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2005

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