Instructor: C. Fee

Meeting Time: MWF 11:00-11:50

Meeting Place: Breidenbaugh 209

Office: Breidenbaugh 406

Office Hours: MW 2:00-4:00 (in my office,) F 3:30-4:30 (at The Ragged Edge,) and by appointment

Office Phone: x6762

Home Phone: 528-4799 (Call before 10:00 pm)

E-mail: cfee@gettysburg.edu
 
 

Required Texts:

David, Donaldson, Greenblatt, and Abrahms. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages (Volume 1A). NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2000. (ISBN: 0393975657)

Fee, Christopher with David Leeming. Gods, Heroes, and Kings : The Battle for Mythic Britain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. (ISBN: 0195174038)

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Peter Holland, ed. Oxford World's Classics ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. (ISBN: 0192834207)

Shakespeare, William. The History of King Lear. Stanley Wells, ed. Oxford World's Classics ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. (ISBN: 0192839926)
 
 

General Course Objectives:

This course might have been sub-titled "Narratives, Story-telling, and the Construction of Cultural Identity", or something of the sort. This is because one of the major types of exploration we will undertake will be to examine the kinds of stories, genres, and literary images common in the Medieval world, to question the underlying assumptions and cultural functions thereof, and to compare these to their (post-)modern counterparts. Every culture has its stories, its genres, its story-telling modes and mores; the really interesting questions about these have to do with why any story was told in the first place: what is its role and function within the larger culture which spawned it? Much of this course will be spent exploring links between literature and culture, between cultural change and concurrent linguistic and literary changes, and between Medieval and Renaissance stories (and genres, purposes, means, ends) and their counterparts today. These are the big topics you should be thinking about.
 

Specific Course Objectives and Course Structure:

Now how do we implement such sweeping objectives? The thing about Medieval literature is that it's, well, Medieval; it's different from what we're used to, and there is a lot of it. In fact, saying "I'd like to read some Medieval and Renaissance literature" is much akin to saying "I'd like to go to the rain forest and look at some plants": it's worth the trip, but there are myriad different kinds of plants, some are beautiful, and some are deadly. You need to learn a bit about the jungle before you pack your bags. This course is designed to introduce you to the tools you'll need to make it on your own. We'll be looking at selections from almost a thousand years (ca. AD 700-1600) of literature in English, from the earliest British Medieval texts to two of the best-known and loved works of Shakespeare. The English language changed a great deal over this period of time, and this change is a product of--and reflects--concurrent cultural changes. It is therefore vital that this course, while introducing you to important and influential works, authors, and genres over the course of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, also introduces you to some of the factors influencing these cultural, linguistic, and literary changes. In order to accomplish these goals, we will read a good number of texts--some in translation and some in the original languages--and we will examine closely the cultural, linguistic, and literary contexts of these texts. We will also learn a bit about the history of the English language in general, and specific aspects of Old English (the language of Beowulf--ca. AD 700-1100), Middle English (the language of Chaucer--ca. AD 1100-1450), and Early Modern English (the language of Shakespeare--ca. AD 1450-1650) in particular. This course has therefore been divided roughly into thirds, and we will spend approximately five weeks on each of these periods; we will look at a range of texts and genres and we will discuss the historical and literary context of each work. Because the periods involved are vast, and because the English Renaissance is a world unto itself, I have selected two Shakespearean plays which fit almost seamlessly into our earlier discussions of Medieval traditions, folklore, myths, and motifs. We can't hope to do everything in one term, so we'll try to draw connections between the texts and traditions we do cover, and hopefully you'll be able to sketch out a map of areas to which you'd like to devote further exploration. Each student will write three short essays, one on an Old English topic, one on a Middle English topic, and one on an Early Modern English topic. We also will focus on selected passages (in the original language) of a specific text from each period, which we will study in some depth in order to inform our understanding of some of the major linguistic characteristics of that period.
 

Course Evaluation:

Preparation & Participation: +/-10%

Blackboard Quizzes: +/-10%

Tutorial Language Exercises: +/-10%

Old English Paper: +/-15%

Middle English Paper: +/-15%

Renaissance Paper: +/-15%

Midterm Exam: +/-10%

Final Exam: +/-15%

Preparation & Participation:

You are expected to be present, prepared, and ready to participate in each and every class period. Some find participating in class discussions to be fun and easy, while others find it threatening and uncomfortable. You need not be a big talker to do well in this class (although it doesn't hurt!), but you do need to be prepared to answer an occasional question, articulate intelligent confusion, or voice the odd query (about the subject matter at hand rather than, say, grading procedures!). This is always a touchy and somewhat subjective area to evaluate, so you'll do us both a favor by trying to put in your two cents!

Blackboard Quizzes:

We have a lot of material to cover this term, and much of it will be new to you and may seem alien at first.  Thus, it is vital that you keep abreast of the regular reading, especially that which gets short shrift in class.  To ensure that you have a regular impetus to do all the reading, I have instituted a series quizzes throughout the term.  These quizzes are structured to test your basic comprehension of the material, not to trick you in any way, so if you’ve done the reading carefully you should be all right; note, however, the term “carefully”: these quizzes require thoughtful reading and answering. The quizzes are on Blackboard, become available at noon about every other Thursday (check the schedule), and become unavailable at 12:30 pm on that Friday; that's a 24 1/2 hour window, English majors! Once you have begun a quiz you have exactly ONE HOUR to complete it. You MUST complete the quiz the FIRST TIME you access it. You will be presented with only ONE question at a time, and you may NOT backtrack. Keep these caveats in mind!

Language Exercises:

During three weeks of the term we will focus on major linguistic aspects of the changing English language; we will study selected passages (in the original languages) from The Battle of Maldon, The Miller's Tale, and King Lear. The purpose of these exercises is to give you some hands-on experience with the linguistic aspects of literary study. During most of the course we will be looking at the larger historical and cultural contexts of the literature in which we are interested; these exercises will force us to stop and note how these larger factors are related to the changing way that the English language was used. These exercises will combine background lectures with out-of-class assignments and in-class discussion.

Papers:

You will be asked to write three essays during the course of the term; each should be 5-7 pages in length (by which I mean--even allowing for a wide variety of font and spacing options--1250-2310 words). Papers shorter than 1200 words do not--as a general rule--fare well, and papers longer than 2400 words will be returned to you (ungraded) for judicious pruning. Although I might be called inflexible about paper length, you will have a great deal of flexibility in choosing your essay subjects;  I will distribute a list of possible topics during the first week of class, we will discuss these as a group, and (if you are wise) you will meet with me individually to discuss in detail your chosen topics.  I am always open to original ideas, so you need not restrict yourself to the list I provide, just as long as you clear your topics with me in advance.  The first paper must be on an Old English topic, and is due on the day we begin our discussion of Middle English; the second paper must be on a Middle English topic, and is due on the day we begin our exploration of the Renaissance; the third paper (have you noticed the pattern?) must be on a Renaissance topic, and is due on the first day of finals. I will provide you with a very detailed description of my expectations regarding essay quality, and I am very clear about my grading standards. As a general guideline, always keep in mind that this is an English course, and that good, clear, intelligent prose is the starting point for a passing effort.
 

Exams:

There will be two exams; each exam will be divided into three sections:
 

• short-answer identifications over historical, literary, and linguistic material (a few major dates, some names of characters, a bit of the history of the language, etc.);
• passage identifications (you will be expected to identify the text from which the passage was taken, offer the immediate context, and note its importance to the work as a whole);
• essay questions concerning major literary themes which we have discussed in class.

The midterm will be shorter than the final, but the exams are identical in format. We will review before each exam, and the sort of material which you must know will be clearly indicated.