Instructor: C. Fee

Meeting Time: MWF 1:10-2:00

Meeting Place: Breidenbaugh 307

Office: Breidenbaugh 406

Office Hours: MWF 10:00-11:00 AM (in my office,) F 2:00-3:00 PM (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 Text:

Benson, Larry, ed.  The Riverside Chaucer.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
 

General Course Objectives:

There are a number of reasons for taking the effort to read Chaucer, and don’t be deceived:  it does take effort.  Chaucer was a pivotal figure in the history of English literature;  he drew upon European genres and forms which were to prove quite influential on the development of later English literary traditions.  Chaucer’s use of iambic pentameter, for example, was in direct opposition to established English forms, and it may be due mainly to Chaucer that later poets in English didn’t write in the now defunct alliterative meter of Chaucer’s accomplished contemporaries, Langland and the Pearl Poet. Chaucer exerted a powerful influence on the generations immediately following him, all the way down to Shakespeare and indeed to the present day, and thus an intimate knowledge of Chaucer provides a firm foundation for the study of later English literature.  Beyond his stature as a figure of literary history, however, Chaucer is just plain fun:  sometimes didactic and erudite, often smutty or downright scandalous, Chaucer’s work is seldom boring, and it is ever imbued with an ironic self-consciousness which doesn’t allow us to take him—or ourselves—entirely seriously.  It isn’t often that one is given the opportunity to derive scholarly pleasure (and to accrue course credit!) from tracking down the etymology of the filthiest words in Modern English, but Chaucer provides us with many such opportunities, God bless him, and he tells a good story along the way.  Chaucer is simply worth reading.
 

Specific Course Objectives and Course Structure:

By the end of the course you will have achieved three goals: 1) You will be able to read Chaucer’s Middle English with a fair degree of fluency, and will be familiar with some of the major linguistic features of the dominant literary dialect of the Middle English period;  2) You will have first-hand experience with a wide range of texts and genres which are representative of Chaucer’s work, and will be able to draw connections with later English literary traditions;  3) You will have studied the larger historical and cultural context of Chaucer’s work, and will be aware of the impact of this context on the history of English language and literature.  In a typical week there will be some lecture and discussion, but we will spend the bulk of our time reading Chaucer aloud, offering translations into Modern English, and commenting on the significance of various passages, characters, narrative motifs and techniques, and the like.  Too often in literary studies we lose sight of the beauty of poetry because of our interest in important cultural considerations;  in this class we will attempt to combine an interest in cultural and critical considerations with an old fashioned love of the spoken word.  Because of the nature of the class structure, it is vital that you keep up with the reading. This is both a participation-oriented course and a writing intensive course; grades are therefore largely determined by these two aspects of the course.
 

Course Evaluation:

Daily Reading, Preparation & Participation:  15%

Oral Report:                                                10%

Weekly Quizzes:                                          20%

Background Essay:                                      15%

Literary Essay:                                            20%

Class Moderation:                                        10%

Oral Recitation:                                           10%
 
 

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;  it is part of your task to help to provide a comfortable, supportive class environment in which all members are empowered to speak.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t argue;  far from it.  It is important, however, that we be respectful of one another, and that we solicit opinions which diverge from our own.  In this course we will read Chaucer aloud, in the original Middle English, every class period.  You will be expected to read only 5-10 pages (probably 300-600 lines of poetry) prior to each class, but you will be expected to have read the selection completely and carefully several times, to have practiced reading selections of  it aloud, and to be able to translate and contextualize any given passage.  Each day I will ask each member of the class to read portions of the Middle English text aloud and to offer a translation and some commentary upon that selection.  Your participation score (15% of your total grade!) will depend largely upon your efforts in this endeavor.  In addition to this requirement, you must 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!
 

Oral Report, Handout, and Annotated Bibliography:

During the first two weeks I will pass around a list of possible oral report topics;  these reports will be given in weeks 2-13 (the report on any given topic must be given in the week assigned to that topic, for reasons which should be self-evident).  Your report should be 5-10 minutes in length, and should provide your audience with a basic introduction to the topic.  To go along with your report, you should prepare a handout for the class;  this handout should give a short synopsis (outline form is fine) of your main points.  With this handout you must include an annotated bibliography of at least 5 works which would be helpful in learning more about your topic.  If appropriate, one or two modern editions of texts with helpful introductions might be included among your five sources;  for example, a report on Boethius and The Consolation of Philosophy might well make reference to a couple of the fine modern translations of that text available, several of which contain useful background information.  You also may find that general reference works on Chaucer, on Middle English, and on specific texts often contain exactly the type of background information useful for your report.  In other words, don’t expect to find everything you need to know about, say, the genre of the Romance, by doing a keyword search on “Chaucer” and “Romance;”  works such as A Preface to Chaucer or the Oxford and Cambridge companions to Chaucer might well prove indispensable.

“Annotated” means that you provide a brief overview of each item, including your assessment of its value to your classmates.  The format of this bibliography should conform with MLA guidelines.  Both the handout and the annotated bibliography must be typed, double-spaced, clear, and helpful;  bring enough copies of each for all of your classmates (and two for me!).  Pictures, diagrams, audio-visual aids, and clever illustrations are highly recommended.  Late handouts/bibliographies are not acceptable.  I will be happy to point you in the right direction as you research these topics, but bear in mind that part of the exercise is the basic research involved in compiling a bibliography and summarizing information.  You should use this research as a springboard into your Background Essay.  Be aware that the library might not have enough good items which you wish to use, so use the library’s electronic resources this week to find a dozen or so sources (yes, more than you think you’ll need—trust me on this one!), and ILL the ones which we don’t have.  You must actually put your hands (and eyes!) on a source to determine its value;  don’t be suckered by titles.  WEB SOURCES are NOT acceptable unless approved by me at least 48 hours in advance.  To secure such approval, make an appointment to see me during my regularly scheduled office hours and show me those web sources (all at one time, please!) in which you are interested.  Print sources may not pre-date 1960 unless approved by me at least 48 hours in advance.  Again, you must bring the actual source into my office to garner such approval.  Do not expect mercy in week eleven because the library has no sources which you find useful.  Due to the disadvantage to those giving reports early in the semester, I may assign bonus points to reports given in weeks 2 and 3.
 

Weekly Quizzes:

This course does not have an exam;  let me repeat:  There is no exam in this course.  In the place of a midterm and a final, you will be able to assess your on going grasp of the material through a series of regular quizzes.  I believe in continuous assessment, and in a course like this one it is much more important that you keep up with your daily and weekly work than that you are able to cram a lot of information effectively the night before an exam.  There will be 12 weekly quizzes:  these will be held on Fridays, for the first 10-15 minutes of class, during Weeks 2-13.  These quizzes are worth 10 points each;  the lowest 2 quiz scores will be thrown out, so the 20 percent of your final grade which would normally depend upon exam scores will be figured from your top 10 quiz scores instead, which will be out of a possible 100 total points.  Under NO circumstances will make-up quizzes be given;  if you are late, or if you miss class some Friday, you will receive no credit for that quiz.  If you were to miss two Fridays, for example, those quizzes would be the two low scores thrown out of your quiz average.  Some quizzes may require a bit of memorization, but generally the quizzes will consist of 5-10 very short questions which will more or less follow these guidelines:  2-5 Middle English terms from the reading which you must accurately define in Modern English, and 3-5 short passages which you must contextualize and comment upon.
 

Papers:

You will be asked to write two essays during the course of the term.  The first paper (the Background Essay) will be 6-8 pages in length.  The final draft of this paper will be based upon research which you will present to the class in the form of an oral report, informative handout, and annotated bibliography (see above).  You should discuss this topic with me before the end of week 4;  obviously, if your oral report is due before this date, you must speak to me well before the date you deliver your report.  I will provide you with a list of possible topics and their due dates during the first two weeks of class;  you must choose one of the assigned topics, and you must deliver your report during the assigned week.  This paper and the related oral report will comprise background information on a topic of general interest to the rest of the class, and thus your sources will likely include general works on Chaucer, Middle English language and literature, and Medieval history.  You should utilize no fewer than 5 such sources.  Although your oral report may deal more with generalities (due to time constraints), I expect that this paper will discuss relevant works of Chaucer in some detail.  This paper is due at the end of week 9.

The second paper (the Literary Essay) will be 12-15 pages in length, and should illustrate your mastery of critical and scholarly materials as well as your ability to interact profitably with medieval texts and ideas. The topic is wide open, but I will provide you with a list of possible topics during week 3.  This paper may not duplicate any work presented in paper one.  In this paper you should stake out your position regarding your topic in the context of other scholarly voices.  It is difficult to give precise guidelines for such an assignment, but it would be reasonable to expect that you will deal at some length with a minimum of 2 primary (Medieval) texts and a minimum of 5 secondary (modern critical) articles or books. You should begin thinking about this paper (and looking for sources!) immediately, and again, you must schedule a formal conference to discuss this paper with me.  We should have this conference before the end of week 6.  This paper is due the last day of classes.

A word about papers:  quality is more important than quantity.  You must fulfill the minimum quantitative requirements, to be sure, but it is much more important that you write well than that you write long.  It has been noted on many occasions that I am a very critical reader;  feel free to discuss your work in progress with me often to ensure that you are on the right track.  To this end, I expect you to speak with me personally for a minimum of 10-15 minutes about each of these projects (that’s at least two separate conferences!);  you must take the bull by the horns and approach me in both cases.  It is your responsibility to seek me out wherever I hide, to drop in on me unannounced, to set up formal appointments, to invite me to lunch, or whatever.
 

Class Moderation:

During the course of the term each student will be responsible for moderating one class session;  I’ll provide you with a sign-up sheet during the second week of class.  Moderating the class need not be too onerous a duty;  watch what I do and see if you get some ideas.  The day that you are in charge you should be prepared to call on people to read passages, to comment critically (but tactfully!) upon their pronunciation, translation, and commentary, and to lead short class discussions on important passages, literary themes, and background information associated with the reading for that day.  I often find it helpful to come to each class with a few crucial passages marked, and with half a dozen questions about the reading with which I can spur discussion.  You could also choose to begin with problems you encountered with the language, ideas, etc., and then move on to a conversation of larger literary and cultural issues which you found to be of note;  it’s up to you.  You will be evaluated both on substance and style, so try to create an informative and fun class atmosphere, and try to help your colleagues as each takes the hot seat!
 

Oral Recitation:

Oral recitation is a key component of this course, and for that reason a formal recitation is necessary;  consider all of your in-class reading to be practice.  Before the end of week 13 each student must memorize and recite aloud 20 or more lines from any of Chaucer’s works excluding the General Prologue (we will all memorize the first 18 lines of the GP for our first quiz).  You may choose any other selection you please, and you need not consult with me about it in advance.  You must arrange to recite for me privately, and there need not be any other audience for your performance (unless you so choose!).  You will be judged both on accuracy of pronunciation and on fluidity of delivery, and you may take up to three stabs at it (within a 30 minutes).  You can not pass this course without fulfilling this requirement, and late performances are unacceptable.  My advice is to choose something which you enjoy, and to arrange your recital some time in weeks 8-12.