English 401: Torture and Text in Anglo-Saxon England

Course Requirements & Schedule
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Course Requirements

Weekly Reading, Attendance, and Preparation

Attendance, Preparation, and Participation:

This is a seminar; there aren't many of us, and, if we all come prepared and willing to take some risks, we will all profit from the synergy. You are expected to be prepared and present for all of each and every class period; you are expected to have done each week's reading in advance of each week, to have spent time preparing for that week's grammar or translation assignment, and to be interested in and engaged by your own observations and discoveries and by those of your peers. You need not dominate class discussion to do well in this course, and you are allowed to be unsure or confused at times; you are not, however, allowed to lurk on the fringes without ever committing yourself, and you are not allowed to be critical of others without exerting the same effort in assessing your own ideas, and without expecting the same in return. Be critical, but be respectful. Interact: Ask questions! Make comments! Think up a few quips and queries in advance of each session! Let's make the most of our time together.

Completion of Exercise sets in the electronic Introduction to Old English:

The electronic Exercises are ungraded, and I won't even check that you've done them; the "Homework Quiz" material comes directly from these Exercises, however, so the wise student will go over these exercises until mastery is apparent!

3 Homework Quizzes:

• “Basic Grammar” and Old English Case
• Old English “Pronouns”, “Nouns”, and “Adjectives”
• Old English “Verbs”, “Adverbs & Conjunctions”, and “Prepositions”

If you do the reading and complete the electronic exercises (which are pretty easy to master, not very time consuming, and almost fun) you will do very well on the quizzes; if you don't, you won't!

6 Translation Quizzes:

Translation quizzes will be straightforward; you will be give a line of text and asked to provide three things: 1) a word-for-word transliteration from Old English into Modern English; 2) a smooth, idiomatically correct translation into Modern English; 3) grammatical information (part of speech, function in the sentence, etc.) for some of the terms in that line of text. If you've done your translation with any degree of conscientiousness, you won't find these quizzes difficult. It is not my intention to trick or trap you in any way; just do your translations!

3 Transcription Exercises:

• Paleographical Vercelli Book Alphabet Exercise
• Paleographical Vercelli Book Transcription Exercise
• Runic Ruthwell Cross Transcription Exercise

These are simple exercises that require you to spend a few hours learning to copy original scripts and runes from Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and artifacts. I'll provide you with guidelines, and I think you'll find that it's interesting and even fun to spend a little time on your own with ancient objects!

3 Translation Exercises:

• Vercelli Book lines 39-64
• Ruthwell Cross (approximately equivalent to Vercelli Book lines 39-64)
• Brussels Cross (approximately 4 lines, 2 of which correspond to the Vercelli and Ruthwell texts)

Translation exercises are simply formal versions of the translations you will have done for class; they should not require much new work, but they will require that you type up and submit via email versions of your translations made up of three parts: 1) a word-for-word transliteration from Old English into Modern English; 2) a smooth, idiomatically correct translation into Modern English; 3) a glossary entry based on Swanton for each word of old English in the translated selection. This last bit will prove the most time consuming, so it might pay to keep track of the glossary entries as you do your initial translations for class.

The Vercelli Book exercise will take the longest, as it comprises 25 lines of poetry. You will have translated this poetry over a couple of weeks, however, and we will have gone over your translations carefully in class, so if you keep careful notes this exercise will not prove to onerous. The Ruthwell Cross text closely follows that of the Vercelli Book, so your main task in that exercise will be to distinguish where the texts deviate. The Brussels Cross text is very short, and will not prove difficult after you've done the other two; it will allow us to wrap up the semester in a productive, but not utterly crazed, way.

2 Reviews:

• Pincikowski, Scott E. Pincikowski. Bodies of Pain: Suffering in the Works of Hartmann von Aue. New York: Routledge, 2002. Read and review: "Preface", "Introduction", and "Chapter One: The Body in Pain". xiii-xxv and 1-17.
• Horner, Shari Horner. “The Violence of Exegesis: Reading the Bodies of Ælfric's Female Saints.” Violence Against Women in Medieval Texts. ed. Anna Roberts. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1997. 22-43.

Each Review should be 2 or 3 pages in length (600-900 words each) and offer an insightful assessment of the value of the given text in the context of this course; take special pains to explain how you think the author engages theories of pain and torture. The point of these Reviews is to prepare you to interact profitably with our Guest Speakers on their areas of expertise most applicable to this course. Make the most of each opportunity to jump-start a conversation with an expert in this field. These reviews require committed preparation for our Guest Speakers, and thus they are due precisely at the start of class on the days those speakers join us. Tardiness is absolutely unacceptable when guests are coming over, and preparation is rarely useful after the fact: Be on time, and see that your reviews are; while a late student might be cordially explained away as charming (if perhaps a bit socially inept), a late review will languish ungraded. Don't make that mistake!

3 Research Exercises:

• Crucifixion Paper
• Eucharist Paper
• Transmutation Paper

Each Research Exercise should be 3 or 4 pages in length (900-1000 words each) and should employ several (3 or 4) of the reserve works on the given topic (Crucifixion, Eucharist, or Transmutation) to develop a brief but thoughtful model for understanding how that particular topic relates to the transformative nature of pain and torture in the context of the texts we are reading. In other words, how do the authors help us to understand how these topics can extend our understanding of the spiritual aspects of physical suffering? How might we apply such an understanding to The Dream of the Rood, or to Juliana, or to Andreas, or any of the other poems we will read? I'm not looking for right or wrong answers here; feel free to take risks: be interesting and engaging!

The Final Research Project will be developed through a number of steps:

• Choose a primary Old English text: if two or more students choose the same primary text, the final allotment of that text will rest with Divine Judgment as manifested through the agency of "Trial by Rock, Paper, Scissors". The deadline for requesting your primary text is Week 9; you may, of course, choose much earlier, beat the rush, and avoid combat.
• Compile an Initial Bibliography: 10-15 items (from 1995-2005) concerning the primary Old English text and some element of pain, torture, etc. Include a full photocopy of the most hopeful contender.
• Construct an Annotated Bibliography: 75-150 word assessment of each of the 7-10 most relevant items from Initial Bibliography. Include full photocopies of each source evaluated in the Annotated Bibliography.
• Compose a 15 page (4000-5000 words) Final Research Paper comprised of a review of the literature on the chosen text and topic and a position statement situating a strong research proposal thesis in the context of available current scholarship on closely related texts and topics.

Each student will choose one of the primary poetic texts from the Old English corpus we'll read this term (Andreas, Christ III, Daniel, The Dream of the Rood, Elene, The Fates of the Apostles, Guthlac, Judith, Judgment Day I & II, Juliana, Phoenix, or Soul and Body I); only one student may work on a given text. Each student will canvas the MLA Bibliography and other such resources for articles, books, and book chapters related to this primary text and to some aspect of pain, torture, torment, dismemberment, imprisonment, or some such topic that is related to the course and of interest to the student. The student will present the first results of this search in the Initial Bibliography, then winnow down the available resources to the most promising of the candidates in the Annotated Bibliography. Since the students in this course don't (yet) have the linguistic skills to do fully comprehensive scholarship in Old English literary studies, the Final Research Paper will play to the strengths (and require the competencies) of a graduating English major; these research skills should be honed before you leave us, and are those most likely to be of use in graduate or professional school (as much as I'd like to, I don't flatter myself that most of my students desire to be mini-Fees!) In other words, since you don't have a mastery of the Old English language or of any given primary text in Old English, you will be asked to develop a mastery of a small sample of the critical literature about a primary text in Old English. So what I'd like each of you to do is to combine a tightly written and informative review of the relevant critical literature you've found with a strongly formulated thesis stating where you would go with this study if you had the necessary linguistic skills and background. In a sense, it's a research proposal you'll be writing, and the skills necessary to compose a strong one will take you far in many walks of life.

Course Schedule

Week 1 (W 08/31/05)—Introduction:  Torture, Text, & Context; The Duality of the Old English Soul and Body I; an Overview of the Anglo-Saxon Visionary Rood Multimedia Project; Complete the Old English “Pronunciation” Exercise set in the electronic Introduction to Old English available through our course “Online Exercises” links.

Week 2 (W 09/07/05): Torture in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Complete the “Basic Grammar” and Old English Case (“Nominative Case”, “Accusative Case”, “Genitive Case”, and “Dative Case”) Exercise sets in the electronic Introduction to Old English available through our course “Online Exercises” links. Introduction to Old English Homework Quiz.

Week 3 (W 09/14/05): LIBRARY RESEARCH SESSION; MEET IN LIR. Discuss Sources, Methodologies, and Final Research Projects; Paleographical Vercelli Book Alphabet Exercise assigned (use The Digital Rood); Review One assigned. Complete the Old English “Pronouns”, “Nouns”, and “Adjectives” Exercise sets in the electronic Introduction to Old English available through our course “Online Exercises” links. Introduction to Old English Homework Quiz.

Week 4 (W 09/21/05): GUEST SPEAKER: Scott E. Pincikowski, Assistant Professor of German at Hood College and author of Bodies of Pain. Review One DUE. Complete the Old English “Verbs” Exercise set in the electronic Introduction to Old English available through our course “Online Exercises” links.

Week 5 (W 09/28/05): Anglo-Saxon Paleography, Codicology, and Runology; Sisam’s Vercelli Book Facsimile; MEET IN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. Paleographical Vercelli Book Alphabet Exercise DUE. Paleographical Vercelli Transcription Exercise assigned (use The Digital Rood). Complete the Old English “Adverbs & Conjunctions” and “Prepositions” Exercise sets in the electronic Introduction to Old English available through our course “Online Exercises” links. Introduction to Old English Homework Quiz.

Week 6 (W 10/05/05): Signifying Suffering:  Pain, Perception, and the Language of Wounds and Weapons in the Old English The Dream of the Rood. Paleographical Vercelli Book Transcription Exercise DUE. Runic Ruthwell Cross Transcription Exercise assigned. Crucifixion Paper (Research Exercise 1) assigned. The Dream of the Rood lines 1-10 translated using Swanton. Translation Quiz.

Week 7 (W 10/12/05): Inscription or Infliction?  Torture, Text, & Gender in the Old English Andreas, The Fates of the Apostles, Elene, and Judith. Runic Ruthwell Cross Transcription Exercise DUE. The Dream of the Rood lines 11-23 translated using Swanton. Translation Quiz.

Week 8 (W 10/19/05): Inscription or Infliction?  Torture, Text, & Gender in the Old English Andreas, The Fates of the Apostles, Elene, and Judith. Crucifixion Paper (Research Exercise 1) DUE. Eucharist Paper (Research Exercise 2) assigned. The Dream of the Rood lines 24-38 translated using Swanton. Translation Quiz.

Week 9 (W 10/26/05): Consumption as Productive Destruction: Eating Body and Digesting Soul in the Old English Andreas, Daniel, and Guthlac. DEADLINE: Primary Texts Chosen for Final Research Project. The Dream of the Rood lines 39-49 translated using Swanton and The Digital Rood. Translation Quiz.

Week 10 (W 11/02/05): Consumption as Productive Destruction: Eating Body and Digesting Soul in the Old English Andreas, Daniel, and Guthlac. Eucharist Paper (Research Exercise 2) DUE. Transmutation Paper (Research Exercise 3) assigned. The Dream of the Rood lines 50-64 translated using Swanton and The Digital Rood. Translation Quiz.

Week 11 (W 11/09/05): Coercion, Conversion, and Crucible:  Smelting the Sinner and Smithing the Soul in Old English Visions of Judgment in Christ III, Judgment Day I & II, Phoenix, and Elene. The Ruthwell Cross Runic Text lines 39-49 transcribed and translated using Swanton and The Digital Rood. Vercelli Book Translation Exercise (Based on the work done in weeks 9-10) DUE VIA EMAIL BY MIDNIGHT.

 Week 12 (W 11/16/05): Coercion, Conversion, and Crucible:  Smelting the Sinner and Smithing the Soul in Old English Visions of Judgment in Christ III, Judgment Day I & II, Phoenix, and Elene. Transmutation Paper (Research Exercise 3) DUE. Review Two assigned. Initial Bibliography DUE. The Ruthwell Cross Runic Text lines 50-64 transcribed and translated using Swanton and The Digital Rood. Translation Quiz.

THANKSGIVING BREAK (W 11/23/05)

Week 13 (W 11/30/05): GUEST SPEAKER: Shari Horner, Associate Professor of English at Shippensburg University and author of “The Violence of Exegesis”. Review Two DUE. Ruthwell Cross Translation Exercise (Based on the work done in weeks 11-12) DUE VIA EMAIL BY MIDNIGHT.

 Week 14 (W 12/07/05)—Conclusion: The Purpose of Public Pain in the Old English Andreas, Daniel, The Dream of the Rood, Elene, The Fates of the Apostles, Judith, and Juliana. Annotated Bibliography DUE. Brussels Cross Text translated using The Digital Rood. Brussels Cross Translation Exercise DUE VIA EMAIL BY MIDNIGHT.

 Finals Week (W 12/14/05): FINAL RESEARCH PROJECTS DUE DURING FINALS PERIOD

Syllabus and Schedule Subject to Change