Middle English Literature , Syllabus

Middle English Literature ENGL 345 01

Mr Furr

Syllabus, Fall 1999

1. Required Readings

A. Books

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Viking Penguin PB.

Geoffrey Chaucer. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Cambridge University Press.

"William Langland," The Vision of Piers the Plowman. Viking Penguin.

Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose. Harcourt, Brace.

All these books will soon be available in the College Supply Store on campus.

B. Other Required Readings

I will give you many handouts, and some Xeroxed articles, which we will read and discuss in addition to the books noted above. These will help familiarize you with certain medieval philosophical, aesthetic and critical concepts, as well as some modern critical approaches to medieval literature. They are just as much "required reading" as are the books above.

During the second week of class I will collect $3 from each student in this class to pay the costs of Xeroxing this material. This money will go to augment the English Department's Xerox budget.

In addition, and especially, we will read a lot of material from the World Wide Web (WWW), where there is a lot of Medieval Literature material available for free. More on this below.

2. The Course

This course will introduce you to the literature of late medieval England, specifically the 14th and early 15th centuries. This is a very rich period for literature in England, and the literature produced during this time poses some fascinating interpretative problems.

I intend to make this a course on critical approaches and on research methods. I will hold lectures to an absolute minimum, though I'll do more talking during the first 2-3 weeks of the class than later on.

The class will be divided up into groups for both discussion and for group research and group projects.

3. Format of Class

I will divide the class into groups. Most of what takes place in class will take place in group discussions. This IS "the course". We'll also have large group discussions in most classes. I will lecture from time to time (not much).

4. Assignments.

All assignments will be submitted by e-mail.

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to do this. I will teach you how. We will spend some time at the beginning of the class on learning the very simple skills needed to use computers. I will spend as much time with you – one-on-one, when you need it – to guarantee that you will be able to do it. I do not assume you know how to do e-mail.

Nobody in this class will get a lower grade because they do not know how to use computers. Remember: I give out the grades.

Here is the link to the page on the Internet and Internet instructions for you, including Email instructions.

The 'Streaming Audio' page and instructions are here.

A. Biweekly Assignments

In general, you'll get two short assignments a week, although we meet three days a week. Most of them will ask you to do a close reading of the works we are studying. Some will be based on critical articles or other material to help us understand the reading.

Your twice-weekly short writing assignments will be graded as follows:

* If they are on time, on-topic, and at assigned length, you will get a grade of 4 (A on the 4-point scale) for that assignment.

* If they are up to one day late, you will get a grade of 2 (C) for that assignment.

* Any assignment received more than one day late will receive an F.

* If I get your assignment on time but it is off topic or shorter than the assigned length, I'll return it to you by email, and you may redo it. But you still must have it in by the assigned time.

These biweekly assignments will be approximately 60 per cent of your grade. There's really no reason that you can't get a "4" on each of them! Therefore, the way to do well in this class is to be consistent!

Finally, and if the class seems to be going well, I'll give out some "group" assignments, in which each group can make a presentation to the class as a whole on some topic related to our readings. That helps make the class much more interesting.

B. Group Assignments.

1. Projects on the various readings. I’ll ask each group to read either a section of the work at hand, or a critical article or chapter on it, and report to the class.

When I do this, these assignments will be instead of the individual assignments described above, not in addition to them.

2. A group presentation on one of the five works, which should occupy at least one full class period. Each member will submit, by email, a neatly typed contribution to this presentation of about 5 typewritten pages.

3. An individual research project on some aspect of one of the works we study.

This should be an expanded, in-depth paper of which the contribution to the group presentation is a preliminary draft (this is why I list it under ‘Group Assignments’ – it is a part of the group’s project). It should be 10-12 pages (2500-3000 words) in length, in standard MLA research-paper format. Therefore, it’s not really a whole, new research assignment, but a continuation of the work you did on assignment 2 above.

5. Library Work

Work in Sprague Library will be an important part of this course. In addition, you will have to go to nearby academic libraries to gain access to some of the articles and books which you will want to consult, but which are not in Sprague Library.

During the first two weeks of class we will go to Sprague Library and I will show you the major research tools for work in Middle English Literature.

Please do not check any books out of Sprague Library on the subject of this course. Instead, when you find a useful book, bring the AUTHOR, TITLE, and LIBRARY CALL NUMBER to me, and I will put it on reserve for this class. This is to make sure that everyone in the class can consult the relatively few books on this subject that the library possesses.

You will be required to go to nearby academic libraries in the course of your group work. I'll provide you with a list of them, and information about how to use them. You'll be able to search the libraries by computer, before going there, to make sure the library you visit has the journals you want to use.

In addition, the Reference and Inter-Library Loan librarians can show you how to find out what libraries in this general area (including New York City) have the books you want.

In Sprague we will mainly be working with the MLA Bibliography, available on CD-ROM readers (as well as in hard-copy), and certain standard reference works and works I will put on reserve.

6. Our WorldWide Web (WWW) Page

This syllabus, the Schedule of Readings, all homework assignments, and all other relevant material, will be put on the WWW Page for this course.

You'll learn how to use this page as part of your computer instruction. It's easy! And you'll never worry about forgetting your homework or other assignments again.

There is a lot of material on the Middle Ages, and Medieval literature, on the WorldWide Web, and I will give you a number of assignments from it. It will be fun as well as educational!

7. Computer Accounts and Writing Assignments.

Please read, and study carefully, the two pages on Internet instruction and on Streaming Audio (also linked above).

All Assignments Must Be Emailed! All writing for the course will be submitted by email. Those of you with computers and modems at home will be able to do this work at home. All of you can use the computer labs on cam pus. I'll give you a schedule of labs' locations and open hours as soon as possible.

8. Attendance

Because much of this class consists in group work, it is very important that each student attend class every day that we have class work.

I will take attendance at the beginning of each class. If you know you must be absent for a future class, you will not be penalized IF you do one of the following:

tell me beforehand in person (for example, at an earlier class);
call me in advance and tell me. My office number is 655-7305. State your name; spell it; tell me you are in "World Literature " and what day and date you are calling for.
But I would rather that you EMAIL me. I check my email every day; my phone, only twice a week (when I’m on campus for class).
If you are unavoidably absent one day, please call and leave a message, or email me, to that effect the same day.

If you do any of the above, your absence will be "excused," and you will not be penalized for it.

If you do not do either, or forget to do so, your absence will be "unexcused." Three "unexcused" absences lowers your final grade by one point (e.g. "A-" becomes "B+", "C" becomes "C-", etc.) Five "unexcused" absences lowers your grade by a full letter (e.g. "A-" becomes "B-", "C" becomes "D").

9. Lateness policy

If you come in late to class (after I have taken attendance), it is your responsibility to tell me after class that same day that you were present but late. If you forget to do that, you will be charged with an "unexcused" absence.

Since we are working in groups, repeated absences or lateness will hold back not only you, but your group and the whole class. Please do not be late repeatedly. I will penalize repeated lateness by lowering the final grade.

10. Grading.

There will be an optional mid-term exam due by email on Friday, October 29, and an optional final exam due on, the day set aside for the final in the course in the Schedule of Courses, Fall 1999.

"Optional" means you may choose not to take it.

Other than the examinations, I will have plenty of assignments to grade you on.

I will grade you on the following:

your biweekly assignments;
your contribution, both orally and in writing, to your group presentation;
your individual research project.

11. My Office Hours

My office hours are TF 11-12:15, in DI-325 (Dickson Hall). My office phone number is 655-7305. Please do not hesitate to come in for help or a discussion at any time.

My email address for this course is: furrg@alpha.montclair.edu.( If you are on the Alpha system directly, you need only type in the first part: FURRG. But this is only if you are sending from another Alpha address. Otherwise, you must use the full Internet address).

In the unlikely event you ever have to send me a fax, the number is: (973) 655-7031.

http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/mel/melsyl99.html | furrg@alpha.montclair.edu | last modified 2 Sep 99