ENGLISH 348 - SPRING 2011 SHEILA FISHER// WM 226; x2457

WOMEN WRITERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES Office Hours: by appointment

Required Texts

Power, Eileen. Medieval Women (Cambridge).

Wilson, Katharina, ed. Medieval Women Writers (Georgia).

Marie de France. The Lais of Marie de France(HanningFerrante, trans. )(Labyrinth). Chaucer,Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales (Xerox).

SeiShonagon. The Pillowbook (Columbia UP).

The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin).

Bogin, Meg, ed. The Women Troubadours (Norton).

Dante. La Vita Nuova (Penguin).

The Book of Margery Kempe (Norton).

De Pisan, Christine. The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Penguin).

MurasakiShikibu. The Diary of Lady Murasaki (Penguin).

MurasakiShikibu. The Tale of Genji (ABRIDGED VERSION) (Vintage).

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Borroff trans.) (Xerox)

Assignments

T1/25Introduction

Th1/27Power, Chapters 1-3.

T2/1Power, finish. In Wilson, Dhuoda and Hrostvit, pp. 1-63.

Th2/3Marie de France: Lais, Introduction and pp. 28-92.

T2/8Marie de France: Lais,, finish, and Wilson, pp. 64-69, 83-88.

Th2/10Chaucer, "Miller's Prologue and Tale"; "Franklin's Prologue and Tale". Also read

the portraits (brief descriptions) of these two characters in "General Prologue."

T2/15Shonagon, Introduction and pp. 21-86.

Th2/17Shonagon, through p. 153.

T2/22Shonagon, finish.

Th2/24In Wilson, Hildegard, through p. 130.

T3/1Trinity Day - No Scheduled Class

Th3/3In Letters of Abelard and Heloise, pp. 57-288.

T3/8In Bogin, pp. 8-77 and Poems, pp. 80-118.// MIDTERM PAPER DUE

Th3/10In Bogin, Poems, pp. 118-159; in Wilson, Costelloza, pp. 131-152.

T3/15Dante, La Vita Nuova.

Th3/17In Wilson, Marguerite Porete, Sts. Bridget and Catherine, Julian of Norwich, pp. 204-97.

Spring Vacation

T3/29Chaucer, "The Prioress's Prologue and Tale"; also her "Gen. Pro." portrait.

Th3/31Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”; also her “Gen.Pro.” portrait.

T4/5Margery Kempe, through p. 121.

Th4/7Margery Kempe, finish.

T4/12Christine de Pisan: In Wilson, pp. 333-42; In Treasure, pp. 35-85.

Th4/14Treasure, finish.

T4/19The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Th4/21Murasaki, Tale of Genji,Introduction & Chapters 1-3.

T4/26Murasaki, Chapters, 4-9.//FINAL PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE.

Th4/28Murasaki, Finish.

T5/3Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Concluding Discussion and Festivities.

MAY 10, 2010 -- FINAL PAPERS SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY BY MIDNIGHT

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. To develop a sophisticated understanding of the literary texts and their contexts.

2. To test comprehension, and critical skills through short weekly quizzes.

3. To develop skills in oral expression through class participation and oral reports on the research project.

4. To develop skills in research methods and contextual criticism through the research project.

5. To develop sophisticated skills in written expression through formal papers.

Course Requirements

1. Class attendance and active participation (10%)

2. Weekly Quizzes (20%)

3. Research Project and Oral Report (15%)

4. Papers (55%)

Explanation of Requirements

1. You are required to attend class regularly, to be prepared, and to participate actively. More than two unexcused absences will adversely affect your grade.

2. Every Thursday at the beginning of class, you will take a 10-point, 10-minute quiz that will ask you to answer a few questions on the reading and class discussions for the week. The quizzes replace a midterm and a final exam.

3. After you have begun to familiarize yourself with the texts and their setting, you will choose some aspect of the social, historical, and/or cultural context as the basis of a focused research project. You will be assigned to a small group based on your research interest. You will then research your topic in order to present a brief oral report (7 min. max) to the class. One week after your presentation, you will hand in a 1750-word paper (minimum) that writes up your research and its relationship to the texts and incorporates any additional thoughts you’ve had your topic. You will each be responsible for your own section of the oral report and for your individual research papers, and you will receive individual grades for this project. N.B. You will send me your annotated bibliography for your group’s project by midnight before the day when you’ll be reporting so that I can circulate it to the class.

4. You will write TWO papers in this course: one shorter midterm paper (2800 words) and a substantial final paper (5600 words). You will be able to choose your own topics for these papers, although I will give you some suggestions.

Late Paper Policy: All papers are due on the assigned date. Except in cases of certifiable emergencies or religious obligations, late papers will be penalized by the subtraction of one grade for each day that the paper is late.

Academic Honesty: All work for this course must be prepared in accordance with the standards of academic honesty as they are articulated in The Student Handbook.

Office Hours: Please contact Nancy Horton () if you’d like to make an appointment to see me.