Geoffrey Chaucer’s House of Fame

and Canterbury Tales

Curtis Gruenler English 373, Spring 2006

Office: Lubbers 306 Office phone: 395-7996

E-mail: gruenler@hope.edu Home phone: 399-3731

Office hours: MW 1-2 TR 2-3:30 and by appointment (Please don’t call after 9 p.m.)

Goals

Through this course you will:

v Understand some central aspects of medieval thought.

v Understand the literary traditions Chaucer drew on (genre, prosody, symbolism, etc.) and his innovative handling of them.

v Learn to read Chaucer’s Middle English. We’ll go slow, and there will be help of various kinds, so that I hope you will find his Middle English doable and even enjoyable.

v Grow in your ability to tackle difficult texts. The works we will be reading are difficult for us in a number of ways, only one of which is that they are old.

v Develop your skills in reading, research, writing, discussion, and presentation.

v Gain new perspectives through an encounter with major literary texts.

v Enjoy reading some great literature in the company of classmates (I hope).

Textbooks

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: Fifteen Tles and the General Prologue, Kolve and Olson, eds. (Norton, 2005)

Cooper, Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, second edition (Oxford, 1996)

Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, trans. Relihan (Hackett, 2001)

Cook and Herzman, The Medieval World View: An Introduction, second edition (Oxford, 2004)

Requirements

Question papers: 200 points

Attendance and participation in class discussions: 100 points

Discussion starters: 40 points

Translation quizzes and recitation: 60 points

Essays or Term project: 200 points

Question papers

Asking good questions is the essential skill of literary interpretation (and of the humanities in general). In a question paper, the main task is to frame a good question (see separate handout on good questions). Then, in a paper of 300-500 words (one to two pages), you begin to answer the question. If it is a good question, you will not be able to answer it conclusively, but you can articulate some ideas and cite some evidence for them. Each question paper should contain at least two quotations from the text you are discussion or from critical works about it.

Question papers should make reference to the reading assigned for the day you turn them in, although they may also deal with readings we have already discussed. Your questions can focus on any aspect of interpretation: meaning of a particular passage or image, relation to literary background, relation to historical context, relation between tale and teller relation to other texts, etc. This would also be a good place to begin to explore a particular critical approach that interests you (e.g. How would a reader-response, or psychoanalytic, or archetypal, or deconstructive, etc., interpretation work here?). You are by no means required to do any secondary reading beyond what is assigned for the day, but you are welcome to.

One question paper is due each week, but you may skip four weeks, for a total of ten question papers during the semester.

Attendance and Participation

On the days when you are not writing a question paper, I ask that you write a question card. A question card is a 3-by-5 card with a good question on it. See the accompanying handout on asking good questions.

Here is the general scheme I will use for assessing participation:

A: Regular, helpful questions and comments; fully engaged

B: Frequent, pertinent questions and responses; good listening

C: Only occasional questions or comments; attentiveness questionable

D: Rare interaction; disengaged from discussion

Two absences will be excused automatically. The next two absences (for whatever reason—illness, family emergencies, athletic contests, class trips, warm weather) can be excused by doing two hours of reading about the authors/works covered that day. Absences beyond the fourth for documented emergencies (such as illness or family emergencies) can be excused by the same kind of reading. All other absences will not be excused and will reduce the final grade by one step each. Assignments (readings, question cards, and protocols) are to be completed whether you attend class or not.

Discussion Starter

Twice during the semester I ask that you help start the day’s discussion, either on your own or working in a group. You may bring questions for discussion, set up a debate, make a short presentation of some kind of background for us to consider, show a clip from a film that relates to the text in some way, start a game, display a work of art. Creative, playful approaches are welcome. I will leave twenty minutes for the day’s discussion starter, and I would like the formal part of whatever you have planned to be done by then, but if good discussion gets going I will let it go longer. The goal is to help the class find a productive way into understanding the text for the day together.

Quizzes and Recitation

I’ll give one or two translation quizzes, just to be sure you are able to read Middle English accurately enough. I expect two will be plenty, but if not I’ll give you more chances. Once during the semester (or more if you’d like), I ask that you make an appointment with me to recite a passage of 18 lines in Middle English.

Essays or Term Project

For more in-depth study, you may choose between writing two essays of 1500-2000 words (5-7 pages) or doing a larger project such as an essay of 10 to 15 pages (3000-4500 words) or the equivalent in another medium (or combination of media). Writing projects other than critical papers, such as an imitation of Chaucer or Boethius, are welcome. For standards for expository essays, see separate sheet; for other kinds of projects we can work out the expectations according to the nature of the project.

Any kind of essay or project should involve research of some sort. For a critical paper, I will expect you to do fairly extensive research on your topic so that you can develop your ideas in conversation with the best work that has already been done. That is to say, I expect you to quote and otherwise refer to the work of other scholars, but I encourage you to think about doing research as a conversation you are having with them in order to enrich your own thinking, rather than as a mere requirement of the assignment. And you should cite other scholarship in your essay as a way of placing your argument in context, not primarily as a way of supporting your own points (though you may do that). Of course when you make use of others’ ideas or words, you must give credit. I prefer the MLA in-text style of citations (with parenthetic references in the text and a list of works cited at the end), though you may use whichever style your prefer as long as you use it consistently. You may include a list of works consulted as a way of indicating research that does not show up in citations.

If you choose to do the two shorter essays, they will be due March 15 and May 2.

If you choose to do a term project, I ask that you turn in a proposal on Wed., March 29. It should have two parts: 1) a statement of your basic topic, ideas, and questions; 2) a preliminary evaluation of at least six research sources, including both printed and electronic sources. For this second part (what is called an annotated bibliography), include complete bibliographic information about each source as well as a few sentences explaining what the source is, how it might be relevant to your project, and how reliable and helpful it appears to be. Your proposal at this point is not binding—you may change your topic or approach at any time, though I encourage you to talk to me about it. The project itself will be due May 2.

On the last day of class, I will ask each member of the class to give a brief, 5-minute presentation about their project or second essay to the rest of the class. The idea is to give the rest of the class an idea of what you’re working on and to practice giving a short presentation of work-in-progress. Please give some thought to how to present your work to the class in a way that will engage their attention and help them think along with you. I suggest that you start with your main question(s) and what motivated you to undertake the project. I will leave some time for members of the class to respond with ideas or questions.

Keep in mind that outstanding papers will be eligible for awards such as the Arts and Humanities Student Colloquium, the English Department Birkhoff Award, or other awards. See me for details.

You are welcome and even encouraged to work with each other on papers and projects outside of class, but of course all the work you turn in must come from your own hand.

Web Resources

There are many good resources for Chaucer on the web. The two best places to start for this course are The Chaucer Pedagogy Page and The Geoffrey Chaucer Website Homepage. There are audio files for various excerpts at The Chaucer MetaPage Audio Files.

Schedule

Note: Reading assignments for each Chaucer tale include associated introductions, prologues, and epilogues, as well as the corresponding chapter from Cooper.

Jan. 11: Introduction

Jan. 16: The Medieval World View, end of ch. 5 (115-128); Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, introduction, principles of translation, note on text, and books I and II (x-xxv, xxviii-xxxiii, 1-48). Preferences for discussion starters due.

Jan. 18: Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, book III (49-90).

Jan. 23: Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, books IV and V (91-150).

Jan. 25: The Medieval World View, chs. 1 and 2 (pp. 4-37); “Chaucer’s Language” (xv-xix in The Canterbury Tales); The House of Fame, book I (lines 1-508).

Jan. 30: The Medieval World View, ch. 9 (212-37); The House of Fame, book II (lines 509-1090).

Feb. 1: The House of Fame, book III (lines 1091-2058).

Feb. 6: The House of Fame, continued; The Medieval World View, ch. 11 (257-78); Du Boulay, “The Historical Chaucer” (473-92 in The Canterbury Tales).

Feb. 8: General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, lines 1-308 (3-10); backgrounds to the General Prologue (311-40). For a site with various helpful reading aids see The General Prologue - An Electronic Edition (the audio files are especially helpful). Translations of most of the tales are at: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/tr-index.htm. Translation quiz.

Feb. 13: Winter Recess

Feb. 15: General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, lines 309-858 (10-23); criticism by Hoffman, Donaldson, and Nolan (492-534).

Feb. 20: The Knight’s Tale, part one (23-34)

Feb. 22: The Knight’s Tale, parts two and three (34-58).

Feb. 27: The Knight’s Tale, part four (58-71).

Mar. 1: The Miller’s Prologue and Tale (71-88) and background (341-3). Translation quiz.

Mar. 6: The Wife of Bath’s Prologue (102-21) and backgrounds (357-86); The Medieval World View, ch. 4 (60-85).

Mar. 8: The Wife of Bath’s Tale (121-30) and background (386-96).

Mar. 13: The Friar’s Prologue and Tale (131-40) and background (397-8); review portraits of the Friar and the Summoner in the General Prologue.

Mar. 15: The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale (140-54); The Medieval World View, ch. 10 (238-56). First essay due.

Mar. 20, 22: Spring Break

Mar. 27: The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale (154-85) and backgrounds (407-21).

Mar. 29: The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale (185-211) and background (422-3). Term project proposal due.

Apr. 3: The Franklin’s Prologue and Tale (212-33) and background (424-30); criticism by Kittredge (534-46).

Apr. 5: The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale (233-48); criticism by Dinshaw (466-85).

Apr. 10: The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale (248-54) and backgrounds (439-44, 448-50).

Apr. 12: The Prologue and Tale of Sir Thopas and of Melibee (255-68) and background (451-4).

Apr. 17: The Nun’s Priest’s Prologue and Tale (269-85) and backgrounds (456, 463-4).

Apr. 19: The Manciple’s Prologue and Tale (285-93) and backgrounds (466-9).

Apr. 24: The Parson’s Prologue and excerpts from his Tale and Chaucer’s Retraction (293-307); criticism by Patterson and Strohm (546-66).

Apr. 26: Term project presentations.

May 2: Final draft of term project or second essay due at noon in the English dept. office. Be sure it has my name on it so it gets into my mailbox. If you would like me to send it back to you, please turn in a sufficiently large, self-addressed envelope with it.