ENGL 203: Core I: Medieval
Winter, 2012 Dr. Debora B. Schwartz 
Class meetings: TR 2-4, Rm. 2-13 http://www.calpoly.edu/~dschwart
Office: 47-35G, tel. 756-2636  Main English Office:  756-2597
Office Hours: M 1:10-3:00, W 1:30-2:30, Th 4:30-5:30, and by appt.  e-mail: dschwart@calpoly.edu
Graduate Assistant Office Hour: TBA 
e-mail: dparsons@calpoly.edu
Calendar, Winter, 2012

NOTE:  DO NOT PRINT OUT THIS CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS!! It is intended to be consulted online.  (Print-out would be VERY long, and assignments are subject to change.)  There may be significant modifications to this calendar as a result of the class meeting lost due to Monday holidays, particularly for the units which follow the midterm exam.
Week  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
NOTE 1:  Click on links on the course calendar to obtain study guides for individual texts.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO READ ASSIGNMENTS WITHOUT READING THE STUDY GUIDES FIRST!!  Study guides should be PRINTED OUT and read BEFORE you begin reading assignments; use them to guide your reading and keep them (along with printouts of any online readings and readings on e-reserve) in a binder which you should always bring with you to class.

NOTE 2: some required readings are accessed electronically.   Electronically accessed readings may be in one of the following forms:

Electronically accessed readings should be completed prior to the class meeting for which they are assigned.  PRINT THEM OUT, put them in your course binder (along with the study guides), and be sure to BRING THEM WITH YOU TO CLASS.

NOTE 3: This calendar is subject to change.  You are advised to consult it on-line and/or to print out only one day's or week's assignment at a time.  Please remember that the on-line calendar, not any print-out you make, is authoritative.  Check weekly to ensure you are completing the correct assignment, as instructions may change or be added.
 
Week 1 (January 3-5) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Course Expectations; Backgrounds I: Medieval Textuality and Manuscript Culture; Old English Oral Literary Traditions

Text info:
  • Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People is a Latin prose history (or "chronicle"), completed in 731, a few years before the death of the Venerable Bede in 735.  It focuses on  the (re-)Christianization of post-Anglo-Saxon-Conquest Britain, in particular the spread of Christianity in England and the growth of the English Church.
  • Caedmon's "Hymn" is the earliest poem work in Old English which has been preserved.  It was composed orally in Old English alliterative verse by an illiterate cowherd named Caedmon some time between 658 and 680 (i.e. either before Bede's birth, ca. 673, or when Bede was still a small child).
Day 2: Backgrounds II: The Old English Period; Anglo-Saxon heroic values; Old English Oral Literary Traditions 

Text info:
  • The Dream of the Rood is an orally composed Dream Vision in Old English alliterative verse created by an unknown author some time between the 8th and 10th centuries.
  • Beowulf is an orally composed Epic in Old English alliterative verse created by an unknown author some time between the 8th and 10th centuries.
NOTE 1:  Ideally, background readings should be read prior to assigned primary readings (the medieval texts).  If you are short on time this week, read the headnote to the two medieval primary texts and the assigned portions of these medieval texts.  You can catch up on the other assigned background readings over the week-end.

NOTE 2: Print out online readings (including Study Guides) and bring them with you to class.

NOTE 3:  Don't forget to fill out and return your First-Day Questionnaire!

 Required Background Readings:  Required Primary Readings (medieval texts): 
  •  The Dream of the Rood, NA 27-29 (click on link at left to access and PRINT OUT the Dream of the Rood Study Guide); Beowulf  1 (up to "The Dragon Wakes"), NA 29-80 (click on link to access and PRINT OUT the Beowulf Study Guide).
Also recommended: 
    W. F. Bolton, "The Conditions of Literary Composition in Medieval England" (.PDF file,  15 pp., on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard).  Click HERE for a Study Guide directing you to the most important points in the Bolton reading. 
Week 2  (January 10-12) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Beowulf; conclusion; the notion of Translatio
  • Review previously assigned background readings:  NA 1-7, 19-20 (on Old English prosody) and 29-32 (headnote to Beowulf).
  • Finish reading Beowulf (NA 32-99)
  • New Background Reading:  "Translatio studii et imperii" (online reading with pretty images; a printable text-only version is on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard). 
 Day 2: the Anglo-Norman period; the beginnings of a written vernacular literature in England (in Anglo-Norman French!)
Text info:
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of England (Historia regum Britanniae) is a (fabricated) chronicle (history) written in Latin prose in 1136 for the Anglo-Norman court.
  • Wace's Romance of Brutus (Roman de Brut) is an Anglo-Norman French translation/adaptation of Geoffrey's Latin chronicle, written in octosyllabic rhyming couplets in 1155 and dedicated to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen of England.  Note: the word "romance" in the title merely means that this chronicle is told in the French language, but generericaly, Wace's text is still a history or chronicle rather than a "romance."
  • Layamon's Brut is a Middle English translation/adaptation of Wace's Romance of Brutus written ca. 1190 in Middle English alliterative verse.  Like Wace's poem, its genre is chronicle or history rather than "romance."
 Required Background Readings: 
  • Review "Translatio studii et imperii" (online reading).  BRING PRINT-OUT OR HANDOUT WITH YOU TO CLASS.
  • NA 7-10 (on Anglo-Norman Literature); NA 117-127 ("Legendary Histories of Britain" and headnotes to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, Layamon and "The Myth of Arthur's Return"); NA 141-2 (headnote to Marie de France)
  • Medieval Attitudes Towards the Vernacular: Prologues and Dante's De Vulgari Eloquentia  (click link to access this online reading, which is also your study guide for the Primary Readings listed below; be sure to PRINT IT OUT AND BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS.)
Required Primary Readings:
  • Excerpts from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Layamon (NA 117-128).  BRING BOOK OR PHOTOCOPY OF THESE PAGES WITH YOU TO CLASS. 
OUT OF CLASS WRITING:  PR 1 (a personal response to Dream of the Rood or Beowulf) is due to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Board no later than 10 PM on Friday, January 13. 
  • Prior to submitting PR 1, carefully read the guidelines for Discussion Board Personal Responses and Classmate Responses.  You must FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES (click on the links) to receive credit for Discussion Board assignments.
  • To receive credit for PR 1, you must post TWO short Classmate Responses (one to each of TWO Personal Responses posted by other members of your Discussion Board group) no later than 10 PM on Monday, January 16.
Week 3 (January 17-19) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: NO CLASS MEETING (Monday classes meet) START ON DAY TWO DOUBLE READING ASSIGNMENT!
Day 2: Medieval Attitudes towards Vernacular Literature

Text Info:
  • Virgil's Aeneid is a Latin-language epic poem in twelve books written between 29 and 19 BC by the Roman poet Virgil (who lived 70-19 BC).
  • The Romance of Eneas is an Anglo-Norman French-language adaptation of Virgil's epic written ca. 1160 by an unknown poet working at the court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in Anglo-Norman England.  It was composed in octo-syllabic rhyming couplets, the verse form typical of 12th-century French vernacular literature.
  • Marie de France was active ca. 1160s-1190s at the Anglo-Norman court (i.e. the court of the French-speaking rulers of England, descendants of the Norman Duke William the Conquerer who became King of England after defeating the English king in the Battle of Hastings in 1066).  Marie de France knew Latin but she spoke and wrote French.  Her works are in rhyming verse (specifically, octosyllabic rhyming couplets, the verse form typical of 12th-century French vernacular literature). We are reading the Prologue and Epilogue to her collection of Fables and the Prologue to her collection of Lais.
  • Chrétien de Troyes was was active ca. 1170-1190 at several courts on the European continent (e.g. France and Champagne, but not Anglo-Norman England).  He knew Latin, but the works we are reading were written in French rhyming verse (specifically, octosyllabic rhyming couplets, the verse form typical of 12th-century French vernacular literature). While Chrétien lived and worked in France rather than in Anglo-Norman England, his works, like Marie de France's, were enjoyed by French-speaking court audiences on both sides of the English channel. We are reading the Prologues to Chrétien's Arthurian romances Erec and Enide and Cligés.
  • A "Prologue" refers to an opening statement made by an author at the beginning of his or her narrative, before the beginning of the story itself.  Medieval authors typically used Prologues (and Epilogues, statements found at the end of a narrative, after the conclusion of the story itself) to talk about what they have written, to explain what they are trying to do, and to stake a claim to literary legitimacy.  Prologues and Epilogues may also be used by authors to dedicate a work to a potential "patron,"  a rich and powerful person whom they hope will reward them for the honor, either financiallly or by offering them protection or prestige.
  • Dante (lived 1265-1321) wrote the treatise De Vulgari Eloquentia("Of Literature in the Vernacular") in Latin between 1304-1306.
 Required Background Readings: Required Primary Readings: Also recommended: 
  • peruse the selections from Virgil's Aeneid and The Romance of Eneas which are on e-reserve in the library resources section of Blackboard. 
NOTE: the recommended selections from Virgil's Aeneid and The Romance of Eneas are normally required ENGL 203 readings but have been dropped in winter, 2012, due to time constraints imposed by Monday holidays.  You are still responsible for the selections from these readings which are covered in lecture and class discussion. 
Week 4 (January 24-26) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Literary Love in Marie de France and Chrétien de Troyes

Be sure to print out online readings and study guides and bring them with you to class!

Text Info:
  • Recall that Marie de France was active ca. 1160s-1190s at the court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in Anglo-Norman England. She knew Latin, but the works we are reading were written in French in octo-syllabic rhyming couplets, the verse form typical of 12th-century French vernacular literature. A lai is a short narrative genre written in octo-syllabic rhyming couplets (the form of all 12th-century French literary texts).  These vernacular poems typically focus on the male/female love relationships of courtly (noble) protagonists and usually contain supernatural or fairy-tale elements. 
  • Recall that Chrétien de Troyes was active ca. 1170-1190 at several courts on the European continent (e.g. France and Champagne, but not Anglo-Norman England). The Knight of the Cart is a romance, a longer narrative genre than a lai.  It is written in French in octo-syllabic rhyming couplets, the verse form typical of 12th-century French vernacular literature.  While Chrétien lived and worked in France rather than in Anglo-Norman England, his works, like Marie de France's, were enjoyed by French-speaking court audiences on both sides of the English channel. 
 Required Background Readings: Required Primary Readings:
  • Marie de France, "Lanval" and "Chevrefoil" (NA 142-57); Marie de France, "Guigemar" (on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard; PRINT OUT AND BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS)
  • Chrétien de Troyes, The Knight of the Cart (Lancelot) (in Arthurian Romances, pp. 207-294).
Day 2: The Knight of the Cart, cont.;  preparation for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Reminder:  begin review for MIDTERM EXAM, day one of week 6!

 Required Background Readings:
  • Review online background reading in the The Knight of the Cart study guide (including discussion of the manuscript tradition; take a few minutes to visit the website for the Princeton Charrette project).  Review Translatio (references to assigned authors/readings).
  • New background readings:  The Alliterative Revival (online reading which you should PRINT OUT AND ADD TO COURSE BINDER); NA 10-13 ("The Fourteenth Century"); NA 160-62 (headnote for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight).
OUT OF CLASS WRITING:  PR 2 (a personal response to The Knight of the Cart or to one lai by Marie de France) is due to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Board no later than 10 PM on Friday, January 27. 
  • Prior to submitting PR 2, review the guidelines for Discussion Board Personal Responses and Classmate Responses.  You must FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES (click on the links) to receive credit for Discussion Board assignments.
  • To receive credit for PR 2, you must post TWO short Classmate Responses (one to each of TWO Personal Responses posted by other members of your Discussion Board group) no later than 10 PM on Monday, January 30.
Week 5 (January 31 - February 2) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Arthurian Romance in English Verse: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Text Info: 
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian romance written in Middle English by the poet commonly referred to as  the Pearl Poet (active ca. 1375-1400).  It is written in a complex hybrid form which combines long stanzas of Middle English Alliterative verse with shorter passages in rhyme consisting of a two-syllable line called the bob which rhymes in an ABABA pattern with the following quartrain, called the wheel.
Reminder:  continue review for MIDTERM EXAM, day one of week 6!		 Required Background Readings: Required Primary Readings:
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, NA 162-213
  • Contextual readings:  Chaucer's lyric poems "Gentilesse" (online reading) and "Truth" (trouthe), NA 317.  Don't neglect the footnotes; you may also wish to consult the modern English translations of these two poems (in a one-page .PDF file on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard). 
Day 2: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, conclusion; Arthurian Romance III: Malory's Morte Darthur

Text Info: 
  • Sir Thomas Malory (ca. 1405-1471) wrote the Morte Darthur, a lengthy romance in English prose, in 1469-70.  Malory's primary sources were the early thirteenth-centuryFrench prose romances commonly referred to as the "Vulgate Cycle" or the "Lancelot-Grail Cycle."  These massive prose romances were the creation of Cistercian monks who reworked what they apparently considered to be "vain and idle" stories set at the Arthurian court in order to connect Arthurian tradition to salvation history, e.g. by sending Arthur's knight on the quest of the Holy Grail.  Malory's text has come down to us in two forms:  an early printed book published in 1485 by William Caxton, (of which the Preface is an assigned e-reserve reading) and the so-called Winchester Manuscript, which was discovered in 1934.
Reminder:  continue review for MIDTERM EXAM, day one of week 6!
WARNING:  W10 ONLINE CALENDAR IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS; weeks 6-10 reading assignments may change as I see how the modified calendar works. 
Week 6 (February 7-9) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: MIDTERM EXAM
 MIDTERM EXAM
Day 2: Chaucer 1: The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales

Text Info: 
  • Required background readings: review NA 10-13 ("The Fourteenth Century"), NA 213-18 (Chaucer and Canterbury Tales headnotes), NA 331-3 (headnote to William Langland).  New background readings:  NA 20-21 (on Chaucerian verse); NA 312-13 (on the Close of the Canterbury Tales).  Read the full online General Prologue study guide (there's a lot more there than the previously assigned sections on the medieval concept of the "Three Estates" and on medieval allegory!); if you have not already done so, PRINT IT OUT and place it in your course binder.  Also consult Map of the Pilgrimage Route/Chart of the Medieval Humors (.PDF file, 2 pp., on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard; PRINT FILE OUT and bring to class).
  • Required Primary Readings: 
    • REVIEW "The Field of Folk" episode (only) from William Langland's Piers Plowman (follow link to appropriate portion of General Prologue study guide; text found NA 333-36);
    • NEW: first set of selections from Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose (follow link to appropriate portion of General Prologue study guide; readings are on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard; PRINT THEM OUT, place in your course binder, and BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS! )
    • NEW: The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. FIRST, read the FULL TEXT in your modern English translation (CT 3-26); THEN, read through the following Middle English passages as found in your Norton Anthology, pp. 218-38: the opening (lines 1-42) and the portraits of the Knight, Squire, Prioress, Monk, Friar, Clerk, Parson, Plowman and Pardoner, lines 43-100, 118-271, 287-310, 479-543, 671-716.
    • NEW: After reading the editor's note NA 312-13 on the Close of the Canterbury Tales, read through the Parson's Introduction, NA 313-15, and Chaucer's "Retraction", NA 315; modern translations of these texts are found at the end of your CT volume (pp. 485-9?).
  • NOTE:  for help with Chaucer's Middle English, you may wish to consult the linked website and/or NA 15-19. 
Looking Ahead:  start work on the Getty Virtual Fieldtrip Assignment, which is to be SUBMITTED IN HARD COPY at the class meeting devoted to medieval lyrics (day 1 of week 8).  Each member of your Discussion Board Group will be assigned one of the listed topics, search the database for images of that topic, submit a report of his/her findings to the Discussion Board, and bring a hard copy printout of ONE image with him/her to class.

 
Week 7    (February 14-16) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: The General Prologue, conclusion; 

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales II: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

 AS NEEDED: Continued discussion of the General Prologue and the close of the Canterbury Tales, as well as of the contextual readings (selections from the Romance of the Rose and from Piers Plowman) assigned for the last class.

New Reading: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales II: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.  Print out the Wife of Bath study guide and use it to help you understand the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale and the various background and contextual readings listed below.  (Note that most links below take you to specific sections of the Wife of Bath study guide; you do not need to print them separately.)

Required Background  Readings:

  • Review NA 10-13 ("The Fourteenth Century"); NA 20-21 (on Chaucerian verse); NA 213-17 (Chaucer and Canterbury Tales headnotes, assigned last week) 
  • Review the information on the "feminine" estates in the section of the GP study guide dealing with the "Three Estates" (link leads to specific sections of the General Prologue study guide, which you should already have PRINTED OUT and placed in your course binder). 
  • Review Translatio for implications of Wife of Bath's choice of an Arthurian tale. 
  • NEW: headnote to the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, NA 256-7. 
  • For help with Chaucer's Middle English in assigned NA passages, you may consult the linked websites and/or NA 15-19 (on Middle English) and 20-1 (on Middle English prosody); you may also consult Chaucer Reading and Pronunciation Tips (.PDF file, 2 pp.,  on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard).
Required Literary Context Primary Readings: 
  • Read the portion of the Wife of Bath study guide which reviews the the Chaucerian notions of trouthe and gentillesse (touched on as part of our discussion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the mini-lecture on Chaucer's biography) and which introduces the notion of maistrye.   Then, review Chaucer's poems "Truth" (NA 317) and "Gentilesse" (click link for online text; for translations of both poems, see Portable Chaucer, pp. 602-4; these translations are also on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard).
  • NEW: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose, Selections 2 (link leads to appropriate portion of the Wife of Bath study guide; the selections are on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard; be sure to PRINT THEM OUT and BRING THEM WITH YOU TO CLASS).
NEW Required Primary Reading:
  • Chaucer, The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale: read the FULL TEXT in your modern English translation (Penguin Classics The Canterbury Tales, pp. 258-92; or The Portable Chaucer, pp. 207-40).
  • You must ALSO read through the following Middle English passages as found in the Norton Anthology (pp. 256-84): WBP lines 1-29, 121-140, 486-96, 672-729, 794-834; also WBT lines 863-918, 989-1182, 1225-1270. 
ALSO RECOMMENDED:  Selections from The Book of Margery Kempe (NA 13-14, 383-97)  -- an interesting real-life counterpart to Chaucer's Alison of Bath (and to Christine de Pizan!)
 
Day 2: The Wife of Bath's Legacy:  Women Voiced (Christine de Pizan)

Note: in addition to the required readings listed at right, you are responsible for the passages from recommended readings by Christine de Pizan which are covered in the lecture, so take careful notes!

 AS NEEDED: Continued discussion of the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale (as well as any contextual readings assigned last week but not yet fully discussed e.g. the second set of selections from the Romance of the Rose).

NEW REQUIRED READINGS:  Print out the Christine de Pizan  study guide and use it to help you understand the REQUIRED selections from Christine de Pizan's works (and any of the recommended selections you choose to dip into), as well as the background and contextual readings listed below (a third set of selections from the Romance of the Rose).   Note that links below take you to specific sections of the Christine de Pizan study guide (you do not need to print them separately). 

REQUIRED Contexts: 

  • Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose, Selections 3 (readings on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard which you should PRINT OUT AND BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS).
REQUIRED Background: 
  • Introduction, The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan (xi-xvi; this introduction is included in the first required e-reserve reading in the Library Resources section of Blackboard)). 
REQUIRED Primary Reading:  Recommended (on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard):
  • Symbolic autobiography: On becoming a woman writer and on defending women from clerical misogyny ( i.e. books written about BAD women): The Book of the City of Ladies (Christine reader pp. 116-37; 147-9). 
  • Autobiographical writings: excerpts from The Book of Fortune's Transformation (Christine Reader pp. 88-95,  99-107) and from Christine's Vision (Christine Reader pp. 173-201). 
OUT OF CLASS WRITING:  PR 3 (a personal response to Chaucer's General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales or the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale) is due to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Board no later than 10 PM on Friday, February 17. 
  • Prior to submitting PR 3, review the guidelines for Discussion Board Personal Responses and Classmate Responses.  You must FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES (click on the links) to receive credit for Discussion Board assignments.
  • To receive credit for PR 3, you must post TWO short Classmate Responses (one to each of TWO Personal Responses posted by other members of your Discussion Board group) no later than 10 PM on Monday, February 20.
ALSO:  Continue to work on Getty Virtual Fieldtrip assignment, due in HARD COPY in class on Tuesday, 2/21.  Each member of your Discussion Board Group will be assigned one of the listed topics, search the database for images of that topic, submit a report of his/her findings to the Discussion Board, and bring a hard copy printout of ONE image with him/her to class.

 
 
Week 8 (February 21-23) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Devotional Literature I:  Medieval Lyrics

REMEMBER: the Getty Virtual Fieldtrip Assignment MUST BE SUBMITTED IN HARD COPY FOR CREDIT AT THIS CLASS MEETING.   Each member of your Discussion Board Group will be assigned one of the listed topics, search the database for images of that topic, submit a report of his/her findings to the Discussion Board, and bring a hard copy printout of ONE image with him/her to class.		 Required Background Readings:  Required Primary Readings: 
  • the six poems found NA 368-70;
  • Marian lyrics on the page of online readings (click on link to access; be sure to PRINT THEM OUT and bring them with you to class!);
  • Opening of the biblical (Old Testament) Song of Songs (link is to appropriate section of study guide; the text is on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard -- as usual, be sure to PRINT IT OUT and bring it with you to class); 
  • several of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs (link is to appropriate section of study guide; the text is on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard -- be sure to PRINT IT OUT and bring it with you to class). 
Day 2: Devotional Literature II: Mystery Plays As needed: continued discussion of texts assigned for last clss meeting (medieval lyrics; Bernard of Clairvaux)

Required Background Readings: 

  • Review NA 13-14 (on the 15th Century);
  • NEW: NA 398 (headnote to the York Play of the Crucifixion -- but NOT the text)
  • NEW:  NA 406-8 (on mystery plays; headnote to The Second Shepherd's Play). 
Primary Reading:

 
 
Week 9 (Feburary 28 - March 1) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1:  Dante as Vernacular Poet:
the Vita Nuova		 1) Dante's Vita Nuova

Required Background Readings: 

  • The Portable Dante, Introduction (ix-xxxvi);
  • online Dante study guide Backgrounds to Dante section as well as section on the Vita Nuova (PRINT OUT the Dante Study Guide and place it in your course binder!)
Primary Reading:
    Selections from the Vita Nuova (The Portable Dante,  pp. 589-649; use Vita Nuova section of the DANTE STUDY GUIDE to zero in on important aspects of the primary text; you can skim the rest!) 
2) Dante's Commedia:

Required Background Readings:

  • read the information on the Epic genre and on "epic conventions" in your copy of Abrams's Glossary of Literary Terms (a required book for the Core sequence that was available for purchase with the other course materials for this class);
  • Print out and bring to class Canto 1 of Dante's Inferno in the original Italian (on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard); refer to it to understand what is meant by "terza rima" (see The Portable Dante, Introduction, xxxi);
  • read online Dante study guide section on the Commedia as a whole (link leads to appropriate section of study guide, which should already have been PRINTED OUT and placed in your course binder);
  • read online Dante study guide section on the Inferno (link leads to appropriate section of study guide, which should already have been PRINTED OUT and placed in your course binder).
Primary Reading:
  • Inferno, cantos 1-20 (The Portable Dante,  pp. 3-111; use the day 1 of Inferno section of your DANTE STUDY GUIDE to zero in on important aspects of the primary text!) 
Day 2: Dante's Divine Comedy I: Inferno As needed: continued discussion of readings assigned for last class.

New Reading: full text of Inferno, cantos 1-34 (The Portable Dante, pp. 3-191; use the day 2 of Inferno section of your DANTE STUDY GUIDE to zero in on important aspects of cantos 21-34 in the primary text!).
OUT OF CLASS WRITING:  PR 4 (a personal response to one or more Medieval Lyrics poems, The Second Shepherd's Play, or Dante's Vita Nuova) is due to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Board no later than 10 PM on Friday, March 2. 
  • Prior to submitting PR 4, review the guidelines for Discussion Board Personal Responses and Classmate Responses.  You must FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES (click on the links) to receive credit for Discussion Board assignments.
  • To receive credit for PR 4, you must post TWO short Classmate Responses (one to each of TWO Personal Responses posted by other members of your Discussion Board group) no later than 10 PM on Monday, March 5.
Week 10 (March 6-8) Readings and Other Assignments
Day 1: Dante's Divine Comedy II: Purgatorio As needed: continued discussion of the Inferno.

New Reading: From Purgatorio:  cantos 1-2, 6, 8, 17, 21-22, 27-33 (The Portable Dante, pp. 195-206, 311-316, 346-87; use the Purgatorio section of your DANTE STUDY GUIDE to zero in on important aspects of the primary text!)
Day 2: Dante's Divine Comedy III: Paradiso As needed: continued discussion of the Purgatorio.

New Reading: Paradiso: cantos 1-3, 10, 15-17, 22-23, 25-28, 30-33 (The Portable Dante, pp. 391-408, 446-52, 476-96, 519-31, 536-57; 563-85; use the Paradiso section of your DANTE STUDY GUIDE to zero in on important aspects of the primary text!)

RECOMMENDED: 

OUT OF CLASS WRITING:
  • PR 5 (a personal response to one or more significant cantos in Dante's Divine Comedy) is due to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Board no later than 10 PM on Friday, March 9.   Prior to submitting PR 5, review the guidelines for Discussion Board Personal Responses and Classmate Responses.  You must FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES (click on the links) to receive credit for Discussion Board assignments. To receive credit for PR 5, you must post TWO short Classmate Responses (one to each of TWO Personal Responses posted by other members of your Discussion Board group) no later than 10 PM on Monday, March 12.
  • FINAL PAPER DUE in HARD COPY at today's class meeting.  Alternatively, you may submit your essay by EMAIL no later than midnight on Sunday, 3/11.  If you choose to submit your paper as an email attachment, you MUST:
    • Send me an email BEFORE our final class meeting to let me know you will submit your final paper via email.  Include your PHONE NUMBER in this email so I can contact you if I do not receive your paper on time (or if I have a problem opening the file).
    • include your name, the class number and the date at the top of the first page (above the paper title), as for a paper submitted in hard copy; 
    • IMPORTANT: save your essay under the file name "[yourlastname]203paper.doc"
    • EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:  be sure to save your essay as a .doc file (NOT a .docx file, which I cannot open on my antiquated home computer).  Use the pull-down "save as" menu in Word to save your essay as a .doc file.

      • ALSO IMPORTANT: The subject line of the email used to submit the paper should read "[Your Last Name] 203 paper."  Be sure to include your TELEPHONE NUMBER in the email used to submit the paper so I can contact you if I I have a problem opening the file.

Final Exam Thursday, March 15, from 4:10-7:00 PM.  You MUST take Final Exam at scheduled time!!  Please keep the exam date in mind as you plan your spring break travel.

Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1996-2012