Spring, 2018		Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
Class meetings: T/Th 2:10-4:00 PM, Rm. 2-13		e-mail: dschwart@calpoly.edu
Office: 47-35G, tel. 756-2636		Main English Office:  756-2597

NOTE:  DO NOT PRINT OUT THIS CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS!! Consult it online, as assignments are subject to change.
Note 1: some required readings are accessed electronically.   Electronically accessed readings may be in one of the following forms:

• .PDF files placed on Electronic Reserve in PolyLearn.
• "Online readings" are simple .html files residing on my website.  To access online readings, simply click on the link.

Note 2:  Occasionally, a link on the course calendar leads to an online study guide for an individual text.  Be sure to PRINT OUT study guides and read them BEFORE you begin the primary reading assignment.  Keep them in your course binder (which you should always bring with you to class).

Week 1    (April 3-5)
 

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	Introduction and background; course requirements and expectations.  In-Class:  Online Syllabus (class homepage) Lecture Topic: What is this "Tristan" story, anyway? Please note that you are responsible for background material covered in lectures, required background readings, or listed as "text info" or "film info" on this course calendar.
Day 2	TOPIC: The Baseline Story:  Joseph Bédier's Modern Retelling, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: Read completely through the class homepage (no need to follow links, but pay particular attention to the information on the GWR, on Reading Quizzes, and on my attendance policy). YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS OUTLINED ON THIS SITE. Translatio (.PDF file, 2 pp. of small font, on e-reserve in PolyLearn, which you should PRINT OUT and bring with you to class.)  The link takes you to the web page version of this text used in lectures; but I do NOT recommend printing out the online version; as the embedded images may cover portions of the text and will make a print-out many pages long.  --Note 1: because I use the "translatio" reading in a number of my classes, it includes information that is not directly relevant to our class.  Read the whole text, but know that you will be responsible only for information that is also covered in lectures. --Note 2: if you choose to access the online version, don't follow links, which are out of date.  Just enjoy the images and read the text. REQUIRED PRIMARY READING:  Joseph Bédier, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult (1900).  You must read the WHOLE TEXT by this class meeting!  (It looks long, but is in fact a very fast read!)  NOTE:  if you do NOT enjoy this reading, you should probably drop this class, as we will be dealing exclusively with variations on this story for the entire quarter.  There should be inexpensive copies of this required textbook available for sale at El Corral; it is also available online as a free ebook from Google Books.   TEXT INFO:  Joseph Bédier based this modern French retelling of the Tristan stories (1900) on extensive comparison of the extant medieval source material; he sought in this way to recreate the lost "original" text (but in fact created a distinctly 20th-century narrative).  Translated into modern English by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld. (Please note that you are responsible for all information listed as "TEXT INFO" or "FILM INFO" on the course calendar for your reading quizzes and exams!)

Week 2    (April 10-12)
 

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	TOPIC: An episodic romance: Béroul, The Romance of Tristan.  REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: The Medieval Tristan Tradition (online reading; click on link to access, PRINT OUT, and include in the course binder which you should BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS).  This webpage presents essential background information on the original Tristan texts dating from the Middle Ages. "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature" (online reading; click on link to access, PRINT OUT, and include in your course binder). As necessary, review Translatio (.PDF file, 2 pp. of small font, on e-reserve in PolyLearn; this reading should already be in your course binder)  REQUIRED PRIMARY READING:  An episodic romance: Béroul, The Romance of Tristan.   Reading assignment for today is ONLY Béroul's text, found pp. 39-148 of the Béroul textbook.  --Note 1: Be aware that the passages printed in italics are not part of Béroul's poem -- they are additions taken from Bédier's reconstruction of the "whole" story and inserted by the translator to smooth out the choppiness of the incomplete narrative preserved in the single extant manuscript of Béroul's romance. You should skim these italicized passages.  --Note 2:  the episode of "Tristan's Madness" printed pp. 151-164 of the Béroul textbook is likewise not part of Béroul's text; it is an entirely separate episodic poem (assigned for our next class meeting) which the translator chose to incorporate into the Penguin Classics translation of Béroul because of its clear connection to Béroul's narrative.  ALSO RECOMMENDED (but not required):  the medieval Prologues and Epilogues referenced in the online reading, "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature" Marie de France, prologue and epilogue to the Fables and prologue to the Lais (.PDF file, 8 pp., on e-reserve in PolyLearn; the links at left take you to relevant portions of the required online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"). Prologues to Chrétien de Troyes's Erec and Enide and Cligés (in your Arthurian Romances textbook, the first two paragraphs of each of these romances, found pp. 37 and 123; the links take you to relevant portions of the required online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"). TEXT INFO:   Béroul wrote his romance, in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, some time in the second half of the twelfth century; it appears to have influenced the work of Chrétien de Troyes (active ca. 1170-1190), so we assume it to predate those of Chrétien's works which show its influence.  Preserved in only one manuscript, in a single fragment of 4,485 lines; this fragment is itself divided into various episodes.  Part of the so-called "common tradition."
Day 2	As needed: complete discussion of Béroul. NEW TOPIC:  Competing Versions and Medieval Fragments (Marie de France, "Chevrefoil"; fragments of Thomas's Romance of Tristan; the independent episode of Tristan's Madness)  REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING:M Appendix 1, "A Note on Thomas's Tristan," pp. 355-63 in Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan (a required textbook for this class) As necessary, review "The Medieval Tristan Tradition" and "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature" REQUIRED PRIMARY READING:  Marie de France, "Chevrefoil" (.PDF file, 3 pp.; on e-reserve in PolyLearn; be sure to PRINT IT OUT, include it in your course binder, and BRING IT WITH YOU TO CLASS.) Fragments of Thomas's Romance of Tristan: printed in Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 301-53 and Appendix 2, p. 364 ("The Scene in the Orchard") Tristan's Madness (an independent episodic poem by an unknown author): printed in Béroul, The Romance of Tristan, pp. 151-64 TEXT INFO: Marie de France was active ca. 1160s-1190s at the Anglo-Norman court; "Chevrefoil" is one of her collection of twelve lais, or short narrative poems in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets.  Thomas wrote his romance, also in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, ca. 1170-75 for the Anglo-Norman court; eight fragments totalling more than 3000 lines have been preserved in five different manuscripts. Part of the so-called "courtly tradition." There are two versions of the episode of "Tristan's Madness" (or "Folie Tristan"), both of which are short French narrative poems, probably dating from the second half of the twelfth century, in octosyllabic rhyming couplets. One is preserved in a single manuscript in Berne (Switzerland) and the other is in Oxford (England).  The text we are reading is the 572-line Berne fragment (often referred to as the "Folie Tristan de Berne"); this text is associated with the so-called "common tradition" of which Béroul's poem is also a part (presumably, the reason the translator of Béroul's text chose to fold this originally independent text into his translation of Béroul).

Week 3 (April 17-19)
 

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	TOPIC: An anti-Tristan: Chrétien de Troyes's Cligés REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING:  Cligés Study Guide (online reading; be sure to PRINT IT OUT, place it in your course binder, and bring it with you to class). NOTE: this study guide should be read BEFORE you tackle the primary text itself; use it to guide your reading of  Chrétien's romance. Review "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature" (previously assigned online reading which should be in your course binder).  This reading should help you better understand the literary techniques employed by Chrétien (e.g. his borrowing from prior literary works, including numerous Tristan elements).  REQUIRED PRIMARY READING: Chrétien de Troyes, Cligés (in Arthurian Romances, required textbook, pp. 123-203).  TEXT INFO:  Chrétien de Troyes was active ca. 1170-1190; Cligés, his second extant romance, is in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets.  Optional:  follow link for information on Chrétien de Troyes's The Knight of the Cart, the first Lancelot and Guenevere romance, which was also modelled on the Tristan romances, from which it borrows freely (includes e.g. variations on the flour on the floor episode, the ambiguous oath, a passion inspired by a woman's golden hair, and an adulterous passion linking a King's wife with his best knight).
Day 2	FIRST HOUR OR AS NEEDED:  Complete discussion of Cligés NEW TOPIC: Tristan Film 1 -- Tom Donovan's Lovespell (filmed 1979; released 1981) REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: Meradith McMunn, "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon" (from Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty [New York: Garland, 1991], pp. 169-180; .PDF file, 6 pp., on e-reserve in PolyLearn; be sure to PRINT OUT, include in your course binder, and BRING WITH YOU TO CLASS.) IMDB page on Tom Donovan's Lovespell (consult online and/or place print-out in course binder). You must have screened the Donovan film and FILLED OUT THE REQUIRED VIDEO WORKSHEET (available on Polylearn) and POSTED IT to your PolyLearn Discussion Group BEFORE this class meeting.  There will not be an in-class screening; instead, there will be an in-class discussion of the film (during which some clips may be shown).  Bring a hard copy of your Video Worksheet with you to the class meeting so that you can add to your notes during the video discussion. REQUIRED FILM:  Tom Donovan's Lovespell (filmed 1979; released 1981).   NOTE: This film (91 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by or during  today's class.  Group Screenings in the Kennedy Library can be arranged; dates and times TBA.  There are two DVD copies of the film (91 min.) on reserve for ENGL 380 / ENGL 459 in Kennedy Library under the call number 398.2 T738L6 2004 (DVD), so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing  -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!!  You may also be able to rent this film from NetFlix.  To my knowledge, it is not available at local libraries or video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it! FILM INFO:  Film dates from 1979 but was not released until 1981.  Director: Tom Donovan; produced and written by Claire Labine (worth noting:  the prior professional background of both Donovan and Labine was primarily in television soap operas).  Starring Richard Burton (King Mark), Kate Mulgrew (Isolt), Nicholas Clay (Tristan), and Geraldine Fitzgerald (Bronwen).  Alternate titles: Summer of the Falcon (UK title); Tristan and Iseult; Tristan and Isolde.

• Your first ungraded Discussion Board Mini-Essay, on a Week 2-3 reading (Béroul, Thomas, Marie de France's "Chevrefoil," or "Tristan's Madness" ), is due by midnight on Friday of week 3.  ME 1 should be submitted as a posting to your group discussion board AND attached to that posting as a .docx file.  The SUBJECT LINE of your posting should read "ME 1: [ME title]" - with an ME title that includes an author name or title to make clear which work you have written on.  For example, "ME 1: The Honeysuckle Metaphor in Marie's Chevrefoil"
  
• Create your mini-essay using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions), and using standard practices for a short essay: your name, the date, and the class number should appear at the top left; your essay title should be centered immediately below that information; include a bibliographic citation to document your source at the end of the Mini-Essay.  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME1".  You will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the  .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your first GRADED ME.
• To receive credit for your ME 1 postings, you must submit TWO ungraded CLASSMATE RESPONSES no later than midnight on Sunday between weeks 3 and 4.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the PARTICIPATION component of your course grade.
  

• Your ungraded ME 2 (on Chrétien de Troyes's Cligés or Tom Donovan's Lovespell) is due to your discussion group by MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY of week 4.  Your mini-essay should be submitted as a posting to your group discussion board AND attached to that posting as a .docx file (so instructor can evaluate revisions made to an ME submitted for grading).  The SUBJECT LINE of your posting should read "ME 2: [ME title]" - with an ME title that includes an author/director name or title to make clear which work you have written on.  For example, "ME 1: The Non-Marriage in Cligés" or "ME 2: Falcon Imagery in Tom Donovan's Lovespell"
• Create your mini-essays using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions).  Use the standard practices for a short essay: your name, the date, and the class number should appear at the top left; your essay title should be centered immediately below that information; include a bibliographic citation at the end of the essay.  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME2.docx"; you will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the  .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your first GRADED ME.
  
• To receive credit for your ME 2 posting, you must submit TWO ungraded CLASSMATE RESPONSES no later than midnight on Sunday between weekw 4 and 5.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the PARTICIPATION component of your course grade.

• NOTE 1: There will be several group screenings of Extended Scenes from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan), the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR NEXT CLASS MEETING. There are two DVD copies of the film (91 min.) on reserve for ENGL 380 in Kennedy Library under the call number 782.1 T738U6 2003 (DVD), so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!!  You may be able to rent this film from NetFlix.
• NOTE 2: Click on link to read the Synopsis of the opera BEFORE viewing the video. Don't forget to turn on the English subtitles -- or you'll have a very odd viewing experience!!

• Your ungraded ME 3 (on Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan or on Wagner's adaptation of Gottfried) is due to your discussion group by MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY of week 5.  
• Create your mini-essays using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions).  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME3.docx"; you will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the  .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your first GRADED ME.
  
• To receive credit for your ME 3 posting, you must submit TWO ungraded CLASSMATE RESPONSES no later than midnight on Sunday between weeks 5 and 6.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the PARTICIPATION component of your course grade.

Week 7    (May 15-17)
 

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	As needed, continue discussion of Arnold.  NEW TOPIC: The Victorian Era 2 -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Last Tournament"  REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: Tennyson Author Page from the Camelot Project website. Review "Tristan and Isolt after the Middle Ages" from the Camelot Project website (assigned for last class meeting; follow link to access the required section of this online reading, which is only a small portion of the page itself; be aware that you do NOT need to print out the entire webpage, just the three final paragraphs of the essay, which begin at this link.) Have a look at the paintings on the class homepage and spend some time browsing the 19th-century images of Tristan and Isolt and of King Mark on the Camelot Project website. Also recommended (but NOT required):  George P. Landow's commentary situating "The Last Tournament" with regards to the theme "Having Faith and Keeping Faith" in Tennyson's Idylls of the King  (from the Victorian Web). For more biographical information on Tennyson, see the Tennyson Biography from the Victorian Web. TEXT INFO 2: British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson lived from 1809-1892.  His "The Last Tournament" (1871) was published as part of The Idylls of the King (1859-1885), a collection of poems in blank verse (=unrhymed iambic pentameter) recounting the rise and fall of King Arthur.
Day 2	As needed, continue discussion of Tennyson.  NEW TOPIC: The Victorians and Pre-Raphaelitism -- Algernon Charles Swinburne REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: Algernon Charles Swinburne Biography from the Victorian Web. Review "Tristan and Isolt after the Middle Ages" from the Camelot Project website Have a look at the paintings on the class homepage and spend some time browsing the 19th-century images of Tristan and Isolt and of King Mark on the Camelot Project website. REQUIRED PRIMARY READINGS:  Algernon Charles Swinburne, "Queen Yseult" (1857-1858) (.PDF file, 27 pp., on e-reserve in PolyLearn) Algernon Charles Swinburne, "The Wife's Vigil," part VII of his long poem Tristram of Lyonesse (1882) (.PDF file, 4 pp., on e-reserve in PolyLearn) Be sure to PRINT OUT readings, place them in your course binder, and BRING THEM WITH YOU TO CLASS. Also highly recommended:  "Prelude," the opening section of Swinburne's Tristram of Lyonesse (and as much of the rest of the poem as you care to peruse); you can access this text in the online reading on the Camelot Project website. TEXT INFO:  British poet Algernon Charles Swinburne lived from 1837-1909.  His early poem "Queen Yseult" (written 1857-1858) is divided into six "cantos" (or sections) written in tercets (i.e. three-line stanzas); all three lines of each tercet rhyme with each other, so that the rhyme scheme is "AAA BBB CCC" etc.  The long narrative poem Tristram of Lyonesse dates from 1882; it consists of a "Prelude" (highly recommended) and nine sections (only one of which is required reading, section VII, "The Wife's Vigil"); this work is written entirely in rhyming couplets (every two lines rhyme with each other, so that the rhyme scheme is "AA BB CC" etc.)

• Your ungraded ME 4 (on Arnold or Tennyson) is due to your discussion group by MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY of week 7.  
• Create your mini-essays using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions).  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME4.docx"; you will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your second GRADED ME.
  
• To receive credit for your ME 4 posting, you must submit TWO ungraded CRs no later than midnight on Sunday between weeks 7 and 8.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the PARTICIPATION component of your course grade.

• Your ungraded ME 5 (on Swinburne's Queen Yseult OR on Swinburne's "The Wife's Vigil" OR on Adams's "The Pleasaunce of Maid Marian" OR an analysis connecting one of these texts to an earlier work, e.g. show how Adams's treatment of the death of Tristram is indebted to Tennyson,) is due to your discussion group by MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY  of week 8.  
• Create your mini-essays using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions).  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME5.docx"; you will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the  .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your second GRADED ME.
  
• To receive credit for your ME 5 posting, you must submit TWO ungraded CRs no later than midnight on Sunday between weeks 8 and 9.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the PARTICIPATION component of your course grade.

• Your ungraded ME 6 (on Millhauser's The King in the Tree OR an analysis comparing an element found in Millhauser's novella with the way that element was treated in another work).  This ungraded ME is due to your discussion group by midnight on Friday of week 9.
  
• Create your mini-essays using your normal word processor (so that you can use the spell check and grammar check functions).  Save the document under the filename "[yourlastname]ME6.docx"; you will PASTE this document into a Discussion Board posting so your classmates can respond to it in a Discussion Board thread; AND, you must attach the  .docx file to your discussion board posting so I can easily print it out to compare with the edited revision that you may choose to submit as your second GRADED ME.
  
• To receive credit for your ME 6 posting, you must submit TWO ungraded CRs no later than midnight on Sunday between weeks 9 and 10.  Remember that these ungraded postings are required, and count towards the Participation, Intellectual Engagement, and Collaboration component of your course grade.
• LOOKING AHEAD: Week 10 is Tristan Film Festival week!  By our next class meeting, day 1 of week 10, you must have screened TWO films, Jean Delannoy's The Eternal Return (L'Éternel retour) (1943, 107 minutes; French-language film also released as Love Eternal) and Veith von Fürstenberg's hard-to-find Fire and Sword (1982, 84 minutes; also called Feuer und Schwert, although it is in English).  English-Language Screenplays of both films are available in the Recommended E-Reserve Readings section of PolyLearn.  VHS copies of both films are on reserve at the Kennedy Library Circulation Desk, so you can check them out on your own time for independent in-library viewing  -- BUT PLEASE BE SURE THE VIDEO IS RETURNED TO THE CIRCULATION DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE A SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENING! In the past, a high-quality transfer of The Eternal Return was available on Hulu Plus (follow link to sign up for a free trial membership), but I don't know whether it is currently available there.  I have reserved computer labs in the Kennedy Library for screenings of The Eternal Return and Fire and Sword at the following dates and times:
TBA
• By our last class meeting, day 2 of week 10, you will need to have screened  Keith Reynolds's Tristan and Isolde (2006, 125 min.).  A DVD copy is on reserve for ENGL 380.  Because it is widely available (on NetFlix, Hulu, Amazon.com video-on-demand, and possibly in local libraries and/or video stores, as well as on reserve in the Kennedy Library), unless there is a specific request, no group screenings will be held for this film; see it on your own or with a friend.

• If you have not turned in your 3-page paper (a revised and expanded version of one of your 2-page MEs), it is due in hard copy at our last class meeting.
• You must also email me an electronic copy of your final paper, saved as a document file (not a .PDF!) under the file name "[yourlastname]380paper.docx" (or .doc);
  
-- IMPORTANT: The subject line of the email used to submit the paper should read "ENGL 380 Final Paper"
-- Be sure to include your TELEPHONE NUMBER in the body of the email so I can contact you if I have a problem opening the file.
• There will be a three-hour, closed-book Final Exam on Th, 6/12/18, from 4:10  - 7:00 PM. You must take the exam at the scheduled time.  KEEP THIS DATE IN MIND WHEN MAKING END-OF-QUARTER TRAVEL PLANS!

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