- Winter 2018
Syllabus Description:
COURSE SYLLABUS - Winter Quarter 2018
English 320A: English Literature: the Middle Ages
Paul G. Remley, Department of English
320 Loew Hall, Tues.-Thurs. 6:30-8:20 PM
Office Hours: Thurs.. 4:30-6:30 PM and by appointment
e-mail: remley@uw.edu
Course Texts:
Hamer, A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse (rev. ed., 2015)
Keynes and Lapidge, Alfred the Great (Penguin)
Beidler, Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (rev. ed., 2006)
Heale, ed., The Devonshire Manuscript (handouts)
Week 1:
Thurs. Jan. 4:
Primary Readings: Deor, Waldere, Caedmon’s Hymn (in-class), Hamer, Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse.
Discussion: Oral and literary traditions; patronage; genre; repertoire.
Week 2:
Tues. Jan. 9:
Primary Readings: Deor, Waldere, Caedmon’s Hymn (in-class), Hamer, Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse.
Thurs. Jan. 11:
Primary Readings: Deor, Caedmon’s Hymn (continued); Waldere; Wanderer; Seafarer (all Hamer)
Supplementary Readings: Bede’s story of Caedmon’s miracle; Chronicle account of Irish refugees.
Week 3:
Tues. Jan. 16:
Primary Readings: Wanderer; Seafarer (continued); Short Poems: Ruin, Durham, Gnomic Verses, Charm, The Whale; Bede’s Death Song (all Hamer)
Thurs. Jan. 18:
Primary Readings: Short Poems (continued)
Supplementary Readings: Bede’s story of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon king Edwin.
Week 4:
Tues. Jan. 23:
Primary Readings: Dream of the Rood (Hamer)
Thurs. Jan. 25:
Primary Readings: Judith (Hamer)
Week 5:
Tues. Jan. 30– Thurs. Feb. 1:
Primary Readings (Tues.): Alfred the Great, Pastoral Care, Boethius (pages 124-137).
Primary Readings (Thurs.): Alfred the Great, Æthelweard, acrostics, Burghal Hidage (pages 189-196).
Thurs.: IMPORTANT NOTE: IN-CLASS FIRST EXAMINATION TODAY FIRST HOUR (6:30-7:20); discussion of paper topics / progress to follow
Week 6:
Tues. Feb. 6 – Thurs. Feb. 8:
Primary Readings (Tues.): Alfred the Great, Life of King Alfred (pages 66-112)
Discussion: comitatus; warrior ethic; genealogical and legal verse
Primary Readings (Thurs.): Alfred the Great, Life of King Alfred (continued); Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (113-122)
Week 7:
Tues. Feb. 13 – Thurs. Feb. 16:
(Tues.)
Primary Readings: General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Beidler)
(Thurs.)
Primary Readings: Merchant’s Prologue and Tale (Beidler)
Discussion:
Week 8:
Tues. Feb. 20 – Thurs. Feb. 22:
(Tues.)
Primary Readings: Nun’s Priest’s Tale (Beidler)
(Thurs.)
Primary Readings: Franklin’s Tale (Beidler)
Week 9:
Tues. Feb. 27 – Thurs. Mar. 1:
Primary Readings: The Devonshire Manuscript (handouts)
Supplementary Readings: Remley essay on Devonshire manuscript (handout)
IMPORTANT NOTE: IN-CLASS FIRST EXAMINATION FIRST HOUR (6:30-7:20). PAPERS DUE BY FIRST DAY OF FINALS WEEK (Mar. 12); discussion of paper topics / progress to follow
Week 10:
Tues. Mar. 6 – Thurs. Mar. 8:
Primary Readings: The Devonshire Manuscript (handouts)
(Thurs.): Final discussion; miscellaneous business
PAPERS DUE BY FIRST DAY OF FINALS WEEK (Mar. 12)