ENGL3393: Chaucer Eric Weiskott Fall 2014, T/R 10:30-11:45 Office hours: T 1:45-2:45 (Stokes S407)

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first poet writing in English who was lauded and studied as literature in his own time. His body of writing, covering a breathtakingly wide range of subjects, is a subtle mix of satire and the sublime. This course is an introduction to Chaucer’s poetry, including but not limited to his masterpiece, . It is also an introduction to the language. The course is structured around the different genres and literary forms invented or reinterpreted by Chaucer, from tales of courtly love to fabliaux (fables) and dream visions. No prior knowledge of Middle English required.

REQUIRED TEXT (available at the BC Bookstore; the paperback reprint is also acceptable) The Riverside Chaucer, ed. Larry D. Benson (Houghton Mifflin, 3rd ed., 1987)

SCHEDULE Who was and what is Middle English? Sept 2 General Prologue (I 1-34) Sept 4 General Prologue (I 35-78, I 747-858) Riverside Chaucer, pp. xv-xlii (paperback xi-xxxviii) (stop before Versification) Butterfield, “Chaucer’s French Inheritance” (20-23 only) Watch Patience Agbabi, “Prologue to The Canterbury Tales—The Remix” (youtube.com/watch?v=-U-ozgjZfjQ)

Chivalry and courtly love (romance) Sept 9 The Knight’s Tale, Pt. 1 (I 859-1354) *Discussions post 1 due on Canvas Sept 11 Knight’s Tale, Pt. 2 (I 1355-1880) Sept 16 Knight’s Tale, Pt. 3 (I 1881-2482) *Discussions post 2 (response) due on Canvas Sept 18 Knight’s Tale, Pt. 4 (I 2483-3108) Riverside Chaucer, pp. xlii-xlv (paperback xxxviii-xli) (Versification only) *Introductory meter assignment: “A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal” and “Jabberwocky” on For Better for Verse (prosody.lib.virginia.edu) Sept 23 The Prologue and Tale of (through VII 966) Required film viewing: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Day, “Monty Python and the Medieval Other” *Discussions post 3 due on Canvas Sept 25 The Franklin’s Prologue and Tale (V 709-1170) Sept 30 Franklin’s Tale, cont’d (V 1171-1624) *Introductory manuscript assignment via Yale Canvas Viewer (vm-odaiprd-01.its.yale.edu/manuscripts/)

Dirty words and dirty deeds (fabliau) Oct 2 The Miller’s Prologue and Tale Chaucer 2

Oct 7 The Reeve’s Prologue and Tale Required film viewing: A Knight’s Tale (2001) *Annotation assignment via Genius (genius.com/search?q=canterbury+tales) Oct 9 The Cook’s Prologue and Tale Casey, “Unfinished Business” *Intermediate meter assignment: scan Cook’s Tale Oct 14 The Merchant’s Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue Oct 16 *Midterm exam (in class)

Fallible authors (exemplum) Oct 21 General Prologue (I 669-714) The Pardoner’s Introduction, Prologue, and Tale (VI 287-968) Watch Baba Brinkman, “A Brief History of Rhyme” (bababrinkman.com/a-brief-history-of-rhyme/) Oct 23 Pardoner’s Tale, cont’d. Whitney, “What’s Wrong with the Pardoner?” Oct 28 General Prologue (I 445-76) The Wife of Bath’s Prologue (III 1-856) Watch Patience Agbabi, “The Wife of Bafa” (youtube.com/watch?v=8LptEFGhR7A) Oct 30 Wife of Bath’s Tale (III 857-1264) Nov 4 General Prologue (I 208-69) The Friar’s Prologue and Tale Weiskott, “Chaucer the Forester” Nov 6 The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale Nov 11 The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale *Popular culture assignment: Discussions post on Canvas analyzing one post from Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog (houseoffame.blogspot.com)

Winged wonders (dream vision) Nov 13 (1-709) Nov 18 Book of the Duchess, cont’d (710-1334) Butterfield, “Chaucer’s French Inheritance” (entire essay) Paper planning exercise Nov 20 , Bks. I-II (1-1090) *Paper skeleton due (1 p.) Nov 25 House of Fame, Bk. III (1091-2158) Dec 2 The Legend of Good Women, prohemium (1-579, text F)

Shorter poems Dec 4 Chaucer’s Retraction (X 1081-92) Chaucers Wordes unto Adam, his Owne Scriveyn Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse Lak of Stedfastnesse *Paper due (7-10 pp.) Dec 9 *Final exam (in class) Chaucer 3

GRADING Discussions posts 15% Meter, manuscript, annotation, and popular culture assignments 10% Midterm and final exams 20% each (40% total) Paper, 7-10 pp. 25% Participation 10%

ASSIGNMENTS The Discussions posts should reflect your initial reactions to the material of the first four weeks. They can, but need not, articulate an argument about the material. For the meter assignment, you will explore poetic meter using the interface on For Better For Verse. For the manuscript assignment, you will browse the Yale Canvas Viewer and come to class with one interesting observation or question about a Chaucer manuscript (see under Assignments on Canvas for details). For the annotation assignment, you will create a username on Genius and contribute ten annotations or revisions to one or more Chaucer tales. For the popular culture assignment, you will create a Discussions post analyzing one post from Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog. The paper is a research project that engages with prior scholarship and argues for its point of view in detail. *Extra credit: Recitation from memory of the opening of the General Prologue (I 1-18) will increase a grade of your choice by 1/3 of a grade (e.g., B on the midterm becomes a B+).

EXAMS The midterm exam will consist of fifty multiple-choice questions about material from the first half of the course. The final exam will consist of thirty multiple-choice questions about material from the second half of the course, plus four short-answer interpretive questions.

OBJECTIVES In this course, you will learn about Chaucer’s poetic corpus and its manuscript tradition. Special emphasis will be laid on Chaucer’s many styles and the many manuscripts in which his poetry exists today. Along the way, you will gain reading proficiency in the Middle English language.

PARTICIPATION Students are expected to attend each class having completed the assigned reading and/or film viewing. Students should come to class prepared to discuss Chaucer’s texts as literature and as language. This is a discussion-based class, and you will not need laptops or smart phones.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Boston College places great value on academic integrity (bc.edu/schools/cas/polisci/integrity.html). I have a zero tolerance policy for intentional plagiarism. All quotations or paraphrases of sources must be cited parenthetically or in a footnote (examples: libguides.bc.edu/c.php?g=44446&p=281303).

ACCESSIBILITY If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities.