ENG/MEDIEVAL 367: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
TR 9:30-10:45, Humanities 1217
Professor Jordan Zweck
[email protected]
Office: 6145 Helen C. White Hall
Office Hours: R 2:30-4:30 (or by appointment)
Course Description and Objectives:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales provides a rich introduction to English literature in the
Middle Ages. Written in the fourteenth century, the Tales comprise a wide variety of genres and
styles, covering topics as disparate as love, religion, and science. If medieval literature was often
didactic, the Tales taught audiences everything from how to woo a lady to how to divide a fart
into twelve parts. We will consider the relationships between individual tales and between tales
and their tellers, asking how the Tales’ generic variety shapes our understanding of the work as a
whole. We will also examine the Tales within their social context by reading both medieval
sources and recent literary criticism on subjects such as the medieval estates, the effects of the
plague, and medieval gender and sexuality.
Texts
The Complete Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer, eds. John H. Fisher and Mark
Allen. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. Available at the University Bookstore.
Readings marked “website” are to be found on the course’s homepage on Learn@UW. If
a reading is designated as appearing on our course website, please print out the document,
read it thoroughly, and bring your copy with you to class.
Available Online:
The Middle English Compendium, http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mec/
Chaucer Metapage audio files: http://www.vmi.edu/fswebs.aspx?tid=34099&id=34249
METRO (Middle English Teaching Resources Online):
http://metro.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k15189&pageid=icb.page72282
Douay-Rheims Bible: http://www.drbo.org/
Class Participation:
Your participation grade will be based on your active involvement in discussion and class
activities. You should come to class prepared to speak about ideas and questions prompted by a
close, careful reading of the text. In other words, simply having read the text is not adequate
preparation. Instead, actively think about and engage with the text as you read. Keep a pencil
and notepad handy, jot down notes, and bring them to class. Active participation also involves
listening carefully to your classmates’ contributions in class.
Attendance:
The attendance policy for this course will be strictly enforced, and missing classes will result in a
lower participation grade. This grade covers attendance as well as participation in class
discussions and activities. You are allowed up to three absences; any subsequent absences will
reduce your participation grade by 10 points. In other words, if, over the course of the semester,
you miss five classes, your participation grade will automatically be lowered by 20 points. If
Zweck – Canterbury Tales Syllabus, 2
you earned a 90 for participation, your grade would then be 70. The only exception to the
attendance policy is for religious observance. If you are going to miss class for religious reasons,
you must notify me within the first three weeks of the semester.
Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism, or presenting the work of others as though it were your own, is a very serious
offense. Plagiarism in this course on any assignment will result in failure of the course and will
incur the most severe possible consequences at the university level. If you have any questions
about what constitutes plagiarism, please see the Writing Center’s website:
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QuotingSources.html If you are still unsure, please consult me
before submitting any assignments.
Requirements:
Two exams
Two papers (5-7 pages each). Please use the standard format: 12-point font, 1-inch
margins, double-spaced, with pages numbered and your name and the title of the paper on
the first page. Late papers will lose ½ of a letter grade per business day after the due
date. In other words, an A paper submitted two days late would receive a B.
Recitation. Because understanding how Middle English was pronounced will help you to
understand and appreciate Chaucer’s poetry, you are asked to memorize a passage of
roughly 15 lines and recite it in my office. The deadline for this exercise is March 3.
You are encouraged to schedule a time for your recitation during my regular office hours.
Regular attendance and participation
Help:
I am happy to meet with you any time you would like input on a particular assignment or text or
on the course as a whole. You may drop by my office during my weekly office hours or email
me to schedule a meeting.
Grading:
Memorization
Exam 1
Paper 1
Exam 2
Paper 2
Participation, in-class exercises
Grading Scale:
A 93-100
AB 88-92
B 83-87
BC 78-82
C 71-77
D 65-70
F 0-64
10%
15%
15%
25%
25%
10%
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Students with Disabilities:
The McBurney Disability Resource Center (263-2741) provides resources for students with
disabilities. Please contact me early in the semester if you have a documented requirement for
accommodation to obtain equal access to this class or to any assignment I may give. If you have
any questions about this I hope you will feel free to contact me.
Course Calendar
Week 1
T 1/18
Introduction to the course
R 1/20
Week 2
T 1/25
R 1/27
Week 3
T 2/1
R 2/3
Week 4
T 2/8
General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (ll. 1-308)
Thomas Wimbledon “On the Estates” (website)
John Gower, “On Monks” (website)
Before you come to class, listen to at least two people reading the opening of the
General Prologue at the Chaucer Audio Files:
http://www.vmi.edu/fswebs.aspx?tid=34099&id=34249 , then practice reading
Chaucer aloud yourself.
General Prologue (ll.309-858)
William Thorpe on pilgrimage (website)
Pronunciation, continued. Do exercises 1-12 on the left side of this page:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/pronunciation/
General Prologue, cont.
Before you come to class, do all the Platform 1 Meter Exercises for Chaucer at
METRO:
http://metro.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k15189&pageid=icb.page17608
1 (That is, do Meter 1, Meter 2, and Meter 3)
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue (1-856)
NB: We are reading this tale out of order
Before you come to class, do the Platform 1 Grammar and Syntax Exercises for
Chaucer at METRO:
http://metro.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k15189&pageid=icb.page17608
1
The Wife of Bath’s Tale (857-1264)
The Knight’s Tale (Books 1 and 2; ll. 859-1880)
Courtly love: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl513/courtly/courtly.htm
Andreas Capellanus:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/authors/andreas/de_amore.h
tml
Zweck – Canterbury Tales Syllabus, 4
R 2/10
Week 5
T 2/15
The Knight’s Tale (Books 3 and 4; ll. 1881-3108)
Miller’s Prologue and Tale (3109-3854)
1351 Statute of Laborers: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/statutelabourers.html
Chaucer and social history (website)
W 2/16
Makeup office hours, 1:30-3:30
R 2/17
The Reeve’s Prologue and Tale (3855-4324)
The Cook’s Prologue and Tale (4325-4422)
ME Dialects: http://courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/dial-exp.html
No office hours today
Week 6
T 2/22
R 2/24
Week 7
T 3/1
R 3/3
Man of Law’s Prologue and Tale (1-581, including “The wordes of the Hoost to
the compaignye)
Mappaemundi (website)
Man of Law’s Tale (582-1190)
Paper 1 due
Friar’s Prologue and Tale (1265-1664)
Summoner’s Prologue and Tale (1665-2294)
Images related to Summoner’s Tale (website)
Clerk’s Prologue and Tale (1-1212)
LAST DAY TO COMPLETE RECITATION
Week 8
T 3/8
Merchant’s Prologue and Tale (1213-2440)
R 3/10
EXAM
Week 9
T 3/15
R 3/17
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
Week 10
T 3/22
R 3/24
Squire’s Prologue and Tale (1-708)
Excerpt from Lightsey (website)
Franklin’s Prologue and Tale (709-1170)
Breton lay (website)
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Week 11
T 3/29
Franklin’s Tale (1171-1624)
R 3/31
TBA
Week 12
T 4/5
Physician’s Tale (1-286)
R 4/7
Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale (287-658)
Patterson, “The Pardoner’s Dilemma” (website)
Week 13
T 4/12
Pardoner’s Tale (659-966)
Excerpt from Burger, Chaucer’s Queer Nation (website)
R 4/14
Shipman’s Tale (1-452)
Paper 2 due
Week 14
T 4/19
Prioress’s Prologue and Tale (453-690)
R 4/21
Tale of Sir Thopas (691-918)
Prologue to Tale of Melibee (919-66)
Selections from Tale of Melibee (967-1011, 1869-1887)
Week 15
T 4/26
Nun’s Priest’s Prologue and Tale (2767-3462)
R 4/28
Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue and Tale (554-1482)
Week 16
T 5/3
Manciple’s Prologue and Tale (1-362)
R 5/5
Selections from Parson’s Prologue and Tale (1-131, 1029-80)
Chaucer’s Retraction
Tues 05/10
Final Exam, 12:25pm