ENGLISH 335: Medieval Life and
Literature.
Fall Semester, 2001
URL FOR THE WEB-SYLLABUS:
http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~dmycoff/MLL01.htm
·
Boethius, The
Consolation of Philosophy. Oxford and NY: Oxford University Press.
·
Song of
Roland. Translated from
the Old French by Robert Harrison. NAL/Dutton.
·
Beowulf.
Translated from the Anglo-Saxon by Seamus Heaney. NY: WW Norton.
·
Petrarch, Selections
from the Canzoniere. Translated from the Italian by Mark
Musa.
·
Dante
Alighieri, La vita nuova. Translated from the Italian by Mark Musa.
·
Dante
Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Inferno. Translated from the Italian by
Allen Mandelbaum. Bantam.
·
Dante
Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio. Translated from the Italian by
Allen Mandelbaum. Bantam.
·
Dante
Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Paradiso. Translated from the Italian by
Allen Mandelbaum. Bantam.
·
Gottfried von
Strassburg, Tristan. Translated from the Middle High German by A.T.
Hatto. Penguin.
·
Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight. Edited
by Brian Stone. Penguin.
·
Sir Thomas
Malory, Le Morte Darthure. NY and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
·
Julian of
Norwich, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich.
Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.
·
Faithful
attendance
·
Punctual
completion of assignments
·
Midterm and
Final Exam
·
Formal papers
(see below)
·
Miscellaneous
informal writing assignments. Each week
everyone will write one 1-2 page informal response to the week's reading, due
on the last class meeting of each week.
Students will submit a total of
twenty pages of FINISHED formal writing, either independent research, or
literary-critical analysis, or some combination thereof. These twenty pages
will be distributed in one of the two following ways:
· 1 twenty-page paper
OR
· 2 ten-page papers
Students will inform me which of these three options they will select before
the end of the THIRD week of class.
Students will set their own deadlines for these papers within the following
guidelines:
·
The
twenty-page paper must be submitted on or before Friday of the fourteenth week.
·
One of the
ten-page papers must be submitted on or before the Friday of the seventh week
and the other on or before Friday of the fourteenth week.
·
Students will
inform me in writing of their self-set deadlines at the time when they inform
me of the writing option they have selected.
I use numerical grades and a
weighted arithmetic mean.
The following are letter and numerical grade equivalents: 90-100 = A; 80-89 =
B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; below 60 = F.
Weights
of Assignments
·
Midterm 1
·
Final 1
·
Formal Writing
Assignments (total) 8
Distributed as follows
Twenty-page paper 8
Ten-page papers 4 each
·
Failure to
submit weekly informal writing or to fulfill other miscellaneous assignments
not covered in the weight distributions will result in subtraction of 5 points
from the final course grade for each assignment not fulfilled.
Please note: I am happy to work
through drafts of formal papers with you, IF you request such work a reasonable
time in advance, certainly, at least a week in advance.
NOTE: this on-line version of the
syllabus for Medieval Life and Literature has live links to internet materials
(brief readings, texts not otherwise easily accessible, architectural
photographs, virtual tours of medieval sites, manuscript images, and the like).
It is important to use a computer that delivers good quality graphics. Notice
that these internet materials are NOT optional unless so noted.
NOTE: ALTHOUGH I TRY TO KEEP MY LINKS CURRENT, INTERNET SITES ARE
CONSTANTLY MOVING OR BEING TAKEN DOWN. IF YOU FIND THAT A LINK HAS "BROKEN," PLEASE
LET ME KNOW. FROM TIME TO TIME, I MIGHT
CHANGE THE INTERNET MATERIALS SPECIFIED FOR LATER CLASS MEETINGS, SO BE SURE TO
CHECK THE ASSIGNMENT A DAY OR TWO BEFORE THE CLASS MEETING TO BE SURE THAT YOU
KNOW WHAT THE CURRENT ASSIGNMENT IS.
To
go to David Mycoff's Homepage, Links Menu, click here.
To email David Mycoff , click here.
UNIT
ONE: WARRIOR AND COURT CULTURES
WEEK ONE
Aug. 27 M. Introduction to the
course.
W 29. Heaney's introducton to Beowulf,
pp. ix-xxx; Beowulf, ll. 1-2199 (pp. 2-149).
F 31. Beowulf, ll. 2200-3182
(pp. 145-213).
WEEK TWO
Sept. 3 M. Song of Roland,
Laisse 1-179. Read the short account of the Battle of Poitiers by an anonymous
Arab and the three
accounts from different sources of the same battle. Read the page or so of
extracts from Einhard's
Life of Charlemagne (the full text is optional for those who get
interested). Also read the translations from the General
Capitulary of the Missi (802). These were issued by Charlemagne in
the first year of his reign as emperor and outline the duties of his "missi"--officials
sent out rather like circuit riding judges to represent the emperor in
scattered areas. The capitularies also underscore some of the obligations of
subjects to the emperor and his representatives. And read the brief summons
to the army. View the following images.(1) Muslim and Christian knights
in battle; (2) A Muslim
army besieges a Christian city; (3) Muslim warriors from an
Islamic manuscript.; (4) a manuscript page (c. 1370) depicting four battle scenes; (5)
Saracens
disguised as devils. And explore the Bayeux Tapestry.
These are large images, so use your direction arrows to view them in full.
WEEK THREE
M 10. In-class video on medieval
music.
Read ahead in Friday's LONG
assignment.
W 12. Selections of medieval
music in class. Read "What
is Early Music?. In order to get a sense of the spaces in which some of
this music would be performed, select at least one of the following virtual
tours. Follow instructions at the site selected. (1) Durham Cathedral;
(2)York Minster; (3) Canterbury Cathedral. Note
that the first "click-on item" that you encounter on the Canterbury
site is not part of the cathedral tour: it's "Pilgrimage 2000-Virtual
Pilgrimage." Though well-worth a browse, it is not a required part of this
assignment.
View the following images. (1) Page from Gaffurius, Practica
Musica, c. 1492; (2)Lute player at a bath
house; (3) Hans
Memling's Angel playing lute (.c 1470; (4)King David as
Harper; (5) Same
subject; (6) Musicians at a
funeral ("Burial custons of the East". What do these images
suggest about medieval attitudes and perceptions concerning musicians and
music?
Read ahead in Friday's LONG assignment.
WEEK
FOUR
M
17. Tristan, pp. 229-297. Thomas of England, Tristran, pp.
301-353.
To return to top of daily assignments syllabus, click here.
WEEK
FIVE
M
24. Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight
(all). Introduction to Malory, pp.
vii-xxxvi. Malory, Le Morte Darthur,
pp. 2-57. View the illustration of a Feast of the
Order of the Star.
W
26. Sir Gawain, discussion
continued. Malory, pp. 58-94.
F
28. Malory, pp. 95-168.
WEEK
SIX
M
Oct. 1. Malory, pp. 169-280.
W 3.
Malory, pp. 281-334.
WEEK
SEVEN
M 8.
Malory, pp. 335-467.
M
10. Malory, pp. 467-527.
F
12. MIDTERM EXAM
UNIT TWO: POETS, INTELLECTUALS, MONKS, AND
CITIZENS
WEEK
EIGHT
M
15. Introduction to Boethius, pp. xi-lii. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, The
Consolation of Philosophy, Books
1-2. View some medieval images of the world: view the Beatus Psalter map
of the world, the Hereford Mappamundi,and
the Ebstorf Mappamundi,
making sure to read the "monograph" that you access at the very
bottom of the page (monographs for the other two maps are interesting but
optional). Also be sure to view the color reproduction
and the detail-views of Eden and Gog-Magog. Also
view the following images from Bartholomeus Anglicanus, On the Properties of
Things: (1) The
Human Body; (2) Body and Soul;
(3) Elements
and Humors of the Human Body; (4) Zodiac and the
Elements; (5) On Form and Matter;
(6) Birds.
Also view another image of (4) human
anatomy from a different medieval source. Read the following brief
background pieces on Theodoric the Ostrogoth, the emperor who condemned
Boethius to death. (1) Jordane's
brief sketch; (2) Extracts from
Theodoric's letters; and also (3) my material on Platonism.
W
17. Boethius, Books 3-5. View the
following images. (1) Page from a 13th century copy of The
Consolation of Philosophy; (2) Binding of a 15th century copy of The
Consolation of Philosophy.
To
return to top of daily assignments syllabus, click here.
OCT.
20-28, FALL BREAK.
WEEK
NINE
M
29. In-class video: Medieval Art. Read
ahead in this week's assignments.
W
31. Introduction to Petrarch, pp. ix-xix. Petrarch, The Ascent of Mount
Ventoux, pp. 11-19. Selections from the Canzoniere, pp. 21-77.
F
Nov. 2. Dante Alighieri, Vita Nuova, Section 1-21 (pp. 3-42).
WEEK
TEN
M 5.
Vita Nuova, Section 22-42 (pp. 43-84).
W 7.
Dante, Commedia: Inferno, Canto 1-2. . Read Teolinda Barolini,
"Dante and the Lyric Past," in The
Cambridge Companion to Dante, Chp. 2. [Scroll down the menu in the left
column to "Scholar's Works," click "Cambridge Companion."
At the next display, scroll down to Chp. 2, and click. Divine Comedy,
Inferno, Cantos 1-2.
View Bartolomeo's
map of Dante's hell at the "Digital Dante" site. Be sure to click
your "maximize" button to get the full image. . Also view Dore's
illustrationsfor Cantos 1 and 2. Also view Botticellli's
illustrations of the map of hell and "The Dark Wood" of Canto 1.
And also Alberto Sughi's "Virgil
Conducts Dante into Hell"; Blake's "Dante and Virgil
at the Gates of Hell; and the exhibition of Rodin's "The
Gates of Hell".
WEEK ELEVEN
M
12. Inferno, Canto 3-12. View Botticelli's
illustrations for the cantos we are discussing today.
The story of Paolo and Francesca in Canto 5 has appealed to the imaginations of
many artists, inspiring many pieces of music and many works of visual art. View
the following examples of visual representations of this pair of lovers. (1)
Illustrations by Cassioli, Dore, Feuerbach, Ingres, and Scheffer at the Digital
Dante site; (2) Blake's
illustration; (3)Kokocinski's
illustration. What might we hypothesize about the history of
reception-response to the story from this little sampling?
WEEK
TWELVE:
M
19. Dante, Commedia: Purgatorio, Canto 1-11. View two maps
of Dante's Purgatory, the 15th century Florentine map and the mid-15th century
map. Be sure to click your "maximize" button to the full image. View
Botticelli's illustrations for the cantos we are discussing today.
To
return to top of daily assignments syllabus, click here.
NOV.
21-25, THANKSGIVING BREAK
WEEK
THIRTEEN
F
30. Dante, Commedia: Paradiso, Canto 1-12. In the discussion of conflict
between Franciscans and Dominicans, St. Bonaventure's great predecessor, St.
Francis is mentioned. View Giotto's frescoes of scenes from the life of St.
Francis. Note that there are TWO sites to visit here. Scroll through the sites,
clicking for the small, medium, or large image as you chose. (1) Scenes from
Giotto's St. Francis series 1; (2) Scenes from
Giotto's St. Francis series 2. View
Botticelli's illustrations for the cantos we are discussing today. View two maps
of Dante's Paradise, the 15th century Florentine map and the first mid-15th
century map. Be sure to click your maximize button to get the full image.
WEEK
FOURTEEN
W 5.
Paradiso, Canto 25-33. View
Botticelli's illustrations for the cantos we are discussing today and Salvador Dali's. illustrations of the Divine
Comedy. You need to click through two pages before you get to the real beginning
of the exhibit. For most of the Dali pieces, you can double-click on the image
to get a larger display.
WEEK
FIFTEEN
M
10. Dante, continued. Joan Ferrante, Dante's
Beatrice: Priest of an Androgynous God (reserve).
F
14. Shewings, pp. 88-125.
WEEK
SIXTEEN
M
17. Shewings, pp. 125-155.
W
19. FINAL EXAM
To
return to top of daily assignments syllabus, click here.
