LTEN 107 Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (682805)
MWF 11:00-11:50 WLH 2112
Professor Lisa Lampert-Weissig; llampert@ucsd.edu
LIT 347; (858) 822-0204. Website: www.medievallit.org
Text: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, ed. Jill Mann. Penguin, 2005.
Also recommended: Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England.
Course Requirements:
Middle English Reading Session: Pass/Fail
Thinksheets: 20%
Quizzes: 20%
Essay: 20%
Class Participation: 10%
Final Exam: 30% Format TBA
Middle English Reading Session: In order to PASS this class you must meet with me and demonstrate to me that you have some facility in Middle English. This will consist of reading some passages (approx. 10 lines) out loud. One will be prepared and one chosen by me during the appt. The reading is not graded. I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect evidence that you have been working with the language and can read aloud and translate with the facility necessary to do the course assignments. If necessary, I will ask you to repeat this session until I’m satisfied with your ability to read Chaucer in the original. Recordings of Chaucer in Middle English are available online (links on course website). And, of course, I’m happy to help you with your Middle English reading or any additional questions during office hours.
The reading sessions will be made by appt. It is your responsibility to make your appt. on time. If you fail to be punctual or you fail to show up you will be wasting my time as well as that of your classmates. Consequently, you’ll be lowering your course participation grade. Any resulting make-up will have to be made during my regular office hours.
Quizzes: These quizzes are designed to test translation ability and reading comprehension. There are four quizzes built into the syllabus (see schedule for dates). The lowest grade on a quiz will be dropped. Those who miss the first quiz due to adding the course late without prior attendance may simply drop that missed quiz. I reserve the right to give pop quizzes if I feel they are necessary to help us with readings/discussions.
Attendance: Attendance is expected. Poor attendance can lower your grade.
Deadlines: I consider being able to meet a deadline to be an important part of written assignments. For that reason, and in the interest of fairness to students who do meet deadlines, the consequences of submitting late work are severe. Exact instructions regarding papers and deadlines will be detailed on the paper topic handout, but late papers will lose at least one full grade per day late and may not receive comments. Papers left in my mailbox or at my office door are left at the student’s own risk and students are responsible for making frequent computer backups as they write the paper. Only documented legitimate medical or personal emergencies will excuse late work. If an emergency arises, you must let me know as soon as possible and I will do my best to accommodate your needs. It is your responsibility to keep me informed, and, indeed, I can’t help you if I don’t know that there is a problem.
Think Sheets: Think sheets are response papers designed to stimulate discussion and help students engage with the works we are reading. During class I will ask a question or assign a topic for the thinksheet. If you miss the thinksheet topic, consult the course website. Unless otherwise specified, the thinksheets will usually be about 3/4 to 1 double-spaced typed page. Thinksheets must be typed. Emailed thinksheets are not acceptable.
For the first two weeks of class everyone needs to do a thinksheet assignment, since they will focus on translation. After that you will be assigned a group and turn in a thinksheet on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, depending on your group. I have really been impressed with the thinksheets that students write, and, after an entire semester, they add up to quite a bit of writing. In recognition of this, when you enroll in this class you start out with an A on your thinksheets. I will comment on your thinksheets and try to give you feedback to what you have written, but I won’t grade the thinksheets in the same rigorous way in which I will evaluate your formal paper. If your thinksheets show effort and engagement with the assignment, you will maintain the A that you will have earned by working on these thinksheets throughout the semester.
“How do I know my thinksheets are up to par?”: If I determine that your thinksheets do not show the kind of effort that I expect or if there seem to be other problems, I will inform you in my comments on the thinksheet and ask you to meet with me to discuss improvement. It is your responsibility to come to office hours or otherwise arrange to discuss this in order to maintain full credit.
“What if I miss a thinksheet?”: You are allowed to miss two thinksheets for whatever reason. Beyond that, only documented medical excuses or documented personal emergencies will excuse a late thinksheet. It is your responsibility to inform me about such emergencies as soon as it is possible for you to do so. If you do not contact me in a timely fashion, it may not be possible to make up the work. Thinksheets are due at the beginning of class. Without a documented excuse, late thinksheets will not be accepted and will be deducted from your thinksheet grade at the end of the semester. I will keep track of your thinksheets in my grade roster, but mistakes can and happen. Please hold on to all of your graded thinksheets until you receive your final grade. Vacation plans and extracurricular activities are never an excuse for missed or late work.
“What is late work?”: Sometimes there’s just something that keeps a person from getting to class on time. What I want to avoid is disruptions to the class by habitual late entrances and the abuse of the system of thinksheets. If I think you are having a problem with getting the thinksheets in on time, I will inform you promptly and we will discuss how you can avoid losing full credit for your work and attendance. It will be your responsibility to follow up on meeting with me about this.
Tentative Schedule of Readings and Assignments:
It is expected that you will consult the notes for the text. I may assign supplemental secondary readings as needed throughout the semester.
Reading assignments may be moved or modified depending on the pace of the course.
Week One:
Mon. Introduction
Wed. General Prologue Thinksheet: Trans. lines. 118-126 of GP.
Fri. General Prologue. Thinksheet. Trans. lines 730-36 of GP
Week Two:
Mon. The Knight’s Tale. Books I and II. Thinksheet Three, translate lines 952-956.
Wed. The Knight’s Tale Books III and IV.
Thinksheet Four, Knight's Tale, Book V, translate lines: 3021-2
Study questions for the Knight's Tale
Fri. The Miller’s Tale. Thinksheet Five. Miller's Tale, translate lines 3203-3207 Study questions
Week Three:
Mon. No Class. MLK Jr day Monday
Wed. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale and Epilogue.Thinksheet.
Fri. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale and Epilogue and The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. Thinksheet.
Week Four:
Mon. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale (Quiz One) No thinksheet.
Wed. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale Thinksheet. For thinksheet answer this question: Is this text a male fantasy? A woman'? Whose fantasy is it?
Fri. The Friar’s Prologue and Tale. Thinksheet.
Week Five:
Mon. The Summoner’s Tale Prologue and Tale (Quiz Two) Thinksheet question: How does the Summoner's Tale quite the Friar's Tale?
Wed. The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale. Thinksheet
Fri. The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale No thinksheet.
Week Six: For Monday answer question 6 on the Franklin's Tale. For Wed. answer question 10 on the Merchant's Tale.
Mon. The Franklin’s Tale (Quiz Three)
Wed. The Franklin’s Tale and The Merchant’s Prologue, Tale and Epilogue
Fri. The Merchant’s Prologue, Tale and Epilogue No thinksheet.
Week Seven:
Mon. President’s Day. No Class.
Wed. The Pardoner’s Introduction, Prologue and Tale Thinksheet question
Fri. The Pardoner’s Introduction, Prologue and Tale No thinksheet
Week Eight: Thinksheets
Mon. The Shipman’s Tale.
Wed. The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale
Fri: The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale No thinksheet
Week Nine: Thinksheets
Mon. The Second Nun’s Prologue and Tale
Wed. The Nun’s Priest’s Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue.
Fri. The Parson’s Prologue and Tale (selections), the Topas-Melibee link and Chaucer’s “Retraction.” Thinksheet
Week Ten: No thinksheets this week. Review.
Mon. Review
Wed. Review. Final Papers due at the beginning of class.
Fri. Review.
Final exam time in schedule of classes: Monday, March 14, 11:30-2:30. Take home exam due Monday. March 14 by 2:30 pm (questions distributed week 10; submission details TBA).
Disability Accommodation: If you need disability accommodations, please let me know right away so we can work with OSD to facilitate your success in the class.
Academic Integrity: The University’s policy on Academic Integrity can be found here: http://senate.ucsd.edu/manual/appendices/app2.htm. Reading through this policy will supplement our discussion of academic integrity in class. If you ever have any questions regarding this policies please contact me and we can go through them together.