English 361
Spring 2004
Professor L. Farina

Chaucer

Many students are familiar with Chaucer's outrageous characters, wry humor, and social satire from The Canterbury Tales. But there is much more to the "first English poet" than the Miller and the Wife of Bath. Chaucer was an astoundingly prolific writer, one who tried his hand at all sorts of literary experiments. He wrote "dream visions" in the style of Classical and French works, poems reflecting the influence of the great Italian writers Dante and Boccaccio, and a major romance set during the Trojan War. The Canterbury Tales, too, evidences Chaucer's amazing versatility. When read more extensively, the Tales not only showcases a variety of literary forms but also provides insight into the expectations of the different audiences of Chaucer's time.

In this course, we will read a wide selection of Chaucer's writing and some works that influenced his. Additionally, we will familiarize ourselves with Chaucer's London–its politics, scandals, social groups, customs, and connections with the Continent. This social context will help us better appreciate the poet's sometimes subtle, sometimes ironic, reflections on religious institutions, marriage and sexuality, class politics, and the dictates of fashion.

Note: this class will entail reading in Middle English and will include an introduction to the language. I strongly recommend that students have taken English 261 (British Literature I) before enrolling.

Required Texts:
•Bisson, Lillian M. Chaucer and the Late Medieval World.
•Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Riverside Chaucer.
•de Lorris, Guillaume, and Jean de Meun. The Romance of the Rose.
•Additional materials will be posted on e-reserve.

Required Coursework:
•eight 1 page reading responses (see attachment on responses) 28%
•one 5-7 page essay 15%
•one 2-3 page report on a critical article 7 %
•one 10-12 page research essay, preceded by: a research proposal and bibliography 25 %
•active participation in class discussion (see attachment on participation) 25%

Course Policies: You are allowed three absences with no penalty, after that, your class participation grade . will suffer. Two late arrivals (more than 5 minutes) will count as an absence. In general, I do not care why you are absent and do not want to see any notes. The only exceptions to this are cases where some serious condition requires you to be absent for a week or more. At six absences you will fail this class: to contest this, you must take the issue to the Dean, not me.

Late essays will be downgraded at the rate of one grade per day. I will not accept late responses. If you know that you're going to be absent when a response is due, you may email it to me before class.

Note that there will be no chances for extra credit or make-up work.

Contact Info:
My drop-in office hours are from 4:00-5:00 Tuesday and Thursday in 357 Stansbury Hall. You can also make an appointment to see me. My office phone is 293-3107 x. 426, and you can email me at either my MIX address or at Lara.Farina@mail.wvu.edu. Do not email me to find out what you missed in class: get in touch with another student for notes.

Schedule:
(an "(R)" indicates when a reading response is due)

l/13 Introduction
1/15 Bisson, chapter 1

1/20 Riverside Chaucer pp. xxix-xlii; Bisson, chapters 2 & 3
1/22 The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; Bisson, chapter 5

1/27 The Franklin's Tale (R)
1/29 The Tale of Sir Thopas; Marie de France, 'iGuigemar"

2/3 The Clerk's Tale
2/5 The Merchant's Tale (R)

2/lO The Nun's Priest's Tale; excerpt from Trevisa, Physiologus (R)
2/12 No Class; read Bisson, chapters 9 & 10

2/17 Short Paper due; peer critique
2/19 Troilus and Criseyde, Book I

2/24 Troilus, Book II (R)
2/26 Troilus, Book III

3/2 Troilus, Book IV (R) u
3 /4 Troilus, Book V

3/9 Review of Criticism due; presentations
3/11 excerpts from Dante, Divine Comed''

3/13-3122 Spring Break

3/23 The Book of the Duchess (R)
3/25 The Book of the Duchess

3/30 The House of Fame
4/1 The House of Fame (R)

4/6 Conferences; Research Proposals due
4/8 Conferences; Research Proposals due

4/13 The Romance of the Rose (R)
4/15 The Romance of the Rose

4/20 The Parliament of Fowls
4/22 excerpts from Farudin-al-Attar, The Conference of Birds; Bibliography due

4/27 Presentations on Research
4/29 Presentations on Research

5/3 Research Paper due