COURSE DESCRIPTION.  A survey of non-Chaucerian literature of the 12th to 15th centuries, including selected major works of the Pearl Poet, Langland, Malory, the English romancers, and song writers.  My personal emphasis in the course is on the amazing culture that arose at this time, a culture that produced the first major flowering of literature in what we can still recognize today as English.  Middle English writers refined and polished the mongrel language that developed in England in the wake of the Norman Conquest, shaping the very foundations of what we speak, write, and study today as English.  But in shaping English as we know it, they used literary genres that we generally don’t use anymore (debate poems, fabliaux, romances, dream visions, cycle plays, etc.).  As a result, both their language and their literature are sometimes very foreign to us.  But they are also often very fun and interesting -- offering a very different perspective from ours on such things as time, death, marriage, greed, heroism, and good writing.  So, we will spend this semester trying to get to know the people of medieval Britain.  What were their values?  Why did they tell the stories that they told?  Why did they like the genres that they liked (as opposed to the genres that we like)?  What needs did their literature fill in their culture, their society, and their psyches?

GOALS.  As my goals in this course, I want you

1. to enjoy the freshness, vitality, and strangeness of Middle English literature,
2. to learn what English literature and culture was like in the 12th through the 15th centuries,
3. to become aware of some of the problems in studying old literature (especially in terms of the literary canon and historicity),
4. to master the challenges of -- and develop a healthy appreciation for -- Middle English, and
5. to learn something of the forms and norms of the academic discipline of English.

REQUIREMENTS.  This course consists of essentially four graded assignments:

1. a mid-term exam,
2. 14 two-page response papers that explore questions I will give you on the reading assignments for class (graded Pass/Fail),
3. one longer, more formal paper (10-12 typewritten pages), and
4. a final exam.

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of the exams and papers in this class.  Class discussion constitutes important, useful preparation for the course’s graded assignments.  If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of discussion from a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  In addition, you may not submit a response paper for a class meeting that you miss.  If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared -- without excuses -- to the next class meeting.

OFFICE HOURS.  My office is Bliss 216.  My office hours this semester will be 3:30-5:00 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.  If you cannot see me at this time, please, feel free as needed to call my office (771-2106) or talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time.  You may also contact me by e-mail (gsteinbe@tcnj.edu), or you may leave a message for me in my box at the English department offices in Bliss 124.  E-mail is generally the fastest way to contact me in an emergency.

EMAIL.  I may, on occasion, want to e-mail everyone in class.  I generally only have access to your TCNJ e-mail addresses, however.  As a result, if you regularly use an e-mail address other than your TCNJ address, I recommend that you have mail from your TCNJ address forwarded to the address you use more regularly.  That way, if I e-mail your TCNJ address, my message will be forwarded to your other address.  To forward mail from your TCNJ address, just go to http://managemail.tcnj.edu/  and click “Mail Forwarding Manager.”  Follow the directions there to set up the mail forwarding.

If you would like to send an e-mail message to one or more of your classmates, you can do so through SOCS.  To access SOCS, go to http://socs.tcnj.edu and, after you have logged in with your TCNJ e-mail username and password, choose this course (RHET 32701) from the drop-down menu.  Then, when our course page comes up, click the “Email” button.  From there, you can select individual e-mail addresses or the entire class and send a message to the addresses you’ve selected.

RESPONSE PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to write 14 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the readings for class.  I will post questions about each day’s reading assignment for you to consider as the basis of your response.

Response papers will be graded Pass/Fail.  I ask you to type them (so that they are easier for me to read), but they need not be a perfect, polished product.  Rather, response papers should be just what their name says -- a response.  Think about the question(s) that I ask you to consider for a particular day’s reading assignment; then, write a response.  Don’t worry about typos or comma splices or organization.  Don’t worry about answering every question I ask in the assignment.  Just be as specific as you can and get down as much as you can as quickly as you can.  Treat response papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper.  I don’t want a thesis or five-paragraph theme.  Rather, I want an exploration -- as detailed and specific as possible -- of the reading assignment for the day.

Normally, as long as you submit a response paper of suitable length, detail, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you turn it in on time at the beginning of class on the assigned day), you will receive all 20 points that the assignment is worth.  Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and organization have no effect on the number of points you receive.

You may submit more than 14 response papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any response papers that do not receive a grade of Pass), but no matter how many extra response papers you turn in, you will not receive more than 280 points total for all the response papers you write.  You may not submit more than one response paper on a single day, nor may you submit a response paper for a day that you are absent from class.  (NOTE:  Even if you do not submit a response paper on a particular day, you should still come to class prepared to discuss the questions assigned for that day, since we will focus on those questions in the class’s discussion of the reading assignment.)

COURSE SCHEDULE.  (This schedule is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.)

Date	Assignment
R Aug 29	Introductions
M Sep 2	NO CLASS (Labor Day)
T Sep 3	The Owl and the Nightingale, pp. 54-75 (in Middle English Literature) Response Paper Assignment:  The owl and the nightingale are arguing with one another because they value fundamentally different things.  Which bird do you side with?  What does the owl value?  What does the nightingale value?  Which bird do you think the poem’s author sides with?  Which bird is winning the debate?
R Sep 5	The Owl and the Nightingale, pp. 75-98 (in Middle English Literature) Response Paper Assignment:  Why does The Owl and the Nightingale end the way it does?  How did you expect it to end?  How would you have ended it if you were the author?  Is the ending satisfying?  Why or why not?  Does it seem medieval to you?  Why or why not?  What do we learn about the values and tastes of medieval England from reading The Owl and the Nightingale?
M Sep 9	King Horn (Middle English Literature, pp. 114-149) Response Paper Assignment:  If you were a medieval hero in training, what would you learn from King Horn about how to become a hero?  What do you have to do to become a hero?  What qualities do you have to possess?  What did medieval English people value in their heroes?
R Sep 12	The Fox and the Wolf, Dame Sirith, and Sir Orfeo (Middle English Literature, pp. 166-187 and 216-230) Response Paper Assignment:  Is it hard to believe that these three works were all produced by the same culture for essentially the same audience within a period of just 30 years or so?  What do these three works share in common?  What is the purpose of telling these tales?  What needs (cultural, social, or psychological) do they satisfy (individually or altogether)?
M Sep 16	The Parliament of Three Ages (Middle English Literature, pp. 238-263) Response Paper Assignment:  The Parliament of Three Ages combines three popular motifs from medieval literature -- a dream vision frame, a debate (as in The Owl and the Nightingale), and the Nine Worthies (nine great heroes from legend).  How do these three pieces fit together?  In most dream visions, the dream frame has something to do thematically with the events in the dream.  How does the dream frame in The Parliament of Three Ages (that is, the hunt) relate to the "parliament" of the three ages (youth, middle age, and age)?  How do both the dream frame and the "parliament" relate to the Nine Worthies in the dream?  What impression are you left with at the end of the poem?
R Sep 19	Piers Plowman, Prologue and Passus I-IV (pp. 1-39) Response Paper Assignment:  In Passus I of Piers Plowman, the Dreamer (sometimes called Will) asks Dame Holy Church some very deep and perplexing questions -- questions about the fair field of folk that he has just seen (in the Prologue), about money and treasure, and about how to be saved.  Those three topics are going to be the focus of much of Piers Plowman.  So, in Passus I-IV, what do we learn about 1.) medieval society (the fair field of folk), 2.) treasure (Lady Meed), and 3.) salvation?  Most especially, what attitude does Langland (the author of Piers Plowman) seem to have toward wealth and treasure?
M Sep 23	Piers Plowman, Passus V-VII (pp. 39-77) Response Paper Assignment:  Passus V-VII of Piers Plowman are very puzzling.  What do you make of the repentance of the Seven Deadly Sins in Passus V?  Who or what is Piers and why does he have to plow his half-acre in Passus VI?  What do you make of the pardon that Truth sends to Piers in Passus VII?  Why does Piers get mad and abandon his plowing?  Is he right to abandon his plowing?  What is Langland trying to tell us about medieval society, repentance, work, social problems, and salvation?
R Sep 26	Piers Plowman, Passus XV-XVII (pp. 158-200) Response Paper Assignment:  We're skipping a lot.  In the parts we're skipping, Will the Dreamer struggles to understand how salvation occurs but never really comes to any firm conclusions, except that he recognizes that charity (i.e., love and generosity) is essential.  In order to try to understand salvation and charity better, Will, in this part of the poem, listens to a lecture on charity (by Anima), meets Piers again, sees the Tree of Charity, and then watches a reenactment of all of salvation history (from the Old Testament to Christ).  What does Will learn about charity in all this?  How do images such as the Tree of Charity or Faith, Hope, and the Samaritan help to explain what charity is?  Does the allegory work on multiple levels?  Does Will get any closer to understanding what charity is or how he can be saved?
M Sep 30	Piers Plowman, Passus XVIII-XX (pp. 200-241) Response Paper Assignment:  So, where we are at the end of Piers Plowman?  How did we get there?  According to Langland, what is wrong with medieval society?  Where did it go wrong?  Where should it go from here?  Can it get back on the right track?
R Oct 3	Pearl (Middle English Literature, pp. 339-375) Response Paper Assignment:  Pearl has a lot of “Sunday School” stuff and theology in it, but I find the poem most interesting for its portrayal of medieval feelings about child mortality.  The pearl that the narrator of the poem has lost isn’t just a pearl; it’s Pearl, his daughter who died in infancy.  So, the poem is about how to process the grief of the loss of a child.  So, how does the poem process grief?  What seems to be the medieval attitude toward children?  Since so many children died in infancy, one would think that medieval adults parents become callous and not care much about their children.  Does that seem to be the case in Pearl?  What consolation did medieval parents have if their child died in infancy?  How does form in the poem relate to content?  Why discuss infant mortality in a poem with such an elaborate and difficult form (with alliteration, rhyme, repeated theme words, concatenation, etc.)?
M Oct 7	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Parts I and II (Middle English Literature, pp. 376-412) Response Paper Assignment:  What exactly does the Green Knight ask of Arthur’s court?  Does Arthur’s court respond appropriately?  Look very closely at exactly what the Green Knight says, has, and does.  Compare and contrast Gawain and the Green Knight?  They both go out on adventures.  How are they similar?  How are they different?
R Oct 10	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III (Middle English Literature, pp. 413-441) Response Paper Assignment:  What do the hunt scenes in the forest and the love scenes in the bedroom have to do with one another?  What do love and hunting share in common?  Why doesn’t Gawain expose Lady Bertilak to her husband?  Why doesn’t he give Bertilak the green girdle that he has been given?  Why does he accept the green girdle in the first place?  Is he evil for doing so?
M Oct 14	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV (Middle English Literature, pp. 441-459) Response Paper Assignment:  How does Gawain respond to the stroke from the Green Knight?  How does the Green Knight react to Gawain’s reaction?  Who or what does Gawain blame for his downfall?  Who or what does the Green Knight blame?  Which of them is right?  Why won’t Gawain go back to Bertilak’s castle?  In the manuscript of this poem, there is a motto written after the last line:  “Hony soyt qui mal pense” (“Let him be ashamed who thinks evilly”).  How does this motto (from the Order of the Green Garter) relate to the poem?
R Oct 17	MID-TERM EXAM
M Oct 21	NO CLASS (Fall Break)
R Oct 24	The Book of Margery Kempe, Proem, Preface, and Chapters 1-16, 21-22, and 26-28 of Book I (pp. 33-73, 84-88, and 96-107) Response Paper Assignment:  Choose any chapter from The Book of Margery Kempe in the reading assignment.  What is interesting about the chapter you’ve chosen?  Why did you choose it?  What does the chapter reveal about Margery Kempe? about medieval English culture?  Does the chapter fit the Middle Ages as you conceive of the period?  You’ve now read a good sampling of medieval works.  Is Margery Kempe typical or atypical of the Middle Ages as you perceive the period?  How is she different from or similar to the male writers we’ve been reading?  What do the differences and similarities tell us about medieval English culture?  Why do people react the way they do to her?  Is she a threat to medieval society in some way?
M Oct 28	The Book of Margery Kempe, Book I, Chapters 45-63 (pp. 145-196) Response Paper Assignment:  What is it about Margery Kempe that elicits such violent opposition and anger from the people around her?  What is it about Margery Kempe’s behavior that might be perceived as a threat to accepted norms of propriety and decorum in society?  Why are people so annoyed with her weeping and crying?  What is it about Margery Kempe’s spirituality that might be perceived as a threat to accepted norms of religion and spiritual life?  Why do her enemies keep testing her on the articles of faith, especially on her beliefs about the Eucharist?  What is it about Margery Kempe’s ideas and example that might be perceived as a threat to the social institution of marriage?  How does Margery feel about marriage?  What does her example say to others about the institution?  What is it about Margery Kempe’s choices in life that might be perceived as a threat to male dominance in her society?  How are her actions and beliefs a threat to the patriarchy?  Why do mayors, bishops, and pastors want her out of their territories?  What threat does she pose to their peaceful rule?
R Oct 31	The Book of Margery Kempe, Book I, Chapters 67-77, and Book II, Chapters 1-10 (pp. 202-224 and 263-297) Response Paper Assignment:  Is the Margery Kempe of Book II different from the Margery Kempe of Book I?  Choose one episode from Book II that seems to you to show Margery in a totally new light or that illustrates how Margery has remained unchanged.
M Nov 4	Brome Abraham and Isaac and Chester Abraham and Isaac (Early English Drama, pp. 138-150 and 324-342) Response Paper Assignment:  How are these two retellings of the same story different from one another?  Using mostly the same material, sometimes even the very same speeches, how do the two plays differ?  Be careful to look closely at the details of each.  What do the differences between the two plays indicate about the different purposes of their writers?  Does each version emphasize different parts of the story over others?  What do each version’s emphases tell you about the focus of each play?
R Nov 7	Wakefield Noah and Wakefield Second Shepherds’ Play (Early English Drama, pp. 309-323 and 343-363) Response Paper Assignment:  In both these plays, the essential biblical story becomes the kernel of something much more elaborate.  In the Noah play, the relationship between Noah and his wife is greatly elaborated over what appears in Scripture.  In the Second Shepherds’ Play, the plot involving Mak is a complete fabrication that builds on the biblical story of the shepherds of Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s nativity.  What are the themes of these elaborations on the biblical stories?  How do Noah and his wife relate to one another?  Do their relations change?  If so, why and in what way?  How do the characters in the Mak plot relate to one another?  Do their relations change?  If so, why and in what way?
M Nov 11	The Play of the Sacrament (Early English Drama, pp. 277-305) Response Paper Assignment:  At the time The Play of the Sacrament was written, there were no English Jews.  They had all been expelled from the British Isles long before.  So, why would a play about Jews who abuse the Christian Eucharist be popular in England?  Since there are no physical Jews in England at the time of The Play of the Sacrament, what might the fictional Jews of the play represent for an English audience?  How does the subplot about the quack doctor in the middle of the play relate to the main plot?  What social purpose might this play serve for an English audience?  What social need does it satisfy?
R Nov 14	Mankind (Early English Drama, pp. 108-135) Response Paper Assignment:  What causes Mankind’s decline into sin?  What distracts him from being good?  Does his decline into sin and his later redemption fit with the beliefs of other works we’ve read this semester?  How does the humor in Mankind work to advance the serious allegorical themes?  Does the allegory work on multiple levels?
M Nov 18	Digby Mary Magdalene, pp. 189-223 (in Early English Drama) Response Paper Assignment:  Whenever I read the Digby Mary Magdalene, what interests me most is the way that all the different people in the play are portrayed.  There are emperors, kings, rich men, tavern people, Satan, pious Jews, Christian disciples, pious women, etc.  Choose one character, preferably a minor one.  What seems to motivate that character?  From the various characters’ motivations, what impression do you get of the play’s attitude toward human beings and human society?
R Nov 21	Digby Mary Magdalene, pp. 223-252 (in Early English Drama) Response Paper Assignment:  In the second half of the play, Mary accomplishes a great many things against impossible odds.  Is it important that she’s a woman?  As a woman, wherein does she have the power to accomplish what she accomplishes?  Would she have the same power if she were a man?  Does she remind you of Margery Kempe?  How is she like and unlike Margery?
M Nov 25	Le Morte D’Arthur, Books I and III (pp. 1-48 and 79-101) Response Paper Assignment:  In Book I, why does Malory create so many obstacles and complications in the way of Arthur’s rise to the throne?  Why, for example, have his birth and parentage be so mysterious (both because of how he was conceived and because of his upbringing away from court)?  At the same time, why have so many affirmations of his right to the throne (Uther’s deathbed acknowledgement, the sword in the stone, etc.)?  Why have Arthur commit incest and infanticide?  In Book III, the Round Table is established.  What does the story of Sir Tor’s coming to court tell us about the values of the Round Table?  What do the events of the three quests (of Sir Gawain, Sir Tor, and King Pellinore) tell us about the values of the Round Table?
R Nov 28	NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
M Dec 2	Le Morte D’Arthur, Book VI, Book XI, and Chapters I-X of Book XII (pp. 175-208 and 608-648) Response Paper Assignment:  Focus your reading on Lancelot and love.  How is Lancelot like or unlike the knights of Book III (Sir Gawain, Sir Tor, and King Pellinore)?  What makes Lancelot better than the other knights of the Round Table?  What impression do you get of Lancelot in Book VI?  Does that impression change at all in Books XI and XII?  What do Lancelot, Guenever, and Elaine mean when they use the word “love”?
T Dec 3	PAPER DUE
R Dec 5	Le Morte D’Arthur, Books XVIII-XIX (pp. 785-864) Response Paper Assignment:  What do you make of Chapter XXV in Book XVIII?  Do the events of preceding Books justify what is said of love in Chapter XXV of Book XVIII?  Do the events of Books XVIII and XIX justify what is said of love there?  What does Malory mean by “love”?  Why does he write about it?  How does he view Lancelot and Guenever?  Why does he view them the way he does?  What does he value?
M Dec 9	Le Morte D’Arthur, Books XX-XXI (pp. 865-938) Response Paper Assignment:  Why does Arthur fall?  What brings about his end?  Does the destruction come from within or from without?  How so?  What does the destruction of Arthur and his court tell us about what Malory values?
R Dec 12 at 10:10 a.m.	FINAL EXAM

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