World Literature to 1700

TEXTBOOKS:

1. Virgil, Aeneid (Vintage, 1983), ISBN 0679729526
2. Ovid, Metamorphoses (Indiana UP, 1983), ISBN 0253337550
3. Marie de France, The Lais of Marie de France (Penguin, 1999), ISBN 0140447598
4. Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, The Romance of the Rose (Oxford, 1999), ISBN 0192839489
5. Dante, Inferno (Penguin, 2003), ISBN 0142437220
6. Petrarch, Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works (Oxford, 1999), ISBN 0192839519
7. Boccaccio, Decameron (Signet Classic, 1982), ISBN 0451528662
8. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Penguin, 1984), ISBN 0140424385
9. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (Oxford, 1999), ISBN 0192836773
10. Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron (Penguin, 1984), ISBN 0140424355X
11. a Bible with the New Testament (any edition or translation, but I recommend The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, 3rd ed., ISBN 0195284852)

RESERVE BOOKS:

1. John C. Barnes and Cormac Ó Cuilleanán, eds., Dante and the Middle Ages (Dublin:  Irish Academic P, 1995) – you’ll need pp. 11-31
2. Piero Boitani, ed., Chaucer and the Italian Trecento (Cambridge:  Cambridge UP, 1983) – you’ll need pp. 7-32
3. Richard Firth Green, Poets and Princepleasers (Toronto:  U of Toronto P, 1980) – you’ll need Chapter 4

COURSE DESCRIPTION.  In this course, we will focus on a pivotal literary text of European literature before 1700 – Dante’s Inferno.  Around this pivotal text, the course will explore literary and historical relations – the textual “ancestors” and “progeny” that influenced or rewrote the Inferno, as well as the philological, social, and political contexts that surrounded Dante’s text.

GOALS.  In terms of my goals for this course, I want you

1. to engage in the analysis and interpretation of texts in their concrete historicity – that is, in their diverse philological, historical, aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical contexts,
2. to develop an understanding and appreciation of the development of some of the literary traditions, cultural values, modes of thought, and uses of language in European literature before 1700,
3. to practice comparative literary and historical analysis, and
4. to enlarge the body of literature that you have read by becoming familiar with texts from other times and cultures, written in languages other than your own.

REQUIREMENTS.  This course has the following graded assignments:

1. a mid-term exam (260 points),
2. 12 two-page response papers (15 points each),
3. PAPER 1 (100 points),
4. PAPER 2 (200 points), and
5. a final exam (260 points).

Your final grade will be based on a 1000-point scale:  A = 930-1000 points, A- = 900-929, B+ = 870-899, B = 830-869, B- = 800-829, C+ = 770-799, C = 730-769, C- = 700-729, D+ = 670-699, D = 600-669, and F = below 600.

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of 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 recapture the dynamics and flow of discussion for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  If you positively must miss class, however, 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 10:00-11:20 a.m. WF and by appointment.  If you cannot come to my office during these scheduled times, feel free as needed to call (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 automatically.  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 class from the list of your courses this semester.  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.

LANGUAGES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM. Languages Across the Curriculum is an initiative to infuse foreign language study across the curriculum, thus building on the skills of language-proficient students in courses where foreign language sources are not a regular component of the curriculum. Those students who have completed at least two 200-level courses in a foreign language or have intermediate level proficiency in a language and are interested in enhancing their work in this course through complementary readings or research in that language may enroll in a one credit Languages Across the Curriculum Independent Study, LAC 391. The specific assignments will be identified by the course professor and the LAC supervisor, Deborah Compte of the Modern Languages Department. Dr. Compte will assist you in accessing appropriate materials and engaging in course-related research and activities in another language, and will monitor your progress. A brief biweekly report of ongoing progress in relation to the LAC component of the course is required. The LAC independent study is offered on a Pass/Fail basis only and thus does not impact on your GPA, but indicates your initiative in utilizing your language skills to enhance your coursework. It will be noted as LAC 391 on your transcript.

You must register for the LAC independent study by the end of the first week of classes. The specific work involved in the independent study will be clearly identified and articulated in the Independent Study Summary Proposal which you will draw up with Dr. Compte, with the approval of the course professor. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Compte promptly at dcompte@tcnj.edu or at 771-2392 so that the necessary forms can be completed by the College’s deadline. This is an exciting opportunity for students with the requisite language skills to build on their expertise and complement their academic studies.

RESPONSE PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to write 12 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on the readings for class.  You may choose which days and which readings you want to respond to.  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.  In fact, focus on the one question that seems most interesting to you, and be as specific as you can, getting 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 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 in class on the assigned day), you will receive all the points that the response paper is worth.  The purpose of the response papers is

1. to help you in your preparation for class discussion,
2. to help me see where you’re struggling with the readings for class,
3. to help you develop your intellectual independence, and
4. to practice comparative literary and historical analysis.

You may submit more than 12 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 180 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 – absolutely no exceptions.  (NOTE:  Even if you do not submit a response paper on a particular day, you should still come to class prepared to discuss the assigned questions for that day, since we will focus on those questions in the in-class discussion of the reading assignment.)

PAPER 1.  Ulysses was definitely a popular figure in ancient and medieval literature.  He appears, for example, in Virgil, Ovid, and Dante, all three.  In Dante, Ulysses appears in Canto XXVI of the Inferno.  In that canto, how has Dante altered or maintained the tradition of Ulysses found in Virgil and Ovid?  In a paper of 5-7 pages, argue a clear and specific thesis about Dante’s use of the tradition of Ulysses by comparing Dante’s Ulysses to one other incarnation of the character (i.e., either Virgil’s or Ovid’s).  As you ponder the thesis you would like to argue, think about the following questions, but keep in mind that your paper should focus on your thesis, not on these questions:

• What characteristics from the Ulysses of either Virgil or Ovid does Dante use and admire?
• What characteristics from that other incarnation of the character does he revise or criticize?
• How does Dante’s portrayal of Ulysses relate to his portrayal of other pagan figures (e.g., the character Virgil or the virtuous pagans in Limbo)?
• How does Dante’s portrayal of Ulysses relate to his portrayal of Christian sinners in hell (e.g., Francesca, Farinata, Pier della Vigna, or Brunetto Latini)?
• What does Dante’s portrayal of Ulysses reveal about his attitude toward the author of the other incarnation of the character that you are considering?  How does Dante’s portrayal of Ulysses reflect or comment on the earlier writer, whose Ulysses has influenced Dante’s version of the character?

Note: You need not use outside sources for this paper (that is, sources in addition to the texts of Virgil, Ovid, and Dante); in fact, I would encourage you not to use outside sources.  You will submit this paper to me electronically in the “dropbox” in SOCS (not in hard copy or in class).  Your paper will be evaluated according to the criteria below.

PAPER 2.  You have options for PAPER 2.  Choose one of the following:

1. Canto 17 of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso has a number of allusions to Books II and III of the Aeneid.  How is Ariosto using the Aeneid in this canto?  In a paper of 5-7 pages, argue a clear and specific thesis about what Ariosto might be doing or saying by imitating Virgil in Canto XVII.
2. Of the cantos of Orlando Furioso that were not assigned in class, choose one that imitates another writer or work that we have read this semester.  In a paper of 5-7 pages, argue a clear and specific thesis about what Ariosto might be doing or saying by imitating the author or work that he is imitating in the canto you’ve chosen.

As you ponder the thesis you would like to argue, think about the following questions, but keep in mind that your paper should focus on your thesis, not on these questions:

• How and why does the canto you’ve chosen remind you of the work or author that it is imitating?  What is the significance of the similarities between Ariosto and the author or work he’s imitating?
• Why would Ariosto want to imitate that author or work here?  What effect does his imitation have?  What purpose might underlie it?  What advantages are there to imitating another author or work rather than making up an entirely new story?
• How would Ariosto’s audience likely react to the imitation?  What effect would it have?  How would the author or work that Ariosto is imitating have been viewed in Ariosto’s time?
• How does Ariosto use other writers and works (e.g., Dante, Virgil, or the Roman de la Rose) in Orlando Furioso?  Is he doing the same thing in your chosen canto that he does with other writers and works elsewhere in his poem?
• How is Ariosto’s imitation different from the original?  What do the differences say about Ariosto’s purpose and motives?  Is Ariosto perhaps reminding us of the other author or work in order to correct errors or point out limitations or agree with particular values?  Is he simply updating the other author or work?  If he’s simply updating, what does he perceive as needing updating?  Why does it seem to him to need updating?

Both your papers in this course will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Does the paper have a clear, specific thesis?  Does the thesis offer an interesting perspective or “hook” that is provocative without being gimmicky or offensive?
2. Does the paper's comparative analysis progress logically, with a clear, consistent focus?  Does the paper have a coherent overall organization that relates all the ideas of the paper together in support of the thesis (rather than simply providing a list of random similarities and differences without relation to one another or to the thesis)?  Does the paper have appropriate transitions to aid the reader (rather than weak transitions, such as "The first similarity...," "Another difference...," and "Also...")?
3. Does the paper provide relevant, concrete evidence (including brief quotations) and logically persuasive reasons for every assertion?
4. Does the paper show sensitivity to the concrete historicity of the literary works under consideration (rather than treat them as timeless museum pieces or reflect on them anachronistically)?
5. Does the paper exhibit confidence and insight when analyzing literary works not yet discussed in class?
6. Does the introduction to the paper offer an interesting, helpful preview of the content, logic, and organization of the paper?
7. Is factual information in the paper accurate?
8. Is the writing in the paper clear, effective, interesting, correct (according to the norms of standard American English), and appropriate to an academic setting?

COURSE SCHEDULE.  The schedule below is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.  I recommend that you check this online syllabus regularly over the course of the term.  Changes and updates will be indicated in red.  The books for assignments in purple are available on 3-hour reserve at our library’s circulation desk.

Date	Assignment
R Sep 2	Introductions
M Sep 6	NO CLASS (Labor Day)
T Sep 7	Monday Schedule Virgil, Aeneid, Books I-II Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Sep 9	Virgil, Aeneid, Books III-IV Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Sep 13	Virgil, Aeneid, Book VI Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book I Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Sep 16	Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books X, XIII-XIV Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Sep 20	Marie de France, Prologue, Guigemar, Equitan, Le Fresne, Bisclavret, Yonec, Milun, and Eliduc Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Sep 23	The Romance of the Rose, Chapters 1-3; Richard Firth Green, Poets and Princepleasers, Chaper 4 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Sep 27	The Romance of the Rose, Chapters 5 and 7 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Sep 30	The Romance of the Rose, Chapters 10-12 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Oct 4	1 John (the first Epistle of John from the Bible, not the Gospel of John); Matthew 5 (from the Bible); Marie de France, Lanval; Dante, Inferno, Cantos I-V Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Oct 7	Brunetto Latini, the opening to Il Tesoretto; Dante, Inferno, Cantos VIII-XI, XIII, XV; Christine Meek in John C. Barnes and Cormac Ó Cuilleanán, eds., Dante and the Middle Ages, pp. 11-31 Click here for the day's response paper assignment.
F Oct 8	DUE: A paragraph about YOUR THESIS for PAPER 1 (submit your paragraph in the “collaboratory” of SOCS before 6 p.m.)
M Oct 11	Dante, Inferno, Cantos XVIII, XXI-XXV Click here for the day's response paper assignment.
W Oct 13	PAPER 1 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
R Oct 14	Bertran de Born, “In Praise of War” (available in SOCS under “resources”); Dante, Inferno, Cantos XXVIII, XXX-XXXIV Click here for the day's response paper assignment.
F Oct 15	PAPER 1 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
M Oct 18	Petrarch, Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works, pp. 1-10, 21-77 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
W Oct 20	Mid-Term Exam Review Session (from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in Business 105)
R Oct 21	MID-TERM EXAM (A sample midterm, illustrating the format of the exam, is available in SOCS; the sample exam includes material from texts that we have not read in this class, so don’t be surprised or concerned if you are unable to identify some of the names, terms, and quotations on the sample exam.)
M Oct 25	NO CLASS (Fall Break)
R Oct 28	Boccaccio, Decameron, pp. 3-49, 255-265, 467-469, 546-550; John Larner in Piero Boitani, ed., Chaucer and the Italian Trecento, pp. 7-32 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Nov 1	Boccaccio, Decameron, pp. 286-321, 338-342, 411-431 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Nov 4	Boccaccio, Decameron, pp. 698-741, 787-807 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Nov 8	Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, pp. 3-86 (General Prologue and Knight’s Tale) Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Nov 11	Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, pp. 86-106, 258-292 (Miller’s Tale and Wife of Bath’s Tale) Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Nov 15	Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, pp. 320-388, 408-433 (Clerk’s Tale, Merchant’s Tale, and Franklin’s Tale) Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
R Nov 18	Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Cantos 1-6 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
M Nov 22	Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Cantos 9-12, 14 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
T Nov 23	DUE: A paragraph about YOUR THESIS for PAPER 2 (submit your paragraph in the “collaboratory” of SOCS before 6 p.m.)
R Nov 25	NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
M Nov 29	Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Cantos 21-24, 39 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
T Nov 30	DUE: A paragraph about YOUR THESIS for PAPER 2 (submit your paragraph in the “collaboratory” of SOCS before 6 p.m.)
W Dec 1	PAPER 2 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
R Dec 2	Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Cantos 43-46 Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
F Dec 3	PAPER 2 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
M Dec 6	Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron, Prologue & first half of First Day (pp. 60-101) Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
W Dec 8	PAPER 2 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
R Dec 9	Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron, second half of First Day (pp. 102-154) Click here for the day’s response paper assignment.
F Dec 10	PAPER 2 DUE (submit your paper in the “dropbox” of SOCS)
M Dec 13	REVIEW SESSION for the Final Exam 2-3:20 p.m. in Bliss 229
M Dec 20	FINAL EXAM (same basic format as the sample midterm available in SOCS) Section 01:  8 a.m. in Bliss 152 Section 02:  11 a.m. in Bliss 152

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