Chaucer Fall 2010 -- Mr. Furr
Homework Page
Back to Home Page for this course.
I will post all writing assignments on this page.. You should create a 'bookmark' of
your own to this page, so you can go to it without having to first go to the Home Page for
the course.
NOTE: BE SURE TO USE THE PROPER SUBJECT LINE ON ALL HW
ASSIGNMENTS! SEE BOTTOM OF HOME PAGE FOR EXAMPLE!
Be sure to "send a
copy to yourself" of ALL your homework assignments!
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
- For Monday, Sept. 6:
- send me two emails, from different email accounts, on two different
servers
- One of these MUST be the MSU 'mail' account. It is "free" (you've already paid
for it, in your tuition), but you MUST use it for this course.
- See the full instructions on the Internet page.
- See the list of free web-based email providers at the bottom of our Home
Page.
- Make sure that the Subject line of the email messages conforms to the model at the
bottom of our Home Page.
- Get the Post on 'Chaucer Resources for the Beginning
Student'
- Study Chaucer's poem "Balade de Bon Conseyl" ("A
Ballad of Good Counsel", i.e. good advice for a courtier), also titled (but not in
the original) "Truth". This poem is full of sophisticated expressions of the
values found in all of Chaucer's works to one extent or another. Learn all the vocabulary
-- it's very simple. Be able to translate it. In other words, learn it well. Print
the text out and bring it to class with you every day we discuss it.
- For Thursday, September 9:
- Set up FTP. Follow the directions here. They are also
linked on hour Home Page, at the link "Software You Will Need
and How To Get It." Follow the directions carefully.
- Download the file entitled "Chaucer -- Short Poems, Introductory
Materials.pdf" NOTE: you can also download
this from the web server here. It's a large file and will take awhile, but you will
not have to use FTP.
- PRINT IT OUT on your home printer. Bring it to class on Wednesday.
- NOTE that the downloaded file opens with "bookmarks" in the
left-hand column. Clicking on them takes you to a specific part of the text.
- On the PRINT menu, you can select just which pages you wish to print
out. In this case, though, print the whole text and bring it to class.
- WHAT TO READ FOR WEDNESDAY'S CLASS: Read "Selections from
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, on "Fortune", pages 6-8 (page numbers are
at the bottom of the screen in Acrobat Reader). Come to class prepared to discuss it. BRING
THE WHOLE FILE WITH YOU TO CLASS.
- For Monday, Sept. 13
- For Thursday, Sept.16.
- For Monday, September 20. Note: nothing to email for
today. But you should make notes, as requested, for your own benefit.
The Canterbury Tales - The General Prolog (revised)
See these images of the "Wheel of
Forture".
The Wyf of Bath's Prolog and Tale
- For Thursday, September 30. NOTE: Please remind
me about FTP information today.
- For Monday, October 4: Read the Wyf of Bath's Tale
(WBT). Bring your text to class.
- For Thursday, October 7: Be sure to bring both texts --
Kolve & Olson, and the Fleming article -- to class with you.
- For Monday, October 11. This is our introduction to
medieval allegory.
NOTE on Explicitly Bawdy Language
Explicit sexual and bawdy, or ribald, language and its use in literature was common
until about the second half of the 18th century. Since the Romantic and especially the
Victorian periods ribald language has been considered "obscene." Earlier works
of literature were either censored altogether or "expurgated" (= censored), with
ribald passages removed. The most famous example of this is the "Bowdlerization" of
Shakespeare's works by Thomas
Bowdler, beginning in 1818.
Not everybody supported the "purification" of literature through censorship
of the bawdy. In 1871 Mark Twain wrote "1601", the full title of which is "
Date, 1601. Conversation, As It Was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the
Tudors." You can read the
Wikipedia article about "1601"; the publication history followed by the text;
and a
facsimile of an early edition.
It's important to understand that modern and contemporary squeamishness about the
discussion of sex, sexuality, bodily functions, and the like is a mark of Romantic and
post-Romantic style and sensibility, and not an "eternal" marker of "good
taste" or quality in literature, art, and culture generally. |
The Miller's Tale
Allegory - the Roman de la Rose ("Romance of the Rose")
The Miller's Tale; Reeve's Tale; Knight's Tale
NOTE: For additional insight into medieval allegory, with special reference to gardens,
you may wish to download and read this really fine article by my old professor D.W.
Robertson, Jr, "The
Doctrine of Charity in Medieval Literary Gardens." Ignore the Latin quotations --
these are not even permitted in research articles any longer (they were in 1951, though)
-- and read the text. You will be greatly helped by doing so!
- For Monday, October 25. No writing assignment, but please finish
reading The Reeve's Tale.
- Please download and read Paul Olson's article on The
Reeve's Tale from Studies in Philology, January 1962. It is a big help!
- For Thursday, October 28. Bring the Robertson selection on
the KnT to class with you. We should be able to get started reading the KnT
in class too. Here's the link to the
Harvard Chaucer Page on the Knight's Tale.
- For Monday, November 1. Please finish reading the KnT. This is
a lot of reading in Middle English. Take your time! We'll do as much as possible of it in
class.
The Pardoner's Tale
The Merchant's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
Thursday, November 25:
Thanksgiving Day.
NO CLASS.
Spend this long weekend reading the readings for the rest of the course. |
Medieval Iconography in Art and Literature
- For Monday, November 29. I'll present a "slide show" on the
screen. This is required and there'll surely be an examination question on it, as
all these images are on the web. Be sure to attend!
The Boke of the Duchesse
We will end up our course by reading the beautiful and sophisticated "Boke of the
Duchesse". The text is not in your Olson book but can be found here, at the Online
Medieval & Classical Library.
If you want to consult a translation -- not a bad idea, but remember -- you will be
examined on the original Middle English text -- check this one,
by Professor Gerard NeCastro of the University of Maine at Machias.
Short Poems by Chaucer
- Thursday, December 9.
Chaucer wrote a number of short poems. We will read and discuss some of them today.
Monday, December 13: Last Day of
Class. (see the
MSU Academic Calendar). 
End of semester matters: papers due; final exam discussed;
course criticism; other matters. Please attend!
Final
Examination Schedule
http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/chaucer/chhw10.html | Email Me! | created 30 Aug 10