introduction to comparative literature: forms, genres, history

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English 498E / 516A Senior Seminar: Piers Plowman: Getting from A to B Winter Quarter 2008 TTh 11:30-1:20 Guggenheim 416 Míċeál Vaughan Office: A-2-A Padelford Office Hours: Mon/Tues 9:30-11:00 & by appt. Office Phone: 616-0563 Email: [email protected] GENERAL This ‘capstone’ course for English majors is designed to provide an opportunity for intensive critical attention to and extended discussion of two versions of an important and influential medieval English literary text, the fourteenth-century Piers Plowman. The seminar offers an opportunity for us all to draw upon our diverse literary experiences as well as the critical skills we have developed in the course of our studies of English literature. Having become active and informed readers of (at least some parts of) English and American literature, you should be now ready to engage in more advanced discussion about and deeper research into the texts we are reading in common this quarter. Most of you will not, I assume, have much familiarity with Piers Plowman, and some of you may not have done much reading in medieval English literature beyond Chaucer (if even that). You will, however, be able to bring your developing appreciation of the languages, literatures and cultures of the English-speaking world to bear on these texts and their social, political, and religious contexts. We will all presume that participants in this seminar have reached some advanced level of critical understanding of literary culture and are therefore ready to contribute informed, reflective responses to these texts and the critical works about them that we

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Page 1: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

English 498E / 516ASenior Seminar: Piers Plowman: Getting from A to B

Winter Quarter 2008 TTh 11:30-1:20 Guggenheim 416

Míċeál Vaughan Office: A-2-A Padelford

Office Hours: Mon/Tues 9:30-11:00 & by appt.

Office Phone: 616-0563 Email: [email protected]

GENERAL

This ‘capstone’ course for English majors is designed to provide an opportunity for intensive critical attention to and extended discussion of two versions of an important and influential medieval English literary text, the fourteenth-century Piers Plowman. The seminar offers an opportunity for us all to draw upon our diverse literary experiences as well as the critical skills we have developed in the course of our studies of English literature. Having become active and informed readers of (at least some parts of) English and American literature, you should be now ready to engage in more advanced discussion about and deeper research into the texts we are reading in common this quarter. Most of you will not, I assume, have much familiarity with Piers Plowman, and some of you may not have done much reading in medieval English literature beyond Chaucer (if even that). You will, however, be able to bring your developing appreciation of the languages, literatures and cultures of the English-speaking world to bear on these texts and their social, political, and religious contexts.

We will all presume that participants in this seminar have reached some advanced level of critical understanding of literary culture and are therefore ready to contribute informed, reflective responses to these texts and the critical works about them that we will be engaging with. We are all active readers and therefore able to deal with these texts as more than sites of book-report-able information, or of entertainment or distraction. We will all be able (in other words) to pose the kinds of questions—to ourselves and to others—that will allow us collectively develop some refined evaluation of how these works relate content to form, and form to content; how we might unpack these obviously related texts for their individual meanings and emphases; how we may articulate the ways in which aspects of genre and historical context affect the production of, as well as our understanding of, texts like these; and how such texts mediate between expressing their authors’ ideas and intentions and eliciting (and shaping) their readers’ responses.

REQUIREMENTS

Since this seminar is intended to provide a capstone to your work in courses for the English major, I will be presuming your familiarity with some of the critical vocabulary for analyzing and commenting on literary texts. Since this is a seminar, it will also require a bit more active participation than might be the norm in other, larger classes. You will be expected to participate in discussion, as well as complete the written assignments for the class.

Page 2: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

So I’ll expect you to be at each meeting of the seminar, prepared to discuss the texts in detail, having read the assigned materials for the day. (If health, or other, difficulties prevent your attending any meeting, or prevents you from meeting other assigned duties [papers, reports], you should inform me as early as you can.) Your active participation in seminar discussion will, of course, require some initiative on your part, but I will also feel free to call on individuals to answer questions I, or others, raise for discussion and response. As detailed below, and in later handouts, you will also do short, weekly response paper to share with the rest of the seminar, and you will also present an oral report on some assigned secondary readings.

Your grade for the course will be based on your performance in the following five categories, weighted according to the approximate percentages given:

1) Participation in seminar discussions – about 25%;

2) SIX response papers. Response papers should be typed on ONE SHEET of paper, and distributed in hard-copy to all members of the seminar at the beginning of the class meeting on the days assigned – about 30 %;

3) One 10-minute oral report, on assigned secondary readings; accompanied by a one-page abstract or outline of the assigned readings, which you’ll distribute in hard-copy to the members of the seminar – about 10 %;

4) A TERM PAPER (12-15 pages, typed; submitted with your course portfolio – containing all the other written work you’ve done for the seminar – in hard-copy no later than the end of the seminar on Thursday, 13 March) – about 25 %; and

5) A brief SELF-REFLECTIVE ESSAY (8-10 pages; submitted in hard-copy or by email no later than the scheduled time of the final exam: 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, 19 March) – about 10 %

As the above indicates, you will be doing four distinct sorts of writing for this course. I will read and comment on these as they are submitted, and return them to you as quickly as I can. I will also expect you to submit the entire portfolio of your writings for the course at, or before, 13 March).

The four kinds of writing are:

1. The ‘response papers’ will provide you with opportunities to articulate your response(s) to the readings we will be discussing in seminar on the days assigned for the papers’ submission: that is, these response papers are NOT meant to be devoted primarily to material we have previously discussed (though you may make connections to issues we have already raised in the seminar, if they are pertinent to the readings assigned for that day). I am looking for a focused piece of informal (not casual) prose, preferably discussing a single question or issue or problem (or related group of questions, issues, or problems) that your reading for the day’s seminar inspired. Think of it as something more than random notes you might up in seminar discussion, but rather as approximating a preliminary draft or extended abstract for a longer essay, typed (preferably in a reasonable font-size), and using not more that ONE sheet of paper. (NOTE: you will be excused from submitting a response paper for a week in which you present you oral report; in addition, you can take one free ‘pass’ during the weeks after Week 3.)

Page 3: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

2. The abstracts/outlines of the two pieces of critical writing on which you will present in hard-copy to members on the seminar when you present your oral report.

3. The term paper. More details on these assignments will be given when I distribute specific instructions regarding the topics and approaches.

4. A final, self-reflective essay in which you analyze your work for the class throughout the quarter. Think of it as a self-evaluation of the kind of things you’ve accomplished or learned in the process of reading, discussing, and writing about these literary texts. (I’ll provide a bit more in the way of details about this assignment later.)

While I will place rough ‘grades’ (i.e., plus, check, minus) on the response papers and abstract/outlines, and letter grades on the longer papers, I will not compute a final grade for these assignments until I have the opportunity to review the entire portfolio of your written work at the end of the quarter. (I also invite you to respond, on the papers I return to you, to any questions or comments that I may raise in my responses to them. I will review these at the time I go through the final portfolio and determine the final grades for these parts of the course requirements.)

The median grade for my seminars tends to be very close to the norm for classes at this level in the Humanities at UW: i.e., 3.5-3.7. That is the median grade, not the lowest. I don’t, for example, simply give a 3.0 for submitting assignments or participating in class discussion. I presuppose that basic level of class activity; grades represent my evaluation of the quality of those contributions.

If you have ANY questions about course requirements, deadlines, grading practices, or anything else related to the course, don’t hesitate to ask me—in person, or by email. If you are experiencing difficulties or don’t understand what’s being required, I encourage you to get in touch with me earlier rather than later, so that you (and I) can make any adjustments that may be necessary.

Required texts:

Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the A Text Based on Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson Poetry 137. Ed. Míċeál F. Vaughan: Online version, Winter 2008: http://faculty.washington.edu/miceal/PiersA

Langland, William. The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17. Ed. A. V. C. Schmidt. 2nd ed. The Everyman Library. London: Dent: 1995.

Reserve Books/Articles:

At OUGL: some under ENGL 498E, and some under ENGL 516A

I have also set up a electronic reserve, which you can access at:

https://eres.lib.washington.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=6064

Page 4: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

English 498E / 516ASenior Seminar: Piers Plowman: Getting from A to B

Winter Quarter 2008 TTh 11:30-1:20 Guggenheim 416Míċeál Vaughan Office: A-2-A Padelford

Office Hours: Mon/Tues 9:30-11:00 & by appt.

Office Phone: 616-0563 Email: [email protected]

SYLLABUS.

Week 1 T: Introduction, and Business.(8/10 Jan)

Th: A Version Prologue (Response paper # 1 due)

Week 2 T: B Version Prologue (Response paper # 2 due)(15/17 Jan)

Th: Passus 1 (A and B)

Week 3 T: Passus 2 (A and B) (Response paper: Tues Group)(22/24 Jan) Reports: Mann (Camryn)

Bowers (Ian)

Th: Passus 3 (A and B) (Response paper: Thurs Group)Reports: Lawler (Marisa)

Kane, ‘Open Letter’(Khanh)

Week 4 T: Passus 4 (A and B) (Response paper: Tues Group)(29/31 Jan)

Th: Passus 5 (A, and B [to 512]) (Response paper: Thurs Group)Report: Burrow ‘Action’ (Geeta)

Week 5 T: Passus 6 (A, and B [rest of 5]) (Response paper: Tues Group)(5/7 Feb)

Th: Passus 7 (A, and B 6) (Response paper: Thurs Group)Reports: Rigg and Brewer, Z Text (Corrie)

Kane ‘Z text’ (Erica)

Week 6 T: Passus 8 (A, and B 7) (Response paper: Tues Group)(12/14 Feb) Reports: Dunning (1980): 109-28 (Megan)

Frank, ‘Pardon’ (Chris M.) Fowler, LitRel 9-18 (Steven)

Th: Passus 9 (A, and B 8) (Response paper: Thurs Group)

Page 5: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

Week 7 T: Passus 10 (A, and B 9) (Response paper: Tues Group)(19/21 Feb)

Th: Passus 11 (A, and B 10) (Response paper: Thurs Group)

Week 8 T: Passus 12 (A) (Response paper: Tues Group)(26/28 Feb) Report: Middleton (JD)

Th: Passus 11-12 (B) (Response paper: Thurs Group)Reports: Dunning (1937): Ch. 4 (Neil)

Fowler, 18-42 (Chris W)

Week 9 T: Passus 13-14 (B) (Response paper: Tues Group)(4/6 March) Report: Kirk, 127-58 (Tim)

Th: Passus 15-16 (B) (Response paper: Thurs Group)

Week 10 T: Passus 17-18 (B)(11/13 March)

Th: Passus 19-20 (B)

(Term Paper (hard-copy) and course Portfolio: REQUIRED at class Thursday, 13 March)

(Self-reflective essay: REQUIRED [hard-copy or online] at or before 4:30 pm, Wed, 19 March )

RESPONSE PAPER GROUPS:

Tuesdays Thursdays1. Camryn 1. Marisa2. Corrie 2. Megan3. Ian 3. Erica4. Neil 4. Steven5. Khanh 5. Chris W.6. J. D. 6. Geeta7. Tim8. Chris M.

Page 6: Introduction to Comparative Literature: Forms, Genres, History

Abstract:

English 498E / 516A – Vaughan – TTh 11:30-1:20 (Guggenheim 416)

Piers Plowman: Getting from A to B

The main focus of the seminar will be the earlier A Version of the 14th century poem Piers Plowman, which we’ll be reading in the new, electronic classroom edition that I am developing. The relationships between the A Version and its continuation and revision in the B Version provide lively matters for literary dispute and critical reading, and some of our discussion will focus on the work of the B-Reviser of the text of A. (We’ll also look, more briefly, at the substantial Continuation that constitutes the major contribution of B.)

The seminar will examine a number of (related) issues: textual variants; authorship; whether the A Version is unfinished or incomplete; the status of the controversial ‘John But Passus’; and the relations of the poem(s) to the social and political turmoil of the latter fourteenth century.

The poem is in a ‘foreign’ language (Middle English), and my edition will be looking for ways to help beginning (and more advanced) readers to become comfortable with reading a text contemporary with Chaucer but in a rather different linguistic and literary style.

Students will make oral and written presentations to the seminar and will submit a term paper related to topics in the seminar.

For reading, I will provide a CD of the ‘beta’ version of my edition of A to the class, and ask the Bookstore to order a paperback edition of the B Version: A.V.C. Schmidt, ed The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17 (Everyman's Library) London: Dent, 1995. ISBN 0460875094.