Room 272

The mind boggles:

Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog – film: Who’d buy a house in Hobbiton?

Dear Chaucerians:

This is just a reminder that the final for our Chaucer class will be today at 1:00 in our normal room. Please bring some paper.

As I have mentioned before, Geoffrey Chaucer hath a blog, and he has in the past paid us the honor of visiting our little blog. Believe it or not, an actual rapper has launched an unprovoked attack against our Geoffrey. Here is the exchange:

Cutting Contest

Be sure to read Chaucer’s brilliant response and counter-attack. (NB Baba Brinkman’s use of the term “grad student” as if it were automatically an insult. Sigh.)

Thanks to Karma for the link to this interesting article from Translation Journal:

Tolkien’s Use of the Word “Garn!”

Just a reminder: those of you who did not present on your final projects last week should be ready to present tomorrow night.

Also, please be ready to use your final response papers for class discussion tomorrow night. I spent entirely too much time talking last week, and I would rather listen.  Come on, it’s our last meeting.  Let’s have some fun!  (Of course, I realize that not all of you consider literary analysis fun–but it sure beats shovelling out the barnyard.  Sorry, I’m just reading the Nun’s Priest’s Tale.)

As I said in class, I would like you to look up the word “bathos” in a good dictionary. (I recommend the OED, available at our library’s site here.) Then try to find some specific moments in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale that demonstrate the concept. I don’t normally gush, but Chaucer really pulls out all the stops with this tale; it’s a virtuoso performance. Enjoy. (For added effect, imagine Foghorn Leghorn playing the role of Chaunticleer.)

As promised, here is a link to the reading list for the last two weeks of class. Our final exam is Tuesday, December 12th at 1:00. We have much to cover on Tuesday (Nun’s Priest’s Tale, Parson’s Prologue, and the Retraction), so please be prepared to hit the ground running.