Short Paper

For this short (5-to-7-page) paper, you should choose some aspect of Malory which you can explore within this limited scope. In other words, don’t attempt a totalizing reading; you won’t have enough space. You might consider, for example, a word study, or an analysis of a particular scene or minor figure. Keep in mind that reading Malory is not like reading a modern novel, so you might consider a paper topic which will allow you to analyze the “narrative grammar” of the text. In other words, you could choose a particular scene or episode and demonstrate the ways in which it is illustrative of Malory’s narrative strategies or styles. (Note the plural: one could easily argue that Malory uses multiple narrative strategies and styles.) You could take an even more formalist approach with an analysis of his prose style.

But these are just some ideas. The topic is up to you.

Outside research is not required but not forbidden. I don’t really recommend it unless you have something particular in mind. We will be doing plenty of research later in the semester.

The paper is due September 14th.

 

Waswo

Here is a link to Richard Waswo’s article, which I have asked you to read for next week:

http://www.jstor.org.libproxy2.usouthal.edu/stable/469088?&Search=yes&term=waswo&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwaswo%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=5&ttl=364&returnArticleService=showArticle

Please download it and print it to bring to class. You will need to be logged into the library system in order to retrieve the article.  If you have trouble, you can search for it yourself on JSTOR. Here is the citation:

Waswo, Richard. “The History that Literature Makes.” New Literary History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation 19 (1988): 241-64.

Watch this space later this morning for some words about the first paper.

 

Discussion topics for 8/24

Here is your open thread to post discussion topics for next Monday’s meeting. Any aspect of the text that you find interesting, strange, or baffling is fair game. I’ll get us started:

I didn’t ask you in class to read Caxton’s preface, but give it a quick look; it’s short, and both Shepherd and Cooper include it in their appendices. At the end of the preface, Caxton writes: “But all is written for our doctrine, and to beware that we may fall not to vice nor sin, but to exercise and follow virtue . . .” My former Chaucer students may recognize the first clause as a reference to the same verse from Romans chapter 15 that Chaucer paraphrases in his Retraction. We might discuss what this kind of aesthetic implies and whether it is sustainable in reference to such a text. We also might consider how this accords with Caxton’s other stated aims and arguments.

 

Coming out of retirement

This blog is coming out of retirement this semester for my EH 570 course, Malory and the Arthurian Tradition. Watch this space this week for further information. The syllabus is already available.

 

Retirement

I’m officially retiring this blog from classroom use, because it was becoming confusing to keep a single blog for all of my classes. From now on I’ll use this for general reflections on the field and on higher education, and I’ll keep individual blogs for each of my classes. I’ll post links here for the new course-specific blogs as soon as I bring them online.

I will leave up the old syllabi, links, discussion questions, etc., in case anyone finds them useful.

Edit: The new blogs are as follows:

For EH 102-105: http://jvhalbrooks102.wordpress.com/

For EH 215-103: http://jvhalbrooks215.wordpress.com/

For EH 311: http://jvhalbrooks311.wordpress.com/

 

Troilus Book One

Compare the narrative voice in Troilus and Criseyde to that of The Tales. What sort of relationship to his story does he suggest when he claims that he serves “God of Loves servauntz”?

Also, what can you say about Criseyde?  Can you “read” her?  (And I add the quotation marks for a specific reason.)

 

Miller, Reeve, and Cook

Though these tales are all fabliaux, they differ quite radically in tone. As you read them, think about how you might describe these differences. How are they different in their respective effects on the reader?

Also, in what sense does the Miller “quit” the Knight? Does he do so in the way the Host intends when he uses the word? How does the Reeve quit the Miller?

Finally, Chaucer offers another “excuse” at the beginning of The Miller’s Tale; does this excuse offer some kind of commentary on authorship?

Since I neglected to mention it last week, don’t worry about reading more of the Trigg. We will have plenty to talk about with the remainder of Fragment I.

 

Back on the air

Hello Chaucerians and HELers (HELerians?). As promised and at long last, I have posted the syllabi for this semester on the pages to the right. Please check this space often for updates, assignments, and discussion questions. Feel free to comment and continue our conversations from class any time.

 

Brit. Lit. Assignment

For our last assignment before the final exam, you should choose a passage from either Milton or Swift and perform a close reading.  Your passage should be one that we have not discussed in detail in class.  I will be gauging the progress that you have made since our close-reading assignment at the beginning of the semester.  The paper should be about four pages, double-spaced, and it is due on the last day of class.  This assignment will take the place of test three on the syllabus.

 

White

Here is our open thread for T. H. White.  Comments?  Suggestions for discussion?