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Dr. Frances M. Biscoglio
 
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ENGL 295
The Canterbury Tales

Description:
This course examines Chaucer's narrative art and poetic technique in a selection of The Canterbury Tales. The literary, cultural, linguistic, and rhetorical background is explored to establish the context of these works and to aid the student in understanding it.

Objectives:

1. To train the students in Middle English sufficiently to enable them to read Chaucer's work in its original language.
2. To develop an understanding of the social, intellectual, and religious context of Chaucer's work.
3. To train the students to analyze the formal and stylistic aspects of Chaucer's work.

Competency Goals:

Writing:
To have students learn to prepare a coherent, organized analysis of a literary text that demonstrates command of the conventions of grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and sentence style.

Critical Thinking:
To have students learn how to examine and, using the data of the text as supporting evidence, to weigh the relative merits of alternative critical interpretations of the literary text.

Oral Communication:
To have students present ideas and positions persuasively in class discussion of the literary text.

Information Literacy:
To have students gain facility in the use of research skills, including appropriate on-line resources, and organize the material in an acceptable manner.*

Text
Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales. Selected , edited, and translated by A. Kent Hieatt and Constance Hieatt (parallel ME and MO. Text). New York: Bantam Classic, 1981.

Course Requirements:
Consistent attendance and participation in discussion of reading assignments. Since this course meets once a week, a maximum of two absences is permitted.
A weekly oral/written report, based on reading of assigned critical commentaries on the text. (30%)
Midterm (30%)
Final (30%)
Unannounced quizzes on the readings (10%)
Note: The midterm and final will be composed of two parts each: Part I will be a short (3-page) researched essay, prepared at home and due the day of the exam. Part II will be an in-class test, consisting of identification and explication of selected passages from the literary text.

*The internet will be an invaluable resource for you in this course. There are literally dozens of sites that can help you with translations of the text, commentary on the historical and social background of Chaucer's time, on his life, explanations of the pilgrims and their behavior, etc. A selection of a few helpful sites is listed below. Should you need help, the librarians are eager to help you find these sites, as well as many others.

  1. The Canterbury Tales (http://www.canterburytales.org) : This site has a parallel text, "enface ME/MO" for the entire text, including the Prologue and all the tales.
  2. Chaucer Metapage (http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer): This site is a rich source with many links to information
  3. Librarius The Canterbury Tales (http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm): This site provides the entire text of Prologue and tales in Middle English, plus a glossary that explains unfamiliar language.
  4. Harvard University The Canterbury Tales (http://icg.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/cantales.html): This is a beautiful site that provides multiple links about life and works, background, images, text.

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