Please see the link in the index bar above to access the powerpoint presentations that we have seen in class.
Following our unanimous agreement, our final exam will now be held in SH 1417 on Monday, March 17, from 7-10pm.
Week 10
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Tuesday, March 11th, 11:30 - 5:00
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Wednesday, March 12th, 9:30 - 12:00
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Thursday, March 13th, 1:30 - 5:00
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Friday, March 14th, 10:00 - 12:30
Finals Week:
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Monday, March 17th: 11:00 - 1:30
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(or by appointment)
The due date for the URL and hard copy of your online revision is now MARCH 13TH. Hard copies of your revisions will be due in class, March 13th, along with a copy of the original papers with my comments. The URLs are due by midnight (sent to me via email).
Consider the way in which the medieval period has been commodified in popular culture (become something that can be bought or sold), such as in movies, video games, or public gatherings.
Write a paragraph or two discussing your thoughts on the issue.
Due date: Tuesday, March 4th
Just a reminder, the medieval re-write project (worth 5% of your grade) is due in class Thursday, February 7th. Students will read their excerpts aloud at the beginning of class and then turn in a written copy.
Excerpts should not be longer than a short paragraph (about four sentences) and can be taken from a menu, movie description, cooking directions, or something similar. Just to clarify one more time: You will be taking the Modern English sentences and translating them into Middle English as well as you can.
Be sure to have fun with this. I am not grading on accuracy, but rather on the amount of effort and creativity that went into the assignment.
As we discussed on Tuesday, the new due date for Paper #2 will be February 19th.
I found two web pages (both posted by Professor O’Connell, an English professor here at UCSB) that deal with pronouncing and understanding Middle English. Visit this page for John Gardner’s guide to the pronunciation of Chaucer’s Middle English. Visit this page for a short list of commonly used Middle English words with their Modern English translations. In addition to the pages from Dr. O’Connell, I also found this page by Dr. Kip Wheeler (originally appearing on the Darkwing server at University of Oregon, but now hosted by the Carson-Newman College website) with more Middle English vocabulary. Take a look through the lists and work backwards to see if you can find the Middle English translations of the Modern English words from your excerpt.
English 10LC
Paper #2
Due Date: February 14, 2008
Topics for Paper #2
Write a paper answering ONE of the following questions. Papers should be 8-10 pages long, double-spaced, and with 1” margins. The paper should approach its topic by closely examining one or more of the works that we have covered in this class (use the handout on close-reading as a guide). Papers should not merely summarize, describe, or paraphrase the text, but rather, papers should exhibit a complex, critical analysis of the text using the paper prompts as a starting off point. Papers should have a clear thesis statement supported by each body paragraph. Each paper should also have a title that speaks to the subject matter of the paper’s content. Be sure to include citations for each of your texts in a bibliography at the end of the paper (instruction on how to properly cite internet sources will take place during the first week in February). For my policy on Wikipedia, please visit Professor Alan Liu’s page on the subject.
1) It is clear that writing styles change according to the period in which each author is writing. Do these differences also hold true in the way in which the masculine gender is presented in the various texts that we have seen this quarter? Consider this question by comparing and contrasting the main speaker (or main character) in “The Wanderer,” Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.” Do they display any common characteristics, either physical, emotional, or spiritual? Is there an ideal which all three might find in common? Or do the differing periods in which they were written distinguish them completely? Be sure to examine key words and phrases, specific imagery, and figures of speech that may support your argument.
2) Assess the gender dynamics in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by considering the agency of at least three characters in the text. How and why does the Gawain-poet choose to depict the Green Knight/Lord Bertilak as hypermasculine? Why is the lady so aggressive, and why is Gawain so passive? What is the effect of such depictions? For example, do these depictions challenge traditional male/female binary oppositions? How does the depiction of courtly love within the text complicate these oppositions? Feel free to discuss additional characters such as Arthur or Morgan la Fay as they might pertain to your argument.
For those who need to cite the Saussure article, here is the proper citation:
Saussure, Ferdinand de. ”Course in General Linguistics.” Literary
Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden,
MA: Blackwell, 1998. 77-90.
