Admission requirements
None.
Description
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 the English language and English literature came fully into their own in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and some of his contemporaries in the later fourteenth century. This course will concentrate on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: we will read some of the Tales and “translate” parts of them in the seminars, for which elementary Middle English grammar will be studied. In order to understand these remote texts properly, the lectures will deal with aspects of the cultural history of the Middle Ages: social structure, church and clergy, ideas about nature, love, sex, marriage, dress and food, life and death, and especially the tension between ideal and reality.
Course objectives
Students will acquire
1. Skills in reading and translating fourteenth-century English
2. A working knowledge of elementary Middle English grammar
3. Insight in the cultural history of the Middle Ages.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA English website
Mode of instruction
One hour lecture and one hour seminar per week.
Course Load
The course load of this course is 140 hours.
hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 26
time for studying the compulsory literature: 74
time to prepare for the exam: 36
Tutoring/opportunity to inspect exams: 4 hours.
Assessment method
Assessment
- Written midterm examination consisting of a translation and open questions (mandatory)
- Written final examination consisting of a translation and open questions (mandatory)
Weighing
- Midterm examination 30%
- Final examination 70%
Resit
If the final grade is lower than 6.0, students may take the resit once. This new test will cover the entire material of the course and the mark will constitute for 100% of the final grade, thus replacing all previously earned marks. There is no resit for the midterm exam.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Attendance
Attendance is compulsory. Missing more than three tutorials means that students will be excluded from taking the exam (or essay or other assignments) and resits. Consequently, the course cannot be completed during that particular academic year. Unauthorized absence also applies to being unprepared and/or not bringing the relevant course materials to class.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course, such as the weekly syllabus (from week 1, in the ‘Course Documents’) and assignments.
Reading list
Benson, Larry D. ed. (2008). The Riverside Chaucer, Oxford University Press paperback.
Horobin, Simon (2013). Chaucer’s Language, Palgrave Macmillan.
Reader with background material, order via Reader Online.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
NB: First year students will be enrolled by the coordinator of studies.
Students other than BA English language and culture studies need permission from the coordinator of studies before enrolling.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
Please contact Student administration van Eyckhof for questions.
Remarks
Students are expected to prepare for the first class. Information about reading and assignments for week 1 is available both on Blackboard (enrollment is required) and in the Reader. From week 2 onwards the weekly syllabus will only be available on Blackboard.