Admission requirements
A knowledge of English grammar or grammar in another Western language is recommended for this course.
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 focus on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and through this text will give an insight into Middle English language, literature and culture.
We will read some of the Tales in the original language and translate parts of them in the seminars, for which you will learn elementary Middle English grammar. The study of Chaucer’s language will also reveal the differences between Middle English and Present Day English, while laying the foundations for the second-semester course on Old English, which explores an earlier stage of the English language.
In addition, in order to understand these remote texts properly, the lectures will deal with aspects of Middle English language and literature and of the cultural history of the Middle Ages, such as 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:
a basic knowledge of elementary Middle English phonology, morphology and syntax that will enable them to analyse fourteenth-century texts and answer questions or make inferences about the linguistic nature of these texts
the ability to read and translate fourteenth-century English
insight into the cultural history of the Middle Ages
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture (one hour per week)
Seminar (one hour per week)
Assessment method
Assessment
- Written midterm examination (2-hours) consisting of a translation and open questions (mandatory)
- Written final examination (2-hours) consisting of a translation and open questions (mandatory)
Attendance is compulsory. Missing more than two seminars means that students will be excluded from the seminars. Unauthorized absence also applies to being unprepared, not participating and/or not bringing the relevant course materials to class.
Weighing
- Midterm exam: 30% of final grade
- Final exam: 70% of final grade
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 6 or higher.
Resit
If the final grade (the average of midterm and final exams) is lower than 6.0, students may take the resit once. The resit covers the entire material of the course and the mark constitutes 100% of the final grade, thus replacing all previously earned marks. There is no resit for the midterm exam.
Inspection and feedback
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.
Reading list
Benson, Larry D. ed. (2008). The Riverside Chaucer, Oxford University Press, paperback ISBN 978-0-19-955209-2
Horobin, Simon (2012). Chaucer’s Language, paperback ISBN 978-0-230-29379-3.
Reader with background material, order via Reader Online.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Please note: it's not possible to enroll in MyStudyMap yourself for first-year-courses, the courses will state as 'full'. If you are a higher year student or pre-master student and need to take this course or a minor student Middeleeuwen en Vroegmoderne Tijd, please contact the education coordinator.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Students are expected to prepare for the first class. Information about reading and assignments for week 1 is available both on Brightspace (enrollment is required) and in the Reader. From week 2 onwards the weekly syllabus will only be available on Brightspace.
Textbooks need to be ordered as soon as possible so that they will be available by the beginning of the semester.