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More Sample Syllabi
Dr. Rebecca Beal, Instructor
Instructor Information:
Office: 208 CLP
Office Hours: TR, 2:30-3:30; W 2-3.
Office Telephone (and Voice Mail): 941-6134
E-Mail: BEALR1@scranton.edu
Description: This course examines poetry and prose from the Middle Ages, with a focus on the legend of King Arthur and his knights, in order to analyze the elements and strategies of major medieval writers from Chrétien de Troyes to Sir Thomas Malory. Students will respond to the literature orally, in written
essays, and in examinations.
Note: this course meets the Medieval/Renaissance requirement for English majors (Area A) and is available for students seeking general education credit in the humanities. It is also a writing intensive course. Before taking this course, you should have taken an introductory ENLT course (100-level) and satisfied
the GE skills requirement for composition (most probably by taking WRTG 107.)
Attendance: In this course no student is allowed more than four cuts--two weeks of class. Except in unusual circumstances certified by your dean, more cuts will earn you a failing grade for the course. Habitual lateness will also adversely affect your grade.
Evaluation: because this is a writing intensive class, most of your grade will be based on your written work. However, I will also test your comprehension of reading assignments in quizzes and exams, and these, too, will form a significant percentage of your grade.
• 10% class participation, measured by comments on peer evaluations as well as by oral participation in class.
• 30% quizzes, midsemester, and final exam
• 60% written assignments
Projects and Assignments:
1) Assigned readings. You should read assignments before coming to class. From time to time I may alter the assigned schedule, so be prepared for some readings to be assigned in class, as well as for dates to be changed.
2) Written assignments: you will write seven essays. The first five of these essays will be at least two pages long (600 words); the last two will be at least six pages each (1800 words each, not including Works Cited), with one of the longer essays developing from a shorter essay. The essays are due at the beginning of
class on the dates assigned in the syllabus.
3) Tests and quizzes. I do not announce quizzes in advance, but I will drop the lowest two quiz scores. The midsemester is scheduled on our syllabus; the final will be administered during finals week as scheduled by the registrar.
Late papers: Late finished versions of essays will be penalized 1/2 grade for each
day they are late, except in the case of excuses certified by your dean. No essay will be accepted after a set from the class has been returned. That means that if your essay, due on Tuesday, might have earned a B+ (3.33), it would actually earn a B- (2.83) if you turned it in on Wednesday.
Late drafts of the long essay due for peer
review are not acceptable: if you do not have your draft for peer review on the assigned date, your class participation grade will suffer; you will still need to make arrangements with other students in the class and have two peer evaluations completed or your final essay grade will suffer.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE SWAMPED AND CAN’T
GET A PROJECT IN ON TIME: Plan your schedule carefully; if you do so, and discover you cannot turn in an acceptable project by a certain date, see me at least a week in advance to set up an alternative due date. After the fact excuses are not acceptable.
Plagiarism: In our cultural context, plagiarism--passing off another's work as
if it were your own--is a serious offense against the academic community. I expect all students to be familiar with and follow the University's Academic Code of Honesty as well as the statement in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. If you have questions, contact me before handing in the essay. Depending on the gravity of the
offense, penalties for plagiarism in this course will range from an F on a given assignment to an F in the course.
Texts: (letters in parentheses following each text will be found on the following tentative schedule of readings and assignments.)
Chrétien de Troyes. Arthurian Romances. Trans., intro’d., ed. William W. Kibler
(Erec and Enide trans. Carleton W. Carroll). Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1991. (Ch)
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2003.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D'Arthur. Vol. I. Ed. Janet Cowan. Intro'd. John Lawlor. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1969.
(Syllabus assignments for Malory will be listed by Volume, Book and Chapter number--for example, Vol. I, Book II.12 means read through Volume I, Book II, Chapter 12.) (M)
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D'Arthur. Vol. II. Ed. Janet Cowan. Intro'd. John Lawlor. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1969. (BE SURE TO BUY VOLUMES I & II).
Wilhelm, James J., ed. The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities 1269. New York: Garland, 1994. (RA)
Tentative Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Week 1 (August 30-September 1): Introduction to the Arthurian Legend. Read and understand your syllabus;
consider how the legend evolved in its earliest versions. For Thursday, read RA Chapter IV (Geoffrey of Monmouth). (Backgrounds, RA I-II).
Week 2 (September 6-8): For Tuesday and Thursday, read Ch, Erec and Enide. Short Essay #1 due Tuesday.
Week 3 (September 13-15): The Entrance of Lancelot into the Arthurian Legend. For
Tuesday and Thursday, read Ch, Lancelot (Knight of the Cart) (read the romance up through the episode of the Sword Bridge for Tuesday; finish the romance for Thursday). Short Essay #2 due Tuesday.
Week 4 (September 20-22): The Story of Gawain. For Tuesday, read RA, Chapter XV ("The Rise of Gawain"). For Thursday, read RA, Chapter
XVII, "The Wedding of Sir Gawain." Short Essay #3 due Thursday.
Week 5 (September 27-29): For Tuesday, read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Parts I & II; for Thursday, read Parts III and IV (both in RA).
Week 6 (October 4-6): Sir Tristan in the Arthurian Legend: readings TBA (RA). Short Essay #4 due Thursday.
Week 7
(October 11-13): Tuesday: Midsemester Exam.
Thursday: read M, Vol. I, Book I. Introducing Malory’s Arthur.
Week 8 (October 18-20): No class Tuesday (Fall break);
Thursday: read Vol. I, Book II (Balin--danger of chivalry).Short Essay #5 due.
Week 9 (October 25-27): Tuesday read, M, Vol. I, Book III (various quests at
the time of Arthur's marriage). Book IV, chpts. 1, 6-16, 20-23 (Merlin, Nimue, Morgan le Fay); For Thursday, read Book VI (Sir Launcelot.).
Week 10 (November 1-3): For Tuesday, read M, the first half of Book VII to Chapter XIX (Sir Gareth). For Thursday, read the rest of M, Vol. I, Book VII.
Week 11 (November 8-10): For
Tuesday, bring two drafts of your first long essay to class for peer reviews; for Thursday, read M, Extracts from Vol. II, Book X, 5-15, 21-22,24, 26-32, 58.
Week 12 (November 15-17): Tuesday: first long essay due. we’ll probably read M, extracts from Vol. II, , Book XI.1-3, 6-10; Book XII.1-9; other readings TBA. Long Essay #1
due.
Week 13 (November 22-24): Tuesday. Read M, Vol. II, Book XVIII (Launcelot and Guinevere); Thursday: No class: Thanksgiving
Week 14 (November 29-December 1). Tuesday: Read M, Vol. II, Book XIX (more of Launcelot and Guinevere). Thursday: bring two drafts of your final essay to class for peer review.
Week 15
(December 6-8): Read M, Vol. II, Books XX and XXI. Long Essay #2 due on Thursday.
Final exam week: December 13-17.
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