CARNAL SPEAKING:

A SYLLABUS OF READINGS
Back to: top   aims   fulfillments   requirements   texts   syllabus   grading     plagiarism Note: by "read" I mean "have read." The essays read on a particular day are to be discussed that day, having been read by you beforehand. I mention this only because some students have asked me about this in the past. For the first day, of course, you will have to read the assignment after we've talked about it. Christine of Pizan writing INTRODUCTION Wednesday January 13 The English Middle Ages: An Introduction to language and literature. The Invasions of England. The quagmires of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The aims of the course, "carnal speaking." Lyrics: "Sumer is icumen in" and other poems (handout). Monday January 18 MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY: CLASS CANCELLED. Wednesday January 20 Read selections from Augustine's The Teacher on the purposes of speaking, and read the selection from Geoffrey of Vinsauf's Poetria Nova (handouts and on Blackboard). SPEAKING FROM BELOW THE BELT Monday January 25 Read Chaucer's Miller's Tale (on Blackboard), with an eye to the uses of the effictio, and how men can speak through their ass. Wednesday January 27 Read "The Four Wishes of Saint Martin" and "The Knight Who Could Make Cunts Talk" (Blackboard). Read "Dame Sirith" in Dunn and Byrnes. Read "This Prick Which is Not One," by E. Jane Byrnes (Blackboard). SPEAKING OF VIRGINITY Monday February 1 More lyrics: "Nou Goth Sonne Vnder Wod," "Adam Lay Ibounden," "Mayden in the Moor Lay," "The Corpus Christi Carol," "I Sing of a Mayden," called "Christ and his Mother," in Dunn and Byrnes, p. 515. Read also "Nou Sprinkes the Sprai" (in Dunn and Byrnes, p. 203). Read part of "The Paradox of Mary's Body by Theresa Coletti, in Feminist Approaches, pp. 65-71 only (Blackboard). Wednesday February 3 Hali Meiðhad, a.k.a. "Letter on Virginity." (Blackboard). Look at the selected passages in Dunne and Byrnes ("Holy Maidenhead") and note what they emphasize or leave out. SPEAKING ILL OF WOMEN Monday February 8 FIRST PAPER DUE Read EVERYTHING on Blackboard that I have assigned from Woman Defamed, Woman Defended having to do with scriptural, classical, and clerical misogyny: Juvenal, Genesis 1:25-27, 2:15-3:7; Proverbs 7:4-27; Ecclesiastes 7; The Temptress and the Whore from Revelation. Then read the early Church Fathers, especially Saint Jerome "Against Jovinian." Blackboard. Read The Testament of Cresseid, by Robert Henryson, in Dunn and Byrnes. Wednesday February 10 Read Aristotle and Galen on women's generative anatomy, and the notion of the "reverse penis" (Blackboard). Read all of The Secrets of Women, ed. Lemay. COURTLY LOVE Monday February 15 From 11:05-11:50: Discuss The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris. Wednesday February 17 Read selections from the longer and racier section of The Romance of the Rose by Jean de Meun. Monday February 22 More of the Romance of the Rose by Jean de Meun. Wednesday February 24 Read Christine of Pizan's angry response to The Romance of the Rose (Blackboard). DEFINING MASCULINITY Monday March 1 Read The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (Blackboard). Wednesday March 3 Read "Sir Launval" in Leskaya and Salisbury's The Middle English Breton Lai. BREAK -- Saturday March 6 to Sunday March 14 Monday March 15 Read "Sir Orfeo" in Leskaya and Salisbury. Wednesday March 17 Read "Sir Degarre" in Leskaya and Salisbury. Monday March 22 Read "Sir Gowther" in Salisbury and Leskaya. SECOND PAPER DUE. Wednesday March 24 Read the first two sections of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Dunn and Byrnes. Monday March 29 Read the third section of SGGK. Wednesday March 31 Read the fourth and final section of SGGK. SPIRITUAL AND CARNAL SPEAKING Monday April 5 Read the first section of Pearl. Wednesday April 7 Read the second and third sections of Pearl. Monday April 12 Read the last section of Pearl. ead also Susan Stanbury, "The Gaze on the Body of the Pearl's Dead Girl," in Feminist Approaches, on Blackboard. Wednesday April 14 Read "Stimulus Amoris" (Blackboard). Read selections from The Showings of Julian of Norwich (Blackboard). Monday April 19 Continue with selections from Julian. Read Carolyn Walker Bynum's essay, "Woman as Body and as Food," from her book Holy Feast and Holy Fast (Blackboard) Wednesday April 21 Read selections from The Boke of Margerie Kempe. Monday April 26 Read more selections from Margerie Kempe. Wednesday April 28 LAST DAY Read final selections from Margerie Kempe. Thursday April 29 FINAL PAPER DUE under my door by 4:00pm (411 Morey Hall) or by email attachment (WORD.doc only; no .docx).

Discourse and Body in Middle English Literature
CONTENTS	HOW I GRADE
Back to: top   aims   fulfillments   requirements   texts   syllabus   grading     on plagiarism	My criteria for grading are based on the following categories: 1) argument: how well you prepare your reader for the points you will make in your paper, and how well you make them by drawing upon convincing evidence in the text. So 2) attention: how well you examine the text and refer to it in order to support your argument. As you can see, argument and attention paid to text are almost inextricable. 3) Rhetoric: basically, how well you write; how well you manipulate language by using vocabulary well, avoiding repetition, long-windedness, awkward phrases, imprecise language, faulty use of idioms. 4) Mechanics: how well you proofread your work to avoid typos, punctuation errors, and misspellings. An A for an essay means that you are almost ready for graduate work or professional journalism and excel in the criteria listed above; a B is the average grade of UR students--somewhat faulty in all of the criteria listed above; a C is below average. I no longer allow rewrites of any paper, but I do encourage people to come to me about a grade, or trouble understanding an assignment. I do not proofread papers ahead of time, though. For that and further tutoring please go to the Writing Center in Rush Rhees Library.

Discourse and Body in Middle English Literature
CONTENTS	ON RULES FOR EMAILING ME
Back to: top   aims   fulfillments   requirements   texts   syllabus   grading     on plagiarism	I encourage all students to email me if they need to communicate with me outside of the classroom. Please note the following, though: 1) Please make sure your full name is included in your ID. Please have an informative subject header, and not one that I have sent you (i.e. "re: the last assignment") unless you are indeed responding to that topic. 2) Keep your emails polite, succinct, and to the point. I have to read a lot of email, and you will get a better response from me if you are concise. 3) I need to hear from you if you have a good excuse for not coming to class or requesting an extension on a paper. 4) I need to hear from you if you have special requirements that must be attended to (handicap, learning disability, etc.). 5) I will not respond to email that is rude, or impertinent. By the latter, I mean that which does not pertain to the professional goals of the class. It compromises both of us professionally if you don't follow this important protocol. In other words, I am not interested in hearing about your religious beliefs unless they prevent you from coming to class; I am not interested in your political beliefs or your sexual preferences; I am not interested in hearing about your distaste for another student, or in reading long gripes about my grading. For these concerns, please make an appointment to see me outside of class. 6) Please do not request by email any special information about assignments. If you are confused about an assignment, please see me outside of class. Please note that I do not look at drafts of essays, whereas I will look at outlines for ideas. 7) Above all, be truthful. If you have the sniffles, don't make this out to be the swine flu. "Not feeling well" is not excused. If you really are seriously sick or really HAVE been side-swiped on the expressway by a carload of bank-robbers, I will want to see some proof of that in the form of a doctor's note or a police report. :)

Discourse and Body in Middle English Literature
CONTENTS	ON PLAGIARISM
Back to: top   aims   fulfillments   requirements   texts   syllabus   grading     on plagiarism	Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. All of you, when you matriculated, filled out a form in duplicate attesting to your having read the University Policy on Academic Honesty, which is taken very seriously here, and violations punished. The definition of "plagiarism" is the use of sentences or parts of sentences from a written source other than your own study of the material (and that includes websites, printed material, papers that you purchase or download from sources like "The Paper Store" or "Reports and Papers" etc., and the work of prior students) that you do not cite, with the intent of deceiving your instructor into thinking that you generated them independently. It also extends to the use of ideas from a source other than your own study of the material that you do not cite with the same intent. In fact, intent is irrelevant. Any source material you use for a paper that you do not give proper citation to constitutes plagiarism, whether you plead ignorant of the rules or not, which is why I am reminding you of them here. ALWAYS cite the sources of your sentences and ideas, whether it be on-line or in print if you are unable to generate your own ideas. I subscribe to on-line essay merchants. Another breach of academic honesty is the intentional use of someone else's work in the class to aid you in completing your own written essays, whether it be the use of their ideas or of their writing. Anyone who aids another student in such a way will also be charged with academic dishonesty. If you are having trouble with writing, COME SEE ME, and I will probably direct you to a tutor if I can't talk you through some ideas myself. My inclination, if I catch and identify the source of your dishonest use of materials, is to fail you for the course. You can naturally appeal to the Committee on Academic Honesty who will hear your story before professors and fellow students, in which case your penalty may be reduced to an "E" for the paper, and a demotion in your final grade. But it will cost you in humiliation, and it will be kept on file in your confidential records; if you are charged with a second breach, you risk being separated from the University. Please exercise honest habits.