Medieval Madness

From Zeugma

 Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, quem dixere chaos

Contents 1 Course Reading Material 2 Course Requirements 3 Schedule 3.1 Week 1 (Aug 31): 3.2 Week 2 (Sept. 7): 3.3 Week 3 (Sept. 14): 3.4 Week 4 (Sept.21): 3.5 Week 5 (Sept. 28): 3.6 Week 6 (Oct. 5): 3.7 Week 7 (Oct. 12): 3.8 Week 8 (Oct. 19): 3.9 Week 9 (Oct. 26): 3.10 Week 10 (Nov. 2): 3.11 Week 11 (Nov. 9): 3.12 Week 12 (Nov. 16): 3.13 Week 13 (Nov. 23): 3.14 Week 14 (Nov. 30): 3.15 Week 15 (Dec. 7): 3.16 Week 16 (Dec. 14):

[edit] Course Reading Material

The following are available from the campus bookstore:

• Augustine, Confessions (Penguin) - also available for download on Gutenberg (in EPUB, Mobipocket, Plucker, QiOO Mobile and plain text formats) and manybooks (in just about any format you could want! So cool! Check it out!), as well as online here if you have any Latin (or are interested in fascinating footnotes).
• Njal's Saga (Penguin)
• Jesse L. Byock, The Saga of the Volsungs (UC Press)
• The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (penguin)
• Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances (Everyman)
• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Duke of True Lovers (Persea)

There is also a coursepack which will be available from Cal Copies that will contain:

• "Decameron 3:10 (Devil Back in Hell)"
• "Decameron prologue and introduction"
• "The Art of Courtly Love"
• "The Romance of the Rose introduction and ending"
• "Peter Abelard, 1079-1142"
• "Laustic"
• "Equitan"
• "Decameron 4:5 (Head in Basil Plant)"
• "Decameron 3:1 (Mute Gardener with Nuns)"
• "Decameron 1:1 (Tancredi)"
• "The Vision of Christine de Pizan"
• "Christine de Pizan's response to Romance of the Rose"
• "Carmina Burana, Part 2"
• "Carmina Burana, Part 1"
• "Bernard of Clairvaux"
• "Augustine Bio"
• "Aucassin Nicolette"
• "Amis e Amilun"

[edit] Course Requirements

Your grade will be comprised of the following:

1. Pop quizzes, graded pass/no pass (15%): Sporadic quizzing throughout the semester will be done to ensure that you’ve done all the reading before you come into class. Some of these will be short-answer reading quizzes; some will be essay format, asking you to respond to critical issues of the text. You need 60% or better to pass the quiz.
2. Two library assignments (10% each)
3. Midterm and final, both comprised of in-class exam and take-home essay (25% each): The Midterm and Final Exams will be comprised of two parts: an in-class multiple choice exam testing reading materials and history, and a take-home essay on the literature. Please bring “form 882-E” scantrons (blue-green) to class on days of assigned exams. You will then have one week to complete the essay portion of the exam. Questions will range from the historical to the literary;you will be expected to know titles, authors, and (approximate) dates of composition, as well as main characters, themes, major issues and concerns. You may also be asked to identify major passages and to comment upon them. Exams may not be made up, unless advance notice and an acceptable, documented excuse are provided.
4. Participation and attendance (15%): Much of the most valuable work of a literature course is accomplished in the classroom. For that reason attendance and participation in all class discussion are mandatory. In addition to completion of the work above, students expecting an “A” in the class may have no more than two absences during the semester; students expecting a “B” may miss no more than 3-4 classes maximum. More than six absences from the class will result in failure of the course. The following behaviors constitute non-participationand will be counted as such: leaving class early or arriving late, getting up and wandering in and out of the classroom, texting during classroom time, or doing anything else that distracts from the work at hand. Please note that there is no such thing as an excused absence. If you’re not in class, you’re not here doing the work. Those absences granted in the syllabus are for emergencies only; please do not squander them.

[edit] Schedule

[edit] Week 1 (Aug 31):

M: Introduction

W: Augustine

[edit] Week 2 (Sept. 7):

M: HOLIDAY

W: Augustine

[edit] Week 3 (Sept. 14):

M: Volsung’s Saga

W: Volsung’s Saga

[edit] Week 4 (Sept.21):

M: Njal’s Saga

W: Njal’s Saga

[edit] Week 5 (Sept. 28):

M: NO CLASS MEETING. Reading: Selections from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights (coursepack). Library Project #1 on Blackboard; due by 5 pm

W: Selections from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights (coursepack)

[edit] Week 6 (Oct. 5):

M: The Twelfth-Century Renaissance.“Abelard” (in coursepack) and “History of My Calamities,” from Abelard and Heloise

W: Reading: The Art of Courtly Love (coursepack); Marie de France, “Equitan” (coursepack)

[edit] Week 7 (Oct. 12):

M: Romance of the Rose selections; reply from Christine de Pizan; “Laustic,” by Marie de France (all in coursepack)

W: NO CLASS

[edit] Week 8 (Oct. 19):

M: MIDTERM.

W: Chretien de Troyes: “Erec and Enide,” in Arthurian Romances

[edit] Week 9 (Oct. 26):

M: Chretien de Troyes: “Erec and Enide,” in Arthurian Romances. MIDTERM ESSAY DUE in class.

W: “Yvain,” in Arthurian Romances

[edit] Week 10 (Nov. 2):

M: “Yvain,” in Arthurian Romances W: Chretien de Troyes: “Lancelot,” in Arthurian Romances

[edit] Week 11 (Nov. 9):

M: “Lancelot” cont W: HOLIDAY

[edit] Week 12 (Nov. 16):

M: The Waning of the Middle Ages. Reading: Christine de Pizan: Book of the Duke of True Lovers W: Book of the Duke of True Lovers

[edit] Week 13 (Nov. 23):

M: Reading: Boccaccio: Decameron Prologue and Introduction (coursepack).

W: Furlough Day.

[edit] Week 14 (Nov. 30):

M: Decameron 1.1 and 1.2

W: Decameron 3.1 and 3.10

[edit] Week 15 (Dec. 7):

M: Decameron 4.5

W: Final Exam essay question distributed; due on day of final exam

[edit] Week 16 (Dec. 14):

W: Final Exam: Wednesday, Dec 16, 1-3 pm