10:10A-11:00A MWF (30) 3 cr

OPEN TO MAJORS ONLY. DECLARED MINORS OBTAIN AUTHORIZATION FROM
BH402.

TOPIC: HEROES AND MONSTERS

This version of L297 is less a survey than a sampling of the very
"best" stories and poems from the early period of English
literature. It will mainly be a discussion class, but the
instructor will sometimes give brief presentations on Chaucer's
London, medieval women, popular religion, etc. in connection with
the texts.

Although our texts will have a lot of variety, certain concerns
will run through the entire course: most importantly, we will be
repeatedly concerned with the diabolical creatures, monsters, and
unruly women who challenge the patriarchal social order in the
often legendary world of the texts. We will be concerned with the
threats in the actual world of medieval readers which these
strange creatures represent, and the literary strategies used to
bring the "unnatural" creatures under control. One way of
controlling monsters, of course, is to send a heroic figure out
to destroy them, and we'll pay special to these heroic figures --
male and female -- and the socializing impulses they embody.=20
Students will be expected to be active participants in the
course. There will be frequent "response statements" (one-page
commentaries) as well as the formal assignments: two papers, a
midterm, and a final. YOU ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO TAKE ENGLISH
L202 BEFORE ENROLLING IN THIS COURSE.

Texts will include: BEOWULF, SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT,
selections from Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, THE BOOK OF MARGERY
KEMPE, lives of female saints, selections from Malory's MORTE
D'ARTHUR, poems of John Skelton.