In F502 students read a number of Old French texts representing different types of literature in the 12th and 13th centuries: Vie de saint Alexis, Jue d'Adam, Erec et Enide, Lancelot, Conqueste de Constantinople, selections of poetry, Roman de la Rose of Guillaume de Lorris, etc. Half the class is devoted to discussion of the text being read. The other half of the class is given to lecture and discussion of historical, theoretical, aesthetic, and literary issues pertaining to the genres and literature of the period. Students are asked to write a term paper (15-25 pages) and to take a comprehensive final examination.