Module ENGL3661: Medieval Literature

Department: English Studies

ENGL3661: Medieval Literature

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to the English Literature of the high and late Middle Ages, concentrating mainly on the period ca.1300-ca.1500 (excluding Chaucer, whose work is addressed in ENGL 2121).
• To enable students to study a selection of examples of the major literary genres characteristic of the period.

Content

• This module focuses on English Literature of the period from 1270 to 1530. • Texts lectured on will vary from year to year, but will normally include topics drawn from the following:
• The Owl and the Nightingale
• Middle English romance
• Arthurian epic (the alliterative Morte Arthure)
• the works of the Gawain-poet.
• Fourteenth-century moral satire (e.g. Winner and Waster).
• Piers Plowman
• Secular and religious lyric
• John Gower’s Confessio Amantis
• the English “Chaucerians” (e.g. Hoccleve, The Flower and the Leaf).
• the poetry of late medieval Scotland (e.g. Henryson, Dunbar)
• Malory’s Morte Darthur
• the English mystics (eg Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe).
• mystery cycles and morality plays.
• The overall aim will be to give a broad and stimulating introduction to the major authors, genres and contexts of the literature of the period.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will gain the ability to read and understand a range of Middle English texts in the original language, and to analyse a range of literary works, taking into account their literary and historical contexts.
• The module also provides students with the opportunity to acquire:
• A understanding of the nature of medieval literature, and of the ways in which its assumptions about art, society and culture differ from those of modernity
• Appreciation of the role played by the imagination in literary production
• Knowledge of linguistic, literary, cultural and socio-historical contexts in which literature is written.
• Kowledge of useful and precise critical terminology.
• Awareness of the range and variety of approaches to literary study.
• Appreciation of the cultural differences created by time, and of the mechanisms by which cultural assumptions change over time.

• Students studying this module will develop:
• critical skills in the close reading and analysis of texts
• an ability to demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts, authors, and critical approaches within this literary period
• an informed awareness of formal, aesthetic and socio-cultural dimensions of literature and also an ability to offer cogent analysis of their workings in Middle English texts
• a sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language
• an ability to articulate and substantiate an imaginative response to literature
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to this literary period
• skills of effective communication and argument
• a command of a broad range of vocabulary and an appropriate critical terminology
• an awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated

• Students studying this module will develop:
• a capacity to analyse critically
• an ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way involving the use of distinctive interpretative skills derived from the subject
• a competence in the planning and execution of essays
• a capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• skills in critical reasoning
• an ability to handle information and argument in a critical manner
• information-technology skills such as word-processing and electronic data access information
• organisation and time-management skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures: enable students to gain subject-specific knowledge of cultural, aesthetic and intellectual issues in relation to individual works and authors, an area or period, or a theoretical or language-related topic; encourage students to be aware of the range and variety of approaches to literary study; present ideas and information to encourage, on the part of students, further thought and discussion
• Tutorials: enable students to explore, in a selective way, through small-group discussion, specific texts and topics (many of which will be addressed by lectures); to focus on selected literary issues and problems; and guide them in developing subject-specific analytical skills and knowledge
• Formative essays: are written on a text or texts, or a literary topic, and they require the student to demonstrate appropriate subject-specific knowledge and skills, such as the ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of concepts and theories relating to literary study. Written feedback is offered on all formative work. The first essay is carefully marked and returned to students individually in one 15-minute handback session. Formative essays allow for students to explore and try out without risk different approaches to and perspectives on literary texts; both essays are useful for revision purposes. A considerable element of choice of essay topics encourages development in students of their capacity for independent thought and judgement.
• Essay handback: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work
• Independent but directed reading in preparation for lectures and tutorials provides opportunity for students to enrich subject-specific knowledge and enhances their ability to develop appropriate subject-specific skills.
• Examination: tests the student's ability to present subject-specific knowledge, to select appropriate materials, and to construct and manage clear and effective arguments in a timed period; to demonstrate independent thinking, and test that students have achieved stated learning outcomes.
• Coursework: tests the student's ability to undertake independent research, to argue, respond and interpret, and to demonstrate subject-specific knowledge and skills such as appreciation of the power of imagination in literary creation and the close reading and analysis of texts; also tests the ability to present word-processed work, observing scholarly conventions.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 essay of 1500-2000 words.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University