AJ14000 English Literature of the Middle Ages

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2004
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ14000/A: Tue 8:20–9:55 31, M. Franková
AJ14000/B: Tue 10:00–11:35 31, M. Franková
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination && AJ04003 Intro. to Literary Studies II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course offers an outline of English literature from its beginnings to the end of the 15th century, including the historical background and some recent criticism. In the Old English period we will focus on riddles, elegies, the heroic epic Beowulf and the religious poem The Dream of the Rood. We will also briefly examine the phenomenon of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In the Middle English period we will be looking at Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and the Arthurian romances in the alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and in Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur. We will also trace the tradition of popular ballads.
Syllabus
  • Week l: Introduction OE riddles; Wulf and Eadwacer Week 2: Beowulf (Grendel) Week 3: Beowulf (Grendel's mother) Morgan: 'Female Evil' Week 4: Beowulf (the dragon) Niles: 'Beowulf, the Poem and its Tradition' Week 5: The Dream of the Rood Week 6: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Week 7: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales The General Prologue Week 8: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Martin: 'Two Misfits: The Nun and The Wife' Week 9: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales The Nun's Priest's Tale; The Miller's Tale Week 10: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Brian Stone: 'The Eternal Jewel' Week 11: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Brian Stone: 'The Common Enemy of Man' Week 12: Thomas Malory: Morte Darthur Bassnett: 'The Case of Quinevere' Week 13: Popular ballads
Literature
  • The Norton anthology of English literature. Vol. 1 [Abrams, 1986]. Edited by M. H. (Meyer Howard) Abrams. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1986, xxxvii, 26. ISBN 0-393-95469-2. info
  • STŘÍBRNÝ, Zdeněk. Dějiny anglické literatury. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1987, 414 s. info
  • TICHÝ, Aleš, Lidmila PANTŮČKOVÁ and Don SPARLING. Dějiny anglické literatury od počátků do poloviny sedmnáctého století. Část 1, Středověk [Tichý, 1982]. Vyd. 1. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1982, 99 s. info
  • Dějiny anglické literatury. Edited by Hardin Craig, Translated by Eva Masnerová - Zdeněk Stříbrný. Vydání první. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury a umění, 1963, 422 stran. info
  • TRNKA, Bohumil. Dějiny anglické literatury. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1959, 118 s. info
  • TRNKA, Bohumil. Dějiny anglické literatury. [D.] 2, Od bitvy u Hastings do doby Caxtonovy : literatura středoanglická (Přít.) : Dějiny anglické literatury. D. 1, Doba anglosaská. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1952, 161 s. info
  • Beowulf. Translated by Seamus Heaney. 1st bilingual ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001, xxx, 213. ISBN 0393320979. info
  • Beowulf : a verse translation into modern English. Translated by Edwin Morgan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1952, xxxiv, 94. ISBN 0520008812. info
  • Beowulf. Translated by Michael Alexander. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1973, 175 s. info
  • Sir Gawain and the green knight. Edited by Betty Radice, Translated by Brian Stone. 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1974, 185 s. ISBN 0-14-044092-5. info
  • CHAUCER, Geoffrey. Canterbury tales [Chaucer, 1975]. London: Dent, 1975, xx, 612 s. ISBN 0-460-00307-0. info
  • MALORY, Thomas. Le morte d'Arthur in two volumes. Vol. 2 [Malory, 1969]. Edited by Janet Cowen. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1969, 531 s., xx. ISBN 0-14-043044-X. info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Assessment: oral exam and participation. / Hodnocení: ústní zkouška a účast v hodině.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://www.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/category.php?id=4
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2004, recent)
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