Louise Bishop's teaching pages Paper format instructions | Office hours Tuesday 12:30 to 3:30 Use the weekly sign-up sheets on the office do Office 212 Chapman Class hours Mon 2:00-4:50 pm Class cancellation In the event of incleme weather and class cancellation (unlikely; live within walking distance of the univers please call my office p number: 541-346-073 class is cancelled the greeting message will state. Office phone 541-346-0733 ENG 620 Seminar: Piers Plowman, Winter 2011 Course description The story of English literature may begin with Chaucer's poetry, but fourteenth- and early- fifteenth-century England produced more manuscripts of Piers Plowman than of Chaucer's works. Piers Plowman provides a poetics, including the alliterative long line and allegory, and a politics that is at once royal, Lollard, and agraro-urban to explore issues of individual psychology, social justice, and Christian salvation. The poem minutely examines monarchy, marriage, conscience, sin, and subjectivity itself. Its breadth of interests, depth of inquiry, and manuscript history prevented the poem's appropriation for a literary history that legitimated Lancastrian or, later, Tudor rule. But the poem was claimed as a "proto-Protestant" text in the sole edition (1550) to appear before the Early English Text Society supported W.W. Skeat's editions of three versions (1866-77). The Norton critical edition of the B-text (eds. Elizabeth Robertson and Stephen Shepherd, 2006) will provide our base reading text. The seminar will situate Langland within what John Bowers calls "the antagonistic tradition" (Chaucer and Langland, Notre Dame, 2008) but also take the full measure of this rich, complex, and deeply-learned poem. Fourteenth-century intellectual and theological debates about kingship, Judaism, the soul, the body, the Eucharist, the active and contemplative lives, and poverty will inform our reading. Besides closely reading the poem and paying some attention to its versions, students will assess the poem's major critical tradition through the analyses of David Aers, James Simpson, Anna Baldwin, Emily Steiner, C. David Benson, Anne Middleton, and Andrew Galloway, among others. See http://www.piersplowman.org/ for more on the International Piers Plowman Society. The site includes searchable bibliography produced by the editors of the Yearbook of Langland Studies, and much else useful for a reader of Piers Plowman. Our class text will be William Langland, Piers Plowman, eds. Elizabeth Robertson and Stephen H.A. Shepherd (Norton Critical edition). This facing-page-translation text includes background material in the Norton tradition. You might also want to consult William Langland, Piers Plowman, ed A.V.C. Schmidt (Everyman edition). No facing page translation and squishy notes: this is a less accessible, but more scholarly edition than the Robertson/Shepherd. Other recommended texts are A Companion to Piers Plowman, ed. John A Alford (California, 1988); James Simpson, Piers Plowman: An Introduction, second revised edition (U Exeter Press, 2007); Anna Baldwin, A Guidebook to Piers Plowman (Palgrave, 2007). search Syllabus Winter '11 http://pages.uoregon.edu/lmbishop/english/620sylwinter11.htm 1 of 4 12/31/10 10:57 AM
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Louise Bishop's teaching pages Paper format instructions |
Office hours
Tuesday 12:30 to 3:30Use the weekly sign-upsheets on the office door
Office
212 Chapman
Class hours
Mon 2:00-4:50 pm
Class cancellation
In the event of inclementweather and classcancellation (unlikely; Ilive within walkingdistance of the university),please call my office phonenumber: 541-346-0733. Ifclass is cancelled thegreeting message will sostate.
Office phone
541-346-0733
ENG 620 Seminar: Piers Plowman, Winter 2011
Course description
The story of English literature may begin with Chaucer's poetry, but fourteenth- and early-fifteenth-century England produced more manuscripts of Piers Plowman than of Chaucer'sworks. Piers Plowman provides a poetics, including the alliterative long line and allegory, and apolitics that is at once royal, Lollard, and agraro-urban to explore issues of individualpsychology, social justice, and Christian salvation. The poem minutely examines monarchy,marriage, conscience, sin, and subjectivity itself. Its breadth of interests, depth of inquiry, andmanuscript history prevented the poem's appropriation for a literary history that legitimatedLancastrian or, later, Tudor rule. But the poem was claimed as a "proto-Protestant" text in thesole edition (1550) to appear before the Early English Text Society supported W.W. Skeat'seditions of three versions (1866-77). The Norton critical edition of the B-text (eds. ElizabethRobertson and Stephen Shepherd, 2006) will provide our base reading text.
The seminar will situate Langland within what John Bowers calls "the antagonistic tradition"(Chaucer and Langland, Notre Dame, 2008) but also take the full measure of this rich, complex,and deeply-learned poem. Fourteenth-century intellectual and theological debates aboutkingship, Judaism, the soul, the body, the Eucharist, the active and contemplative lives, andpoverty will inform our reading. Besides closely reading the poem and paying some attention toits versions, students will assess the poem's major critical tradition through the analyses ofDavid Aers, James Simpson, Anna Baldwin, Emily Steiner, C. David Benson, Anne Middleton,
and Andrew Galloway, among others. See http://www.piersplowman.org/ for more on the International Piers Plowman Society. The siteincludes searchable bibliography produced by the editors of the Yearbook of Langland Studies, and much else useful for a reader ofPiers Plowman.
Our class text will be William Langland, Piers Plowman, eds. Elizabeth Robertson and Stephen H.A. Shepherd (Norton Criticaledition). This facing-page-translation text includes background material in the Norton tradition. You might also want to consultWilliam Langland, Piers Plowman, ed A.V.C. Schmidt (Everyman edition). No facing page translation and squishy notes: this is aless accessible, but more scholarly edition than the Robertson/Shepherd. Other recommended texts are A Companion to PiersPlowman, ed. John A Alford (California, 1988); James Simpson, Piers Plowman: An Introduction, second revised edition (U ExeterPress, 2007); Anna Baldwin, A Guidebook to Piers Plowman (Palgrave, 2007).
search
Syllabus Winter '11 http://pages.uoregon.edu/lmbishop/english/620sylwinter11.htm
1 of 4 12/31/10 10:57 AM
RequirementsFirst assignment due Monday, January 10. A brief exercise in Middle English language You'll choose one word from a list,look it up in the Middle English Dictionary, and write a brief paper (about 600 words) on the word's etymology and meanings.Note subtleties and their effects on your reading of the line cited and, if you wish, on other lines in the Prologue in which theword appears. Due Monday, January 10. See sign-up sheet for words and line references.Passus/essay expertise. You'll sign up as "go-to" person for one of our class readings. That means that, while everyone willhave read the essay/passus, you'll have dug a little deeper. For instance, you'll have spent more time with the MED, you'll readthe "optional" readings, or you'll have found on the Langland online bibliography another article to read. Prepare a handout todistribute. Put your handout on our class's Blackboard site (if you expect others to print your handout before class, please postit to the Blackboard site before 5:00 pm Sunday night). With eight sign-up possibilities and ten students, we'll have two weekswith two experts: Monday, January 31 and Monday, February 7. Completing this assignment counts for 10% of your grade.Prospectus, annotated bibliography and topic presentation.The sixth week of class you'll provide the class and me,through Blackboard, a prospectus and annotated bibliography for your term paper (I also ask you to provide me hard copy).Besides the written work, you'll take five minutes of class time to present your thesis. Guidelines for prospectus. Theprospectus introduces the question at issue/topic you're treating. It includes the steps of your argument and your methodology.It shows the direction you're taking with your paper, and serves essentially as an outline. As such, it can be as few as 500words, and as many as 2500 or so. Guidelines for your annotations (with thanks to Prof. Lisa Freinkel). Each annotationshould be about 200 words and cite the article or book chapter using accurate MLA documentation style. Avoid summarizingthe article. Your goal is to explicate the author's thesis as concisely and clearly as possible. Details of the argument should onlybe mentioned when they seem necessary for understanding the author's thesis. A good annotation will give a sense of "what'sat stake" with the argument. Why is s/he writing this essay? To what critical trend or presumption is s/he responding? Avoidquoting the article. Occasionally a brief quote will be helpful to convey the author's position or his/her tone, but be careful! Youwant to explicate, not to re-cite. Be especially careful to paraphrase rather than quote directly if your author is using jargon,specialized or highly theoretical terms. Avoid editorializing. Be as neutral as possible. Your goal is not to critique but toexplicate. You are presenting an argument - not demonstrating its weakness. You may certainly include essays from classreading among your sources. But please do include other essays too. I would suggest a minimum of five sources. Guidelinesfor presentation Explain (a) the topic you researched, (b) what you discovered, and (d) its relevance for your program of study.Be concise and organized. In your presentation, do not summarize in detail the essays you've read (we already have yourannotations). Rather, your presentation's goal is to help us understand some of the ramifications/implications of your topic forPiers Plowman . Practice your presentation to be sure it's five minutes long.Recitation of Middle English. Choose a twenty-or-so-line passage from the poem, practice and perfect your reading of it, andcome to my office sometime during the term, before finals week, to read it. Completing this assignment counts for 10% of yourgrade.Term paper. Approximately 4000 to 7500 words. Due Friday, March 11.
Weekly reading assignments (Primary reading, secondary reading and optional reading)
Monday, January 3Primary reading Prologue and Passus 1: the fair field full of folk and Holy ChurchSecondary reading Hussey, S. S. "Langland the Outsider," in Minnis, Middle English Poetry: Texts and Traditions: Essays in Honour of Derek Pearsall, YorkManuscripts Conferences 5. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: York Medieval Press in association with Boydell Press, 2001. 129-37.Optional Anne Middleton's "Introduction" to the poem in A CompanionAers,David. "Vox populi and the Literature of 1381," in The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature, ed. David Wallace (Cambridge UP, 1999). 432-53.Hudson, Anne. "Piers Plowman and the Peasants' Revolt: A Problem Revisited." Yearbook of Langland Studies (hereafter YLS) 8 (1994): 85-106.
Syllabus Winter '11 http://pages.uoregon.edu/lmbishop/english/620sylwinter11.htm
2 of 4 12/31/10 10:57 AM
Monday, January 10Primary reading Passus 2, 3, 4: the marriage of Meed; Conscience, Reason, and the kingSecondary reading Trigg, Stephanie. "The Traffic in Medieval Women: Alice Perrers, Feminist Criticism, and Piers Plowman." YLS 12 (1998): 5-29.Optional Lees, Clare. "Gender and Exchange in Piers Plowman," in Class and Gender, eds. Harwood and Overing (Indiana UP, 1994). 112-30
Monday, January 24Primary texts Passus 5, 6, 7: confession of the seven deadly sins, the appearance of Piers the Plowman, and Do-WelSecondary reading Kirk,Elizabeth. "Langland's Plowman and the Recreation of Fourteenth-Century Religious Metaphor." YLS 2 (1988): 1-21.Optional Kaske, R. E. "The Character Hunger in Piers Plowman." Kennedy et al., Medieval English Studies Presented to George Kane (Boydell and Brewer, 1988).187-97.
Monday, January 31Primary texts Passus 8, 9, 10, 11: the inward wits -- Thought, Will, and Wit; Study, Clergy, and ScriptureSecondary reading Simpson, James. "From Reason to Affective Knowledge: Modes of Thought and Poetic Form in Piers Plowman." Medium Aevum 55 (1986),1-23Optional Simpson, James. "The Role of Scientia in Piers Plowman." In Medieval Religious and Ethical Literature, eds. Kratzmann and Simpson (D.S. Brewer,1986). 49-65.David Aers, "Class, Gender, Medieval Criticism, and Piers Plowman," in Class and Gender in Early English Literature: Intersections, eds. Harwood and Overing(Indiana UP, 1994), 59-75
Monday, February 7Primary text Passus 12, 13, 14: Ymaginatif; the feast; Haukyn the active manSecondary reading Hanna, Ralph. "Langland's Ymaginatif: Images and the Limits of Poetry." Dimmick, Simpson, and Zeeman, Images, Idolatry, and Iconoclasm(Oxford UP, 2002). 81-94.Optional Savage,Anne. "Piers Plowman: The Translation of Scripture and Food for the Soul," English Studies 74 (1993): 209-21.
Monday, February 14 Annotated bibliography and prospectus duePrimary text Passus 15, 16, 17: Anima redux, Abraham, the Good SamaritanSecondary reading Davis, Rebecca. "'Fullynge' Nature: Spiritual Charity and the Logic of Conversion in Piers Plowman." YLS 19 (2005): 59-80.Optional Clopper, Lawrence M. "Shifting Typologies in Langland's Theology of History." Typology and English Medieval Literature, ed. Hugh T Keenan, GeorgiaState Literary Studies 7 (New York: AMS Press, 1992). 227-40.
Monday, February 21 5-minute thesis presentationsPrimary text Passus 18: the Christ-Knight, the Harrowing of HellSecondary reading Waldron,R.A. "Langland's Originality: The Christ-Knight and the Harrowing of Hell," Medieval English Religious and Ethical Literature, ed.Gregory Kratzman and James Simpson (D.S. Brewer, 1986). 66-81.Optional Aers, David. "Christ's Humanity and Piers Plowman: Contexts and Political Implications." YLS 8 (1994): 107-25.
Monday, February 28Primary text Passus 19: the Barn of UnitySecondary reading Giancarlo, Matthew. "Piers Plowman, Parliament, and the Public Voice."YLS 17 (2003): 135-74.Optional Wurtele, Douglas. "The Bane of Flattery in the World of Chaucer and Langland." Florilegium 19 (2002): 1-25.
Monday, March 7Primary text Passus 20: flattery, Conscience, the never-ending storySecondary reading Aers, David (2000). "Visionary Eschatology: Piers Plowman." Modern Theology 16.1 (2000): 3-17.
Syllabus Winter '11 http://pages.uoregon.edu/lmbishop/english/620sylwinter11.htm
3 of 4 12/31/10 10:57 AM
Optional Steiner, Emily. "Piers Plowman, Diversity, and the Medieval Political Aesthetic." Representations 91 (2005), 1-25.
Back to top of page | Back to Bishop Home Page | This page last updated 30 December 2010
Syllabus Winter '11 http://pages.uoregon.edu/lmbishop/english/620sylwinter11.htm
4 of 4 12/31/10 10:57 AM
Related Documents
