Assignments

Reading for next class:

Please read Caxton's preface (which may appear at the end of your text) and the following books and chapters (I.i-xxvii, III.i-IV.xxviii, XI.1-XII.14, XIII.1-XXI.13). Please have read at least to XII.14 for the next class.

Note: Malory's Morte Darthur is available in two forms. The earliest text available for modern readers was Caxton's fifteenth-century printed edition (reprinted many times ever since). In the twentieth century, a manuscript (the Winchester Manuscript) was discovered, and some modern editions are based on this text. The version which Caxton used is clearly related to the Winchester manuscript, but not identical. In addition, Caxton introduced a number of changes, most importantly a system of organising the work into books and chapters. Recent editions based on the Winchester manuscript do not use Caxton's table of contents, but they should provide some reference to it for easy comparison. For ease of reference, I will give the reading assignment using Caxton's book and chapter numbers. If you have an edition based on the Winchester manuscript, look in the margins to see if there is a note showing how your text corresponds to Caxton's (e-mail me if you have any problems).

It should be noted that some editions based on either version may not contain the complete text of the Morte Darthur (they are abridgements). We'll talk about the implications in class.

Response Paper:

Read Chapters 1-3 in Wilhelm's The Romance of Arthur. If you have been unable to acquire this text, please click here. Write an essay with your impressions in response to the following questions:

1. How did knowledge about and perception of Arthur change over the course of time?
2. What attitudes are expressed about Romans, Christians, and heathens, and how do they relate to Arthur?
3. What attitudes are expressed about the supernatural in the histories?
4. What role did Celtic mythology have in the formation of stories about Arthur?
5. What famous Arthurian characters (other than Arthur) are to be found in early Arthurian traditions, and what do we know about them from those traditions?
6. Choose an episode from Culhwch and Olwen and speculate about its meaning.

Essays may be as long as you need to provide some speculative answers to these questions and to identify the textual basis for those answers. 2-3 pages might be an average length. Citations (other than page and line numbers) are not normally necessary; however, you should endeavour to keep to an essay format in terms of clarity of discussion and presentation (including meticulous attention to mechanical details such as spelling).

You may wish to integrate your answers to the various questions into a single thesis, but this is not necessary. You may also choose to focus more on some texts than on others. Remember that the main purpose of the assignment is for you to assemble some coherent thoughts about the texts in preparation for class discussion.

Response Paper:

For week 3 we will discuss Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) and its two main 'derivatives': Wace's Roman de Brut and La3amon's Brut. We will only have time to discuss extracts, particularly for the latter two, which will make the reading assignments complicated. Here they are:

• Geoffrey: pp. 51-77, 81-87 (skim these pages), 94-100, 107-119, 124-134, 140-173, 186-187, 193-198, 202-208, 212-222, 226-240, 247-267, 280-284 (this is about 160 pages total)*
• Wace: In The Romance of Arthur, pp. 95-96, 106-108, and the extract online.
• La3amon: In The Romance of Arthur, pp. 109-119, and the extracts online).

  * Note: The readings from Geoffrey of Monmouth are almost all reproduced in PDF format (from an earlier translation) at http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/geoffrey_thompson.pdf. If you are unable to obtain the text in time, please consult this web site. The readings in the online translation are as follows: pp. 1-25, 28-33 (skim these pages), 41-46, 54-65, 70-74, 79-115, 124-125, 130-136, 139-145, 149-159, 161-175, 180-198, 210-214.

Write an essay with your impressions in response to the following questions:

1. What is Geoffrey’s purpose (and how does it compare to the purposes of other histories we have examined)?
2. What is Geoffrey’s methodology for achieving his purpose?
3. How does Geoffrey advance the historical development of the figure of Arthur?

You should be able to come up with some speculative answers to these questions in about 2-3 pages. You needn’t make a full argument, but you want to note the episodes that suggest the answers you put forward. You may also want to refer back comparatively to the texts in Chapters 1-3 of The Romance of Arthur.

You do not need to write on Wace or La3amon, but here are some questions you may wish to consider as you are reading:

1. What changes do they make to Geoffrey’s plot or presentation, and what is the function of these changes?
2. In what ways do Wace and La3amon problematise aspects of Geoffrey’s History?

I would also recommend that you begin flipping through The Romance of Arthur to see if any of the texts interest you as a possible subject for a web report. I will be assigning web reports (which will not be limited to the texts in The Romance of Arthur) in the next week or two.

Response Paper:

Write on the questions I asked you to consider for last week:

1. What changes do Wace and La3amon make to Geoffrey’s plot or presentation, and what is the function of these changes?
2. In what ways do Wace and La3amon problematise aspects of Geoffrey’s History?

I would also recommend that you begin flipping through The Romance of Arthur to see if any of the texts interest you as a possible subject for a web report. I will be assigning web reports (which will not be limited to the texts in The Romance of Arthur) in the next week or two.

Response Paper:

Write 1-2 pages addressing the following questions:

1. How have the changes in the Chrétien's plot affected the theme of the romance?
2. Did the author simply misunderstand his source or did he have a plan for transforming the plot in order to address his own thematic concerns?
3. Who was the implied audience of the Middle English romance, and what were there expectations.

Note: Perceval of Galles is written in a fifteenth-century northern dialect; however, this is not the original dialect of the poem. Most of the language is fairly easy to understand, and most difficult words and phrases are adequately glossed in your edition's marginal glosses or in the notes. Nevertheless, you may find the following observations about the language helpful:

Spelling

• gh is frequently pronounced like and spelt f in places where we would not today (e.g. thofe 'though').
• words beginning with a vowel are occasionally spelt with an initial silent h- (as in honour) where there was in fact no historical h pronounced.

Grammar

• The southern Middle English verbal ending –eth (3^rd person sg. present tense or plural command) is –es or -is in this dialect. These forms are also used with plural subjects.
• The present participle –ing is in this dialect –ande (e.g leveande ‘living’).

Vocabulary

• Ne may mean 'not' or 'nor' .
• Gan is generally best translated as 'did'.

The language of the Alliterative Morte Arthur is substantially similar to the language of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Essay:

Choose one of the following topics:

• Stories of King Arthur and his knights were produced and re-worked in very different social contexts throughout the Middle Ages. Choose two texts, at least one of which we have studied in class, from two different social or historical settings which contain a common plot or motif. Discuss how the texts treat the plot or motif in response to issues relevant to their differing social circumstances. The first text may, but need not be, the direct or only source for the second text.
  
• Stories of King Arthur and his knights have been transmitted not only across time, but across genres. Choose two texts of different genres, at least one of which we have studied in class, and discuss how the conventions and expectations of each genre determine the use to which the author puts the Arthurian legend.
  
• Arthurian literature frequently idealises, but also problematises, particular social phenomena or institutions (e.g. chivalry, the nation, love, marriage, individual identity, etc.). Choose two texts, at least one of which we have studied in class, and discuss how they use the Arthurian setting to either or both these ends.

Your paper should be about 8-15 pages long, double spaced. In addition to the content of your discussion, your essay will be graded on the basis of format and editing. Primary and secondary sources must be formatted and cited according to MLA or Chicago style guidelines (or another recognised system). For further advice, see my essay formatting instructions.

Due Date: Wednesday, December 14 (if left under my door), Friday, December 16, if sent by e-mail.