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Course Assignments

Final Exam Preview

General Instructions: Bring a large bluebook (or 2) without your name on it (we will collect them and then pass them out). Date and time: Wednesday, March 19, 4PM-7PM, regular classroom.

Part I. 20 pts. Identification of passages from texts after the midterm. Ten passages on the exam. Identify for all the author (or anon.), title, the half-century in which it was written, and original language.

Part II. 30 pts. Select 3 of the passages from those in Part I marked with asterisks to discuss at greater length (8 will be available). Discuss each passage you select in these ways:

  1. 2 pts. Place the passage in the context of the larger work’s narrative (approx. 2 sentences).
  2. 2 pts. Place the text historically in terms of social and/or political issues contemporary to its composition (approx. 2 sentences).
  3. 6 pts. Discuss the passage in critical terms: what thematic issues does the passage express? How does this expression contribute to the development of these issues in the work? (Approx. ½ page.) Note: we will provide a list of themes to choose from.

Part III. 50 pts. Prepare the following question before the exam. On the exam itself we will specify texts for you to use in your discussion. No notes are allowed.

In each of the texts that we have read, characters have had an experience in “other” lands. Develop an argument about the importance of channel or border crossings in the 12th to 15th centuries. In developing your ideas and determining your thesis, consider such questions as the following. What sorts of obstacles or opportunities do these experiences present to the characters? How are they important to the development of themes in the texts? How are the historical and political changes over time manifested in the primary texts (i.e. the texts written in the Middle Ages) that we have read? For each text you consider, be sure to define what the “other” lands are. Support your ideas with specific references to the texts.

Essay Topic #2

The stories we have been reading show how marital, feudal, and amorous bonds undermine and support medieval society and politics. Compare and contrast how two of the following texts expose and attempt to resolve these competing relationships:

  • Lanval by Marie de France
  • Sir Launfal by Thomas Chestre
  • The Death of King Arthur (anonymous)
  • Sir Tristrem (anonymous)

Questions to consider include: Why were these in competition with each other? What sorts of crises do the competitions provoke? In what ways can they be resolved (if they can be)? Are some bonds more important than others? In what respects? In your comparison, take into account the language (French or English) and period of each work examined.

Follow the same guidelines for length, format, composition, and documentation as are provided below for Essay 1.

Due March 10, 4 p.m. Take papers for Professor Brown, French 137x, to Phelps 5206 (NOTE: the office closes at 4). Take papers for English 119x to Professor Pasternack's office, South Hall 2704, and slide them under the door.

Essay Topic #1

Write an essay of 4-5 pages (1000 words) on ONE of the following topics. Double-space your essay and number the pages. Be sure to provide a title that conveys a bit of what you will argue. Place your name, class, professor’s name and date on a cover sheet; put your title at the top of your essay. Please do not write your name on the pages of your essay, but feel free to write your perm number on the pages of your essay.

You should provide all quotations with line numbers (for Lancelot) or page numbers (for History of the Kings of Britain) and put on a "Works Cited" list the bibliographical information for the editions you are using, following a standard bibliographical format such as MLA or Chicago. We do not require or suggest that you consult any other sources, but if you do you must cite the appropriate source for any and all ideas that you have found in those sources as well as any phrases that you quote.

For help with MLA style guidelines, see Purdue University's OWL site, though do note, contrary to what this site shows, that we want your name and your professor's name on a cover page and not on the first page of your paper.

  1. Compare and contrast the concept of a hero as developed by Chrétien de Troyes in Lancelot and in the assigned sections of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. Who are the heroes in each work, what are their special qualities, and what sets them apart from others? What differentiates the depiction of heroes in romance and chronicle? Be sure to consider differences in how the heroes deal with borders, whether political, geographic, or social. In your paper, support your ideas with specific references to the texts.

  2. Compare the significance of political and geographic borders in Chrétien de Troyes’ Lancelot and in the assigned sections of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. What sort of obstacles and/or opportunities do borders present to the characters in the texts? Do borders represent important cultural or political divisions? In what ways is the crossing of borders psychologically, socially, or politically significant? Support your ideas with specific references to the texts.

Suggestion: first, think about the issues each question raises; next, figure out your thesis; then, determine the best structure for your essay. The questions in the prompts are meant to prompt further thinking but not to provide the structure of your essay.

DUE DATE: February 19, 2008 at the beginning of class.
PLEASE NOTE: NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED

Basis for Evaluation - Your papers will be evaluated and graded on the basis of:

  1. Clarity of expression (i.e., grammar, style, diction, and organization) and the depth of your analysis of the material assigned;
  2. Detailed references to stylistic devices and techniques used in reading materials under discussion;
  3. Relevant references to the readings that not only illustrate that you have read them, but that you have understood them as well;
  4. A thorough engagement with the themes presented in the lectures and discussion sections.

Essay writing structure:

  1. Introduction.The opening paragraph of your essay should identify the main focus of your discussion. It should not be a restatement of the question. Please avoid using the same phrasing presented in the question. In other words, it is crucial that you demonstrate a clear understanding of the question. Upon reading the essay question, identify key terms and phrases to determine how you will answer it and use relevant examples from the course readings and class lectures and discussion.
  2. Developing paragraphs. In the main body of your essay, develop a well-organized argument and discussion with supporting evidence from the texts and lectures in relation to the question at hand.
    • It is essential that you make each paragraph count and provide specific textual detail from the reading materials in your discussion. For example, use precise evidence in the form of brief quotations and paraphrase to illuminate the topic or issue and to answer the question or set of questions, always providing line numbers for verse and page numbers for prose.
    • The effect of your argument should build up as each paragraph contributes to the persuasive quality of your essay.
    • Your quotations should be brief and preferably integrated into your analytical statements, so as to make evident how they support your points and why they are relevant.
  3. Concluding paragraphs. The conclusion should synthesize the main points developed in the essay while drawing out their primary relational threads. You should concisely summarize how your essay has successfully answered the question without repeating what you have written earlier.

Some Reminders of Basic Principles:

  1. Interpretation ...
    Works of art generate an aesthetic as well as an emotional response in their readers or viewers; they thus depend on a set of rules and stylistic devices the understanding of which helps make sense of your aesthetic experience, which can be visual, aural as well as literary. As a result, when writing about a work, you should focus precisely on the language, especially vocabulary, imagery, antithesis, lists and repetitions.
  2. ... and Informed Response
    Writing about a text implies the work of interpretation and an informed response. An important aspect of this course is the development of your skills of interpretation, which should be informed by the form, content and context of the various works under discussion. This means that your essays should illustrate your knowledge of the concepts under discussion and should be grounded in specific evidence from the reading materials and class discussions to support your own critical response and conclusions.
  3. Avoid plot summaries but use significant detail from the work.
    In the essays for this course, please avoid plot summaries of the texts and focus your critical acumen on a specific analysis and interpretation of the work at hand. Retelling the story and describing particular characters should only be deployed sparingly in order to illustrate or develop a particular analytic point. Analyze how political, social, and historical contexts for the texts as well as their characters embody central concerns, themes, preoccupations, tensions or conflicts in the texts or works of art.
  4. Multiple readings
    Detailed and specific examples from the texts under discussion are crucial to the written work for this course. Reading the texts more than once will help you develop your ideas and locate examples.
  5. Scholarly sources and the research process
    In your written work, you may refer to scholarly sources, but in no way are you required or even expected to do so. If you do so, make sure that you document the use of these sources by using parenthetical citations and a "works cited" list. For further information about how to cite sources, in addition to Purdue's OWL site, listed above, see Dartmouth's pages on "Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement"
  6. Feedback on your papers
    Your graded papers will include annotations adjacent to and within the text of your essays that specify stylistic, grammatical, semantic, citational corrections, among other comments. Other critical issues related to how you analyze a particular text or the degree to which you address the question will be addressed as part of a brief narrative evaluation at the end of the paper. In order to accommodate the annotations on the paper, please make sure that your papers are double spaced with 1-inch margins.

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