Please note: there may be some adjustments to the teaching arrangements published in the course catalogue for 2020-21. Given current circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic it is anticipated that some usual arrangements for teaching on campus will be modified to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff on campus; further adjustments may also be necessary, or beneficial, during the course of the academic year as national requirements relating to management of the pandemic are revised.

Medieval English Literature 2 Non-Honours ENGLANG3003

  • Academic Session: 2022-23
  • School: School of Critical Studies
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 3 (SCQF level 9)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Available to Erasmus Students: No

Short Description

This course concentrates on Middle English literature produced between 1066 and 1500 and focussed on a particular topic, genre or author. For example, topics, genres or authors offered might be: Piers Plowman and Poverty in Late Medieval England; Women and Religion in Middle English Texts; Middle English Romance; the Middle English Dream Vision. The texts selected will be contextualised within the cultures and societies in which they were produced and received.

Timetable

1x1hr lecture; 1x1hr seminar per week over 10 weeks, as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Level 3 options in English Language & Linguistics and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Requirements of Entry

Grade D3 or above in either English Language & Linguistics 2A and 2B, or English Literature 2A and 2B, or Scottish Literature 2A and 2B, or at the discretion of the Head of English Language and Linguistics.

Excluded Courses

ENGLANG4042 Medieval English Literature 2

Assessment

Essay (2,000 words) - 50%

Text translation and commentary (1,000 words) - 25%

Set exercise (1,000 words) - 25%

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

This course aims to: 

■ give students the opportunity to analyse texts from the Middle English period in the original language;

■ interpret the ways in which texts from the Middle English period engage with contemporary historical events and/or linguistic developments in the period;

■ consider texts from the Middle English period in the light of contemporary literary criticism about them;

■ give students an understanding of the major works of a single author or representative works of a genre or theme;

■ trace a theme throughout a series of varied works by various authors, by a single author, or that occur in a single genre.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ translate and comment on a selected passages of Middle English literary texts;

■ analyse and locate select texts within the culture, society and the linguistic and literary milieux in which they were produced;

■ discuss the approaches and techniques available to and used by critics and commentators in the interpretation of these texts.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.