Course Catalogue

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This Masters 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.

10x2hrs session (1hr lecture and 1hr seminar) and 2x2hrs seminar over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This course may be taught in conjunction with ENGLANG4041, as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the MSc options for English Language & Linguistics and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Standard entry to Masters at College Level

ENGLANG4042

None

Essay (3000 words) - 50%

Text identification exercise with translation and commentary (1000 words) - 25%

Set Exercise (1000 words) - 25%

This course aims 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;

■ gain a detailed critical 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 occurs in a single genre.

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

■ translate and comment on select 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;

■ reproduce, synthesize and critically assess the approaches and techniques available to and used by contemporary critics and commentators in the interpretation of these texts.

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