This module provides the opportunity to study texts by two of the most influential writers in English Literature. In one strand of the module, students will explore the language, poetry, contexts, themes and critical issues relating to a selection of texts from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The second strand of the module is devoted to Shakespeare’s comedies. It will examine representative comedies from a variety of critical perspectives. Paying close attention to language, structure, and narrative, students will come to a closer appreciation of the ways in which the comedies reflect a relationship between art, theatre, and society.

• read Chaucer’s poetry with an understanding of its language and detailed implications, see the relevance of contextual material and be able to engage in critical debates about the texts in the light of modern criticism
• analyse how individual Shakespearean plays reflect, question, and engage critically with questions of genre, language, gender, authority, and theatre
• formulate comparative conclusions about the plays

The module will be taught in the Autumn semester and will consist of one lecture a week on Chaucer, alongside one lecture a week on Shakespeare. There will be one seminar a week, alternating between Chaucer and Shakespeare. Lectures will provide students with an introduction to social, cultural, and historical context, an overview of key critical approaches, and close analytical reading of individual texts. Seminars will continue to discuss primary texts in detail, and will work on developing skills in essay writing and close analysis. For the Chaucer component of the module seminars will devote considerable attention to understanding and translating Chaucer’s language as well as to literary interpretation.

This module will develop and practise skills in close reading and independent critical thinking. Students will be encouraged to contemplate the connections and tensions between the texts studied within each part of the module, and to formulate original arguments around that relationship. In so doing, they will develop their ability to synthesize information and to push ideas into independent, informed conclusions.

These essential skills will be developed in assessments that will help students to improve and refine writing skills. They will also be developed in seminar discussions that will give students the opportunity to practise skills in public speaking.

The Chaucer part of this module will be assessed by a 2.5 hour exam. The Shakespeare part of this module will also be assessed by a 2.5 hour exam. The skills tested in these assessments will include: critical commentary, translation (for Chaucer), and essay writing.

The module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:

In accordance with University regulations, students are allowed two attempts at retrieval of any failed piece of assessment, with the cap of the individual piece of assessment set at 40.

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: A Selection, ed. Robert Boenig and Andrew Taylor (Toronto: Broadview, 2009). [The complete Broadview edition or Larry Benson, ed., The Riverside Chaucer are suitable alternatives.]

The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt (Norton, 2008).

The following texts from the Canterbury Tales will studied:

General Prologue

The Miller’s Tale

The Franklin’s Tale

Texts to be studied from The Norton Shakespeare:

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Merchant of Venice

Much Ado About Nothing

As You Like It

Measure for Measure

Geoffrey Chaucer:

Helen Cooper, The Canterbury Tales, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) Helen Phillips, An Introduction to the Canterbury Tales: Reading, Fiction, Context (London: Macmillan, 1999)

Peter Brown, ed., A Companion to Chaucer (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002)

Stephen Knight, Geoffrey Chaucer (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986)

Steve Ellis, ed., Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (London: Longman, 1998)

Steve Ellis, ed., Chaucer: An Oxford Guide (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)

Valerie Allen and Axel Axiotis, eds., Chaucer, New Casebooks (London: Macmillan, 1997)

Norman Davis et al., A Chaucer Glossary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1979)

Shakespeare’s Comedies:

Barker, Deborah and Ivo Kamps. Shakespeare and Gender: A History. Verso, 1995.

Barnet, Sylvan, ed. Twentieth-Century Interpretations of The Merchant of Venice: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall, 1970.

Bulman, James. The Merchant of Venice. Manchester UP, 1991.

Davis, Walter R., ed. Twentieth-Century Interpretations of Much Ado About Nothing: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall, 1969.

Erne, Lukas. Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist. Cambridge UP, 2003.

de Grazia, Margreta and Stanley Wells, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. Cambridge UP, 2001.

Halio, J.L., ed. Twentieth-Century Interpretations of As You Like It: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall, 1968.

Mahon, John W. and Ellen Macleod Mahon. The Merchant of Venice: New Critical Essays. Routledge, 2002.

Orgel, Stephen and Sean Keilen, eds. Shakespeare and Gender. Garland, 1999.

Rackin, Phyllis. Shakespeare and Women. Oxford UP, 2005.

Reynolds, Peter. William Shakespeare – As You Like It: A Dramatic Commentary. Penguin, 1988.

Shapiro, James. Shakespeare and the Jews. Columbia UP, 1996.

Thomas, Vivian. The Moral Universe of Shakespeare’s Problem Plays. Croon Helm, 1987.

None given.