Reading Journals:
Students are required to keep journals based on the readings for class, information in the
videos and CD-Roms, as well as for Internet projects. You should keep a separate notebook for your reading journals. They will be collected on a regular basis. You should start a new page for each entry and put the date at the top.
You are to bring these journals to each class session, since the questions and reactions you
raise will form the basis for the discussion in class. The journals will be collected at the end
of each text studied and will be graded Good, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory. No late journals
will be accepted, since the journals are to be done concurrently with your reading
of the texts studied.
What sort of information am I looking for in your reading journals? Each entry should
contain a list of questions which reflect your responses/reactions to the reading
assignments. You are to bring your journal to class and be prepared to talk about your
questions, since they will be an important part of our class discussions. In fact, they will
form the basis of our in-class discussions, since the questions that students have often indicate
the important issues of interpretation and understanding literary texts. The questions you ask
should be those worth talking about; questions of interpretation and understanding (not
"information" or yes/no questions). We will go over some sample questions together in class
when we begin our first text.
The purpose of this exercise is to encourage you to become engaged, active readers--not
passive recipients of information, rehashing plot summaries in over-generalized terms. Over
the course of the semester, I will expect to see development and growth in the types of
questions you ask, since you will become more experienced in how to read these texts and
interpret them.
You can see from these instructions that it is extremely important for you to keep up with the
readings and with the journal entries. You neither contribute to the class nor do
yourself much good if you come to class without having read the assignment or written out
your questions.
The Discussion Board:
A separate (and private) website has been created for this course. It is our class Discussion Board. Instructions
for using it will be given in class and in the lab during the first weeks of the course.
This is the place where you can ask questions of each other and of me; bring up topics that we don't cover in class, and
where you will post your "spot quotations."
You will be required to post a minimum of three spot quotations on three different texts over the course of the semester. You should explain why you think this particular quote is relevant to the text you're reading; why it has special meaning for you in relation to the text it comes from and to the other texts you are reading. You are also required to respond to two spot quotations posted by other students. Do you agree or disagree with the choice? Does the quote mean the same thing to you?
Multi-Media Materials:
Texts are not only words written on a page. We can use the word "text" to refer to a wide
variety of materials in different media--and in this course, this is precisely what we do. The
videos, CD-Roms, Internet resources, etc. that you will begin to familiarize yourselves with
this semester fall into this second category of "text" and will help you to visualize more
clearly (and study at your own pace, according to your own background) the periods under
discussion in this class. No literary text is produced in a vacuum, and the supplementary
materials will help you to get a better understanding of medieval culture and its value
systems. The vast time period--more than 1000 years--known as the Middle Ages (the
"middle" between what and what, for instance?) introduced the Arthurian Legends into
Western literature. These legends did not simply spring up, ex nihilo and it is
important to study this literature within the context of art, history, and daily life.
The multiple media you will have at your disposal this semester will put you in closer touch
and give you a very vivid visual picture of this complex, rich and exciting culture. In
addition, by learning to manipulate some of the computerized materials, you will gain
valuable experience in the technology which will shape your careers in the 21st century.
Below is a list of some of the materials available. The Assistants in the lab (2S-114) will be
able to help you find more materials--both in the lab and in cyberspace. Your mid-term and
final examinations will have questions on some of this material, so you should take notes as
you explore it. One of the uses you will be making of the class Discussion Board this semester will be to react to the video and CD-Rom materials you will be consulting.
I've indicated below where the materials are to be found on campus. This is a starting point.
In some instances, there is printed material that goes along with the AV or computer materials. Study it! This should be an enjoyable experience for you and you will find that many of your
pre-conceived notions about the Middle Ages may not be as air-tight as you first thought.