Hebrew University                                                                 English Department

M.A. seminar 2004-20005                                                     Prof. L. Besserman

Semesters A & B                                                                  Mon. 16:30-18:00 room [to be announced]

“Chaucer: Dream Visions and Romances”

Course description: A study of Chaucer’s pre-Canterbury Tales poetry in its cultural and literary contexts.  Readings include the Book of the Duchess, Parliament of Fowls, House of Fame, Knight’s Tale, Troilus and Criseyde, and the Legend of Good Women.  (A prior course in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is recommended but not required.) 

Required text:

Larry D. Benson, gen. ed., The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd ed., Boston, 1987; Oxford, 1988.
[PR 1851 .B46 1987/1072597.]

Requirements and grading:

Completion of weekly reading assignments, participation in class discussion, occasional brief, ungraded written exercises, and a 45 minute class presentation (on a topic to be assigned) (30%);  a midterm exam (30%); a term paper (7-10 pgs.) (40%).  (Optional: a seminar paper.)