Middle English Literature

The course is broken down into 10 units over 10 weeks, each requiring approximately 10 hours of study time. The following topics are covered:

1. The Middle Ages
Defining ‘medieval’ and ‘Middle Ages’; historical and cultural context; key events

2. Middle English
Language, dialects, orthography, manuscripts

3. Short poems
Secular and religious, the Harley Lyrics; forms of lyric poetry

4. Geoffrey Chaucer
Life and career; The Canterbury Tales (selections), the Black Death

5. Chaucer II
The English of Chaucer’s time and place; The Canterbury Tales (further selections)

6. Medieval Drama
Mystery and Morality Plays

7. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Dialect; the Gawain Poet; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (extracts)

8. William Langland
Social and political context; literary tradition; Piers Plowman (extracts)

9. Court and courtliness
Authors and courts; Dream Visions; courtly love

10. Middle English non-fiction
Didactic, relgious and devotional works

Course aims

1. Introduce students to the history and culture of the Middle Ages.

2. Introduce students to Middle English dialects, writing practices and manuscript production.

3. Introduce students to key differences between Middle and Modern English

4. Introduce students to the range and variety of English literary texts from the 13th-15th centuries (in Modern English, with opportunities to read some texts in the original).

Course Objectives

1. Have knowledge and understanding of the scope and limitations of the term ‘medieval’ as applied to England between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.

2. Recognise key features of some Middle English dialects and spelling practices.

3. Have knowledge and understanding of some of the key genres, authors, texts, styles and themes of Middle English literature.

4. Understand the concepts of authorship and anonymity, genres and styles, religious and secular themes in application to Middle English literature.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to understand:

• Definitions and problems associated with the terms ‘Middle Ages’ and ‘medieval’.

• The place of Middle English language in the history of English, the variety and diversity of Middle English dialects.

• The variety of texts produced in medieval England.

• Some key themes and concepts explored in Middle English literature.

• Some key medieval literary genres, such as the lyric, the mystery/morality play, the dream vision, the romance, etc.

By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:

• The ability to understand some simple phrases in Middle English and recognise medieval manuscripts.

• The ability to discuss and analyse a range of Middle English texts in modern English adaptations.

• The ability to identify key themes and styles in Middle English Literature.

• The ability to discuss the concepts of medieval authorship and anonymity, courtly love, the dream vision, religious and secular themes in medieval writings.

Level and demands

This course is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (i.e. first year undergraduate level) and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

IT requirements

This course is delivered online. To participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Teaching methods

There will be links to online texts and hypertexts (for example electronic editions of The Canterbury Tales), to images of illuminated manuscripts, to websites on Middle English and medieval culture to examples of orthography, to audio files, and to commentaries.

Students will be introducted to resources they can use to further their understanding of the Middle Ages: from the Oxford English Dictionary to online glossaries, text editions, digitised manuscripts, corpora, and research projects.

Each unit will include a short talk recorded by the tutor.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Dr Maria Artamonova

Maria Artamonova is an Old and Middle English scholar, researcher and translator. After gaining her D.Phil in Old English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford in 2008, she has taught numerous courses for the University and Oxford-based summer schools. Her main areas of expertise are medieval English language and literature and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and his contemporaries. She has authored, contributed to and provided consultations on multiple publications on medieval and modern language, literature, and history. She teaches at Oxford Lifelong Learning and works as Senior Information Officer (English Language) at the education consultancy company Ecctis.

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online courses are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses

Textbooks

To participate in this course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following books:

• Turville-Petre, Reading Middle English Literature: An Introduction,  Oxford: Blackwell (2006)

• Larry Scanlon, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2009)

Please ensure that you can access copies of any required textbooks before enrolling on a course. While cancellations are uncommon, courses may not run if enrolment is too low. The Department accepts no responsibility for books purchased in anticipation of a course running.

Module code: O26P432LTV

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