Literary Analysis of Chaucer

ENG 346 Spring 2008

Paper Due: Thursday, April 24
Format: See paper checklists
Goals: One goal of writing papers in literature classes is to allow you to respond to the readings on paper and to engage the text(s) in interesting and critical ways which also show your understanding of the complexity of the materials. The emphasis here will be on your own approach to the text and your own use of close-reading skills.

Paper Outline Due: Tuesday, April 17 Please note that this form must be approved by me in person; Come by my office hours to talk with me about it. I will not be able to approve them all after class on the 17th.

NOTE on Plagiarism. Plagiarism is using anyone else's exact words or ideas and passing them off as your own. When you put your name at the top of a paper, you are stating that the words not in quotation marks are your own. You must fairly cite anyone else's work that you want to discuss. Anyone plagiarising will receive a zero for the assignment.

Assignment: Write a 7- page paper based on one of the following topics:
1. How does the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales foreground the issue of interpretation? Does the GP tell us how to interpret the tales? How does it problematize the issue of interpretation? If you see the GP as setting out a clear set of criteria for judging the tales, how do the first tales (the Knight’s and Miller’s) comment on those criteria or on the process of textual interpretation?

2. How do the Knight’s and Miller’s Tales (and prologues) speak to each other? How do these two tales set up expectations for how the pilgrim’s and their tales should or could interact and how they should be interpreted?

3. Discuss how the Clerk’s Prologue and Tale speaks to the Wife of Bath’s Tale and Prologue. What are the main issues Chaucer wants to raise with the interaction between these two tales? What seems to be at stake in this debate? Does the Clerk’s tale significantly change the tone or the terms of the discussion? How does Chaucer seem to want us to interpret these tales in their interaction?

4. How does the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale speak to the issues raised by the Franklin's Tale? What are the main issues Chaucer wants to raise with the interaction between these two tales and how they should be interpreted? What seems to be at stake in this debate?

5. Choose two or more of the tales we’ve covered (KT, MT, WOB, Clerk’sT, FrankT, MancipleT, PardonerT) and discuss how they set up multiple and often competing interpretive paradigms. Discuss how they alter or shift the reader’s priorities in terms of what should be the meaning or moral of the tales and/or their tellers. What kind of interpretive journey has Chaucer set up for his readers?

6. Choose one of the tales we've covered (KT, MT, WOB, Clerk’sT, FrankT, MancipleT, PardonerT) and discuss how this tale deconstructs itself. That is, how is interpretation of the tale undermined or derailed?

Helpful Hints: These questions are meant to narrow your focus and inspire your discussion; they are not a blueprint for your paper or its organization. Do not simply answer the questions—write your paper on one of the topics raised by these questions. You must still come up with a specific thesis statement. Focus your paper around your central argument (your interpretation or reading of the work), and use quotes from the work to support your points. Take into account any evidence in the work that may disprove your point and either refute it or make a concession. Remember to focus on the work itself when selecting a thesis and avoid generalizations. I am much more interested in seeing a good discussion of your issue from all relevant angles than having you declare that you’ve proved your point.
Check out this Thesis Workshop for more ideas on developing and focusing your ideas
Secondary Sources: In 300-level courses you should be starting to make regular use of literary criticism. You should be aware that you are entering an on-going discussion of literature with other interested scholars and you will need to be aware of what types of analyses have already been done on the literature you are working on. Literary criticism can be very useful for several reasons. For instance, it reminds you that the paper you are writing is not just for your professor but for a community of scholars all working towards a better understanding of this material. When you think of literary criticism as an on-going discussion, it can be easier to situate your own ideas within the conversation. You can disagree with points others have made or see that others support your interpretations. You can also learn a lot from others’ insights into the work. Please find and read several secondary articles on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. You do not have to quote all of them in your paper, only those articles that give you insights or ideas for your own interpretation or those you wish to disagree with.
The main thing to remember when using a secondary source in your paper is not to let it take over your point of view. The article can support your view or disagree with it or make some general point that you wish to apply more specifically etc--but the paper should be your interpretation.

What counts as a secondary source? For our purposes a secondary source can be either an article or a book that analyzes the work you are looking at. Any article from the Chaucer Review for instance. You can find articles on-line by using the library’s electronic databases and searching under either Chaucer or the specific tale. The reference librarians can help you do more effective electronic searches, please make use of them if you are having trouble finding relevant sources. We have many books on Chaucer in our library—try to find something relatively recent (80s, 90s or 2000s rather than 50s or 60s). Use only on-line articles that have been published through a journal. Do not use articles simply found on the web on someone’s webpage.
Works Cited Page: Remember to include a "Works Cited" page with full bibliographical information and remember to give the page numbers and/or author's name after each citation when you quote. Link to WUOshkosh's Library citation page

Focus/Organization and Intros./Conclusions            See checklists for all papers for more info

You do not have time or space to give a long general introduction to the topic. Just start right out with what you want to say about the work—be bold. The trick to keeping focused on what you are trying to prove is to ask yourself how each paragraph relates to your thesis (if one doesn't, ask yourself what purpose it serves). It is also possible to lose your point in a long paragraph. Think of each paragraph as a paper in miniature with its own thesis and support.
    When concluding, it may seem easiest to simply restate your thesis, but try experimenting with your conclusion. This is the place where you can alert your reader to any wider contexts in which your argument might figure (if you have just analyzed the role of justice in the Miller's Tale, suggest a way this theme contributes to the Canterbury Tales at large or to other themes in the Miller's Tale).