ENG 330: Medieval Drama
Interested in being a volunteer notetaker for ENG 330? Click here.
You are currently looking at the ENG 330 welcome page, where you can find our course description, meeting times and location, requirements, policies, and ongoing anonymous feedback form. For the ENG 330 Schedule of Readings, Meetings, Lectures, and Assignments, click here; for the ENG 330 lecture slides, click here; for ENG 330’s video lectures (including our two required introductory videos), click here; for the ENG 330 Google Drive (with all class audiorecordings), click here.
Before you join our class, and certainly before the first class meeting, watch the two required introductory videos — Video ENG-330-A: Introduction to ENG 330 and Video ENG-330-B: Preparing for, and Attending, ENG 330 — which will guide you through the material on this website. Our class is very much in person, but across term there will be six video lectures (that is, the two intro videos, plus four more during later weeks) that you’ll be required to watch as supplements to what we’re doing in class.
This site contains all the material that would normally be on a course syllabus, and more. There’s a lot of information here, but that’s because everything you need for ENG 330 is all collected here conveniently in one place! You’ll mainly use this site for reference during the year, but before you commit to joining our class, be sure you review the contents of this site (by watching the two introductory videos — which take you on a tour of the most important parts of this site).
If you are joining our class late, or miss the first couple of classes for any other reason, you are still responsible for the material you missed: click here for important instructions for late registrants.
I am happy to arrange accommodations or modifications to this class for anyone who would benefit from them — no documentation necessary — but in my classes, you must request accommodations and modifications according to these specific instructions (click here).
I’m your professor, Matthew Sergi. You can call me Prof. Sergi or Matt (not “sir,” please); you can contact me at sergi.utoronto@gmail.com, but I encourage you to approach me in Office Hours (click here for times and location) and to consult my FAQ first. I’ll only be able to answer emails sent to sergi.utoronto@gmail.com; if you send an inquiry about ENG 330 to another email address of mine, it will likely be delayed or missed.
Course Description
Playing makes us human; all humans play. Some human play is so alive that just to witness it happening is enlivening: often, that play involves partially pre-planned, structured, or scripted role-play, performed by real bodies in real time and space — what we now call drama. Medieval English players considered all types of play and game (sports, role-play, music, gambling, etc.) to be part of the same genre, but they never called any of it “drama” or “theatre” — let alone “literature” or “high art.” As a result, few play texts were preserved with much care, and fewer were marked out in ways that make them easily identifiable as what we’d now consider to be drama. If we don’t roughen up our sense of what a dramatic text can be in the first place, then, and insist on unmediated reading, we not only fail to read medieval plays as anything but poor reflections of our own ideas about drama, but also may fail to identify what play texts survive at all: that’s part of why the list of known medieval plays is so short — and why it is still growing.
In ENG 330, we will read from edited (but not translated) versions of most of the medieval English play texts that are known to survive from before 1485, focusing on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (because so few texts survive from England before then). We will at once rely on the work of prior drama editors and learn to resist editorial assumptions about performance by interacting with rawer dramatic texts. Since most medieval plays were copied from texts meant primarily for insiders’ eyes — for players, not readers — we must attend as much to their implicit cues for action as we do to their dialogue. That kind of reading requires us to (and thus helps develop our ability to) better see the cultural concepts we take for granted — regarding drama, storytelling, belief, seriousness, taste, mortality, repression, and play — and to think outside our modernity. We’ll work through an array of concepts and resources that will help us do that reading and thinking.
Some of our discussions will involve reading dramatic dialogue aloud, sometimes by standing up and acting out scenes live or by physicalizing some elements of staging. No student will be required (nor at all pressured) to do any live reading, acting, or physicalization; you can reap some benefits from these exercises simply by watching them being done. Then again, everyone will have multiple chances (and kind words of encouragement) to volunteer — people often surprise themselves in this class, so make sure you leave some room to be surprised.
Active, real-time participation in class discussion is required, but built into our class is an array of inclusive alternative avenues for participation that make room for all learning styles and needs; presence at class meetings will be crucial, too, with a minimum attendance requirement. Be prepared to engage actively during every class meeting. The first five weeks of our course will involve thorough, intensive training in how to read and comprehend Middle English (i.e. English as it was recorded from the years 1066 to 1485). Most of our course readings will be in untranslated Middle English — indeed, since some of our course readings have never been translated into present-day English, we will do some translation work ourselves. There are no Middle English pre-requisites for this course: the first five weeks of readings are built toward teaching you how to read Middle English untranslated.
We will devote the remaining weeks of our course to the close reading of Middle English dramatic texts, with special attention to the very thing that makes those texts dramatic, and on which all our close readings will rely: the texts’ use of verbal, recorded communication to cue extra-verbal, real-time action — and their encoding of crucial meaning, power, humour, or beauty by means of that cuing.
Class Meetings
ENG 330 generally meets twice per week — a two-hour session on Mondays, 2pm-4pm, then a 50-minute session on Wednesdays, 2pm-3pm, both in person in UC 261, on the University of Toronto campus, on the shared territory of many First Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Wendat, and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, and under Treaty 13 between the Mississaugas and subsequent settlers.
I also hold weekly drop-in Office Hours, in person or remotely, during any week that courses are in session: click here for my current Office Hours times and locations.
I require real-time attendance at every class meeting, during the scheduled hours of that meeting. If a student misses a session for any reason, I deduct any such absence permanently from the student’s total number of classes attended, and the student must also follow my set instructions for what to do after missing a class (click here). Please do not email me only to alert me to an upcoming absence, nor to explain a prior one, let alone to apologize either way: just follow the course instructions, policies, and requirements regarding missed classes and leave it at that.
ONE-SHOT-PER-STUDENT REMOTE ATTENDANCE
I keep Zoom (or an equivalent application) open on my laptop during all meetings; I audiorecord and simulcast all meetings through that application. As a general rule, I require students to attend real-time discussions in person in order to earn Actual Attendance and Engagement and Participation credit. However, I do allow all students to earn attendance credit once by attending remotely (i.e., through Zoom) — one remote attendance, one time, per student. I will count any further remote attendance, beyond that one-shot-per-student limit, as an absence (i.e., toward the set number of unpenalized absences that each student can use — see below). If you do opt to use this one-shot-per-student remote attendance option (and there are many good reasons to do so, so you should save this one shot for when you really need it), be sure to read my remote attendance instructions ahead of time, and to follow those instructions carefully. Remember that remote attendance still must be done in real time (that is, during the scheduled hours of the class) in order to earn attendance credit.
If you are in a situation in which increased remote attendance would truly remove more obstacles to learning than it would add, you can also find in my remote attendance instructions information on expanding the one-shot-per-student limit.
There also may be very rare situations on my part, whether due to university closures, personal concerns (including emergencies), or academic commitments, in which I have to switch our course to remote format — if that should happen, the remote class will not count toward anyone’s remote attendance limit.
Course Requirements/Grading Weight
Engagement and Participation in class discussion sessions, 15%
If, by the end of term, we all have a pretty good idea of how you approach class material, you’ll do well. Click here to read my full policy on Engagement and Participation.
Real-Time Comprehension Questions (CQs), asked at the end of each class session, 17.5%
Two quick short-answer questions, asked and answered in the final 2-3 minutes of each class meeting. Click here to read full instructions for Real-Time Comprehension Questions.
Actual Attendance during at least 18 of our 22 class sessions (that is, 4 absences or fewer by end of term), 10%
(17 of 22 sessions attended = 5/10; 16 or fewer = 0/10)
You earn ten points of your course grade just for showing up; you lose those points if you miss too many classes, regardless of the reason. Click here to read my full policy on Actual Attendance.
Translation/Edition Assignment, due during Week V (see course schedule), 17.5%
Translate, and provide some scholarly editing for, a raw transcription of a Middle English play. Click here for the full assignment prompt.
Middle English Comprehension Test, in class during Week V (see course schedule), 17.5%
A timed assessment of your ability to read Middle English plays, in class on the day your Translation/Edition Assignment is due. Click here to learn more.
Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay, due at the end of term, 22.5%
An argumentative essay, delivered live at a one-on-one meeting with me, on an extra-verbal cue in The Castle of Perseverance. Click here for the full assignment prompt.
Required Texts
You must purchase six books for our course — in these exact editions:
The ENG 330 Coursepack (course reader), including multiple readings
Two Moral Interludes: The Pride of Life and Wisdom, ed. David N. Klausner (TEAMS edition — Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2009)
The Castle of Perseverance, ed. David Klausner (TEAMS edition — Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2010)
Mankind, ed. Kathleen M. Ashley and Gerard NeCastro (TEAMS edition — Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2010)
Croxton Play of the Sacrament, ed. John T. Sebastian (TEAMS edition — Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2012)
John Lydgate, Mummings and Entertainments, ed. Claire Sponsler (TEAMS edition — Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2010)
The Kelly Library Syllabus Service will also make available, for free through Quercus, a series of required readings from other TEAMS editions.
All of the TEAMS editions are paired with free (and excellent) online editions at the TEAMS website (click here). There, you will see at the bottom of each reading a copyright notice that says “The on-line texts provided here are meant for individual use only. To download and make multiple copies for course use, you must have permission...” In other words, I am still legally and ethically bound to require you to purchase hard copies of each text for our course — and you are ethically bound to purchase them (please do not steal from TEAMS: we’re lucky to have editions like theirs and they need book purchases to stay alive).
Never use any edition of class texts except the ones I mention here — don’t even consult other versions for help (because the help they give will likely make assignments harder for you); you’ll quickly learn why exact editions are essential in a medieval drama class. All of these texts should be available at the U of T Bookstore one month before our first meeting. You can purchase these texts by any means you wish, but you must make sure all the texts are available to you in time for you to get readings done on schedule: allow time for shipping delays, restocking, etc.
Ongoing Student Feedback
If there is any element of this class that you would like to see improved, changed, or removed, you don’t need to wait until the end of term to give your opinion. In fact, I welcome ongoing feedback about this class throughout term (and I still welcome it after term ends). You can offer feedback directly to me in three ways:
Bring it up in class discussion or Office Hours! I don’t have thin skin and I don’t mind dedicating some class time to course housekeeping — and I love talking through solutions to make my courses better. If you feel comfortable doing so, feel free to bring your issue up in class so that other students can share their opinion too.
Email me.
Comment anonymously, using Google Forms, by clicking here. You do not need to be signed into Google to fill out the feedback form — but even if you are, I still won’t know it! I’ll receive an email alerting me that someone has made comments, which will not reveal your identity. (If your class has a Discord site, and I’m on it, you can also anonymize your user information and contact me there.)
From there, I may respond to you directly (unless you’ve chosen to remain anonymous), or bring up/enact the proposed change in class (preserving your anonymity), or start a quick anonymized student survey in which fellow students can vote on whether to make the proposed change to our course.
Note: These avenues of direct student feedback are different from the university-run, automated evaluations made available at the end of every term, which allow you to communicate your assessments of this class to the undergraduate chair, the department chair, and higher administrative bodies, who may evaluate, reward, reassign, or penalize a course instructor in relation to the quality of evaluations and numerical scores. End-of-term, university-run evaluations are important ways for you to communicate your opinions about this course to university administrators, but they are not an effective way of delivering actionable feedback directly to me. If you would like me to take action or make changes, however small or large, you should send your feedback to me directly, through one of the above avenues (and as soon as possible, so I can make changes to the class you’re currently taking!).
Course Policies
Be sure you know the ENG 330 policies before joining our course — because joining ENG 330 means that you understand and agree to its course policies, as far as they are summarized below. If you are concerned that you may not be able to adhere to any of these policies, or if you want to learn more specific details about how or why I enforce a policy, click on the “further explanation” link next to that policy.
I use Google apps and Zoom, not Blackboard or Quercus, for class announcements and contact. After term begins, you must make sure you are receiving class emails I send from sergi.utoronto@gmail.com; adjust your junk mail or spam settings if need be. (Click here for a further explanation of this policy.)
All students, with no exceptions, are required to engage and participate actively in class discussion. (Click here for a further explanation of this policy.)
For students who have difficulty jumping into class discussion, I offer an array of alternative avenues for participation, which the student must pre-arrange with me according to the specific instructions I make available on this website. (Click here for instructions on how to arrange for alternative avenues for participation.)
If you miss a real-time class session for any reason, including illness or late registration, you are responsible for making up the content of any class session you miss, including make-up Comprehension Questions (CQs) for that day, according to the specific instructions I make available on this website. (Click here for a further explanation of this policy and for the relevant instructions.)
Even if you make up missed content, it will not reverse the fact that you missed the class session (make-up CQs restore CQ credit, but do not restore attendance credit!). Be sure you’re clear on this: my course attendance policy allows for a certain number of missed sessions (see above) without penalty; if you exceed that number, I will deduct points from your course grade. There are no exceptions available, no matter what, for the requirement to attend class sessions in real time, at the time they are scheduled. I never require proof, documentation, or any reason for a student’s absence. You can use your allowed number of absences for any reason; if the allowed number is exceeded, I deduct credit regardless of the reason. (Click here for a further explanation of this policy.)
I expect students in ENG 330 to attend class sessions in person. But in addition to the allotted absences (see above) built into our course, I allow every student in ENG 330 to attend a class meeting remotely ONCE during term — a one-time limit ONLY — and still receive credit for attending. Students whose circumstances make in-person attendance difficult can pre-arrange with me to expand the limit on how often they can use this remote attendance option. (Click here for instructions on how to attend remotely and on how to expand the limit on remote attendance if necessary.)
If you want a deadline extension for the Translation/Edition Assignment, you must request it at least one week in advance (please do not share the reason for your request; just ask). There are no deadline extensions available for the Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay. (Click here for a further explanation of this policy.)
If you are a student who has difficulty speaking up in class, or who wants extra help in English grammar and usage (including ESL/EFL), or who has a health consideration or atypical learning style that affects classwork (or involves any special concerns or needs in relation to or preceding readings), or who frequently has trouble with, or feels inadequately challenged by, classwork, or who is interested in investigating or applying to graduate school, or anything else that might benefit from an accommodation or modification, I can gladly customize my course to your needs or your style; I do not require any documentation or proof that you need accommodations. I do require that you request accommodations and modifications within the first three weeks of class — and that you follow my specific set of instructions for requesting accommodations and modifications when making your request. (Click here for instructions on how to request accommodations or modifications.)