ENG 330: Schedule of Readings, Meetings, Lectures, and Assignments
Yes, this is a very thorough schedule! All your time-sensitive responsibilities are laid out, in full detail, right here, week by week. Check back here after every class to make sure you know what you're responsible for doing next.
IMPORTANT: This schedule is subject to change, sometimes with small but significant adjustments being made only a week or two before a reading is due. Do not download or otherwise copy down this schedule—refer to this website directly, so you can be sure you're getting the most recent version. Do not start readings more than a week ahead of their due date.
WEEK I
Before class on Mon Sept 13,
watch Lecture ENG 330-0 (pre-recorded)—and follow its instructions on how best to familiarize yourself with our course website and syllabus.
During class on Mon Sept 13, we’ll work from heavily glossed handouts/electronic copies of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham and, if time allows, the York Plasterers’ play. There’s nothing to bring or read ahead of this class meeting—I’ll provide the readings and we’ll do them together.
By the morning after class, I will send out an email. If you do not receive it, contact me immediately at sergi.utoronto@gmail.com.
Before class on Wed Sept 15,
Read The Pride of Life (TEAMS edition, including intro) while listening to audio of the PLS PoL production. [45 mins engaged reading].
Watch Lecture ENG 330-2 (~25 mins).
Spend 2 hrs 15 mins reading The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition, including intro).
Week II
During class on Mon Sep 21:
We’ll discuss The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition), reading through some sections together.
Before Mon Sep 28:
Read Interludium de Clerico et Puella, found in The Trials and Joys of Marriage (TEAMS edition).
[30 mins engaged reading (at least 15 mins; no more than 40 mins)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-3 (~25 mins).
Read Dame Sirith, found in The Trials and Joys of Marriage (TEAMS edition).
[1.5 hrs engaged reading (at least 1 hr; no more than 2 hrs)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-4 (~25 mins).
Read the York Joseph’s Troubles About Mary (TEAMS edition).
[1 hr 30 mins engaged reading (at least 1 hr; no more than 2 hrs)]
Read Lydgate’s Disguising at Hertford (TEAMS edition).
[1 hr 30 mins engaged reading (at least 1 hr; no more than 2 hrs)]
Week III
During this week: Begin working on your Translation/Edition Assignment.
During class on Mon Sep 28:
We’ll discuss Lydgate’s Disguising at Hertford (TEAMS edition) and read through it and Lydgate’s Disguising at London (TEAMS edition) together. We’ll also discuss the Translation/Edition Assignment and Middle English Comprehension Test.
Before Mon Oct 5:
Listen to Lecture ENG 330-5 (in three parts), which will walk you through a reading of the beginning of Mankind (TEAMS edition, including intro), inclusive of close reading, history, theory, and language training.
Spend 15-30 mins reviewing The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition).
Week IV
During this week: Keep working on your Translation/Edition Assignment.
During class on Mon Oct 5:
We’ll discuss Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition), reading through some sections together.
Before Wed Oct 14:
Read the N-Town Announcement to the Marys/Peter and John at the Sepulcher (TEAMS edition) and the N-Town Appearance to Mary Magdalene (TEAMS edition).
[60 mins engaged reading (at least 45 mins; no more than 75 mins)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-6 (~25 mins).
Read a series of texts in translation, which you can find in the ENG 330 Liturgical Drama Pack pdf (sent by email and uploaded to Google Drive): St. Æthelwold’s Quem Quaeritis Ceremony (pdf); La Seinte Resurreccion (pdf), the Liturgical Dramas for Holy Week at Barking Abbey (pdf); the Shrewsbury Fragments (pdf). I recommend holding off on the final play (The Play of Adam, aka the Ordo Representacionis Ade or the Jeu d’Adam) until the day before our Special Session on Wed 14 Oct, but if scheduling makes that difficult for you, just make sure you read it at some point before the 14th.
[45 mins engaged reading (at least 30 mins; no more than 60 mins)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-7, which will be a video recording of our in-person, student-masked, distanced class meeting in Queen’s Park at 12:15pm on Fri 9 Oct, 12:15pm-1pm (if you attend that meeting, you don’t have to watch the video!). The video will, of course, only be uploaded and shared in the hours following 1pm on Fri 9 Oct. You’ll need to watch it before Wed 14 Oct.
Read the Play of Adam (pdf, in the same pack as the liturgical plays above).
[45 mins engaged reading (at least 30 mins; no more than 60 mins)]
Week V
During this week: Keep working on your Translation/Edition Assignment.
Mon Oct 12: NO CLASS (THANKSGIVING)
There will be a Special Zoom session on Wed Oct 14, in which we will discuss the Play of Adam (this session will only meet on Zoom; real-time attendance is optional, but if you cannot attend in person, you are responsible for watching the recording of the session)
Before Mon Oct 19:
Read Occupation and Idleness (pdf).
[2 hrs engaged reading (at least 1.5 hrs; no more than 2.5 hrs)]
Complete the Middle English Comprehension Test. Submit it as an email attachment to sergi.utoronto@gmail.com (.docx or .doc preferred, .pdf also accepted) before class begins on Mon Oct 19. The test should take 1 hour to complete, but you can take as long as you need.
Complete the Translation/Edition Assignment. Submit it as an email attachment to sergi.utoronto@gmail.com (.docx or .doc preferred, .pdf also accepted) before class begins on Mon Oct 19.
Week VI
During class on Mon Oct 19:
We’ll discuss all readings up to this point, focusing on The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition), which we’ll read through a bit together.
Before Mon Oct 26:
Read Wisdom (TEAMS edition, including intro).
[2 hrs engaged reading (at least 1.5 hrs; no more than 2.5 hrs)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-8 (~25 mins).
Read Wisdom (TEAMS edition, including intro).
[2 hrs engaged reading (at least 1.5 hrs; no more than 2.5 hrs)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-9 (~25 mins).
Read a series of short texts: Lydgate’s Mumming at Bishopswood, Mumming at Eltham, Mumming at Windsor, Mumming for the Goldsmiths, and Mumming for the Mercers (all in TEAMS edition).
[60 mins engaged reading (at least 45 mins; no more than 75 mins)]
Week VII
During class on Mon Oct 26:
We’ll discuss Lydgate’s Mumming at Bishopswood, Mumming at Eltham, Mumming at Windsor, Mumming for the Goldsmiths, and Mumming for the Mercers (all in TEAMS edition), reading through some passages together.
Before Mon Nov 2:
Note: you can read and watch this material in any order you wish — there is no particular recommended order.
Watch Lecture ENG 330-10 (~25 mins).
Watch Lecture ENG 330-11 (~25 mins).
Read four different Noah plays: the N-Town Noah (TEAMS edition), the Towneley Noah (TEAMS edition), the Chester Noah (pdf), and the Newcastle Noah (pdf). [3 hrs 30 mins engaged reading (at least 2.5 hrs; no more than 4 hrs)]
Spend 1.5 hrs with The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition).
Week VIII
During this week: Begin working on your Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
During class on Mon Nov 2:
We’ll discuss the various Noah plays and The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition), reading through some sections together. We’ll also discuss the Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
Before Mon Nov 16:
Watch Lecture ENG 330-12 (~25 mins).
Watch Guest Lecture ENG 330-13 (~25 mins).
Catch up on your Castle reading during the break.
Read multiple selections from the York Plays (TEAMS edition): 1. 'The Creation of the Angels and the Fall of Lucifer'; 5. 'The Fall'; 9. 'The Flood'; [[17. 'The Purification of the Virgin'; 21. 'The Baptism of Christ';]] 27. 'The Last Supper'; [[31. 'The Trial before Herod';]] 35. 'Crucifixio Christi'; 39. 'The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalen'; [[43. 'Pentecost']]; 47. 'Doomsday'.
[5 hrs engaged reading (at least 4 hrs; no more than 6.5 hrs)]
From Mon Nov 9 thru Fri Nov 13: NO CLASS (READING WEEK)
Week IX
During this week: Keep working on your Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
During class on Mon Nov 16:
We’ll discuss the York Plays (TEAMS edition), reading through some sections together with our guest respondent, Arlynda Boyer; we’ll also do more live reading and discussion of Castle.
Before Mon Nov 23:
Watch Lecture ENG 330-14 (~55 mins — twice as long as usual, this lecture will cover a number of short texts that are no longer on your reading list). [Optional additional readings: the “OE poems, ME fragments” pdf in our Drive file.]
Read the Croxton Play of the Sacrament (TEAMS edition, intro not necessary).
[3 hrs engaged reading (at least 2.5 hrs; no more than 4.5 hrs)]
Watch Guest Lecture ENG 330-15 (~25 mins).
Spend some time (at least 2 hrs) preparing some initial work on your final essay/project. If you haven’t yet finished Castle, I recommend that you spend this time simply continuing to read Castle (in order to find an extra-verbal element to write on). Before our next Zoom session, make sure you have chosen a likely subject — with specific line-numbers — for your final essay/project.
Week X
During this week: Keep working on your Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
During class on Mon Nov 23:
We’ll discuss the Croxton Play of the Sacrament (TEAMS edition, including intro) and share our initial progress on the Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay (thus discussing both Lydgate and Castle). At the end class, I will open sign-ups for one-on-one end of term meetings.
Before Mon Nov 30:
Make your appointment for a One-on-One Zoom Meeting, sending me an email with your top four choices of 30-minute slots, between 9:30am and 3pm on any of the following days: Fri 11 Dec, Mon 14 Dec, Tue 15 Dec, Wed 16 Dec (see final essay prompt for more).
Read the Chester Innocents and Antichrist (pdf).
[1 hr 30 mins engaged reading (at least 1 hr; no more than 2 hrs)]
[Optional additional reading: the Chester Passion.]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-16 (~25 mins).
Read the short A Lamentation of Our Lady for Swearing (pdf), then return to, review, or complete all previously assigned Lydgate readings (Disguising at Hertford, Disguising at London, Mumming at Bishopswood, Mumming at Eltham, Mumming at Windsor, Mumming for the Goldsmiths, Mumming for the Mercers) as well as any further readings that students have identified as the subject of their final essay/project.
[1 hr 30 mins engaged reading (at least 1 hr; no more than 2 hrs)]
Watch Lecture ENG 330-17 (~25 mins).
Week XI
During this week: Keep working on your Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
During class on Mon Nov 30:
We’ll discuss all previously assigned readings in Lydgate’s Mummings and Entertainments (TEAMS edition). We’ll also read A Lamentation of Our Lady for Swearing (pdf) together.
Before Mon Dec 7:
Finish reading The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition). Spend any remaining time on your developing final essay/project. (Important: don’t skip over reading Castle — even if you’re not writing on it, you’ll need to have a good handle on the text in order to participate in our final Zoom session properly.)
Instead of a pre-recorded lecture this week (normally, I’d set aside classroom time to discuss essays), I will hold two extra hour-long Zoom sessions (on Weds 2 Dec and Fri 4 Dec at 11am-12pm) in which I’ll field student questions about essays in development. Both sessions are optional but strongly recommended; both will be recorded and uploaded for students to review later.
Week XII
During this week: Finish your Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay.
During class on Mon Dec 7:
We’ll discuss The Castle of Perseverance (TEAMS edition), sharing student work on Castle and Lydgate.
Before Wed Dec 16:
Watch Lecture ENG 330-18 (~45 mins).
Complete the Staging/Performance-Based Analysis Essay and submit it by means of a One-on-One Zoom Meeting, between 9:30am and 3pm on Fri 11 Dec, Mon 14 Dec, Tue 15 Dec, or Wed 16 Dec (see final essay prompt).