Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
EN23120
Module Title
In the Olde Dayes: Medieval Texts and Their World
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio  Critical essay and short reflective responses 3000 Words  100%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio  Critical essay and short reflective responses 3000 Words  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of a range of late medieval literary texts in English.

Describe and analyse a range of late medieval literary forms and genres.

Demonstrate an understanding of late medieval English culture and history.

Analyse a range of late medieval texts in English in relation to current critical and theoretical debates.

Demonstrate an understanding of late medieval literary English.

Engage in sustained critical self-reflection in order to further develop their critical skillset.

Brief description

This module offers a survey of late medieval literature that challenges the assumption that texts from this period is much more simple and straightforward than modern literature. Over the course of this module, medieval texts will be examined as products of a culture that values experimentation, playfulness and speculation, highlighting the ways in which medieval texts and their world are exciting areas of literary study today.
The three sections of the module deal with traditions and interpretations, religious experience, and experimentation with genre. These interconnected areas serve to highlight the ways in which late medieval English culture is part of a wider network of European religious and secular frameworks,
The module is accessible to anyone with an interest in late medieval literature and current, theoretically-informed approaches to literary texts will be used to explore the relevance of these centuries-old texts in and for our post-millennial society.

Aims

This module continues students' exposure to medieval literature by in-depth study of a range of texts from different cultural backgrounds.

Content

Session 1: Introduction (discussing sample extracts from module texts and various co-texts)
Session 2: Chaucer ‘Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ and ‘Tale’
Session 3: The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
Session 4: Workshop
Session 5: Margery Kempe
Session 6: Chaucer ‘Prioress’s Prologue’ and ‘Tale’ Croxton Play of the Sacrament
Session 7: Workshop
Session 8: Breton Lais
Session 9: Chaucer ‘Franklin’s Prologue’ and ‘Tale’
Session 10: Workshop

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Communication (Written) By expressing ideas in coherent ways. (Oral) Through group discussions and small group activities.
Improving own Learning and Performance Through independent and directed research and reading. By engaging with assessment feedback in order to raise attainment.
Information Technology By using word processing packages and making use of Blackboard and other e-resources, submitting via turnitin.
Personal Development and Career planning Through developing critical self-reflection and the development of transferable, ICT, communication and research skills.
Problem solving By evaluative analysis and critical skills.
Research skills By independent and directed research and synthesizing information in critically evaluative ways.
Subject Specific Skills Through reading, writing and researching skills involved in the study of literature.
Team work Students will have the opportunity to work in teams for some group activities.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5