A New Order

Dark_Pink_Butterfly

So this is the first draft of a proposal. It is not yet edited, but I should have it done and submitted in the next week. Any feedback is welcome.

Any scholar working with the Canterbury Tales will immediately be faced with the question of tale ordering as proposed by the different extant manuscripts –  a topic which has only gained more prominence since the appearance of the Manly-Rickert 1940 volumes that greatly facilitated textual comparisons. Theories on tale orderings abound, and while true authorial intent remains unknown, and perhaps unknowable, some theories appear to be better than others. This paper will argue that while each existing witness manuscript provides a piece of the puzzle, there is yet another order that appears nowhere within the manuscripts and has not been adequately addressed, but when regarded in terms of paleographic and contextual evidence deserves closer examination and consideration. Specifically, this paper proposes a rearrangement of what are currently considered Fragments VI and VII. The argument is twofold, first providing an explanation of how the Shipman’s Tale has made its way towards the end of the tale ordering, while simultaneously justifying its connection to the other five tales within its fragment (despite its exclusion from numerous manuscripts).  Once the Shipman’s Tale is established, it will be shown that fragment it belongs to can be neatly divided into two when following a logical narrative path, while moving the second trio in this segment closer to the Franklin’s Tale in Fragment V since I believe the latter of this threesome was inserted within the Fragment II for lack of a better place to put it, and based on cursory evidence made to fit, despite clues that connect it to Fragment V.

In conclusion, the newly proposed tale ordering is as follows:

Fragments 1-5 (as depicted in Ellesmere and most other authoritative manuscripts) ending with the Franklin’s Tale

Fragment VII(second trio) – Prioresse-Thopas-Melibee

Fragment VI- Physician-Pardoner

Fragment VII(first trio) – Shipman-Monk-Nun’s Priest

 

Troilus, Criseyde, and Gawain

cotton nero

If you wish to read the previous parts (which should place this into a semi larger context): here are  Part I, Part II and Part III.

A similar division of aspect, as found in the previous parts, is illustrated by the final two poems in each quartet. Sir Gawain and Troilus move to achieve what the previous poems had not accomplished, yet both seem to fall short only to evince the impediment of human limitations or shortcomings. A  discussion of these final poems will also importantly conclude the interpoetic portion while explicating the intrapoetic unity that defines the two quartets as halves of a complete whole. As Criseyde, Troilus, and Sir Gawain take center stage in a stark comparison of two quite different poetic styles and matters, the entirety of Cotton Nero A.x along with Chaucer’s earlier poems will join them to further demonstrate their importance which could not otherwise have been evident from looking at the constituent parts.

Chaucer builds up towards Troilus and Criseyde’s zenith long before the narrative begins. The dream visions of Duchess, Fame, and Parliament are simply just that, dreams. The Black Knight, much like the tercels, is unable to achieve love, and the dreamer is unable to return at a later date to find the result of their labors. White is dead, and the formel refuses to accept either suitors, leaving the dreamer, and consequently the reader, in a state of suspense. As the poems end there remains the question of whether the Black Knight will remain faithful to his memory of White, or if he will in fact move past his mourning and learn to love another, or if the formel will indeed make a choice within the year, and if the tercels will be patient and seek her again when the time comes. Fame also ends in an ambiguous tone. The dreamer is left with the image of “a man of gret auctorite,” unable to identify him, or even what about him makes him seen as though he has authority. Perhaps the greatest indication of authority is the subject of the poem itself, fame. The man is surrounded by many people, apparently seeking to see or perhaps hear him, implying they had heard him, or of him, before. This would seem reasonable considering the conversation the narrator had had with the eagle beforehand concerning fame and rumor. Yet, the knowledge that the man posses is withheld from the dreamer, essentially leaving the definition of fame incomplete despite the multiple attempts to define it throughout. The last example, a physical image of fame, is not granted. Troilus and Criseyde finishes the conversation that the other three poems commenced, withholding nothing from the audience, staging reality, but its end suggesting that reality is not necessarily as satisfying once achieved.

Desire depends on lack –  on something not in possession. Desire fulfilled is desire suspended. In Troilus and Criseyde desire is ultimately fulfilled, unlike the desire of the previous three poems where the desire for a defined conclusion is never achieved. Troilus and Criseyde consummate a love that could only be fancied by the Black Knight or the tercels. Also, their love is not guided by convention, but by genuine human emotion, a type of emotion characteristic of life experience. It is powerful and passionate, even if only momentary, often times one-sided, and as the two come together a real affair occurs, for better or worse. Their love, however, is tainted by human misunderstanding, or incapacity. The reader, through the couple, is made to understand and feel love, but only to have it suspended and destroyed, evidencing its ethereal nature , further demonstrating that all earthly things are transitory and basically human, with the implication of the selfish nature of their love . Thus Criseyde cannot be fully blamed for her betrayal, just as Troilus cannot be judged for his regard towards Criseyde as existing solely to fulfill his whims. Criseyde’s love, and later perceived betrayal were only magnified by his own shortcomings, namely his selfish methods of love that relied upon his ownership of Criseyde’s emotions and person. It was not Criseyde’s lack of love for Troilus that drove her to Diomede, just as Troilus’ love for her was not deficient when he chose to remain silent before the Parliament. Everything human, including love, is fallible.

Human realization of incompetence is the first step towards improvement, and also understanding that perfection is unreachable despite the best of efforts. Sir Gawain applies what the previous three poems of Cotton Nero A.x attempted to teach, and essentially becomes the most theological piece in the entire manuscript. The Maiden in Pearl instructed the Dreamer how to theoretically attain salvation through penance and by leading a spiritual life. Although the Dreamer does not fully understand his lesson in the end, the poem does not allow a glimpse into the rest of his life to see how he may try to incorporate what he had learned. Purity is a retelling of biblical stories that demand the characters sin only to highlight the instruction they will receive, and demonstrates the power of God. Patience, too, is more concerned with the forgiveness and patience of a benevolent God to focus on human trial, and Jonah, being the chosen voice of God, is hardly a typical human, despite his representation as “everyman.”

Sir Gawain exemplifies a typical Christian, and when he encounters temptation, despite his good intentions and great sense of decorum, he succumbs. This is the story of a man who finally realizes all the lessons previously taught. However, his failure to attain perfect spirituality, much like Troilus’s and Criseyde’s unfulfillment of perfect love, is not to be counted against them, just as God chose not to punish Jonah or the Ninivites for their transgressions. Part of being human is the potential to err, and the perpetual inability to fully comprehend. Even as he withstands the temptations of the flesh brought upon him at the castle, his greatest vice is his lack of humility. Yet the charm Gawain exhibits for the audience is not in his superfluous speech, or his courtly mannerisms, but in his total representation of everyman that no other character in the manuscript has attained. He is the embodiment of the common human, and as he embarks on his journey that will inevitably lead to certain danger, he never fails to err in the familiar ways, confused about his ultimate trials, and almost oblivious to subversively perilous situations, in effect depicting the struggle concerting the human soul each day. As he remains before the Green Knight, bare necked and awaiting the equivalent of the Day of Judgment, it becomes apparent that he has not in fact learned his lesson, and cannot even accept the consequences as just for his actions, choosing to blame the tempters instead of realizing his own choice in the matter. Nevertheless, with a slap on the wrist, or more appropriately, a nick on the neck, he is forgiven, and sent home. The Green Knight’s actions echo the benevolence of God in earlier poems, accepting human nature, and treating mankind as a hoard of errant children. This instruction of man also serves as a reassurance for the reader, allowing him to understand that an impossible perfection is not what is expected, but rather a willingness to learn, along with some staunch perseverance.

Nevertheless, the Pearl poet chose to create a different type of perfection for Sir Gawain that is unreachable for the main character, and subsequently mankind. The divinity attained through the numerical design of the poem is directly related to the Divine Proportion, a number that holds together the entire manuscript and can by this point be easily identified as a recurring theme, and consequently a constant reminder to the medieval reader about the greater purpose of the text. The most prominent display of the Divine Proportion is depicted in the extraordinarily detailed description of Sir Gawain’s shield, and shall remain within focus throughout the story, expanding towards infinity through the catalog of fives that ascends from the trivial to the eternal, much like the manuscript as a whole outlines humanity in terms of the divine, from elevating seemingly simple peonies in Pearl to reappearing strategically in Patience and Purity. Interestingly, much like Pearl, Sir Gawain is comprised of 101 stanzas, a number that signals a return to prime numbers, used primarily to symbolize a completion or unity which would only be perceived as potentiality elsewhere. It is this numerical design that lends the much needed unifying aspect to the manuscript that would otherwise be a compilation of works that may or may not be perceived in relation to one another except for their appearance together.

The manuscript is divided in several ways and to better understand the divisions it is important to note the number of lines in each poem: Pearl has 1212 lines, Purity 1812, Patience 531, and Sir Gawain 2531. If the numbers are rounded off, the manuscript can be divided in halves – Pearl and Purity comprise the first 3000 lines, and Patience and Gawain, the latter. If the 6000 lines of the whole manuscript are divided by the 3700 lines of Pearl and Sir Gawain combined, they would just about equal the same 3700 lines divided by the 2300 lines of Purity and Patience, which is the Divine Proportion. Essentially, the higher meaning of this can be viewed in terms of infinite expansion, the infinite pattern that is found in nature, and is attributed to divine creation due to its absolutely perfect state. Throughout history the Divine Proportion has been observed to evoke emotion or aesthetic feelings. It has been used in architecture since before it was even fully understood. Within literature, philosophy, physics, and mathematics, it i has been associated with the concept of universal unification. Of course this is only an absolutely simplified version of the intricate numerical design of the exquisitely complicated Cotton Nero A.x, but it depicts enough to demonstrate the unity of the four poems that transcends words, and language, despite the amazing alliteration maintained throughout.

Essentially both of these poets have created works that serve as a reminder of the duality of mankind, preserving a delicate balance between the spiritual and worldly. Throughout these eight poems a mirror is held up to man to illustrate a propensity for error and offer reassurance that human fallacy, whether towards each other, or in relationship to God, is a part of being human, and despite the most sincere redress, perfection is unattainable; perseverance is all that remains.

Student Success Project

speed reading

I have recently undertaken a new project at work for cultivating reading skills among students about to attend college, and developing a series of online tutorials. The purpose of the program is to create brief workshops that students can participate in at their leisure, delivered in short bursts. Each tutorial ranges from 5 to 10 minutes and focuses on only one key aspect. So far the program is in the beta stages and extends only to English and math, core principles that are thought to help students succeed in a majority of their general education courses. I can’t speak for the math aspect of it too much (as I am obviously in the English section of it all), but math principles extend into the the sciences as well. My focus is within fostering reading and grammar skills beneficial not only in future English courses, but the humanities as a whole, considering adequate English skills are necessary for success in a majority of these classes. Looking at numerous studies it has become apparent most students who don’t do well in history, psychology, sociology, and even geography and astronomy, fail because they are unable to read and understand the textbooks (yes, I know, did we really need a study for this?).

Right now the project is pretty small: me, my counterpart in the math department, and a few others on and off campus for support. The project is run by a team at UCLA who have been extremely generous with their resources and funding, and overall very supportive.

My immediate goal is to create the workshops, which is actually a pretty fun process. After I get the basic concepts organized, I narrow each down to one fundamental principle. For example, right now I am focusing on skimming/scanning a passage for pertinent information and discerning its topic/scope. I create the entire thing in powerpoint, but instead of actually using the antiquated system, I separate out the slides as screen shots, create a video with a voice over that allows me to insert the slides as jpgs whenever I need them, and use Zaption to make the whole thing interactive.

I am fine tuning the verbal versus visual aspect of it since I don’t necessarily want to read what appears on the slides. Enough research has demonstrated that when the verbal and visual cues are aligned, the receiver experiences a disconnect and cannot grasp either. Since it is ultimately a video I am experimenting with pauses and overall timing to cue the images. And because this particular tutorial focuses on reading comprehension, you can imagine there are some lengthy reading slides, but I am assuming that if I don’t give them enough time they can also pause the clip to finish reading before I continue with the instruction. Another problem I am having is that I happen to talk too fast. I have now rerecorded this several times, speaking at a rate that I feel is abnormally slow, but within the recording sounds a lot better (maybe this is what my students keep complaining about!).

What I love about Zaption is the interactive aspect where I can insert multiple choice and open ended questions right into the video for students to answer, while also being able to play back instant feedback for each choice (open ended question are a little more tricky and rely on key words used in the answers to deliver the appropriate feedback.. I am sure you can imagine the problem there).

I have been tweaking and playing with it for two weeks trying to get it just right, and while it is still all in the developmental stages, we all expect to go live and national throughout different colleges with this by fall.

Obviously I only have one tutorial so far, but the the idea is that once the process is more or less figured out, and we have a template of sorts, creating more within the same subject should progress more quickly. I am pretty excited to see how all this pans out, and with any luck I should have a small army of these workshops ready to go before the end of the year. Hopefully by next summer we will have enough student feedback to adjust the program as necessary and in the next few years hopefully recruit others across the country to create even more of these until we have workshops to cover every basic skills category out there.