First, don’t be confused if you have a memory of Marie de France’s Lanval: this Middle English romance is a version of that story (from a couple of centuries earlier), though as we’ll discuss in class, with some significant differences. But then, you knew most of that from reading the introduction to the poem. Today’s blog question:

What, throughout the poem, accounts for Launfal’s success? What accounts for his losses, his failures? 

You’ll remember my appeal in class Tuesday for you to help the English Department hire a new Composition/Rhetoric specialist. So please, if you can, head over to the Student & Faculty Lounge (back of 26 Glebe Street, corner of Glebe and George Streets) on Wednesday, Friday and/or Monday between 2 and 3, to give our candidates a sense of what our students are like. We’ll have treats to make it even more worth your while!

25 Maps that Explain the English Language

I’m really looking forward to meeting you all, though in the weirdest beginning of the semester I’ve ever had, I’ll be away at the Modern Language Association (MLA) conference in Austin, TX, the week that classes start. This means we won’t meet in person on January 7, our scheduled first day of class.

Instead, I’ve made a video to take you through much of what we would normally cover the first day of class, describing the focus and aims of the class and guiding you through the syllabus. Please watch the video and fill out this short survey by Monday at 5am. That way, I’ll be able to get a sense of what the video conveyed and what it didn’t, before we meet in person on Tuesday, January 12. In the video I explain what you need to do to prepare for class when we meet on Tuesday, and I will send you all an email detailing that, too. In the meantime, please email me with any questions you might have that can’t wait until Jan 12th: seamanm[at]cofc.edu