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Shakespeare |
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English 4300.001 Fall 2010 TTH 12:30-1:45 L-160 |
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Instructor: Perrello Office: L-195K Phone: 209-667-3274 Email: tperrello@csustan.edu Office Hours: TTH 11-12, 1:45-2:45 |
Prerequisites:
Successful completion of English 3150 (Approaches to Literary Study) is a prerequisite for this course. If
you haven’t taken 3150, you really should. If you are concurrently enrolled in
3150 and 4300, you will need my consent to remain in 4300.
Course Description:
In this particular section of English 4300 we will
investigate a select few of Shakespeare’s plays, his place in the literary
canon, the historical circumstances which made his work possible, the problems
and possibilities of dramatic representation, and the phenomenon of
Shakespeare’s translation to the medium of film. The CSUS Catalog
describes this course in the following way: “Representative plays from among
the comedies, tragedies, romances, and histories; may also include examples of
non-dramatic poetry.” This brings-up a problem well worth investigating:
genre. Generic boundaries often merge and disintegrate—indeed, Shakespeare
was criticized (and even rewritten) by many neoclassical critics for blending
comedy and tragedy and for flouting rules generally. Timon of Athens,
perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest and most cynical play, and one that ends with the
death of the protagonist, is often classified as a comedy. Troilus and
Cressida is included among the comedies in your edition of The Riverside
Shakespeare, despite the death of Hector and the play’s full title, The
History of Troilus and Cressida. To some extent, then, genre is
subjective: the little kid who loses his balloon on a windy day cries, knowing
he’s suffered a tragedy; the adult standing nearby furtively smiles, knowing
he’s witnessing a comedy. Given these ambiguities, and keeping genre in
mind, I’ve built the syllabus around five plays that provide a cross-section of
Shakespeare’s work and its reception: we’ll read a young, flourishing
Shakespeare recording and spinning history in a bold attempt to create a
dramatic English epic; We’ll enter the doorway to Shakespeare’s great tragic
period by reading his most famous play, Hamlet,
and considering its cultural capital; and finally, we’ll read his last comedy,
written during a time of political change, a time rife with religious, class,
and gender-based anxieties.
Class activities will involve lecture, interactive mini-projects,
scene interpretations and performance, presentations, class discussion, and
frequent viewing and evaluation of film. You will take two in-class exams,
including a final. You will work on a research project outside of class,
and also write an essay based upon a presentation you make to the class with a
group of your peers.
Course Goals
- To gain factual knowledge about Shakespeare, his world,
his plays
- To gain an appreciation of Renaissance (or Early
Modern) thought, poetic craft, and drama by poring over the works of one
rather well-known English author
- To develop skills in verbal analysis, critical
thinking, and detection of subtlety through reading, discussing, and
writing about some tricky literature
- To learn something about our own culture by observing
the way in which we appropriate and perform Shakespeare
- To hone and utilize research skills to conceive,
propose, investigate, and properly present a research project of
considerable magnitude
Required Materials
The
Grade Breakdown
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Mid-Term Exam: |
20% |
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Final Exam: |
20% |
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Research Proposal |
10% |
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Research Project: |
20% |
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Group Presentation: |
10% |
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Presentation Write-up: |
10% |
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Class Participation: |
10% |
We will use the optional plus minus system for grades.
Letter grades correspond to numerical values in accordance with the chart
below.
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A |
A- |
B+ |
B |
B- |
C+ |
C |
C- |
D+ |
D |
D- |
F |
|
100-92 |
91-90 |
89-88 |
87-82 |
81-80 |
79-78 |
77-72 |
71-70 |
69-68 |
67-62 |
61-60 |
< 60 |
Please note: I will not allow you to go Credit/No Credit
after census day (9-20); Also, I will not sign a withdrawal form after week 10.
To see my grading standards for written work, click here.
Explanation of Course Content
Exams: There will be two exams in this class. One is
scheduled for Tuesday, October 19; another is scheduled during finals week on Thursday, December 16,
11:15-1:15. The exams offer you opportunities
to tell me how much you’ve learned about Shakespeare and Renaissance literature
in the course of this class. These may consist of any combination of
identification questions, short-answer questions, and essays. I will not
give make-up exams.
Proposal
and Research Project: One of
the goals of this course is that you improve your skills in critical analysis
by articulating your original insights and by organizing and polishing formal
presentations of them. To meet this
goal, you must conceptualize, research, and complete a long project related to
Shakespeare studies. To fulfill this
requirement, you must produce a 10-page research paper covering some aspect of
Shakespeare's work and using a work on the syllabus as a springboard for
inspiration. A traditional paper of this
sort is a perfectly acceptable response to this
assignment and will be the touchstone for all other possible types of
assignments. That is, any project you
attempt must involve at least as much effort, research, and grunt-work as a
10-page, senior-level research paper. The project approach allows you to create and package your
scholarship in either traditional or new and creative ways. In advance of the Research Project, you must
submit a Proposal in which you describe your project and outline some of the
research you have done to get started. For more information, click on the links
below.
Group Presentation and Write-up: Within the first three weeks of class you must form groups of four. Your group will be responsible for a twenty-minute presentation to the class that engages one of the works on the syllabus. Each group member will then be responsible for an individually conceived and written reflective essay in which the presentation is assessed. The date you are assigned will determine the work you will be covering (for instance, if your group wants to present on Hamlet, you will present on 11-9 and your essay will be due a week later, on 11-16). You have some leeway on exactly what material you will present and exactly how you will present it. I am particularly interested in presentations dealing with performance and performance history. One type of presentation would be a performance of 100 lines or so, or "fractured" Shakespeare (a 5 minute version of Hamlet). You might present on the film or performance history of the play, compare different Hamlets, or present on an important theme or historical circumstance related to performance, like "images of and attitudes towards the Renaissance Dane," or “”Incest in Renaissance Law and Culture.” There are many possible approaches. What I don't want is a monotone recitation of Wikipedia factoids. Such a strategy would render you a tedious summarizer of what too often passes for "facts." And the grade will suck. For more details, click the link below.
Class
Participation: An average participation grade
indicates that you are present, prompt, and prepared for class. A
superior grade in this area indicates that you offer constructive, thoughtful feedback
and respect others and their opinions. Serious participation in group and
class projects, effort, and classroom demeanor also play a part in your
participation grade. Note that an above average grade in this area is not
automatic; you must earn a good participation grade through honest effort and
serious input. Your base participation
grade will be an 80% (B-) and will be augmented or reduced based on your
standing as a citizen in this learning community (courteous vocalization of
opinions or information, willingness to participate, timeliness, preparedness,
wakefulness, and so on). If you are shy
or otherwise unwilling or unable to offer feedback in class, explain your
difficulties to me and offer feedback during my office hours.
Closely tied to the concept of class participation is classroom
decorum: what is appropriate behavior in a college classroom? For starters, each student must be completely
prepared with all assigned reading and must undertake an active, responsible
role in all classroom activities. The score you receive for class
participation is not awarded simply for attendance. Each student must
earn it by contributing to the exchange of ideas upon which every successful
course depends. Here are some behavioral guidelines: don’t talk
disruptively, especially when others are talking. Have your textbook with
you every class, and have it on your desk and opened to the relevant
pages. Don’t read the paper or do work for other courses in class.
Falling asleep in class is the height of rudeness. Don’t behave as if I’m
on television and I can’t see or hear you.
Also, turn off and put away all cell phones and PDAs before class
begins. I don’t want you texting or fooling with any sort of technology during
class time. This includes laptops.
Rules and Regulations
Attendance and Tardiness: You should attend every class meeting. I will take
attendance during the first five minutes of class each day. Anyone not
present during roll will be marked absent. If you are late and miss roll,
it is up to you to see that I correct the roll that same day; failure to do so
means the absence is permanent. If tardiness becomes excessive, I reserve
the right to treat a tardy as an absence. Each student is allowed two
absences without penalty. For each subsequent absence, 1 percentage point
will be deducted from your final semester grade. Further, you are
responsible for keeping up with the syllabus during any absence. Finally,
if your absences exceed 8, you will fail this course. I value your presence
in class, so please come.
Late Work: For the purposes of this class, late means
late. All work is due at the beginning of class on the due date.
Missing class or coming late on the day an assignment is due in no way excuses
you from submitting work on time. I will not accept late work without
having given prior permission. Please
make every attempt to contact me if something goes wrong, and the sooner the
better—preferably, I’d like to know about any problems a day in advance. I will be unsympathetic to your cause if you
show up on the day something is due and offer a lame excuse like “my printer
isn’t working.” Uncle Teakus will croak
in the blink of an eye. Valley criminals
will steal your Honda. Your significant
other will ditch you out of the blue.
They will do this to you on paper-due-eve. Be prepared for life’s sharp breaking
curveballs by having your work done ahead of time so that you can at least
email me a copy of your project from wherever you are. Not getting an
assignment in at all means that you did not fully meet the requirements of the
course (big F). Getting it in late
(within 24 hours) means that you at least met criteria minimally (little F
factored in).
Academic Honesty: You are responsible for knowing what
plagiarism is and avoiding it. This, and any other form of cheating, such
as downloading or buying papers off of the internet, having someone else write
a paper for you, having Gertrude, who happens to be your
mother-in-law and a graduate student at UC Davis, “edit” your essay for you,
etc., can’t be tolerated in college. Copying from another person’s test paper or other forms of
cheating on in-class written assignments are just as egregious. Your
integrity, as well as that of the entire academic community, is at stake.
Please make sure all work is original, individual, and done specifically for
this class. The
Academic honesty
is an important principle to ensure that all authors, including students, are
acknowledged for their original expressions of ideas.
Instructors have a
responsibility to demonstrate to students in their courses the difference in
acceptable and unacceptable use of others’ work. Students have a
responsibility to ask their instructor for guidance whenever they are uncertain
about fair use of someone else’s work.
Students, in
submitting work, certify that the work is their own original work except that
all information garnered from others whether quoted, summarized, or paraphrased
has been appropriately cited. Dishonesty by failing to acknowledge the
work of others constitutes plagiarism and is a serious offense. Normally,
the penalty for plagiarism is failure in the course. More serious penalties
may also be invoked.*
In cases of plagiarism
instructors should also submit the Student Discipline: Academic Dishonesty
Incident Report Form to the Coordinator of Student Discipline for tracking
or for disciplinary investigation. http://www.csustan.edu/english/dept/AcademicDishonestyIncident.pdf
English
Department’s Policy on Plagiarism
*Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Section 41301
notes that students may be “expelled, suspended, placed on probation, or given
a lesser sanction for one or more of the following causes which must be campus
related: 1. Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program
at a campus. . . .” (see Appendix F of the current CSU, Stanislaus catalog).
Failure of the course will be the penalty for first time
offenders. You may be subject to
expulsion from the university for repeated offenses.
Students with special needs: Students who require extra help, space, or time to
complete assignments should speak to me as soon as possible.
Schedule of
T, 8-24: Introductions
H, 8-26: Richard II
T, 8-31: Richard II
H, 9-2: Richard II
T, 9-7: Richard II
H, 9-9: Presentations
T, 9-14: I Henry IV
H, 9-16: I Henry IV
T, 9-21: I Henry IV
H, 9-23: I Henry IV
T, 9-28: I Henry IV
H, 9-30: Presentations
Group
1: Victor,
Amy, Chanel, Emily, Kimberly
Group 2: Andrea, Allison, Sophia, Amber,
James
T, 10-5: Henry V
H, 10-7: Henry V
T, 10-12: Henry V
H, 10-14: Presentations
Group
1: Kevin,
Marina, Erynn, Amanda
Group 2: Lisa,
Jacqueline, Jennifer, Angelica
T, 10-19: Mid-Term
H, 10-21: Hamlet
T, 10-26: Hamlet
H, 10-28: Hamlet
T, 11-2: Hamlet
H, 11-4: Hamlet
T, 11-9: Presentations;
Project Proposals Due
Group
1: Wally,
Cortney, Mike, Giovanna, Traci
Group 2: Alex,
Manraj, Andreas, Sherrie, Anna
H, 11-11: Veteran's Day--No Class
T, 11-16: Twelfth
Night
H, 11-18: Twelfth
Night
T, 11-23: Twelfth
Night
H, 11-25: Thanksgiving Day--No Class
T, 11-30: Twelfth
Night
H, 12-2: Presentations
Group
1: Alicia,
Emilia, Mark, Travis
Group 2: Katie, Liz, Greg, Cynthia,
Deborah
T, 12-7: Film Adaptation of Shakespeare
H, 12-9: Last Day of Class; Final Projects Due
H, 12-16: Final Exam, 11:15-1:15