MISSOURI WESTERN STATE COLLEGE

School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

Dr. Elizabeth Sawin      Fall  2003

 

ENGLISH 341/ THEATER 341: SHAKESPEARE

Professor:              Dr. Elizabeth Sawin              Office:    SSC 215

Phone:                    271-4274                 Office hrs: 1:00 – 2:00 MWF; 3:00 – 4:00 MW

Email:                      sawin@missouriwestern.edu

Section 01              Time: 6:30-9:20 TH               Classroom:  JGM 106

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

  1. To read and analyze several of Shakespeare’s plays as literary texts AND as scripts meant to be performed

As literary texts:

To understand Shakespeare’s artistic development (internal structure of plays, methods of characterization, conventions of genre, recurrent themes)

To demonstrate understanding of Shakespeare’s vocabulary, syntax, and stylistic techniques

(including a study of some of his sonnets)

To set Shakespeare’s work in the context of the historical period in which he lived

To learn how Shakespeare transformed the sources he used

As scripts:

To learn what makes an action “dramatic”

To identify the tasks directors face and the skills actors must have

To understand the theatrical setting of Elizabethan plays and the differences in live performances in other venues, videos of stage productions, and film adaptations

To analyze the directorial interpretations of Shakespeare’s texts embodied by specific performances

  1. To become acquainted with the major shifts in Shakespearian scholarship in the 20th century
  2. To become acquainted with the continuing impact of Shakespeare on art and opera

 

REQUIRED TEXTS:

The Riverside Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd edition Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

 

GUEST LECTURERS:

If everything goes as planned, we will have 4 guest lecturers or workshop leaders this semester. This is a real privilege for all of us and it should go without saying that the days on which they come will be of special importance to the course.  I am still working out the schedule, but the following faculty have generously agreed to share their expertise with us:

DR. LARRY DOBBINS will spend an evening with us in which we learn about directing and acting AND during which we may have our courage and talents tested in a scene we will have to perform ourselves.

DR. BOB NULPH will spend an evening (perhaps two) in which we learn about film adaptations of Shakespeare and learn more about the techniques and language of filmmakers.

DR. ALLISON SAULS will spend an evening with us in which we learn about Renaissance Art and the significant impact Shakespeare had on subsequent ages (e.g. Pre-Raphaelite Art in the 19th century)

DR. MATT GILMOUR will spend an evening with us in which he introduces us to the opera Falstaff, based on Shakespeare’s remarkable character of the same name.

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Films, in-class writings, discussions, quizzes and video showings can’t be “made-up.” Once these activities occur they are lost to you. Likewise, your contributions are lost to us when you are not here.  ONE absence in a night class is equivalent to three missed classes.  One absence is understandable. Two will affect your grade. You will have to provide written documentation if there is a third absence. At that point your passing the course is unlikely.

 

DISABLED STUDENT POLICY:

If you have a recognized disability that requires special consideration, please make an appointment to see me during the first week of classes so that we can discuss privately how I might help you succeed.

 

ACADEMIC HONESTY:

You are expected to do your own reading and writing in this course.  Any student who submits someone else's work as his or her own will receive no credit (0 points) for that assignment.   A second infraction will earn an "F" in the course. Taking ideas from articles published anywhere without citation or copying work from other students is NOT acceptable behaviors.

 

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS:

Paper #1: 100 points 

Analyze the differences between and among three performances of one play we consider in class.

Paper #2: 100 points

Compare/contrast Shakespeare’s plays within one genre (comedies or tragedies). The plays explored must be different from the one chosen for the first paper.

Quizzes: 100 points     Weekly … with the option to drop one from the total.

Tests:     100 points 

                                400 points

 

     A                           B                             C                             D

100-90%                 89-80%                   79-70%                   69-60%

N.B. I reserve the right to make changes in the nature of the work we if need be. 

The percentages for the final grade assignment will, however, stay the same.

 

REQUIRED FORMATTING for out-of-class copy:     

Identify yourself in the upper, right-hand corner:

Name

English 341

Nature of the Assignment 

Date

Use regular white paper.                    

Leave one-inch margins on all sides.

Center the title.                                    

Number each page (bottom right)

Single-space within paragraphs.      

Double-space between paragraphs.

Use 12-point TIMES NEW ROMAN

 

TENTATIVE   SCHEDULE

August 28             A Midsummer’s Night Dream

Sept. 4                    Romeo and Juliet

Sept. 11                  Romeo and Juliet

Sept. 18                  GUEST Dr. Larry Dobbins  ??

Sept. 25                  Much Ado About Nothing

Oct. 2                      Othello  GUEST  Dr. Bob Nulph ??

Oct. 9                      Hamlet  GUEST  Dr. Bob Nulph ??

Oct. 16                    Hamlet

Oct. 23                    Lear

Oct. 30                    Lear

Nov. 6                    Henry IV Part I

Nov. 13                  Henry IV Part II

Nov. 20                  GUEST  Dr. Matt Gilmour ??             

Thanksgiving

Dec. 4                     Twelfth Night    GUEST Dr. Allison Sauls ??

Dec. 11                   Final Exam and/or Dinner with Guest Faculty