School
of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department
of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism
Dr. Elizabeth Latosi- Sawin Fall 2009
ENGLISH / THEATER 341: SHAKESPEARE
Professor:
Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin Office: EDER 215
Phone: 271-4274 or 271-4535 Office
hrs: T & R 2:00-4:20 p.m.
Email: sawin@missouriwestern.edu
Time: 9:30-10:50 Classroom: EDER 210
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
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
REQUIRED
TEXT: The
Riverside Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd edition Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
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. TWO absences are understandable for a
semester of TR classes, but three or four absences become excessive and will
start to harm your performance. Please don’t hesitate to tell me about any
unusual (and unpreventable) circumstances that may affect your regular
attendance.
LIVE SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCE? I encourage all of you to do some
web surfing to determine if there will be any live performance of Shakespeare
in a reasonable distance from our campus.
We have attended performances at UMKC, KU and Northwest Missouri State,
but it would be helpful to know if the University of Omaha, the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln, or the University of Missouri is offering any performances
this fall.
DISABLED
STUDENT POLICY: If
you have a recognized disability, 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 and will be reported to the Chairs’, the Deans’,
and the Provost’s office
according to current university policy. 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.
CLASSROOM COURTESY: Please come to class prepared, on time, and with your cell
phones off and with no expectation for sending or receiving text messages. If
you have some unusual circumstance unfolding, please let me know about it.
REQUIRED
ASSIGNMENTS:
MAPS of plays 80 points
(Midsummer, Merchant, Othello
& either Hamlet or Lear)
Three papers 180points
Tests/quizzes/individual report 100 points
Attendance/participation 40 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 if need be.
However, the percentages for the
final grade assignment will stay the same.
REQUIRED
FORMATTING for out-of-class copy. Identify yourself in the upper,
right-hand corner:
Name
English
341: Shakespeare
Nature
of the Assignment
Date
Use
regular white paper. Leave one-inch
margins on all sides. Center the
title.
Number
each page (bottom right) if more than
one is required.
Single-space
within paragraphs. Double-space between paragraphs if more than one page is required.
Use 10 point
TIMES NEW ROMAN
ASSIGNMENTS
Aug. 25 Introduction to course. Begin In Search of Shakespeare, Part I Small group exercises on
Shakespeare’s language.
For Aug. 27 HOMEWORK: In The Riverside Shakespeare READ: “Linguistic
Medium” and “Stylistic Technique”
In-class: In
Search of Shakespeare, Part I & Questions on Midsummer distributed.
For Sept. 1: HOMEWORK: READ A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(256- 280) and construct a MAP of the play.
READ the introduction to the play by Anne
Barton (251-255).
In-class: Quiz on Midsummer.
Turn in MAPS. Begin viewing of the Michael Hoffman’s film adaptation of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream in class. Handouts
on Shakespearean Comedies
For Sept. 3 HOMEWORK: Read
General Introduction in The
Riverside Shakespeare: “Shakespearean Heritage; Biographical Record;
Historical Background. QUIZ.
In-class: Finish viewing Midsummer. Class Discussion. Questions
on Merchant distributed
For Sept. 8 HOMEWORK: READ
The
Merchant of Venice (288-317) and construct a MAP of the play
READ
the introduction to the play by Anne Barton (284-287).
In-class: Begin viewing Michael of Radford’s film adaptation
of The
Merchant of Venice
For Sept. 10 In-class: Finish viewing Radford’s film
adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Class
Discussion.
First
brief analytic paper assigned.
For Sept. 15 PAPER DUE. (I
will read these papers and if
a revision would be helpful,
that final copy will be due Sept. 22.)
In-class: Small group peer review of papers.
In
Search of Shakespeare, Part II
For Sept. 17 READ: “The
Theatrical Setting” (pages 14-18). Quiz.
In-class: Computer Lab (hopefully) Exploring the world for
Shakespeare.
For Sept. 22 HOMEWORK: READ
Much
Ado About Nothing (366-396).
Also
read the introduction to the play by Anne Barton (361-365).
In-class viewing of Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing
For Sept. 24 In-class Finish viewing Branagh’s
adaptation of Much Ado. Class Discussion