Shakespeare:
Later Plays McIver 116
Spring 2003 Office
Hours: MW
MWF 11-11:50 334-4691
(o); 316-0463 (h)--before
McIver 140 cthodgki@uncg.edu
Texts
David Bevington, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 4th revised edn.
Joseph Gibaldi. MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th edn.
Course Goals:
Students successfully completing this course
1. will savor some of the
finest writing in any language.
2. will acquire a thorough
reading knowledge of all works on the syllabus.
3. will recognize and
understand the genres and subgenres in which Shakespeare wrote during his later
years—
“problem” play, tragedy, and
romance.
4. will recognize and
understand the issues involved in interpreting Shakespeare for
performance--both on stage and
screen.
5. will know the main facts
of Shakespeare's life.
6. will understand
Shakespeare's development as a poet and playwright in his historical period.
7. will understand
Shakespeare's continuing importance as a cultural icon and as a center of
controversy.
8. will develop their
abilities in research and in interpretive, analytical, and critical writing, as
well as in oral presentation.
Course Schedule
Week 1 1/13—Introduction to course and to the Renaissance stage
1/15—All’s
Well That Ends Well, Act 1
General
Introduction—Shakespeare’s Life and Work, 1564-1616
Quiz:
All’s Well Act 1, Intro to Life and Work
Informal scene analysis due—A-F
1/17—All’s
Well, Acts 2-5—Quiz Informal
scene analysis due—G-L
Week 2 1/20—King Day—No Class
1/22—All’s
Well Informal scene analysis due—M-R
ANNOTATION
SIGN-UPS
1/24—All’s Well Informal scene analysis due—S-Z
Week 3 1/27—Troilus and Cressida—Quiz
1/29—Troilus
and Cressida
1/31—Troilus
and Cressida—ANNOTATIONS BEGIN
Week 4 2/3—Troilus and Cressida
2/5—Measure
for Measure—Quiz
2/7—Measure for Measure
Essay
#1—Scene Analysis—Due
Week 5 2/10—Measure
for Measure
2/12—Measure
for Measure
2/14—Measure
for Measure
Week 6 2/17—Othello—Quiz
2/19—Othello
2/21—Othello
Week 7 2/24—Othello
2/26—Othello
2/28—King
Lear—Acts 1-3—Quiz
Week 8 3/3—King Lear
3/5—King
Lear
3/7--Midterm Exam
Week 10 3/17—King Lear—Acts 4-5—Quiz
3/19—King
Lear
Plan
for Essay #2—Due
3/21—Macbeth—Quiz
Week 11 3/24—Macbeth
3/26—Macbeth
3/28—Macbeth
Week 12 3/31—Macbeth
4/2—
4/4—
Week
13 4/7—Antony and
Cleopatra
4/9—Antony and Cleopatra
4/11—Antony and
Cleopatra
Week 14 4/14—The Winter’s Tale—Quiz
4/16—The
Winter’s Tale
Essay #2 Due
4 pm
4/18—The
Winter’s Tale
4/23—The
Winter’s Tale
4/25—The Tempest—Quiz
Week 16 4/28—The Tempest
4/30—The Tempest
5/2—The
Tempest—Course evaluations
Week
17 5/5—The Tempest
5/6—Review
Revised Essay #2 Due 4 pm
Final Examination Monday, May 12,
8-11 am—NO EXCEPTIONS
Course
Requirements
Attendance
and Participation: Due to the high demand for this course, I
will drop any student not attending
the first or second day of class. Consistent attendance is mandatory. Regular and
active participation in class
discussion will raise your course grade. In-class quizzes will
be fairly frequent, and no make-ups will be allowed. Thus, unexcused absences
will indirectly lower your course grade. Furthermore, more than two unexcused
absences will
directly lower your course grade, and a pattern of unexcused
absences will result in your being dropped from the course.
Two tardies will count as
an absence, and students leaving class unexcused and not returning will be
marked absent.
Two unexcused tardies equal
one unexcused absence. Attendance will be taken daily, and no absence or tardy
will be
excused without advance notice.
In cases of
adverse weather, classes will meet unless the Chancellor closes the University.
Quizzes: Whenever we begin a new unit or play, I will start
class with a ten-point reading quiz covering the entire
assignment or play. These quizzes will be strictly factual and
simply will test whether or not you have read the material.
These
quizzes will not be returned. A pattern of poor or missed quizzes will lower
your course grade. A pattern of good
or excellent quizzes will raise your course grade.
Writing and
Speaking:
Daily Discussion: On most days I will
begin class by calling on one or two students and inviting your informal
comments on, questions about, and/or reactions to the day’s assigned reading. I
will call on each student in the class in
this way at least once per term. Your readiness for
discussion will be considered as part of your overall participation.
Informal Scene Analyses: Each student will be assigned one scene from most of the nine plays and write
informal answers to a series of analytical questions about it (see Questions for Scene Analysis); I will call on each student
at least twice per term to comment for a few minutes on his
or her chosen scene.
Essay
#1—Scene Analysis Essay (due Friday 2/7, 4 pm): You will
write a short (2-3 page, 500-750 word) analysis of a scene from one of the first three plays studied this term—All’s
Well That Ends Well, Troilus and Cressida,
or Measure for Measure (see Questions for Scene
Analysis handout). This is to be an essay, not simply an itemized
answering of the set questions. The purpose of the essay is to
describe the inner dynamics of the scene, and to explain
its relation to the immediately adjacent scenes and to
the play as a whole. Thus I recommend that you choose a scene of
moderate length, neither unusually brief nor unusually long.
Proofread carefully.
Critical Annotations: One set of 3
one-page critical annotations (typed, single-spaced) is required, due in class
on your assigned day (see handout). During the second week
of the semester, you will sign up for individual due dates
that will be determined by the dates for discussing particular
plays. The annotation assignment requires that you search
the library for 3 academic journal articles discussing the
assigned play, and prepare a one-page annotation for each
critical source that you choose. Each annotation must (a)
begin with the basic bibliographical information about each
source in correct MLA citation style (see MLA Handbook,
required for this course); then (b) it must summarize the
critic's interpretive argument; and finally (c) it must
assess whether the article makes a worthwhile contribution to our understanding
and appreciation of its subject, and why (or why not). I prefer annotation sets
that referee varying
interpretations of a work, thus displaying your powers of
discernment. I will call on annotators
to share their
researches
and insights with the class, so come prepared to speak on your assigned day.
Essay #2--Research Essay (due Wednesday
4/16 at
any play from All’s Well on--whether on the
syllabus or not. It will incorporate library research into an interpretive
argument of your own (see handout). In addition, in advance
of the second paper you will submit a Plan
for Essay #2
(due Wednesday 3/19 at
answer that question in no more than one page (250 words).
Papers will follow MLA parenthetical citation style. I must receive and approve an Essay #2 Plan before I can accept and
grade Essay #2 itself.
Required Rewrite of Essay #2 (Due Tuesday
5/6 at
thinking about the subject, as well as your close attention
to my written comments on the original. Your
rewrite must be
attached to your
original Research Essay with my comments to receive consideration.
Late papers: Late papers will drop a
full letter grade per weekday. However, if you know that a difficulty is
coming up and you'll need more time, come see me well in
advance to discuss an extension.
Plagiarism: You are expected to abide by the UNCG
academic honor policy on all work, and to sign a
statement to that effect on each paper and exam. Plagiarism
involves any situation in which another's work (whether their
ideas or their actual words) is submitted as your
own. A first offense may result in an F
on that assignment, while
repeated offenses can cause you to be expelled from the
University. If you are unsure about how
to give credit to your sources, see the MLA Handbook or come talk to me.
Exams: Two exams--one at midterm (3/7) and one at the scheduled final time (5/12
approximately the first and second halves of the semester,
respectively. Exams will consist of essay questions and
definitions of key terms. Dates and times of both the midterm and
the final exams are firm. If you know
now that you
cannot attend one or the other exam as scheduled, you
should not take this class.
Grading: I will grade on a straight percentage scale, as
follows:
A 100-94 C+
79-77 D- 63-60
A- 93-90 C 76-74 F 59-0
B+
89-87 C- 73-70
B
86-84 D+ 69-67
B- 83-80 D 66-64
Your assignments count in the following ways:
Essay #1: 20%
Critical Annotations: 15%
Plan for Essay #2: 5%
Essay #2: 20%
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Plus or minus consideration of
attendance, participation, and quizzes.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: To enhance communication with majors, the English
Department maintains a listserve.
Please join the listserve
by sending the following message from your e-mail account (whether on campus or
at home) that
you use most regularly to listproc@uncg.edu: subscribe
English-l firstname lastname
(giving, of course, your own
first and last names). For example: subscribe English-l Jane Doe. Note that the letter l (L) follows
"English," not the
number 1 (one).