Jan
Stirm
Office Hours: MW 11-12, TR 3:15-4
English
357
Shakespeare Office:
Hibbard 404; phone 715-836-3016
Spring 2000; W
6-8:45 PM HHH307
Email: JStirm@uwec.edu
Goals and
Philosophy: We read
Shakespeare for a lot of reasons, and in a lot of ways.
My goals for you in this class are to 1) gain familiarity with and
knowledge of a number of Shakespearean texts, 2) learn about the historical
contexts for those texts and the conditions of their production, 3) foster a
basic understanding of the ways academics approach Shakespeare and other
literature so that you can approach new texts on your own and use what
you’ve learned in this class in other classes or elsewhere.
Reading and
Notes:
We'll be doing a ton of reading; I usually figure about 3 hours of
outside work per hour of in-class work, but your time will probably vary.
You must keep up with the reading, attend class regularly and
participate in discussions. You
should also plan on seeing me in office hours to discuss your questions and
writing assignments. You
should take reading notes for every text we read, and you should read the
introductory material for each play. Try
to read where you have ready access to a decent dictionary; when you run
across a word you don't know (and which isn't glossed in the text), look it up
and write a short definition in the margin next to the word.
As I read, I make short notes about things that interest me, including
the page (or line numbers); I usually write down plot bits, moments of
repetition, and passages which seem important, as well as things I really just
like. When I finish a scene or
act, I write a short summary of the material, including a list of characters
with some identifying notes, the plot or argument, and any special action I
think is important. I also make a
special point of writing questions I have about the work.
This goes double when I read theory or criticism.
Class
Attendance and Contribution:
Absolutely required. Make
sure you come to every class with your reading notes and questions.
You will need to finish the assigned reading by the day we begin
discussion in class. Because
this class meets only once a week, if you miss more than one class, your grade
will be adversely affected!
Assignments:
a performance project and mini-paper, weekly reading quizzes, a
midterm, and a final exam. You
will also choose one of two options for your more formal essay assignments,
either two five (5) page papers (see assignments below) or one ten (10) page
paper (from a research project you develop in consultation with me).
Quizzes:
Basic quizzes on the readings (Shakespeare, McDonald, theory/criticism).
You should be able to remember plot points, character names, main
points of arguments, important definitions, and so forth.
All quizzes are closed book, open notes.
Mini-Paper:
Write a 2-3 page response to your work on the performance project.
You MUST quote from the performance project script and/or the readings
in McDonald. The goals: you
should demonstrate your ability to analyze your experience and to use
quotations to support your points. I
should get a sense of your writing skills.
You should get a sense of my grading and expectations.
(Due 1/28)
Option 1:
two 5 page papers (Due 2/16 and 5/10)
Option 2:
one 10-12 page paper (abstract due 3/15, final due 5/3)
More
information about the formal essays:
As with any other essays you write for an English class, these need to
have strong thesis statements and to make an argument.
You will, of course, cite the source of all quotations and information
in your paper. You should use the
MLA style for citations, which you can find in your Heath Handbook (or
any other handbook you have), the MLA Style manual, or on line at:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html
Remember, proofreading and grammar are an important part of your
communication with your reader!
You will
choose by October 5 whether you want to do two short papers or one longer
paper. I will not accept late
papers (unless there’s some HUGE emergency), so keep that in mind.
Option 1,
Paper #1: Due Wednesday
2/16
Write an explication which focuses on one of the following passages and
explain why the passage is significant in view of themes or problems we’ve
been discussing in class. Your
essay should be about 5 pages long, typed (or word-processed), double-spaced,
with reasonable margins (about 1" all around), and stapled together.
Put your name, my name and the class number on the back side of the
last page only.
All from 1
Henry IV: 1.1.1-30; 2.3.37-64;
3.1.34-48; 3.1.145-162;
5.4.111-129
Here are some questions to keep in mind as you work: how does the
passage help you understand aspects of the world the work represents?
How does the language (images, allusions, rhetorical devices, etc.)
compare or contrast with other moments in the work (or other passage)?
What sense do you make of the fact that the passage occurs where it
does in the unfolding of the action or argument?
These questions are not intended as the outline for your essay; I offer
them as initial guides to help you situate the passage in the argument of the
work. As you write the essay,
remember that your particular reading of the passage(s) will be stronger and
more persuasive if you call attention to details from the passage that
illustrate the claims you make. I
will be happy to talk with you about your paper as you start working on it.
Suggestions for
Option 1, Paper #1:
(1) Do not use outside sources on this paper.
Most of the time I'm open-minded as long as you cite your source, but
this time think things through yourself.
Of course, you should definitely look up any words you don't know!
(2) Your thesis should make a claim or argument about the passage.
Your thesis may relate to the passages theme, but it is not a
restatement or paraphrase.
(3) Look up in a dictionary all words you don't know.
Option 1,
Paper #2: Due 3/15
Choose one of the
following topics and write a paper in response to it. You must cite all sources you use in writing this paper,
including the play.
1) Edition
(This is probably the most difficult of the assignments!)
When we go to a performance of Shakespeare, we almost always see a cut
play; that is, during production some lines or parts were cut or condensed for
a variety of reasons. It may
surprise you to realize how much a play may be cut and still retain some
meaningful flow. Prepare a 500
line edition of one of the plays we are studying this quarter and turn it in
along with a 5 page paper discussing some aspect of your work on the edition. Some suggestions: Buy
a really cheap copy of the play (or make a photocopy from your Riverside)
and mark the 500 lines with highlighter rather than typing out 500 lines!
You must retain something from every scene in the play, but you can
eliminate characters. You need
not maintain the integrity of individual speeches, but should attempt to
retain a sense of flow through your chosen lines.
Start by reading the play through, then decide what aspect of the plot
you want to emphasize in your edition. Work
through the play choosing lines that seem vital (some students find it helpful
to work through the play backwards). For
your 5 page paper, you might want to discuss how you chose what to emphasize,
why you eliminated or kept certain characters, or what you learned about the
play from this project.
2) Edition Review
Choose a recent (since 1990 or so) individual edition of one of the
plays we’ve read (or will read) and write a review of it.
You will want to consider the audience the edition’s aimed at and how
well it serves that audience, the choices the editor made and how well s/he
explains those choices, and how well designed the edition is.
You might find it helpful to look at Which Shakespeare? to get
an idea of how to write a review of an edition; Shakespeare Quarterly
also reviews editions periodically, and one of those might prove useful as a
model.
3) Book Review
Choose a recent (since 1990 or so) book of criticism of Shakespeare and
write a well-considered, fair review of it.
You will find it very helpful to read the book more than once, and to
look at book reviews in Shakespeare Quarterly or Studies in English
Literature in order to have models for your work.
(You should check with me to find an appropriate book to review.)
Option 2 (Abstract
due 3/15; Final Draft 5/3)
My expectations: I
expect a 10-12 page paper on a topic related to one of the Shakespearean works
we’ve read this term. Your
paper should have an argument with a strong thesis, well-supported by evidence
from the work (in the form of quotations!).
As far as your essay’s format, I expect standard, one-inch margins, a
readable and reasonably-sized font (10 or 12 pitch); please do not use a cover
sheet or folder. Instead, put the
title of your essay on the top of the first page, drop a few lines and start
in. Put your name and the date on
the back of the last page and simply staple all your pages together at the
upper left corner.
You may choose to
do outside reading as part of your preparation for writing this paper; if so,
you should read at least recent 3 articles (or books) by different critics (by
recent, I mean published within the last 15 years--NOT republished within the
last 15 years). You may find it
useful to look at older materials, but should be cautious in adopting their
assumptions. Please also remember
that the fact that something is in print does not mean that it is “right”
or smart or whatever!
I will hand out a
sample abstract as the time approaches. IF
you’re using outside reading for the paper, you should provide an annotated
bibliography along with your abstract. Your abstract should also be attached to the final draft of
your paper.
Potential
Suggested Topics for Option 2
(I prefer you find your own, but just in case):
1) Often our
discussion of plays focus primarily on major scenes or characters, usually
because we’re up against time. But
had we world enough and time, we might find that some seemingly insignificant
scenes or characters are actually vital to a play’s meaning(s).
--Analyze how one of the following scenes functions within the play.
Consider one of the following scenes: Titus Andronicus 4.3, King
Lear 1.3 or 1.5 (or others).
--Analyze how one of the following characters functions within his/her
play: Oswald (King Lear), Seyton, Ross, or Young Siward (Macbeth)
(or others).
--Sometimes, even people mentioned who don’t appear as characters can
be fascinating; consider, for example, King Edward (Macbeth), Sycorax (The
Tempest) (or others).
Suggested
starting points for reading: M.M. Mahood’s Bit Parts in Shakespeare’s
Plays or Mark Rose’s Shakespearean Design.
2) In Orientalism,
Edward Said suggests that European fascination with the “Oriental” other,
including peoples from the Middle East, Africa and Asia (here we might include
indigenous peoples of the Americas as well) stems from a desire to understand
the self through controlling, especially with knowledge, the other.
Said’s work suggests that we should look at non-Europeans in European
works of art and literature in order to understand not the non-Europeans, but
how Europeans are constructing themselves in relation to the other.
Analyze how Titus Andronicus, or The Tempest construct
whiteness. If you’re feeling
really ambitious, you might want to compare constructions of whiteness in both
of these plays to see if there’s a major change (and consider if this change
is related to chronology, genre, or something else).
3) Analyze the
relationship between two characters in a play (check them out with me).
What happens to the relationship within the play?
Is there a change? Why /
why not?
4) Mediated
information, in the form of letters and/or messengers, comes into almost every
play we’ve read at some point. Analyze
and discuss the function of mediation in one of the texts we’ve read.
You might want to consider how information is interpreted as well as
how it is transmitted. Does the movement of information change during the play or
poem? Are there “unreliable
narrators”? (How do you know?)
5) Geography and
geographical movement play a large role in many of Shakespeare’s plays.
Choose one play and discuss how geography or geographical movement
function within that play; you may want to limit your discussion to one
movement or place. Further, you
may want to consider geography metatheatrically for a given play.
(You might want to start with Steven Mullaney’s The Place of the
Stage) or Gillies’ Shakespeare and the Geography of Difference.
