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elmlsteach.org

L41500 / L52501: Major plays of Shakespeare

Fall 2022 TR 4.30-5.45 LA 116

Our course is aimed at the student who has had some experience with Shakespeare on the page, in the theatre, or at the cinema.  We'll study six works, watching a film production of each play at least in part. 


We'll have an early essay, two exams, and some shorter writing assignments.

Linkage

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (the folks in Stratford)


Folger Shakespeare Library (the finest American resource available for Shakespeare study)


British Library (finest UK resource for Shakespeare)


Historical Editions of Shakespeare (a fairly complete run of all texts from the early quartos to the end of the nineteenth century)


Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive (all the engravings from the great nineteenth-century editions)


Syllabus

GENERAL INFORMATION

Office:  LA 233  Hours: by mutually convenient appointment

email: stapletm@pfw.edu   phone: 481.6841 (message)

webpage: www.elmlsteach.org


Text:

Greenblatt et al., eds., The Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays. The Sonnets (vol. 3E)

Please note: this is the edition I'll be using. If you choose not to buy it, you might have some minor difficulty following along.  


Electronic Devices:

Yes, please. Feel free. I only ask that you use their magic powers for Good.  E. g.  don't use your phone as a textbook.

Francis Hayman's portrayal of Hannah Pritchard as Rosalind at the wrestling match (1750
“All the world's a stage.”

As you like it

August 23, 25; September 1, 6, 8, 10


Short Assignment # 1 due Friday, September 9, 11.59 p.m., via Brightspace. 2 pp.


Rosalind and Orlando in the play.

“Nothing that is so is so."

Twelfth Night

September 13, 15, 20, 22, 27


Short Assignment # 2 due Friday, September 23 , 11.59 p.m., via Brightspace. 2 pp


ANALYTICAL ESSAY DUE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 11.59 PM, VIA BRIGHTSPACE. 4 pp. 

1609 Quarto title-page and dedication page
“Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme"

Sonnets

September 29; October 4, 6 


FIRST EXAM DUE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11.59 P.M., VIA BRIGHTSPACE. 4 pp.

"I have done the state some service, and they know't.”

Othello

October 11, 13, 20, 25, 27


Short Assignment #3 due Friday, October 21, 11.59 p.m., via Bright space. 2 pp.



“Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.”

king lear

November 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 29; December 1, 6, 8


Short Assignment # 4 due Friday, November 11, 11.59 p.m., via Brightspace. 2 pp.


Short Assignment # 5 due Friday, December 2, 11.59 p.m., via Brightspace. 2 pp. 


SECOND EXAM DUE WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER 14, 11.59 P.M. VIA BRIGHTSPACE. 4 pp. 

Site Content

SOFTWARE

As a PFW student, you are entitled to free software, which you'll need. If you follow this link, you can dowload your own copy of Office 365 from IT services.

EVERYTHING IS DOUBLE-SPACED

 Everything in your regular papers should be double-spaced. There are no extra spaces between paragraphs, and block quotations are double-spaced.  Go into your copy of Word, find the Paragraph menu, and make sure that it looks like the picture to the left. 

CHECK YOUR HEADING

 

It can be on the left or the right side


Your Name


ENGL 41500


My Name


Date



On the next line after the heading, center a title for the paper.

Begin your text on the next line after that title.

OTHER FORMATTING

  • Don't use "fun" fonts or all-caps.
  • Your font size should be 12-point.
  • Don't use 'single quotation marks' for emphasis, or, for that matter, for most any reason at all.

EVERYTHING IS ELECTRONIC

 You'll compose your papers and shorter assignments in Word and email them to me, so there is nothing in hard copy.  Attach your paper as a Word document to your email. Do NOT send it in Google Docs. Do NOT send it in .pdf. 

COURSE POLICIES

ATTENDANCE AND GOOD MANNERS

You are allowed five (5) absences for any reason you choose. Students who miss more than this will fail the course, without exception, regardless of circumstances. I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences, nor am I responsible for material that you miss because you are absent. Students who miss the attendance call (the first five minutes of class) will be marked absent; students who get up and leave in the middle of class will be marked absent. Please take care of your rest room issues BEFORE class. If you must leave, give us the high sign.  DON'T JUST GET UP AND WALK OUT.


NOTE: if you signed up for the class, it is understood that you can attend it regardless of family or employment obligations. If you have emergencies, this is why you have absences allowed.  Doctors's notes, team travel letters, and other personal effects do not entitle students to extra absences. If circumstances prevent you from observing the attendance policy, drop the course.   

DUE DATES

Your paper, short assignments, and take-home exams are due on the scheduled non-class dates by 11.59 p.m. via Brightspace. Late papers = 0. No exceptions. Short assignments, 2 pp. for all. Paper and exams, 4 pp. for undergrads, 10 pp. for grads. Your paper, short assignments, and first exam may be revised after meeting with the instructor in the office and discussing your plans.

DON'T BE A PLAGIARY

It should go without saying that students are also expected to do their own work; indebtedness to secondary materials (either printed or electronic) must be clearly indicated so as to avoid plagiarism: 

—(piecemeal) using someone else’s words and phrases as if they were your own, not pararphrasing or summarizing properly, even with proper documentation;
—(grotesque) using someone else’s ideas as if they were your own, without proper documentation;
—(more grotesque) allowing someone else to write your paper for you.     


 PLEASE DO NOT BE A PLAGIARIST! THIS IS UNNECESSARY, AS WELL AS UNETHICAL   

GRADING

The course grade will be determined by a rough averaging together of your  paper, two exams, and five shorter assignments, each worth 25 pts per category.  I  reserve the right to take into additional factors into account; improvement, class participation, and, of course, attendance. Grades are not negotiable, personal, or subject to the influence of extracurricular academic factors. 

COMMUNICATION

You may email me at any time. I will usually get back to you quickly: stapletm@pfw.edu

instructions for writing PAPERS, EXAMS, AND SHORT ASSIGNMENT

Identify each quotation

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Who said it? Where, and why? 

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Which words or phrases make reference to the concept you're trying to explain, and why does your evidence matter?  

Devote a solid paragraph-page to each quotation

Explain, specifically, how it relates to the point you're making

Devote a solid paragraph-page to each quotation

Paragraphs should be focused on a single idea, with topic sentences, evidence, and analysis. They should not consist of a series of broad, unrelated statements.



Relate the quotations to one another

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

Devote a solid paragraph-page to each quotation

 This is where we see what you've got. Which words and phrases seem especially important in each quotation as they relate to the other quotations?  

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

What each quotation says is fairly clear. So there's no need to rehash or summarize the Shakespeare. Assume we can all read it. Why does it matter? Why is it important? What insight can you bring to the material?

Check out the Writing page--Revision

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

Avoid summary or storytelling: analysis only, please

Scroll  up to the site menu and click on Writing. Pay special attention to the sections on analysis, lead-ins and quotations, and quoting poetry.


We cite Shakespeare in parentheses by (Play abbr. act.scene.line-numbers).  TN, H5


Your  papers  and exams should be 4 pp., double-spaced.  Short Assignments: 2 pp.


You are allowed to revise all of your work except your second exam, provided that you meet with me in the office to discuss it first. You are welcome to turn in revisions at any time before the due date for your second exam.

Analytical Paper

The Prompt

"Assume a virtue if you have it not," says Hamlet to his mother (Ham. 3.4.160). He means to be rude. Also, if it were possible for Shakespeare's characters to come to life and speak to each other, it is something he would never say to Rosalind or Viola.  However, what are their virtues, specifically, based on words and phrases you can glean from the plays as evidence? How are their virtues similar? How are they different? Do they possess elements of personality that could not be described  as virtues?


Please see the hints just above on writing papers for a college literature course. Attend to the WRITING page on the home menu tab.

SUGGESTIONS AND SPECS

Paragraphs should be focused on a single topic, with topic sentences, evidence, and analysis. They should not consist of a series of broad, unrelated statements.

Late papers = 0

4 pp.

DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30,  11.59 P.M.  VIA BRIGHTSPACE

stapletm@pfw.edu


Microsoft Word only. 


Please keep in mind that you may revise this paper as often as you like, as long as you meet with me to discuss it after you have turned it in the first time. Revisions are due on or before the due date for the second exam.

first exam

The Prompt

Our first three works, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and the Sonnets, might not seem to have much in common at first glance. As thinking people, however, you know that this would be a superficial observation.  Find two somewhat brief (i.e., not enormous) passages from each play that have something significant in common. Find one of the Sonnets that would bear on your discussion, perhaps one concerning sex, gender, the nature of women, fidelity, truth, falsehood, or any other topic you think important.

SUGGESTIONS AND SPECS

Paragraphs should be focused on a single topic, with topic sentences, evidence, and analysis. They should not consist of a series of broad, unrelated statements.

Late papers = 0

4 pp.

DUE FRIDAY OCTOBER 7,  11.59 p.m. VIA BRIGHTSPACE

stapletm@pfw.edu

 

Microsoft Word only. 


Please keep in mind that you may revise this paper as often as you like, as long as you meet with me to discuss it after you have turned it in the first time. Revisions are due on or before the due date for the second exam. 


second exam

Botticelli, Venus and Mars

The Prompt

"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together."


Let's take this splendid observation and apply it to our last three plays: Othello, King Lear, and The Winter's Tale.  

SUGGESTIONS AND SPECS

Paragraphs should be focused on a single topic, with topic sentences, evidence, and analysis. They should not consist of a series of broad, unrelated statements. 


DUE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 11.59 p.m. VIA BRIGHTSPACE

Late papers = 0

4 pp.

stapletm@pfw.edu


Microsoft Word only.

Short Assignments

Short Assignment #1 (9 Sept.)

At the midpoint of AYL, Rosalind says to Phebe:


  mistress, know yourself: down on your knees,
And thank heaven, fasting, for a good man's love:
For I must tell you friendly in your ear,
Sell when you can: you are not for all markets:
Cry the man mercy; love him; take his offer:
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer.  (3.5.57-62)


How do these lines reverberate throughout the play? Do they seem characteristic (typical) of the speaker?

Short Assignment #2 (23 Sept.)

Twelfth Night


In the middle of Twelfth Night, Viola utters the enigmatic line, "I am not what I am" (3.1.141).  Obviously, her primary meaning is her secret. She's not the youth Cesario, but a woman like Olivia with her own agenda and problems. However, the statement could be the keynote of the play. How does it apply to everyone else in Twelfth Night?  Why does it matter?

Short Assignment #3 (21 Oct.)

Othello


Desdemona's line "errs in ignorance and not in cunning" (Oth. 3.3.47) seems to have a broader application in the play. One might even says that it plays.  What would be your response to this observation? Are there any parts of Othello that embody it and prove it true--or false?

Short Assignment #4 (11 Nov.)

King Lear 


is a fairy tale from hell in two versions, quarto and folio. Its lessons are brutal.  Lear receives a number of them, some from the Fool.  What is the point of the interpolated material from the quarto at 1.4.127 (+1-15)?

Short Assignment #5 (2 Dec.)

King Lear


has a very famous line in the last act made up of one word repeated five times: "Never, never, never, never, never" (5.3.284).  Your friend says it's the dumbest thing she's ever heard. You know better, and explain how it reverberates throughout the play, and, perhaps, life.


© Copyright  M. L. Stapleton  1998-2024.  All rights reserved.


good for nothing else, be wise. --Rochester