This course will focus on Shakespeare's tragedies and romances, starting with an early experiment in tragedy, Titus Andronicus, and moving into the later plays including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Pericles and The Tempest. The links on the right provide some guiding information as well as links to external resources relevant to the plays, which you may find to be great tools during the course. The Electronic Syllabus contains the assignments you will need to access and complete for this course.
Requirements
Students will write a number of short (1-2 page) response papers, each on a different aspect of "media" in Shakespeare. These will enable students to experiment with a range of forms of analysis: including the historical and literary analysis of a single word (or your own choosing) at stake in Hamlet; the "editing" a short passage from King Lear; the comparison of two recorded performances of a single speech from Macbeth (with attention to the interpretive work of vocal casting, intonation, sound effects, etc.); an analysis of Othello or Antony and Cleopatra in light of a short source-text, and a study of a filmic adaptation of one play. No prior experience with Shakespeare is necessary. The course requirements will also include a midterm paper and a final paper.
Texts
The Norton
Shakespeare, Second Edition ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et.
al. (2008). Text now available at Talking Leaves Bookstore on Main Street
(easily accessible by bus). |
Titus Andronicus
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale
Pericles
The Tempest
!NEW!
"Editing Lear" assignment
HERE
"What's in a Word?" assignment HERE
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