English
312 ShakespeareEnglish
312 ShakespeareOffice Phone 724-738-2358
Office Hours (312C Spotts): MW 12-2, F 1-2
Text:
The Complete Works of Shakespeare. - 5th ed.
Ed. David Bevington. Longman, 2004.
You are responsible for the reading assignments for class on the day they are listed.
The following schedule may be modified as the course proceeds:
W 12 Jan.
Introduction
to Course
Shakespeare's London; The Italian and English Renaissance
W 19 Jan. The Sonnets (see Blackboard)
W 26 Jan.
Romeo & Juliet
W 2 Feb.
Romeo &
Juliet
W 9 Feb. Julius Caesar
W 16 Feb.
Julius Caesar
W
23 Feb.
The Merchant of Venice
W 2 Mar. The Merchant of Venice
Spring Break: Fri. Mar. 4th, 5 p.m. – Mon. Mar. 14th, 8 a.m. Trip to Italy.
W 16 Mar. Much Ado About Nothing
Spring Weekend: Wed. Mar. 23rd, 5 p.m. – Mon. Mar. 28th, 8 a.m.
W 30 Mar. Macbeth
W 6 Apr. Macbeth
W 13 Apr. The
Tempest
W
20 Apr.
The Tempest
W 27 Apr. Overviews of the History Plays & Renaissance Art (student presentations)
Final Exam Wednesday, 4 May
COURSE GUIDELINES
HELP You are encouraged to seek individual conference time with the instructor during office hours or by appointment and from the tutors in the writing center (301).
FORMAT All papers (including responses) must be in strict MLA format. If you don’t have an MLA Handbook, buy one.
EXAMS Exams will be mostly take-home essays and quotation explications with small in-class components. The essays will be written as critical papers with proper citation and documentation.
READER RESPONSES Reader Responses for this course are your comments written after reading each play: free-writing, free association, gut reaction, or unabashed opinion about the material read as well as some critical analysis (NOT plot summary). You will meet this requirement if you (1) reach the required length of approximately 600 words, and (2) demonstrate involvement with the material and some critical analysis with direct reference to the text (this differentiates a reader response from a personal diary. Don't worry about consistency or organization. Three of them must include references to the OED, after researching Shakespeare’s language as used in the play. These responses will provide material for you to use on the take-home components of your exams.
LATE WORK For each weekday an assignment is late, your grade for that assignment will fall by 5%, approximately one-half letter.
ABSENCE Absence and tardiness are strongly discouraged. For each unexcused absence above one (one week of classes), 25 points will be deducted from your final grade. Absences beyond one will be excused only if documentation from a dean or medical doctor is provided.
PIRACY Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work which is not the product of your own study and efforts, you will receive a grade of F for that work and probably for the course. Extreme violations will be reported to the appropriate university authorities. Your professor subscribes to a plagiarism-finding service.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS: 
Three Exams @ 100 pts. each = 300 pts.
Reader Responses 6 @ 20 pts. each = 120 pts.
Research Presentation 80 pts.
TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 500
Final grades
for this course will be assessed by your percentage of points.
Scale: 90-100% = A 80-89% = B 70-79% = C 62-69% = D 0-61%
= F
SAMPLE
RESEARCH TOPICSAny Aspect of
Renaissance Art (Italy, France)
Elizabeth I
Renaissance Cosmology, Alchemy, Medicine
Shakespeare's Fools, Drunks, Bawdiness, and Insults
Authorship Controversy
The Tudors, Henry VIII, and Henry VIII
Drama Before Shakespeare and London Theatres and Dramatic Companies
War of the Roses, Houses of Lancaster and York (Richard III and Henry
VI)
Niccolo Machiavelli's Politics and Richard III
Shakespeare's Women
James I and Jacobean Drama
America 1564-1616, The Tempest, and Sir Walter Raleigh