English 117-1 - Summer Sessions I, 2014

Shakespeare

Class Information

Instructor: Rapatz, Vanessa
CRN: 51440
Time: MTW 12:10-1:50
Location: 1130 Bainer

Description

This course studies five plays from the middle and late periods of Shakespeare’s career. We will read a comedy, _Much Ado About Nothing_; a problem play, _Measure for Measure_; two tragedies, _Othello_ and _King Lear_; and a late romance, _The Tempest_. Class lecture will attend to the language and formal conventions of these plays as well as to their stagecraft, their historical context, and their modern reception. The course is titled “Father of the Bride” and takes up issues related to vows, virtue, villainy, and family values in these representative plays. I have ordered specific editions of our texts. We will be using the secondary sources in the _King Lear_ and _The Tempest_ Norton editions; so while I prefer that you buy the specific editions of all five plays that I have ordered, I absolutely require that you buy the correct editions of these final two plays.

Grading

Participation 10%, quizzes and homework 10%, two papers, of 5 and 7-10 pp. respectively; the first will be 20% and the second, 25% of your grade. There will also be a midterm (15%) and a final (20%).

Texts

Measure for Measure, ISBN: 9780140714791
Othello, ISBN: 9780140714630
Much Ado About Nothing , ISBN: 9780140714807
King Lear, ISBN: 9780393926644
The Tempest, ISBN: 9780393978193