English 241 Policies and Procedures

English 241: Shakespeare's Plays

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:

Course: Introduction to Shakespeare; English 241, Section 700

Time: 11:00 - 12:15 TR; Temple 1165

Instructor: C. W. Griffin, Professor of English

Office: Hibbs 416: 828-1668; Home: 741-6584; Hours: 1:00 M-R saturn.vcu.edu/~bgriffin/

Purpose: Someday you may--

Find yourself spending a vacation near an area that has an annual Shakespeare festival, like the ones in Virginia and Oregon. One night you decide to attend play such as A Midsummer Night's Dream;

Be asked by some friends to join a group that reads a Shakespearean play like Othello or Henry V every month and then discusses it;

Be asked by someone you like (admire, love, or even detest) to attend a film of a Shakespeare play such as Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet;

If so, you'll want to be able to understand the language and meanings of the play as well as appreciate its performance. The purpose of this course is to help you achieve these ends.

Objectives: To accomplish this purpose, you'll need to--

Familiarize yourself with the historical and social contexts of the plays, i.e., Elizabethan culture, history, stagecraft, etc.

Understand how to interpret the signs of script, film, and performance, signs that reveal why people in the plays do and say what they do.

Determine some of the overall patterns of meaning of the plays.

Texts: William Shakespeare: Signet editions, New American Library, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part I, Henry V, Othello, and King Lear;

Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirkland's Shakespeare Alive;

C. W. Griffin, Shakespeare Companion I, Introduction to Shakespeare

Attendance: Since most of our class time will be spent on analysis and discussion, you are expected to attend class regularly. If you miss more than four classes, you will be automatically dropped from the class.

Exams: Midsemester and final exams will test your ability to think about the plays, readings, and class presentations perceptively and intelligently through short answers and essays.

Quizzes: Short in-class quizzes will show us how well you have read and thought about the readings, as well as having absorbed class presentations. No Makeups!

Papers: Three short (3-4 pages) papers will allow you to think through issues raised by your reading and our discussions. You may substitute postings to our course discussion list on five different plays in lieu of one paper.

Lectures: Video-taped lectures on Shakespeare's life, the Elizabethan Renaissance, Elizabethan Daily Life, the Elizabethan theatre, and the history plays will be on reserve for your viewing in the library.

Study
Questions: Study questions on the Shakespeare Web site will guide you to important points about the video-taped lectures and the plays.

Postings: You can earn up to 5 extra points on your final grade by posting on the class discussion list your responses to at least 5 of the plays we study.

Grading: Exams (50%); Quizzes (20%); Papers (30%); Postings (5%).
Grades: A = 100-90; B = 89-80; C = 79-70; D = 69-60; F = -60

Honor Code: The VCU honor code requires that students refrain from committing any act of cheating, plagiarizing, facilitating academic dishonesty, etc.

Student
Conduct To provide all students with instruction free from interference by others, students are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and cooperative manner so that faculty members can proceed with customary instruction.

Disability: If you have a physical or mental limitation that requires an academic adjustment or accommodation, please arrange a meeting with me at your earliest convenience.

Course:	Introduction to Shakespeare; English 241, Section 700
Time:	11:00 - 12:15 TR; Temple 1165
Instructor:	C. W. Griffin, Professor of English
Office:	Hibbs 416: 828-1668; Home: 741-6584; Hours: 1:00 M-R saturn.vcu.edu/~bgriffin/
Purpose:	Someday you may--
	Find yourself spending a vacation near an area that has an annual Shakespeare festival, like the ones in Virginia and Oregon. One night you decide to attend play such as A Midsummer Night's Dream;
	Be asked by some friends to join a group that reads a Shakespearean play like Othello or Henry V every month and then discusses it;
	Be asked by someone you like (admire, love, or even detest) to attend a film of a Shakespeare play such as Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet;
	If so, you'll want to be able to understand the language and meanings of the play as well as appreciate its performance. The purpose of this course is to help you achieve these ends.
Objectives:	To accomplish this purpose, you'll need to--
	Familiarize yourself with the historical and social contexts of the plays, i.e., Elizabethan culture, history, stagecraft, etc.
	Understand how to interpret the signs of script, film, and performance, signs that reveal why people in the plays do and say what they do.
	Determine some of the overall patterns of meaning of the plays.
Texts:	William Shakespeare: Signet editions, New American Library, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part I, Henry V, Othello, and King Lear;
	Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirkland's Shakespeare Alive;
	C. W. Griffin, Shakespeare Companion I, Introduction to Shakespeare
Attendance:	Since most of our class time will be spent on analysis and discussion, you are expected to attend class regularly. If you miss more than four classes, you will be automatically dropped from the class.
Exams:	Midsemester and final exams will test your ability to think about the plays, readings, and class presentations perceptively and intelligently through short answers and essays.
Quizzes:	Short in-class quizzes will show us how well you have read and thought about the readings, as well as having absorbed class presentations. No Makeups!
Papers:	Three short (3-4 pages) papers will allow you to think through issues raised by your reading and our discussions. You may substitute postings to our course discussion list on five different plays in lieu of one paper.
Lectures:	Video-taped lectures on Shakespeare's life, the Elizabethan Renaissance, Elizabethan Daily Life, the Elizabethan theatre, and the history plays will be on reserve for your viewing in the library.
Study Questions:	Study questions on the Shakespeare Web site will guide you to important points about the video-taped lectures and the plays.
Postings:	You can earn up to 5 extra points on your final grade by posting on the class discussion list your responses to at least 5 of the plays we study.
Grading:	Exams (50%); Quizzes (20%); Papers (30%); Postings (5%). Grades: A = 100-90; B = 89-80; C = 79-70; D = 69-60; F = -60
Honor Code:	The VCU honor code requires that students refrain from committing any act of cheating, plagiarizing, facilitating academic dishonesty, etc.
Student Conduct	To provide all students with instruction free from interference by others, students are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and cooperative manner so that faculty members can proceed with customary instruction.
Disability:	If you have a physical or mental limitation that requires an academic adjustment or accommodation, please arrange a meeting with me at your earliest convenience.