| English
316
Shakespeare:
Lovers,
Villains, and
Kings
Dr.
Michael Bryson
Sierra Tower
832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
This
course will
explore the
sonnets and
eleven of
Shakespeare's
plays, drawn
from early,
middle, and
late periods
of his writing
career.
EVALUATION
METHOD:
Presentation
(including
historical
information,
and group
"acting" of
scenes), two
essays.
Participation
in the
scenes/presentations will
make up 1/3
of the
grade.
The other 2/3
will be based
on the grades
of the two
essays.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Group
assignment:
You will each
be asked to
sign up for
the play you
are most
interested
in working
with at length
this quarter,
and you will
focus your
group
presentation
on this
play. By
the end of
week 3, I will
sign you up
into eight
groups of five
to six
apiece.
Now, this
should be a fairly
easy assignment,
and my grading
standards will be
generous. But be
in class that
day--do not miss
that class and
then ask me to put
you in a group
later. 1/3 of your
grade rides on
this. When
your
group's play
is up that
week,
approximately
half the
people in the
group will
make an
eight to ten
minute class
presentation
on a cultural
or historical
topic related
to the play
(talk to
me about
possible
topics if you
need to—and
feel free when
making the
presentation
to use audio
or visual
material if
that will
help).
The rest of
the
people in the
group will
choose,
rehearse, and
perform a
significant five
to six
minute scene
from the play
for the class
—bring
any necessary
props to class
on the day of
your group's
scene (props
and hamming it
up a bit can
make this more
fun for
everyone).
It will be up
to the groups
to decide who
participates
in which of
the two
presentations,
but everyone
must
participate in
one or the
other.
On the day
of your
presentation, you
will give me a
sheet of paper
with the names of
your group
members, and what
task/role each is
performing. This
helps me make sure
each group member
gets proper
credit.
The
Essays:
in the range
of about
1000-1250 words (for the
entire
essay, not each
question),
these will be
responses to
essay
questions,
and will
require you to
present an
analysis of
characters
from the
blocks of
plays we will
have read
(roughly weeks
1-3—Love, and weeks
4-6—Politics
and Power for
Essay 1; and weeks
7-15—Tragedy,
Villainy, and
Madness for
Essay 2).
These essays
will not
require
secondary
sources, but
will require
you to read
the plays
closely, and
cite evidence
from the plays(using
MLA citation...see
this site for
a fairly useful
set of examples
about how to
handle quotations) to back up
your
arguments. The
final
essay
will be due by
11:59:59
PM
on 5/19 by
email (no
physical
submissions of
finals).
In your email
subject line,
put English
316 final, and
make sure your
name is on
your paper and
in the body of
your email,
especially if
using a
non-CSUN
address.
READING
LIST:
Complete
Pelican
Shakespeare
Statement
on Academic
Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is
a serious
offense that
will be
treated
seriously.
Please read
the CSUN
policy
here.
Weekly
Preview
I.
The Nature of
Love
Week
1 (1/25):
Introductions
Week 2 (2/1):
Selected
Sonnets (1-3,
15, 18, 55, 94,
116, 130,
138)
Week 3 (2/8):
Two
Gentlemen of
Verona
(Presentation
groups assigned
in class--do
not miss this
day! You will not
be assigned to a
group later, and
there will no
makeup assignment.)
Once
again, as a
reminder, on the day
of your
presentation, you
will give me a
sheet of paper
with the names of
your group
members, and what
task/role each is
performing. This
helps me make sure
each group member
gets proper
credit. No sheet,
no grade.
II.
Politics and
Power
Week
4 (2/15): Henry
IV part 1
Week 5 (2/22):
Henry V
Week 6 (3/1):
Richard
III
Essay
1 (distributed
in class 3/1, due
in class 3/15)--staple
everything
together into one
paper--do not hand
in multiple,
separate papers.
III.
Tragedy,
Villainy, and
Madness
Week 7 (3/8):
The
Merchant of
Venice
(Presentation
1)
Week 8 (3/15):
Romeo
and Juliet
(Presentation
2)
3/22
Off for Spring
Break
Week
9 (3/29):
Othello
(Presentation
3)
Week
10 (4/5):
Julius
Caesar
(Presentation 4)
Week 11 (4/12):
Hamlet
(Presentation
5)
Week
13 (4/19):
Macbeth
(Presentation
6)
Week 14 (4/26): King
Lear
(Presentation
7)
Week
15 (5/3):
The
Tempest
(Presentation
8)
Week 16 (5/10):
Off. Work on
your final essay.
Essay 2
(distributed in
class 5/3, due by
11:59:59 PM on
5/17 via
email)--combine
everything in
one
file/attachment--do
not send multiple,
separate
attachments.
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