| English
416 Shakespeare: Tragedy and its Comic Roots
Dr. Michael Bryson
Sierra Tower 832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course
will explore several of Shakespeare's tragedies in light of their use of/relation to comic techniques and plots.
EVALUATION METHOD: Midterm essay,
final essay.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Midterm:
in the range of 6-8 pages, this will be comprised of responses to essay
questions, and will require you to present an analysis of characters
from the blocks of plays we will have read to that point. 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) to back up your arguments. The
midterm will be due in class on Monday, March 25th.
Final:
In the range of 10 pages, this
will be an essay tackling a question of your own choosing. This essay
will be a researched argument paper that makes use of secondary
sources. Excellent
sources for journal articles include JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/),
Project Muse (http://muse.jhu.edu/),
and Academic Search Elite (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/ebsase.scr).
These databases must be accessed from the CSUN campus, or from
off-campus with your
CSUN email unsername and password. Quotations from the works you
deal with—and quotations from secondary sources—should follow MLA
format. The final
essay will be due by
11:59:59 PM
on Friday, May 17th, and must be submitted via email attachment.
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
Week 1 (1/28)—Introductions, Sonnets 1-20, 94,
116, 130, 138
Week 2 (2/4)—Titus Andronicus
Week 3 (2/11)—Two Gentlemen of Verona
Week 4 (2/18)—The Merchant of Venice
Week 5 (2/25)—Romeo and Juliet
Week 6 (3/4)—Othello
Week 7 (3/11)—Othello
Week 8 (3/18)—Julius Caesar
Week 9 (3/25)—Hamlet
Week 10 (4/1)—Hamlet
Week 11 (4/8) Spring Break
Week 12 (4/15)—King Lear
Week 13 (4/22)—King Lear
Week 14 (4/29)—Macbeth
Week 15 (5/6)—Off
Final due
by email attachment on 5/17 at 11:59:59 PM—no physical submissions
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