Basic Information

Course Goals:

  • to understand the meaning of selected plays of Shakespeare.
  • to understand the context of Shakespeare's time as it relates to understanding the plays.
  • to determine your own interpretation of the plays after having compared and contrasted the interpretations of various directors and actors with your own.
  • Heritage Core Course. If you are not an English or ECom major, this course may fulfill your Heritage Core requirement (H).
    -As a result of this course, you will demonstrate an understanding of world events from a historical perspective. You will learn the context of Shakespeare's plays in the Elizabethan/Renaissance era and demonstrate this understanding in your papers and discussions.
    -You will demonstrate a historical understanding of ideas, events, and people influencing contemporary America. Shakespeare's influence on the English language, literature, and culture was unparalleled. You will be able to appreciate the influence of his plays and demonstrate your understanding in your papers and discussion.
    -You will demonstrate an understanding of foundational ideas and events as they relate to human gains and losses. Prominent critics assert that Shakespeare invented "the human," meaning that for the first time in literature, characters like Hamlet are presented as reflecting and then acting because of their reflection. The plays portray a sense of individuality not seen before in cultural artifacts. You will explain your understanding of this portral of self-awareness in your papers and discussions.
    -You will demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationship among ideas, culture and events.

Reading List:

  • David Bevington. The Necessary Shakespeare. 2nd ed.
  • Various films. You will have to rent these on your own or view them in Cabrini's library. All are commonly available at Blockbuster and public libraries.
  • Read each play, watch each movie, and participate in an online discussion on each play and movie in the "Discussion" section of web site.

     


Reading List and Tentative Schedule:

(Read each play, watch each movie, and participate in an online discussion on each play and movie in the "Discussion" section of web site.)

  • Week of May 19.

      John Madden's Shakespeare in Love 1998 with Joseph Fiennes & Gwyneth Paltrow. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the movie as well as of my introductions.

      Romeo & Juliet the play. Read the play and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    Week of May 26. Two film interpretations. Read my website and view my powerpoints.

    • Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet 1968. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

      Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet 1996 with Leonardo DiCaprio & Claire Danes. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    paper 1 due June 1 .

    Week of June 2.

    • Midsummer Night's Dream Read the play and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

      Michael Hoffman's 1999 Midsummer Night's Dream with Kevin Kline. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    Week of June 9.

      Othello Read the play and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

      Oliver Parker's film. Othello with Laurence Fishburne. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    Paper 2 due June 15 .

     

    Week of June 16.

    Hamlet Read the play and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    Week of June 23. Two interpretations.

      Zeffirelli's Hamlet with Mel Gibson. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

      Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet. Watch the film and start with a strong, substantial posting on one of the questions in "Discussions." Then come back a number of times and enter into a discussion with others by posting at least several significant replies to other people's ideas. Be sure to show specific understanding of the play and movie as well as of my introductions.

    Paper 3 due June 30 .

    Syllabus and schedule subject to change.

    • Course Requirements: 
    • Online written discussions using BBVista. (40 percent)
    • Three papers (20 percent each)
    Explanation of online discussions    :

    The online discussions are meant to take the place of class discussion. Therefore, you are expected to take part in extensive discussions of each item on the syllabus. The discussions are not meant to be like traditional journals in which a person writes privately about each play. Nor should they be superficial, brief comments. Rather, for online discussions to be successful, each participant must make substantive contributions on each play or film (10+ sentences, minimum), read the discussions of the other participants, and comment on those postings. You should log onto the discussions twice a day. I make suggestions for discussion on the web site or you can post your own reflection. It is most important that you keep up with the schedule. Full credit will be given only for timely postings. That means I won't give full credit for discussions that are behind schedule.

    Papers:

    Your papers should explore the meaning of Shakespeare's plays for you. In some cases, the characters and themes will challenge what you hold, in other cases, support and inspire. You should always thoroughly analyze the plays in order to support and substantiate your points. Each paper should be about 6 pages long.

    Try to set aside chunks of undistracted time for your reading. If the cast of characters is difficult, I suggest writing down the names of the characters on a 3 x 5 card and making a brief note of who the character is. Make brief notes in your book for each logical section. Sections may be as short as part of a column. Just brief notes recalling what is going on may be helpful.

    Getting started on your papers:Review all your notes and responses to your reading. Discuss your ideas with others. Do you find a nagging question, some one idea that is really important to you? Are there any patterns of issues or questions? Writing on these topics is usually most interesting.

    A thesis that makes connections between two works or among several works is usually more interesting than a thesis that focuses on only one item, but again I leave that judgment to you. Your thesis should be your own view on an interesting topic. See this site for examples. You may develop a topic explored in a discussion thread, if you wish, or you may embark on an entirely new topic. I have some sample thesis statements for you from actual student papers, with my comments and how to improve the thesis. I am providing a sample paper from a student in a previous year. It got an A grade. Sample King Lear Paper

    Think about who is reading your paper. It is someone who shares some basic knowledge with you. Assume that the reader has read the plays. Therefore, don’t summarize the plot. You don’t have to say, "Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare,...." You can, however, situate your point within the context of the play. Refer your points to the play as much as possible. Therefore, don’t make purely personal judgments like "I think Romeo is a jerk." Make reference to the exact words of the play, but long stretches of quotes without your own interwoven thought is tedious. Long quotes should not count as part of the pages for a paper. Avoid plopping quotes in without graceful introduction.

    You may consult and cite other critics if you wish, but if you use other critics, it should be to provide a starting point or point of contrast to your own. There is no doubt that resources in a college library are far richer than what you will find online. If you are familiar with writing essays for other literature courses, there is nothing you need to do differently here. If you have never had a college literature course, please let me know if you would like more guidance.

    Academic honesty is important. This course follows the college's Academic Honesty policy in the student handbook.Footnotes to the plays are not needed. Just identify references with these abbreviations ( R&J, Ham, Oth, R3, MAAN, H5) Reference to scenes and lines are done this way: Ham.3, 2, 132 = Hamlet, Act 3, scene 2, line 132. Don't use Roman numerals. If you refer to other critics or online sources, you must acknowledge their ideas, using MLA format. I upload all student papers to TurnItIn.com, a website that checks papers for plagiarism.

    You will find all the writing and citing guidance that you need for your papers at the college’s Writing Center web site http://www.cabrini.edu/writing/tools/index.htm

    An excellent Internet bibliography for studying Shakespeare is A Selected Guide to Shakespeare on the Internet (Revised 08/31/04).

    What each grade means:
    • A = You have an excellent and very insightful grasp of the plays as shown both in discussions and in your written work. You present your ideas in an interesting and insightful manner. Your preparation for and participation in discussions and your presentation of your ideas in discussions and in your papers are all exceptional.
    • B = You have very good, careful, diligent discussion participation and written work. You show effort, ability, and insight in preparation, participation, and presentation of ideas but not to an outstanding degree in all areas.
    • C = Your assignments are completed adequately, plays read on time, discussions submitted in on time. You have an adequate basic understanding of the main points of the plays as shown in discussion participation and papers, but some aspect of preparation, participation, or presentation of ideas is deficient.
    • D = You did not read some of the plays on time or you did not hand in some work on time or you showed only a rudimentary understanding of the plays or you participated weakly in discussions.
    • F = Some work was missing or some plays not read or you missed more than 20 percent of the discussions.
    Need Help with BBVista? Click here for Help Menu

    BBVista instructions for email and papers:

      • You must write your papers in Microsoft Word. The college library will provide you with a free disk of Word to install on your computer, if you don't have word.
      • How to send your papers to me: (Click here to get these instructions in printable form)

      • When you save, please save it like this: Smith315Paper1.doc (No spaces!)
      • WebCT will not recognize file names with spaces or characters that are not numbers or letters.
      • Then submit your assignment through WebCT (instructions)
      • Email: I recommend you set up your WebCT email for the course so that important emails go directly to your regular email account. Therefore, when you send me a paper, for example, you will be notified by email that I received it. To set up your email, click on Mail and then on Manage Messages. Then click on Forward My Email to: ________. Fill in your email address here and click the radio button and click Go.
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