?English 47: Introduction to Shakespeare Spring 2008@

Room 111, MW 1:00-2:25

Course Website:   http://www.redwoods.edu/Instruct/JJohnston/

The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good—in spite of all the

people who say he is very good. –Robert Graves 

 

Shakespeare - The nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God. –Laurence Olivier

 

Shakespeare is a drunken savage with some imagination whose plays please only in London and Canada. –Voltaire

 

Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations.  --Oscar Wilde

 

Email: John-Johnston@redwoods.edu                                                                                             Eureka Office Hours: Friday 10-1                      

Telephone/voice mail: 962-2688                                                                                                         Lab hours: MW 11-12:45;   T 11-12  

 

Contacting your instructor: The best way for you to contact me is via email.  Doing so enables me to send to you any course documents handed out in class or Powerpoint presentations we discussed.  When you email me, be sure to put ENGLISH 47 in the subject heading so I don’t mistake your email for junk mail and delete it.

 

What you need for this course:

ü       Greenblatt, Stephen et. al..  The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition.  NY: WWNorton, 1997.

ü       Obsessive commitment to being on time and prepared.

ü       Burning curiosity.

ü       Boundless enthusiasm.

ü       An unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

ü       Steadfast dedication to your learning.

 

Course Description

Despite what hoity-toity types may claim at cocktail parties, most people today don’t fall in love with Shakespeare’s texts on their first exposure.  It’s more likely that they labor over the language, miss the majority of allusions, struggle to keeps names and the action straight, and come away shrugging their shoulders and saying (only to themselves, of course) “I don’t get what the big deal is about Shakespeare.”  Even those of us who want desperately to love Shakespeare (because we know we’re supposed to) and who genuinely derive enjoyment from his poems and plays may secretly wonder why there is so much fuss about his work. 

 

I don’t know that this course will lay the mystery of Shakespeare’s genius totally bare, but it will provide you with the opportunity to learn how to read Shakespeare, how to watch productions of his plays, and, ultimately, how to appreciate his work.  By the end of the course, you should be able to say to yourself and others with confidence, “I’ve read some of Shakespeare’s plays, and my favorite is X because I love….” 

 

Assignments

Question Cards: You are responsible for bringing a 3x5 note card with one detailed, thoughtful question of your own that will serve as a prompt for class discussion.  Important: you must submit your questions on an actual 3x5 notecard, not on a sheet of notebook paper torn to approximately 3x5 and not a 5x7 notecard; it has to be a 3x5 card stock index card or I won’t take it.  The question on the card must include a brief explanation of what makes the question is important, what has prompted you to ask the question, or why the question interests you.  Please take note of the last two sentences; they are important.  To reiterate, a 3x5 card with one question and explanation.  Your question cards will be scored by how clearly and thoughtfully they engage the literature.  In other words, if you jot down something vague and obvious right before class (and believe me, it’s obvious when someone does this) or if you simply write a question with no explanation, you’re not likely to get many points for the question.  Finally, the idea of question cards is to allow you to guide the class conversation in the direction of your interests.  If you are more than 30 minutes late to class, if you leave more than 30 minutes early, or, obviously, if you’re not in class at all, your question card serves little purpose.  Therefore, you must be in class for at least 1 hour on the day the question card is due to receive any credit for it. 

 

Short Analysis Papers

You will write 2 short essays (no less than 800 words, no more than 1000) that analyze aspects of the plays we read.  These will always be due after we’ve discussed the assigned play and watched some performance of it, so you will likely always have insights and ideas worth exploring in writing.  I’ll post a list of questions to choose from on our course web page at least two weeks before the analysis is due.  Also linked to our course web page is the grading criteria sheet.  You should check it out.

 

MLA Format: Your short analysis papers must be double-spaced, typed, and documented  in accordance with MLA guidelines (MLA format is described at the following website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html#General and in the “MLA Citation Format Handout” linked on our course webpage).

 

Late Analysis Papers:  I will accept late analysis papers up to 5 days beyond the due date.  However, a late paper will be penalized 5 points for each day late (this includes non-class days and weekends).  On the 6^th day, I won’t accept it.  Late analysis papers must be submitted to me via email.    

 

www.turnitin.com: In addition to the stapled, hard copies of each of your five short analysis papers that you submit to me on the due dates, you will also submit electronically each of your papers to www.turnitin.com.  There is a handout with instructions and passwords linked to our course webpage.

 

Group Presentation: With a group of other students, you’ll prepare and offer a 40-60 minute presentation on ONE of the following subjects (don’t worry about the length; you’ll likely struggle to get it all in in under 60 minutes): 

 

□        Elizabethan Entertainment: Food, Clothes, and Fun.

□        Men, Women, Marriage, and Family Life.

□        Race, Class, and Religion in Elizabethan England

 

I’ll send around a sign up sheet during the second week of class, and you can sign up for the topic that interests you.  The goal of the presentation is to educate the class about some aspect of Renaissance and Elizabethan England and ultimately to deepen our understanding of Shakespeare’s work.  You should try to make the presentation as engaging as you can (e.g. use PowerPoint and props, etc.).  Grades for presentations come from three sources: 1. Each group member is anonymously evaluated by their group mates; 2. The class will evaluate the presentation; 3. I will evaluate the presentation.  I and the class will score the presentations on

 

1.        Clarity and Organization

2.        Quality of Information

3.        Use of props, images, and creative devices

4.        Dramatic flair and enthusiasm

 

Being absent on the day of your group’s presentation is an especially bad idea since there is no way to make up the points, and you’re final course grade will automatically drop one full letter.  Finally, don’t be nervous about presenting.  As the king of creative avoidance, I’ll share some ideas about how to keep the spotlight off of you and on others who are more comfortable.

 

Midterm and Final Exams

These exams will be given in class and will not be open book.  There will be identification, short-answer, and multiple choice/true-false questions, and much of the exams will deal with aspects of the plays not covered in theatrical productions (so you really will need to read the plays).  We discuss what is to be on each exam before the test date.  Please see note below about makeups.

 

Makeup of Exams: If you know you are going to miss an exam, notify me ahead time so we can arrange for you to take the exam in the ASC.  If you miss an exam without notifying me ahead of time, you must present me with written documentation of a medical, legal, or family emergency in order to take a makeup. 

 

Punctuality: These are the easiest points to earn in this class.  Come on time, and you get the points—everyday.  How easy is that?  Come late, and you forfeit the points.  Habitual tardiness can cause your final course grade to drop one full letter grade. 

 

Attendance: In order to establish an atmosphere of community and camaraderie, everyone must be here regularly, on time, and prepared.  Each of you brings a unique perspective to this course, and you should be here regularly not just to do the work but to share your insights as well.  You can inspire us.  However, if you miss three classes in a row without contacting me or if you miss more than four meetings in the semester, I may drop you from the class.  Don’t depend on me to do this, though.  If you have missed three in a row or a total of four, it is your responsibility to protect your transcript and initiate an official withdrawal.  Any student who is not withdrawn is still enrolled, and final grades reflect level of activity and achievement.  I cannot sign withdrawal slips after April 4, 2008 without documented extenuating circumstances (things like being in a coma and so forth), and I am required to issue grades for all enrolled students at the end of the semester.  Do not have your academic transcript blemished by an F for a class you stopped attending.

 

Plagiarism:  Offering someone else’s words or ideas as if they are your own (whether you do this intentionally or unintentionally) is plagiarism and will not be tolerated.  Any assignment with plagiarized material will receive an F.  Repeated plagiarism and/or cheating will result in an F for the course. 

 

Grading

Grading for the course breaks down as follows:

                                                                                                                                Points Earned                                      Course Grade

Short analysis paper #1                      15 points                                                100-94                                                             A

Short analysis paper #2                      15 points                                                93-90                                                               A-

Group presentation                              15 points                                                89-87                                                               B+

Midterm exam                                       15 points                                                86-83                                                               B

Final exam                                              15 points                                                82-80                                                               B-

Question Cards                                    15 points                                                79-77                                                               C+

Punctuality                                            10 points                                                76-70                                                               C

                                                                                                                                69-60                                                               D

                                                                                                                                59-0                                                                 F

                                                                                               

 

Grade Killers and Mistakes to Avoid

1. Chronic absences or tardiness.  Both eat away at your grade like hungry termites.
2. Missing question cards.  No one card will make or break you.  But a few added together will. 
3. Missing or being late to class in order to finish an assignment.  If it’s 5 minutes or 5 hours late it suffers the same penalty, and if you miss or are late to class, you forfeit points for what we do that day.
4. Procrastination.  I know you already know this is bad, and I know you’re going to do it anyway; so will I.  However, keep in mind that you can’t really “cram” for a course like this because your exams and essays are the products of sustained, intense thinking.  It’s not possible to do this at the level required the night before an exam or essay deadline.  An effective way to avoid this is to try to take genuine interest in what we do/read/write so that you’re motivated to think and talk regularly about these things outside of class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 47

We may adjust this schedule if necessary