Syllabus for Shakespeare

Please pay close attention to class announcements, for the information collected here is subject to change over the course of the term.

Course Description: One of the required classes for English majors, Shakespeare requires no previous study of the plays, and non-majors are welcome in the class. The class focuses on eight of Shakespeare's plays and a number of the popular sonnets.

To provide an opportunity for students to appreciate William Shakespeare's impressive range, class readings will also include at least one play from each of the four genres in which Shakespeare wrote and that he mastered: Comedy, Tragedy, History, and Romance.

The class will also familiarize students with some of the famous film versions of the popular plays included in the anthology, from Max Reinhardt's 1935 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream to Akira Kurosawa's 1957 interpretation of Macbeth, Throne of Blood. These films will enhance students' appreciation not only of the plays themselves but also of the author's continued and universal appeal.

The editor of our text, Michael Flachmann, offers students a wonderful web page for this class. Located at this site, the page provides a wealth of material for readers and will play an important role in this class, which also seeks to use various media other than film to strengthen the students' appreciation for Shakespeare's accomplishments. In addition to viewing some of the film versions, therefore, students will also create blogs where they will share images and links of interest to our study of Shakespeare from the internet. The students will also work in teams to create videos of their own enactments--interpretative reading--of scenes from the assigned plays; they will share these creations on their blogs and learn as well to create Podcasts. This element of the class will also make students aware of how technology can enhance class experience and provide technical tools they can utilize in other classes and in their own teaching.

Students will also write essays about the plays. These analytical critiques will help students develop their critical skills and hone their ability to write with clarity and with emphasis. These essays will also incorporate material from the internet to reinforce major points developed in the writing.

In addition to incorporating various media to help students appreciate Shakespeare's accomplishments, the class will also underscore through close readings of the plays and selected sonnets, the bard's exemplary literary accomplishments. To this end, the text chosen offers excellent commentary on Shakespeare's use of language and his place in the History of English Literature and the English Language.

Other Goals and Objectives: As the previous description indicates, this class seeks to provide students, many of whom work to earn teaching certification, an opportunity to work with various media in and outside the classroom. The emphasis on technology--from blogs to pod casts--reflects ways in which the teaching professions evolves and provides students an opportunity to use the technology in the context of a specific and important class.

This aspect of the class could provide an additional assessment tool for the department. Thus one my objectives for the class is to develop an assessment matrix centered on the use of technology and the internet; the goal is to provide information about how well students use the various media and their impact on the students' appreciation of the literature.

Turnitin: To promote academic integrity, Peru State College subscribes to an electronic service to review papers for the appropriate citations and originality. Key elements of submitted papers are stored electronically in a limited access database and thus become a permanent part of the material to which future submissions are compared.

Continued enrollment in a course signifies your permission for this use of your written work.

Should you not wish to agree to this procedure, you may drop the course during the add/drop period before any works are completed and submitted.

Grades: Your final grade will be based on the following (subject-to-change) areas and percentages:

Attendance: Come to class prepared to take part in our discussions, for they will help generate ideas for your written assignments. Failing to attend class on a regular basis will, therefore, hinder your progress, especially as this is a night class; we view films and discuss them each class period. If you must miss class, contact me prior to class--and get the assignment from either me or from a classmate; by the second week of class, you will each have an e-mail directory of class members. Attendance counts for 10% of your final grade; each of you begins this term with 100%. Not attending class lowers this grade at the rate of 10% for the first absence and 20% for each subsequent nonattendance.

Blog Creation and Class Presentation: Students will be paired with another classmate to create a blog devoted to the class in general and to a specific assigned play. On these blogs, students will share links with the class on material covered in class and comment on what others post on their blogs. When posting, students will include a link and a description of the significance of the material for their specific play or for matters raised in class. Students will also work to make the blog and the postings as attractive as possible, using graphics from the internet or of their own creation to add to the blog's appeal. In addition, the various teams will from time to time choose passages for recital that will be filmed and uploaded to the blog--teams can also work together to create these videos. Over the course of the term, each team should organize two or more of these videos from the play assigned. Teams should make their blogs as imaginative and appealing as possible using Blogger.com. The class web page will feature links to all the sites from the class. Students will in addition to posting at least once a week on their own blog comment as regularly as possible on other blogs. This aspect of the class will develop over the course of the term and seeks to familiarize students with new technologies, from Blogs to Pod Casts, to enhance their appreciation of these technologies and ways that they can enhance class experience.

Essays: You will write two short essays (three, double-spaced pages each) and one longer essay (at least five, double-spaced pages). Students will write on two of the plays discussed in class, choosing topics--from character analysis to thematic concerns--connected with a specific play read in class. For these short reaction essays, little research is required; to that end, students should feel free to make connections with material discovered on the class blogs. If you use resources from the internet or from library sources, make certain to document sources clearly and correctly. In addition, the use of hyperlinks in your essays is required, for the class seeks to familiarize you with this use of technology; I will cover hyperlinks in class, and you will use them on the blogs. The longer essay will focus on a specific feature of one play and will include at least three sources--all can be internet sources other than study guides. Class time will be devoted to what constitutes a good source; library sources are also encouraged.

Exams: You will take two exams, one after the first four plays covered and another at the term's conclusion. Each exam will include an essay question (you will have a choices) and identification and significance prompts (quotations, characters, etc.) that require a couple paragraphs. You will have the entire class time in which to complete these essays.

Revisions: For your essays, you will have an opportunity to revise. Bear in mind, however, that a rewrite does not automatically raise the essay's grade. If the revised essay receives a higher mark than the original, the better grade goes into the book, replacing the earlier effort. A revision never lowers your grade.

Incomplete Course Work: To designate a student's work in a course as incomplete at the end of a term, instructors record the incomplete grade (I). Students may receive this grade only when serious illness, hardship, death in the immediate family, or military service during the semester in which they are registered prevents them from completing course requirements. In addition, to receive an incomplete, a student must have completed a majority of the course's major requirements. Unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise, students must initiate requests for an incomplete by filing out an Incomplete Grade Completion Contract, which requires the student and faculty signature.

The Incomplete Grade Completion Contract cites the reason(s) for the incomplete and details the specific obligations the student must meet to change the incomplete to a letter grade. If students agree to complete required work prior to the normal deadline for making up an incomplete at the end of the subsequent semester, this date must appear in the contract. The division chair, the instructor, and the student receive signed copies of the incomplete Grade Completion Contract.

Even if the student does not attend Peru State College, all incomplete course work must be finished by the end of the subsequent semester. Unless Faculty Senate approves an extension, if the student does not fulfill contract obligations in the allotted time, the incomplete grade automatically becomes an F.

Students who have filed an application for graduation are not eligible for a grade of Incomplete.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (public law 93-112) section 504, provides that "no otherwise qualified disabled individual in the United States shall solely by reason disabled, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or by subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Academic integrity is a basic principle that requires the student to take credit only for ideas and efforts that are his/her own. Cheating is defined as the submission of materials in assignments, exams, or other academic work that is based on sources prohibited by the faculty member. Cheating shall include, but is not limited to, situations in which a student:

Tentative Course Schedule: We will read eight plays, devoting two weeks to each. The class will address in the following order, these plays (and selected sonnets):