Instructor: Susanne Hall (email: sehall@uci.edu)
Course list-serv: 21026-W05@classes.uci.edu
Office Hours and Location: tentatively M 3-5 and by appt., Krieger Hall 537
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Lysistrata Aristophanes (Focus Classical Library)
Othello Shakespeare (Cambridge University Press)
Merchant of Venice Shakespeare (Bantam Classics)
Twilight Los Angeles Anna Deavere Smith (Anchor)
I Am My Own Wife Doug Wright (Faber and Faber)
COURSE INTRODUCTION AND GOALS:
E28B provides a general introduction to drama for the English major and satisfies the UCI Humanistic Inquiry requirement. This course is meant to serve as an introduction to the basic terms that have been important throughout the creation and study of the dramatic form. We will begin with Aristotle’s theory of drama in Poetics, and move on to study how Aristotelian theories directly influence Renaissance drama, as well as the way our contemporary drama complicates, responds, or even ignores his ideas.
In addition to these rather traditional questions, we will also be interested learning the role of theatrical performance in the society in which it is created. We will be reading plays from three very different historical and cultural scenes-ancient Athens, Renaissance London, and the late twentieth century/early twenty-first century United States. It is of the utmost important to understand that even though we are sitting in a classroom reading these plays as literature, they were written to be performed, in specific places and in specific historical moments. We will want to consider how these plays attempt, successfully or unsuccessfully, to alter the political landscape of the world in which they were originally performed. Further, we will look at how these plays may challenge or resist traditionally received notions of power, gender, warfare, sexuality, religion. We will attempt to ask: how can plays affect their viewers? Are they ultimately a way to purge emotions, as Aristotle implies, or are they able to incite viewers to change the world around them, as Plato postulates?
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING:
Paper # 1 (3-4 pages): 15%
Paper # 2 (4-5 pages): 20%
Paper # 3 (5-6 pages): 25%
Final Exam: 20 %
Quizzes/Study Questions: 10%
Presentation: 5%
Participation: 5%
Papers: You will write three formal papers for this course. I will provide prompts for these papers in advance, but you will always be welcome to design your own paper topic in consultation with me. Papers should be written in MLA format; MLA handbooks are available at the bookstore. For all papers I will require the submission of a rough draft; the rough draft should not be an outline, but rather a complete, if unpolished, version of your paper. You may schedule a conference with me to discuss these drafts before final drafts are due. Late papers are not accepted. I will require the submission of papers to turnitin.com, an online site that protects against plagiarism. Plagiarism is the use of another person’s ideas of writing without crediting him or her. It is a serious intellectual crime. Consequences of plagiarism can range from failure on the paper to dismissal from the course. You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with UCI’s policies on Academic Honesty (see link on our website).
Final Exam: Given during exam week, this comprehensive exam will include both essay questions that ask you to synthesize the wide-ranging ideas discussed throughout the course and short answer questions on particular authors, plays, and terms. We will discuss the exam in more detail as it approaches.
Quizzes: We will have two quizzes during the quarter to ensure you’re keeping up with assigned readings. Quizzes will be announced the class period before they are given.
Discussion Leading: For some classes, I will designate 2-3 people (well ahead of time) to be class discussion leaders. You will not work as a group, but will all come to class with something extra prepared to lead off class discussion. This should not be a “presentation” as such, but rather a passage you wish to read and discuss briefly, a critical response to the text you have investigated, information about performances of this play, or other topics you feel will be productive for generating discussion of the text. You should let me know, via email, what you plan to discuss at least 24 hours before class. You should expect to speak on your own for no more than five minutes, but you may be asked to answer questions and should expect to participate actively in all of class discussion that day.
Participation: This class will be driven by discussion, not lecture. It is expected that you will come to class having read all assigned materials. Because the works we will be reading are meant to be performed, expect to participate in frequent in-class readings. Often I will assign study questions that you must prepare for the following class; these will be collected and assessed as part of your quiz grade, as well as helping to facilitate in class discussion. As you read at home, pay attention to both dialogue and stage directions. Write in your books! Annotate the plays as you read.
COURSE POLICIES:
Attendance: Because this is a discussion driven course, your presence in class is necessary to your own success and the success of the class as a whole. I will allow each student two “free” absences to be used in case of sickness, travel, or other reasons-I won’t require an explanation. Missing more than two classes will negatively affect your participation grade. Excessive absence (five or more) will result in failure of the course. Tardiness is very disruptive and is unacceptable. Three tardies will result in one absence. If you have extenuating circumstances (family emergency, serious illness), you must communicate that to me in a timely manner so we can discuss how to handle it.
Email:
I will use our course list-serv to distribute important information throughout the quarter-from emailing you handouts to adjusting assignments. You are responsible for checking your email on a daily basis. If you would like me to add an alternate (non-UCI) email address to our list-serv, let me know and I will do so.
Drop/Add Policy:
The School of Humanities utilizes the “second day rule.” This means that in order to remain in the course, you must be present on the second day of class-Friday, January 7th. At the end of class on the 7th if there are openings, I will consider adding any students who wish to join the course. Order of preference is given by seniority.
*Dropping the course: If you wish to drop the course you must get me to sign a drop card before that date. After that date, dropping the course will require approval by the E28 course director. After the sixth week, the dean’s permission is required to drop a course. An “F” will appear on your transcript if you stop coming to the course without officially dropping it.
SCHEDULE: (subject to revision throughout the quarter)
Week 0
1/5: Introduction to course, syllabus
1/7: Review of syllabus, introductions, Introduction to reading drama
Week 1 Aristophanes: Comedy and Political Dissent in a Democracy (Weeks 1-2)
1/10: Lysistrata (pgs TBA in class); Aristotle’s Poetics (link on website); Book X of Plato’s Republic (link on website)
1/12: Lysistrata; The Performance of Comedies in Ancient Greece
1/14: Lysistrata; The Role of Women in Ancient Athens
Week 2
1/17 MLK Holiday
1/19: Lysistrata (paper 1 topics distributed)
1/21: Lysistrata
Week 3 Shakespeare: Gender and Power in Elizabethan Comedy and Tragedy (Weeks 3-6)
1/24: Othello Act I; Introduction to Shakespeare, Renaissance drama
1/26: Othello Act II; (rough drafts of paper 1 due)
1/28: Othello Act III
Week 4
1/31: Paper writing workshop
2/2: Othello Act IV
2/4: Othello Act V; (final drafts of paper 1 due)
Week 5
2/7: Merchant Act I
2/9: Merchant Act II
2/11: Merchant Act III; (paper 2 topics distributed)
Week 6
2/14: Merchant Act IV
2/16: Merchant Act V
2/18: Twilight; Introduction to 20th century American drama (rough drafts of paper 2 due)
Week 7 Contemporary American Theatre: The Politics and Possibilities of the One (Wo)Man Show (Weeks 7-10)
2/21: President’s Day Holiday
2/23: Twilight “Prologue,” “The Territory”
2/25: Twilight “Here’s a Nobody” (final drafts of paper 2 due)
Week 8
2/28: Twilight “War Zone”
3/2: Twilight “Twilight”
3/4: Twilight “Justice” (paper 3 topics distributed)
Week 9
3/7: I Am My Own Wife (page assignments for Wife TBA)
3/9: I Am My Own Wife (rough drafts of paper 3 due)
3/11: I Am My Own Wife
Week 10
3/14: I Am My Own Wife
3/16: Review for exam; (final drafts of paper 3 due)
FINAL EXAM: Fri, Mar 18, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m; same location as class; bring a large blue book