English 403: Shakespeare to 1600
Professor Melissa D. Aaron
Room 9 217 TTh 5-6:50 pm
Office: 24 229
Office hours: T 2-3; W 1-3, Th 1-3, and by appointment
Phone:869-3839
Email:maaron@csupomona.edu
| Web page | Courses Page |
| Shakespeare Page | Resources Page |
| Discussion Board | Film paper |
Discussion Questions |
| Research paper | Shakespeare group project |
Required texts
The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd
edition.
Course description
Shakespeare is, of course, Hollywood's
most successful screenwriter. His plays have also been commercial
theatrical hits, a sort of secular Scripture, a literary gold
standard, a symbol of English-speaking high culture, and much
more for over 400 years. The phrases he coined-"salad days,"
"more sinned against than sinning," "the course
of true love never did run smooth," and many others have
become so engrained in vernacular English that you probably regularly
quote Shakespeare without realizing it. For all these reasons,
it's well worthwhile to read his plays now; and also a lot of
fun.
We will be reading four plays by Shakespeare written before 1600 that represent a variety of the styles he wrote in-tragedies, histories, and comedies. We will also be reading additional material that will help to provide background-reading on the theater of Shakespeare's day and the culture which produced these texts; a culture in many ways different from our own.
You will need access to a computer and the Internet for this course—if this will present a problem, please contact me. All assignments, a copy of this syllabus, course policies, and any updates will be found on the Blackboard site. Announcements will come through your Cal Poly email address, so make a habit of checking it or set your account to forward from this account. Any email should be sent via your Cal Poly account.
All work handed in to me must be typed and double-spaced in ten or preferably twelve point font. The font I'm using for this, Times New Roman, is nice and easy to read. Please type your name, the class and section number, my name and the date in the upper-right hand corner, and the title centered at the top of the first page. Do not have a title page, and please, please staple your papers together.
The quizzes are discussion-related and will constitute your attendance and participation grade. They cannot be made up. Quizzes are worth 20% of your grade. They will always be given at the beginning of class. Plan your time accordingly.
My assignment policy is called At Your Own Risk. Most of you will find that it is not much different from what you have already been doing.
You can't participate if you're not here, obviously. Here are some reasons you don't want to be absent:
More than three absences and your grade will be lowered. Six or more and you will fail the course. This is in addition to whatever penalty you have incurred in your participation and attendance grade by missing quizzes.
I don't distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, and here's why. If you miss class, you'll miss discussion, my commentary on the texts, homework assignments, etc. In a remarkably short period of time, you'll find yourself terribly behind, and it will be next to impossible for you to catch up. The attendance policy is to help you succeed, not to punish you. If you are faced with illness or emergency, please let me know right away, and the same applies if you want questions answered or additional help. I check my email very regularly and you can also always come to my office hours.
And please turn off your cell phones, beepers, etc., before
you come to class.
Plagiarism
Did you know that "plagiarism" comes from
the Latin word for "kidnapper?" That's because it's theft, and the
University and I will treat it that way. I don't want to go into all the dire
consequences that will ensue; so don't do it. Enough said. Please see my Plagiarism
page for further details.
I count the Cliff's Notes as plagiarism in all cases. Don't use them, period; they will only confuse you and irritate me.
If you use someone else's ideas or words, you have to credit them. Here are two rules to help you with this: are you giving credit where credit is due? If someone wanted to find out more about the information you cited, or look up the quote, do they have enough information to do it? I would like you to use MLA documentation. On my Resources page, under Writing resources, there is a direct link to a handout on MLA style, as well as many other helpful writing resources.
Week 1:
Week 2:
Richard III.
Week 3:
Richard III.
Week 4:
Midsummer Night's Dream.
Week 5:
Midsummer Night's Dream.
Week 6:
Fall 2007 only: Professor at Blackfriars conference. Scheduled activities.
Week 7:
Midterm and Julius Caesar.
Week 8:
Julius Caesar.
Week 9:
Twelfth Night and first paper due.
Week 10:
Twelfth Night.
Week 11:
Twelfth Night and second paper due.
Performance projects and collaborative papers due on exam date.