English 404: Shakespeare after 1600
Email:maaron@csupomona.edu

• Course Description
• Course Requirements
• Attendance policy
• Plagiarism
• Syllabus

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 after 1600 that represent a variety of the styles he wrote in-two tragedies, a "dark comedy" or "problem play," and a romance. 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.

Course requirements
You will need access to a computer and the Internet for this course-if this will present a problem, please contact me.

• Participation-includes short, ungraded assignments-20%
• Midterm-20%
• 1 4-5 page film paper, 20%
• 1 research paper-20%
• One collaborative final project-performance and short paper-20%

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 short, ungraded assignments will be done electronically on a threaded discussion board. They are discussion-related and will count towards your participation grade. Since they are time-sensitive, they cannot be made up.

Assignment Policy
Unfortunately, because of problems in the past, it is now necessary for me to institute an assignment policy I am calling At Your Own Risk. Most of you will find that it is not much different from what you have already been doing.

• It is your responsibility to read the assignment and follow the instructions. If it asks for a first person process narrative, turn in a first person process narrative. If it asks you to attend a performance or watch a film of a play on the syllabus, you may not turn in a paper on a play not on the syllabus.
• It is your responsibility to turn in your papers on time, in the correct place, in the correct format and in the correct manner. I will not accept papers shoved under my door. I will not accept papers that are emailed to me as attachments. If you are asked to submit a paper online, submit it online. If you are asked to submit it in person, submit it in person.
• Any exceptions—an extension, submission by alternative method—must be cleared with me in advance and must be for a good reason, such as illness, family emergency. Those of you who know me may be reassured that I have not changed in essential character; those of you who do not know me yet may be assured that I will listen patiently.
• Papers that do not meet these guidelines are turned in At Your Own Risk. Emailed attachments may be deleted; papers shoved under the door may be recycled; late papers may not be accepted; any and all of the above may simply not be graded and the paper writer may receive no credit.

I regret having to institute such a policy and I equally regret the circumstances that have required me to institute it.

Attendance policy
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. Extreme tardiness (more than ten minutes late) counts as an absence.

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.

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, but they can include expulsion; so don't do it. Enough said. If you really enjoy scaring yourself, I direct you to page 49 of the Cal Poly catalog.

I count using the Cliff's Notes as plagiarism in all cases. Don't use them, period; they will only confuse you and irritate me. If you need additional help or information, please email me or ask me for authorized and useful sources of assistance.

You may be surprised to know that yes, you can steal from yourself. Turning in a paper for credit that you have already submitted to another class for credit without explicit permission is considered plagiarism by the University and will be treated as such.

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. Here's a online MLA style guide, with full information about documentation (including online sources).

Here's another useful link on plagiarism--and more importantly, how to avoid it--courtesy of Indiana University.

Course syllabus

Plays read: Hamlet, All's Well That Ends Well, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale.

(See Blackboard for most recent, updated course syllabus).

Dr. Aaron's Course Page.

Dr. Aaron's Home Page.