Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30-2:45, Auerbach 325

Instructor:
Humphrey Tonkin
Office: Mortensen Library, Room 307. Office telephone: 768-4448
Home telephone: 561-2669 Home fax: 561-5219
Admin. Asst. Marcia Suess, Dean of Students Office, 3rd Flr, Gengras, 768-4285
Office hours: By appointment.

Course Objectives:
To provide students with an understanding of the dynamics and context of Shakespearean drama, with particular emphasis on the plays in the first half of his career.

Student Skills to be Developed:

1. An understanding of how to approaches to Shakespeare's plays as literary critic and historian.
2. Ability to analyze and assess patterns of imagery and thematic concerns.
3. Historical knowledge: the history of theatre and drama in the period, and the cultural and historical context.

Required Texts:
Students should own a good edition of Shakespeare's collected works or they should buy the Everman edition of Shakespeare's Comedies and the Signet editions of the following:

Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
Henry V

Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all sessions, unless they have notified the instructor in advance and made arrangements to cover the material missed.

Organization of the Course:
Some sessions will also be attended by students from Studio Four, the fourth year of the Acting program in the Hartt Theatre Division, but most sessions will be for students in Eng. 361 and Dra. 331 alone.

E-mail:
Students are expected to have a working e-mail address capable of receiving individual messages and messages to the class as a whole. They are expected to check it regularly.

Assignments:
A first paper, involving analysis of a scene or episode from The Comedy of Errors, will be due on Wednesday, September 18. A second paper, on Twelfth Night, will be due on Wednesday, October 16. A third paper, on the student production of Much Ado, will be due on Wednesday, October 30. A fourth paper, on Romeo and Juliet, will be due on Monday, November 18. There will be a final examination. There may be additional spot quizzes or tests.

Grading:
Each paper will be graded equally (15%, 15%, 15%, 15%), with additional weight given to the final examination (25%). There will be an additional grade for spot quizzes, tests, and class participation (15%), and, accordingly, unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Late papers will be docked one letter grade per day late. All written work for the course must be completed, and regular attendance must be recorded, in order for a student to receive a final grade.

September 3, 2002