Fall 08 (Undergrad)

ajhartle@email.uncc.edu

Office: Robinson 371

Office hours for Fall 2008

T 9-9.20, 11.30-12.30

R 9-11.00  (other days TBA) and by appointment

The following syllabus is subject to change. The definitive schedule and policies will be maintained on-line through my home page: http://www.dancetheatre.uncc.edu/ajhartle/

This syllabus contains the policies and expectations I have established for Shakespeare’s late Plays. Please read the entire syllabus carefully before continuing in this course. These policies and expectations are intended to create a productive learning atmosphere for all students. Unless you are prepared to abide by these policies and expectations, you risk losing the opportunity to participate further in the course.  

Class policies:

Please do not expect the following rules to be bent or broken except in the most extraordinary and tragic of circumstances (in which category, temperamental cars, damaged or capricious computer equipment, belligerent room mates, non-life threatening ailments, over indulgence of any kind, or being busy or “stressed out” because of other classes/activities, do not qualify).

Required texts and reading:

All have been ordered through the school book store in specific (mainly Folger and Signet) editions. If you wish to use a different edition you must show it to me first. All are different and many (esp. the cheaper, older editions, or complete works volumes based on very old editions which are usually 100 years old in order for the present publisher to sidestep copyright) are inadequate, inaccurate or unnecessarily difficult to use.

We will not be assigning class time to the discussion of every page of every book assigned. Much of what we don’t specifically deal with, however, will underlie the way we approach the plays throughout the semester and you should thus read them all and keep them to hand as references.

Be sure to HAVE READ any text assigned for class PRIOR to our meeting. Failure to stay up with the reading (and that means having read it thoughtfully, attentively and critically so that you have things to say about it) renders you present only in body and I will thus mark you absent. You cannot possibly grasp the material effectively if you rely on other people’s discussion of it in the classroom.

Required Texts for this class are Shakespeare’s

Macbeth (MPS Bedford)

King Lear (Arden)

Antony and Cleopatra (Penguin)

Measure for Measure (MPS Bedford)

The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline(single Penguin volume with Pericles and Two Noble Kinsmen).

Attendance, tardiness and participation:

Attendance is mandatory. A class like this depends on active participation for its success. Non attendance thus has a negative impact on everyone involved, particularly since the class meets only once per week. You are permitted one excused absences after which you will merely be considered absent regardless of the validity of your excuse unless the circumstances are extraordinary (e.g. a documented death in the family). You should thus save your absences for genuine emergencies. For each absence beyond the one allowed, you will lose one letter of your participation grade. You can fail the participation portion by any combination of absences, tardiness (see below) unpreparedness (see above), and failing to be actively engaged in class discussion and activities. Mere attendance is not enough to pass this portion of your grade.

Tardiness is defined as not being present when class begins. You will be considered tardy if you arrive up to 10 minutes late unless a valid excuse has been submitted in advance of the class. Two tardies equal one absence. If you are more than 10 minutes late you will be considered absent.

If your absences (including tardies and unpreparedness) totals 20% or more of the total class time for the semester, you will automatically fail the course. Since presence in class is vital to a course like this, even legitimate excuses can not compensate for your not being present.  Since we have only 14 regular class sessions, missing three classes will result in an automatic F.

I will conduct this class in an atmosphere of mutual respect. I encourage your active participation in class discussions. Each of us may have strongly differing opinions on the various topics of class discussions. The conflict of ideas is encouraged and welcome. The orderly questioning of the ideas of others, including mine, is similarly welcome. However, I will exercise my responsibility to manage the discussions so that ideas and argument can proceed in an orderly fashion. You should expect that if your conduct during class discussions seriously disrupts the atmosphere of mutual respect I expect in this class, you will not be permitted to participate further.

If I am late in arriving to class, you must wait a full 20 minutes after the start of class before you may leave without being counted absent, or you must follow any written instructions I may give you about my anticipated tardiness.  

Students in this course seeking accommodations to disabilities must first consult with the Office of Disability Services and follow the instructions of that office for obtaining accommodations

All students are required to abide by the UNC Charlotte Sexual Harassment Policy (http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-61.html) and the policy on Responsible Use of University Computing and Electronic Communication Resources (http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-66.html). Sexual harassment, as defined in the UNC Charlotte Sexual Harassment Policy, is prohibited, even when carried out through computers or other electronic communications systems, including course-based chat rooms or message boards.

Communication:

I will maintain the syllabus on my own web site: http://www.dancetheatre.uncc.edu/ajhartle

My e-mail address is: ajhartle@email.uncc.edu

I will also make use of the e-mail lists provided through the university. It is imperative that you check this e-mail address regularly (at least once a day) in order to stay up to date with announcements, instructions etc. Failure to complete required work according to guidelines, deadlines etc. which were sent to you because you did not get the message in time will not be considered an adequate excuse. If you don’t use the e-mail address the school has on file for you, you need to start doing so.

As with regular checking of your e-mail account, you are responsible for communicating directly with me if you have problems or issues which cause you to be behind, delayed or in any way unprepared for class or related assignments. E-mail is the best way of reaching me. That said, e-mail can be temperamental, so you should always check back with me to ensure I received what you sent if you have not had some kind of receipt from me within 12 hours of sending. This is particularly important where late papers are concerned. You will not be given credit for papers you thought you had sent but which never reached me.

Papers:

All papers should be turned in on the day specified on the syllabus. Unless there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances, late papers will be penalized at the rate of one entire letter grade per day of lateness. I will accept late papers up to 5 days late (that 5 days includes weekends, holidays, and the day the paper was due). Papers reduced to a failing grade which are turned in within those 5 days will receive an F like any other failing work, thus getting partial (but not passing) credit. Papers turned in after the late period is over will receive a zero.

Late papers should be e-mailed to me as Word attachments so I have a clear sense of exactly when they came in, with hard copies left in my Theatre dept mail box as soon after as is possible. See above (‘Communication’) for further details about electronic submissions.

All papers must be adequately documented according to MLA style, with parenthetical citation and full works cited page. If you are unsure how to do this, please review the MLA handbook or review an online guide to it such as that at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Exams:

This class contains both midterm and final exams which will consist of both short answers and essays. They will test your knowledge of the plays, their historical contexts and other matters raised in class. Anything discussed during a class may appear on the test and you should get into the habit of good note taking.

Course Requirements:

Participation: 25%

Midterm paper (4 pages): 15%

Midterm exam: 15%

Final paper (8 pages): 25%

Final exam: 20%

Class Schedule

Aug 28 Introduction.

Shakespeare’s Canon. The Jacobean period. The Renaissance theatre.

Sept 4th Measure for Measure.

Sept 11th Measure for Measure

Sept 18 Antony and Cleopatra

Sept 25 Conclude Antony and Cleopatra, begin Macbeth

Oct 2 Macbeth

Oct 9 Midterm Exam.

Oct 16 Mid term papers due. Special session with William Carroll bridging Macbeth and Lear

Oct 23 King Lear

Oct 30 King Lear

Nov 6 Cymbeline

Nov 13 Winter’s Tale

Nov 20 Winter’s Tale

Thanksgiving break

Dec 4^th Last class

Final Exam TBA