Renaissance
European Theatre - 22753 - THEA 3131 - 001
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Class |
11:00 am - 12:15 pm |
TR |
Robinson Hall 303 |
Office: Robinson 371
Office hours: Tues/Thurs: 8.30-10.30, 1.0-2.00 and by appointment
Course Requirements:
Participation: 20%
Mid term exam: 20%
Quizzes: 40%
Final exam: 20%
Required texts and reading:
Wilson/Goldfarb: Living Theatre (5th ed). McGraw Hill.
Shakespeare: Four Tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, Lear, Macbeth). Bantam.
Shakespeare: Four Great Comedies (Shrew, Dream, Twelfth Night, Tempest). Signet.
Middleton: Five Plays (Trick, Revenger’s, Chaste Maid, Women, Changeling). Penguin.
Marlowe: Complete Plays. Penguin.
Jonson: The Alchemist and other Plays. Oxford.
Moliere: Tartuffe. Dover Thrift.
Calderon de la Barca: Life is a Dream. Dover Thrift.
You will also need to read Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (Pericles as well if possible) in preparation for the RSC residency at Davidson College. If you do not wish to buy these plays, you can access on-line versions at: http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/
In place of the Shakespeare books, you may want to buy a GOOD complete works edition such as the Bevington, Riverside or Norton. Remember that such books are cumbersome and you may need to photocopy pages to bring in to class for scene work.
All have been ordered through the school book store in specific editions. If you wish to use a different edition you must show it to me first.
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. I have selected good, cheap editions of the play which you will want to keep if you have any long term interest in theatre.
We are fortunate this semester in ways particularly relevant to this course:
Both of these provide rare opportunities to test and expand upon what we learn in class. Make the most of them.
Schedule:
Be sure to have completed all reading prior to the class for which it is assigned.
T 9th Jan Introduction.
R 11th Jan Living Theatre Ch 4: Medieval Theatre in Europe. Sample Shakespeare excerpts referencing Vice behavior
T 16th Jan. Living Theatre Ch 5: The Theatre of the Italian Renaissance
R 18th Jan. Marlowe: Tamburlaine
T 23th Jan. Living Theatre Ch 6: The Theatre of the English Renaissance
R 25th Jan The Theatre of the English Renaissance continued
T 30th Jan Marlowe: Doctor Faustus Q
R 1st Feb Marlowe: Doctor Faustus
T 6th Feb Shakespeare: Hamlet Q
R 8th Feb Shakespeare: Hamlet
Feb 10-12. Like an Old Tale Still. Symposium at Davidson.
T 13th Feb Shakespeare: Hamlet
R 15th Feb. Shakespeare: Hamlet
T 20th Feb. Shakespeare: The Winter’s Tale Q
R 22nd Feb. Shakespeare: Winter's Tale concluded. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Q
T 27th Feb Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
R 1st Mar Mid term exam: There will be 10 short historical question requiring one or two sentence answers, and three passages taken from plays we have studied. Of these passages you will choose two and write about them, contextualizing the passage in terms of its plot function and, most importantly, importance for ideas at issue in the play.
Spring Break
T 13th. Jonson: Volpone
R 16th Mar. Jonson: The Alchemist Q
T 20th Mar. Jonson: The Alchemist
R 22nd Mar. Middleton: The Revenger’s Tragedy Q
T 27th Mar. Middleton: The Revenger’s Tragedy
R 29th Mar. Middleton: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside Q
T 3rd April. Middleton: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
R 5th April. SAA. No class.
T 10th April. Shakespeare: King Lear Q
R 12th April Shakespeare: King Lear
T 17th April. Living Theatre Ch 7: The Theatre of the Spanish Golden Age
R 19th April Calderon de la Barca: Life is a Dream
T 24th April. Faustus post mortem
R 26th April Living Theatre Ch 8: French neo-Classical Theatre AND Moliere’s Tartuffe.
T May 1st Last Class. Exam discussion.
Final Exam
THEA 3131 001 Renaissance European Theatre Tue May 08 11:00 AM 1:45 PM ROBIN 303
Class policies:
These rules are designed to give as clear a statement as I can manage about my expectations of your behavior, professionalism and diligence, and the consequences of failure in these areas. Most of you will not need such rules spelled out and I regret the need to do so because of those who do. Please do not expect the 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).
Reading:
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.
Exams and Quizzes:
Ten question quizzes (marked Q in schedule) will be given on the plots of each play on which we spend more than one class session on the first of those assigned sessions. The final grade will be calculated by averaging the six highest scores of the eight. Missed quizzes CANNOT be retaken, so they should be factored in to the two dropped scores. If you have more than two missed quizzes, all remaining zeroes will be taken into account in calculating the final average. Quizzes will be the first thing we do in class that day, so do not be late. They will not be repeated.
The mid term and final exams will test your knowledge of the period in general, drawing both on the assigned chapters from Living Theatre and the assigned plays. Exams are no-cumulative (so the final exam will cover only material assigned after spring break).
Attendance, tardiness and participation:
To participate properly in this class you must be prepared for all classes with all reading completed, and with ideas and questions to bring to class discussion. To engage with the material you need to be actively involved intellectually, something which is much less likely (and harder to assess) if you do not speak up in class. In the course of the semester you will also be required to participate in in-class exercises and activities which will also be assessed as part of the participation grade.
Attendance is mandatory. A class like this depends on active participation for its success. Non attendance thus has a negative impact on everyone involved. You are permitted two 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 two 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. Three 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.
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 school. It is imperative that you check this e-mail address regularly 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 or set up the school account so that it forwards mail to one you use.
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.