ajhartle@email.uncc.edu

Office: Robinson 371

Office hours: Tues/Thurs: 8.30-10.30, 1.0-2.00 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 Renaissance Theatre History. Please read the entire syllabus carefully before continuing in this course since it serves as a contract between teacher and student. 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 including productions, 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. You may want to substitute a GOOD complete Shakespeare for the individual volumes. This is acceptable so long as the edition is a respectable one. The Living Theatre book is one used by other theatre history classes and we will only be using a portion of it.

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. Don’t sell them back!

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

Wilson/Goldfarb: Living Theatre (Paperback if available)

·                     Hardcover: 656 pages

·                     Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 5 edition (December 11, 2006)

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0073514128

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0073514123

Marlowe: Complete plays

·                     Publisher: Penguin Classics (December 30, 2003)

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0140436332

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0140436334

Shakespeare: Hamlet

·                     Publisher: Modern Library (August 12, 2008)

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 081296909X

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0812969092

Shakespeare: Henry V

·                     Publisher: Washington Square Press (June 22, 2004) [Folger]

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0743484878

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0743484879

Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream

·                     Publisher: Penguin Classics (August 1, 2000) [Pelican]

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0140714553

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0140714555

Shakespeare: King Lear

·                     Publisher: Washington Square Press (January 1, 2004) [Folger]

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 074348276X

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0743482769

Shakespeare: Winter’s Tale

·                     Publisher: Washington Square Press (June 22, 2004) [Folger]

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0743484878

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0743484879

Shakespeare: Twelfth Night

·                     Publisher: Signet Classics; Revised edition (April 1, 1998)

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0451526767

·                     ISBN-13: 978-0451526762

Ben Jonson: Plays and Masques

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 0393976386

Moliere: Tartuffe

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 9780486411170

Middleton: Five PLays

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 9780140432190

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. 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 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. I expect you to come to class with questions and observations, and to be engaged in the course in ways which maintains a level of intellectual sophistication. 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 24 regular class sessions, missing five 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.

If you are having problems of any kind you must contact me before they start to have an impact on your grade. Incompletes must be applied for and need careful documentation of the rationale for the incomplete and how the work will be made up long before final grades are calculated.

Exams and Quizzes:

Ten question quizzes (marked Q in schedule) will be given on the plots of several plays. The final grade will be calculated by averaging the six highest scores of the eight. Missed quizzes CANNOT be retaken unless scheduled in advance, 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).

Course Requirements:

Participation: 20%

Mid term exam: 20%

Quizzes: 40%

Final exam: 20%

Class Schedule

Be sure to have completed all reading prior to the class for which it is assigned.

T 13th Jan Introduction.

R 15th Jan Living Theatre Ch 4: Medieval Theatre in Europe.

T 20th Jan. Living Theatre Ch 5: The Theatre of the Italian Renaissance

R 22nd Jan. Marlowe: Tamburlaine

T 27th Jan. Living Theatre Ch 6: The Theatre of the English Renaissance

R 29th Jan Marlowe: Doctor Faustus Q

T 3^rd Feb Marlowe: Edward II

R 5th Feb  Shakespeare: Shakespeare Henry V

T 10th Feb No class

R 12th Feb Shakespeare: Hamlet Q

T 17th Feb Shakespeare: Hamlet

R 19th Feb. Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Q

T 24th Feb. Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

R 26th Feb. Shakespeare: King Lear Q

T 3^rd Mar Shakespeare: King Lear

R 5^th Mar Mid term exam

 Spring Break

T 17^th. Jonson: Volpone

R 19th Mar. Jonson: The Alchemist Q

T 24th Mar. Jonson: The Alchemist

R 26th Mar. Middleton: The Revenger’s Tragedy Q

T 31st Mar.  Middleton: The Revenger’s Tragedy (Cox film)

R 2^nd April. Middleton: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside Q

T 7thApril. Shakespeare: Twelfth Night

R 9th April. No class (SAA)

T 14th  April. Shakespeare: The Winter’s Tale Q

R 16th April Shakespeare: The Winter’s Tale

T 21st April. [check Warwick schedule]

R 23rd April Living Theatre Ch 7: The Theatre of the Spanish Golden Age and Living Theatre Ch 8: French Neo Classical Theatre.

T 28th April. Last class Moliere Tartuffe

Final Exam April 30^th-May 7th