Course Description
A selection of representative plays including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1 Henry IV, Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, and Hamlet.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- The ability to read critically and discuss the aesthetic, rhetorical, or cultural qualities in texts.
- The ability to develop convincing, well-supported print projects.
- The ability to understand the relationship of literature and rhetoric to history and culture.
- The ability to incorporate research into a print project.
- The ability to understand and implement literary or rhetorical theories.
Course Grading Information:
| Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
| Sonnet Analysis Essay | 15% |
| Critical Annotations | 15% |
| Plan for Research Essay | 5% |
| Research Essay | 25% |
| Midterm Exam | 20% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
Plus or minus consideration of attendance, informal scene analyses, general participation, and reading quizzes.
Grading Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 93.0% and above | A |
| 90.0% – 92.9% | A- |
| 87.0% – 89.9% | B+ |
| 83.0% – 86.9% | B |
| 80.0% – 82.9% | B- |
| 77.0% – 79.9% | C+ |
| 73.0% – 76.9% | C |
| 70.0% – 72.9% | C- |
| 67.0% – 69.9% | D+ |
| 63.0% – 66.9% | D |
| 60.0% – 62.9% | D- |
| Below 60.0% | F |
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance and Participation: I will drop any student not attending the first or second day of class. Consistent attendance is mandatory. Attendance will be taken daily, and no absence or tardy will be excused without advance notice.
Regular and active participation in class discussion will raise your course grade. In-class quizzes will be fairly frequent, and no make-ups will be allowed. Thus, unexcused absences will indirectly lower your course grade. Furthermore, more than two unexcused absences will directly lower your course grade, and a pattern of unexcused absences will result in your being dropped from the course. Two tardies will count as an absence, and students leaving class unexcused will be marked absent. Students are expected to remain seated and attentive throughout the entire class period.
In cases of adverse weather, classes will meet unless the Chancellor closes the University.
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
- David Bevington, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 6th or 7th edn. or any well-edited, carefully annotated edition of the complete works such as the Pelican, Signet, Riverside, or Norton (Oxford) editions.
- Joseph Gibaldi. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th through 9th edn.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.