English 117B

Other Readings and Media

Shakespeare, W.: Signet editions of the following plays: Richard II, Midsummer Night's Dream, As you Like it, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, All's Well That Ends Well, A Winter's Tale, The Tempest

Description

We will read a basic set of Shakespeare plays exploring all his major genres. The primary focus for the class will be on close-reading the plays to analyze character and appreciate dramatic structure. Instructor is proudly ignorant of race, class, and gender issues in the academy. He is somewhat less proud of his penchant for abstraction. Efforts to correct that will be made by emphasizing student acting. I plan every Friday to have one or two student groups put on a scene; then we will discuss the actors' interpretations and possible alternatives. For those who act, there will be two papers, mid-term and final. Those who do not act will be asked for another paper. Since acting requires audiences and the instructor is an actor wannabe, attendance has to be mandatory.