English 117S

Other Readings and Media

Shakespeare, W.: The Norton Shakespeare

Description

"In this course we will analyze a selection of Shakespeare's plays, arranged both by genre and chronologically, in order to explore not only what is peculiar to each play but also what links the plays to each other and to the culture and the psyche that produced them. In addition, we will think about the uses to which ""Shakespeare"" is put by our own culture/s. My lectures will tend to emphasize Shakespeare's reworkings of race, gender, sexuality, and the family in these plays, but I hope that the classroom will be a place of lively exchange, in which you feel free to challenge my ideas and to develop your own interests. In addition to a final exam, possibly a midterm exam, and several required papers of varying lengths (probably two or three very short papers, followed by an extended revision/amplification for a final paper), you will be asked to complete two ungraded acting exercises in small groups to help you understand some aspects of Shakespeare's verse and his theatrical medium. "