Required texts:

Saccio. Peter. Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Shakespeare, William. Four Histories. Ed. Stanley Wells and others. New York: Penguin, 1994.

_______________. The Tragedy of Coriolanus. Ed. Reuben Brower. New York: Signet, 1987.

Assignments: (Bring the relevant text or texts to class every day.)

Sept. 5 Sept. 7 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 19 Sept. 24 Sept. 28	Introduction: reading Shakespeare Richard II, Introduction, Act One; writing assignment -- factual report Richard II, finish reading Writing assignment -- autobiographical narrative Saccio, pp. 3-35 Henry IV, Part One, Introduction and play Saccio, pp. 37-63
Oct. 3 Oct. 5 Oct. 15 Oct. 19 Oct. 29	Writing assignment--literary-historical analysis Henry IV, Part Two, Introduction and play Analyzing a news report; one-page report of campus event due Analysis of the reporting of a news event due Henry V, Introduction and play
Nov. 5 Nov. 9 Nov. 12 Nov. 19 Nov. 21	Saccio, pp. 65-89 Analysis of film as historical interpretation due Coriolanus, Introduction and play Plutarch (in Coriolanus), pp. 209-48 Writing assignment due -- comparison of Plutarch passage and play
Dec. 3-10 Dec. 12 Dec. 14	Individual reports of final papers Saccio, pp. 229-37 Final paper due

REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance and class participation

Reading and viewing of the five plays

Completion of all writing assignments

Note: Students who adequately complete the written and class work on time and attend nearly all classes will receive at least a B in the course. You will not receive letter grades on assignments, but especially good work will receive a plus (+). Grades above B will be given for a general evaluation of class participation and for receiving pluses. If you are uncertain about how you are doing, feel free to check with me at any time.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:

Your papers and exercises may be typed, printed by any form of computer printer, or neatly handwritten in ink. Use 8 1/2 x 11 paper, and double-space (not space and a half). Page amounts are a general indication, not an absolute limit; a paper should be long enough to get to the end and should then quit. You may use both sides of the paper if you wish. Papers are due in class or by 4:30 at my office, Rice 106. Late papers without excuse will be penalized. I would be glad to talk with you about ideas for a paper or to look at a draft.

If you take significant material from a written or on-line source, be sure to document it in some regular format. For quotations from the plays, use act, scene, and line numbers like this (1.3.292-93). All written work is under the honor system, though you need not write and sign the honor pledge for a paper as opposed to an exam.

Sept. 7 Sept. 17	Write a factual report of what happens in Act One, Scene One of Richard II. (two pages) Write an autobiographical narrative of some incident from your past. (three pages)
Oct., 3 Oct. 15 Oct. 19	Using Shakespeare's play, not historical reality, as your basis, analyze why the rebels lost the battle of Shrewsbury. (three pages) Write a one-page report of some event on campus. Do your best to get all the details right. Analyze several media accounts of a contemporary news event. Look for inaccuracy, omission, judgments stated and implied, and bias. Where you cannot get independent information, make the best judgment you can of accuracy. In your account your task is not to look for missteps for their own sake but to identify and demonstrate broader patterns: is one account better than another? Are there gaps and distortions across the board? And give praise where it is due. (four to five pages)
Nov. 9 Nov. 21   Nov. 26	Choosing some brief section of the Branagh film (not more than a few lines in the text), discuss how production decisions -- costuming, lighting, what the camera sees, how sound is used, etc. -- constitute historical interpretation. How do they shape the way we see this bit of the past? (three to four pages) Choosing a brief passage from Plutarch, analyze how Shakespeare adapts it for his dramatic purposes. What does he find of value in this specific material that leads him to dramatize it, and why does he change it in the ways he does? Do any of the changes constitute historical reinterpretation? (three to four pages) In a paragraph describe the purpose of your final paper. This paper, due Dec. 14, should be about seven or eight pages and should ask and answer about one of the plays we have studied what kind of historiography it involves. You might consider questions like the following: what kinds of historical causation is it interested in? does it imply any general theory of history, of why things happen as they do? what from the past does it take as important? as unimportant? is it shaped by the political concerns of its time and place of production? is your response to it shaped by your own political interests and concerns? Try to find a general thesis about the play as historiography, but don't let that obscure your vision of nuances in the play and elements that do not fit your thesis. On either December 3, 5, 7, or 10 as assigned you should give an oral version of your paper (about seven minutes).
Dec. 14	Hand in the final paper.