Phyllis Gorfain

Spring 1999

English 204

Studies in Shakespeare: Play, Ritual, and Performance

Required books

William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Signet edition, 1998.

William Shakespeare, Henry IV, 1, Signet edition, 1998.

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Signet edition, 1998.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Signet edition, 1998.

William Shakespeare, King Lear, Signet edition, 1998.

Recommended Books

Joseph Gibaldi. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Fourth Edition. New York: MLA, 1995.

Diana Hacker, The Bedford Handbook, Third edition. NY: St. Martin's Press,

Meeting Place and Time

King 341, MWF 10-10:50 a.m.

Instructor's Office and Office Hours

Rice 107	Mon. 4:45-6:00 p.m.
	Thurs 7:15-9:30 p.m. OR Wed. 7:15-9:30 OR a combination
	Sign up on door

Course Objectives

1. To read, study, discuss, and appreciate a range of seven Shakespeare plays (including comedies, tragedies, history) with a theoretical, topical focus on the ways these plays depict, use, and comment on forms of ritual, play, games. We will also relate ritual, play, and games to the ideas and processes of theatre, theatricality, and issues of performance.
2. To learn how to consider Shakespeare texts as scripts and explore them with an eye to performance issues and how performance choices shape a range of meanings.
3. To experiment with performance choices through scene work (putting on scenes, discussing scenes) to learn how ideas can be expressed using scripts and physical choices, interpretative acts.
4. To study scripts in relationship to video representations of the scripts.
5. To develop a critical and theoretical sensibility by reading essays on play, games, ritual, performance, and practical criticisms of particular plays.
6. To develop writing skills in critical, interpretative, and analytic discussions of particular plays as well as in comparing and synthesizing views of several works.

Course Requirements

1. Attendance and participation, 15%

Attendance is required and more than three absences will result in a lowering of the grade. With each three absences the grade will be lowered 1/3 without ANY contingencies considered, other than medical illness and a doctor's report. Participation will be graded on the basis of strength and consistency of prep papers, contributions to in-class discussions and impromptu scenes, fine questions, helpful comments, responsiveness to others, contribution to the building of a community of learning, collective efforts.

2. One in-class scene and scene journal 20%.

The scenes will be fully memorized, and involve costumes, props, a set, and other production needs. The scene journal will be due at the class following the scene performance. The journal will include a log of activities, actually written after each rehearsal and a long commentary containing the following elements:

a. A character study -- as much as you can possibly know from the entire script about your character; what the others say about the character; gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, color, class, status, experiences, education, occupation, views, personality, etc. Consider ways to develop your character: what do they wear most of the time; how do they move, sit, smoke, use their voice, etc.

b. Scene analysis -- what are the given circumstances in your scene, what conditions obtain for the characters (what has happened and what is the situation); what problems face the characters. In your scene, what are each character's objectives and how are the character's objectives pursued, frustrated, redefined, re-pursued through the course of the scene. Where are the conflicts and accords, discoveries and changes? What does this scene accomplish for the play, in terms of plot, character, situation, and theme?

c. Finding signals for performance choices: where are the major scripted signals you must observe? What kinds of signals demand definite, specific choices? What signals indicate an optional choice must be made but do not show exactly how to make the choice? What other signals do you find for choices you need to make about costume, props, blocking, line readings, characterization? What choices do you make that can be supported by the script although the script does not indicate such choices? Are you making choices for your scene that work there but would not work if the scene were performed with the rest of the play? What is your justification for doing that?

d. Issues of play, game, ritual, and theatricality: how does your scene explore ideas, themes, and issues at the core of the course?

3. Midterm paper, 20%

The midterm can be on one or more of the plays from the first half of the course, but not one in which you performed a scene. The midterm should address key issues of the course, and should include some theoretical work on play, games, ritual, theatricality or some practical criticism, which addresses these issues in some way. Check with the instructor to get your topic approved or supported with suggestions.

4. Final project, 25%

The final assignment may be a final paper (10-12 pages), final scenes (two scenes for each person) or other group or individual project on the plays from the second half of the semester. If you do not write a paper and want to do a scene or project, you must rewrite your midterm paper if it earned less than an A-. You must turn in your rewrite by Monday, May 3 at the very latest (the sooner the better, but this is the FINAL deadline), having discussed the rewrite you will do beforehand with the instructor (sign up for an office appt. to do that).

You must declare if you will do a final paper or project or scene by Mon. April 5. If you write a paper, or do a project, by Friday, April 30 (in order to make it possible to consider King Lear), you will submit a proposal for your paper or project, including an abstract of your main ideas, a plan for the research and writing or other work, a reading list of sources or references to be used, and any questions for the instructor to help you with Required conferences will be held on all proposed topics that weekend, if possible. Anyone who wants to submit a draft of their final paper for comments may sign up for a conference from 5/11-5/16.

All final scenes will include a scene journal, a report and discussion must accompany all projects, and all papers must include some research using theory or practical criticism.All papers must conform to the rules for format and documentation as laid out in the MLA Handbook.

Many comments and corrections will use the abbreviations and refer students to relevant passages in the Beacon Handbook. Be sure to buy and use these optional books if you have any problems with either format or rules of grammar and punctuation.

5. Preparation papers, 20%

Several 2-3 page position papers will be used for in-class discussion of assigned articles; the instructor will aim to return them to you within 2 weeks, with a brief evaluation. These papers will be kept in a packet by your, and handed in together at the semester to be graded as a collective product at the end of the semester. There will be interim evaluative numbers (1-3) when they are handed in. 1= poor; 2= okay; 3=very good. The entire packet will be graded with an eye to completeness (how many were done), timeliness (on time), quality and consistency of work. Every week there will be one prep paper required; you may choose among various options most weeks; occasionally there will be only one option.

DATE	ACTIVITY	COMMENTS AND DUE DATES
Mon 2/8	First class, Intro. to course
Wed 2/10	Reading a Shakespeare script: meter, embodiment, choices (Shrew Act 1)
Fri 2/12	Other Scripted Signals (Shrew Act 2)
Mon 2/15	Theories of Play (Bateson articles) and Shrew (Acts 1-3)	Prep paper #1 option 1
Wed 2/17	Theories of Play (Csikszentmihalyi and Bennet) and Shrew (Act 4)	Prep paper #1 option 2
Fri 2/19	The Taming of the Shrew Act 5 and Huston and Daniell articles	Prep Paper #1 option 3
Mon 2/22	The Taming of the Shrew , Boose and Underdown articles	Prep Paper #2 only option
Wed 2/24	Twelfth Night (Act 1)
Fri 2/26	The Taming of the Shrew scenes
Mon 3/1	Ritual articles, Bell and Gorfain	Shrew scene journals due Prep Paper #3, option 1
Wed 3/3	Ritual articles, Turner and Woodbridge	Prep Paper #3, option 2
Fri 3/5	Twelfth Night (Acts 2-3)
Mon 3/8	Twelfth Night (Acts 4-5)
Wed 3/10	Twelfth Night readings (Barber, Tracy, Logan)	Prep Paper #4, only option
Fri 3/12	Twelfth Night scenes
Mon 3/15	Henry IV, 1, Acts 1-2	TNi scene journals due. No prep papers this week
Wed 3/17	Henry IV, Act 3-4
Fri 3/19	No class (make up later)	Midterm paper due
Mon 3/29	Henry IV, Act 5
Wed 3/31	Performance readings: Weimann	Prep Paper #5, only option
Fri 4/2	No class	Make up later
Mon 4/5	Performance readings: Mullaney, Burke	Prep Paper #5, option 2. Declaration of intention to do a final scene, paper, or project
Wed 4/7	Henry IV,1 readings (Gottschalk, Barber)	Prep paper #6, option 1
Fri 4/9	Henry IV,1 readings (Greenblatt)	Prep paper #6,option 2
Sun 4/11	Henry IV,1 scenes	Make up class for 3/19
Mon 4/12	Hamlet, Act 1	No prep papers this week
Wed 4/14	Hamlet, Acts 2-3	Henry IV, 1 scene journals due
Fri 4/16	Hamlet, Act 4
Mon 4/19	Hamlet, Act 5
Wed 4/21	Hamlet readings (Gorfain, Montrose)	Prep paper #7, option 1
Fri 4/23	Hamlet readings (Weimann)	Prep paper #7, option 2
Mon 4/26	Hamlet scenes	No prep papers this week
Wed 4/28	King Lear, Act 1	Hamlet scene journals due
Fri 4/30	King Lear, Acts 2-3	Proposal for paper or project
Mon 5/3	King Lear, Act 4	Midterm rewrites final deadline
Wed 5/5	King Lear, Act 5
Fri 5/7	King Lear readings, Sher and Kendall	Prep paper #8, only option
Mon 5/10	King Lear readings, Freeman	Prep paper #9, only option
Wed 5/12	King Lear scenes
Fri 5/14	Wrap up	Lear scene journals due
Tues 5/18	Final papers due
	Final scenes	We'll use the set exam time plus an hour for the make up class we missed on 4/2; scene journals due the next day