Syllabus for Fall 2021

Friday, August 27

First day: Introductions and course outline

First (brief) assignments, due by tomorrow (Saturday) at noon

First, go to the Self-introductions document in our class OneDrive folder and introduce yourself.

Then, put the following in your classwork document:

1. A statement of interest: based on the readings for this class so far and your previous academic work, write down a topic that you'd like to follow through the term as a way to guide your reading. Examples of possible topics include literary experimentation, sexualities, religion, animal imagery, literary form, narrative technique, race and ethnicity, money and work, and so on. You are welcome to choose any of these or create your own. Just be sure that you select something you will be excited to look for throughout the term.
2. A writing emphasis: what is one thing you'd like to work on as a writer this semester? Think of your experiences as a writer and the feedback you've received from readers or teachers. Our conversations about writing will certainly range beyond the emphasis you choose, but I am also eager to hear about one area in which you would welcome a chance to think about your writing with me.

• Film: from John Barton's 1979 Playing Shakespeare: Trevor Nunn and David Suchet on Sonnet 138

• Professor Simpson's introductory video on Shakespeare's sonnets (use the Pweb link to the class YouTube channel)
• Read Connections on The Sonnet: web version or PDF version

• Professor Simpson's handout on Close Reading (PDF)

Come to class prepared to apply the videos and readings to a discussion of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, the one mentioned in the video. (You do not need to look at the sonnet in advance.)

• Professor Simpson's two-part video introduction to imagery, metaphor, and repetition (class YouTube channel through PWeb)
• Shakespeare's sonnets 1, 2, 3, 5, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
  • The Folger Shakespeare Library's page with lots of great information about the sonnets

  • The excellent BBC podcast In Our Time on Shakespeare's Life

Assignment for the classwork document: by 10:00 a.m. on class day, using the close reading handout as a guide, write a paragraph about something unusual and interesting you find in one of the sonnets. We will discuss some of your paragraphs in class.

Note: here and throughout this syllabus, the first (less indented) reading or link is required, while the second (more indented) reading or link is supplemental and optional. Here, for example, the videos and sonnets are required, whereas the podcast episode and Folger site are optional.

• Professor Simpson's video introduction to meter (prosody and scansion) (class YouTube channel through PWeb)
• Shakespeare's "Young Man" sonnets (selections): 20, 30, 37, 62, 76, 84, 93, 115, 116, and 123

• And the "Dark Lady" sonnets (selections): 42, 127, 130, 133, 138, 144, 147, 148, and 152

Assignment for the classwork document: by 10:00 a.m. on class day, using one of the week's videos or readings, write a paragraph about something unusual and interesting you find in one of the sonnets. We will discuss some of your paragraphs in class.

Close Reading Assignment due by 10:00 a.m. on the day of class. You have no other assignment for today. We will use the close reading assignments as the basis for class discussion.

• Much Ado about Nothing, Act I

• Parker on New Criticism
• Shakespeare's Works in online texts from the Folger Shakespeare Library

• In Our Time on Shakespeare's Work

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• Much Ado about Nothing, Acts II and III

Middle Acts Response, version A, from the Weekly Routine

• Much Ado about Nothing, Acts IV and V

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

• Film: Kenneth Branagh, Much Ado about Nothing (1993, on DVD reserve at Burling or on many streaming services if you want to rent it or use a free trial)
  • The film's IMDB page

  • And its MRQE page

Adaptation/Criticism Response from the Weekly Routine

• Erik Simpson, Five Ways of Looking at a Thesis

Classwork document: write a draft thesis about Much Ado about Nothing based on the Five Ways. We will use these draft theses as part of a day of thinking about writing in class.

• Richard III, Act I

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• Richard III, Acts II and III

Middle Acts Response, version B, from the Weekly Routine

• Richard III, Acts IV and V

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

• Richard Loncraine, Richard III (1995, on DVD reserve at Burling or on many streaming services if you want to rent it or use a free trial)
  • The film's IMDB page

  • And its MRQE page

Adaptation/Criticism Response from the Weekly Routine

• Hamlet, Act I
  • Facebook Hamlet (spoilers, sort of)

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• Hamlet, Acts II and III

  • Ben Crystal performing the "To Be Or Not To Be" speech in Shakespearean Original Pronunciation (OP)

Middle Acts Response, version A, from the Weekly Routine

• Hamlet, Acts IV and V

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine, incorporating some aspect of the critical history as well

• Critical history of Hamlet

• Erik Simpson, Two Functions of Academic Transitions

We will do an in-class writing exercise.

• Parker on feminism
• Elaine Showalter, "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism"
  • In Our Time on Shakespeare and Literary Criticism

Adaptation/Criticism Response from the Weekly Routine

• Complete the Treasure Hunt of the MIND (in our OneDrive folder) and bring your findings to the library for class.

We will meet in the Burling Library computer lab (lower floor) today. Your assignment for the Classwork Document (due before class) is the first Paper Prospectus.

• Parker on historicism and cultural studies

• Stephen Greenblatt, from Hamlet in Purgatory

• The Merchant of Venice, Act I

• Parker on queer studies

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• The Merchant of Venice, Acts II and III
  • [optional] contextual readings on finance

Middle Acts Response, version B, from the Weekly Routine

PAPER DUE BY EMAIL ATTACHMENT OF WORD PROCESSOR DOCUMENT at 4:00 p.m.

We will not have class today as you finish your papers.

• The Merchant of Venice, Acts IV and V
  • [optional] contextual readings on religion

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

• Film: Michael Radford, The Merchant of Venice (2004) (online streaming through the College, also on DVD reserve at Burling Library)
  • Film: Barton, section 4 of Playing Shakespeare: Exploring a Character (on Shylock)
  • The Radford film's IMDB page

  • And its MRQE page

Adaptation/Criticism Response from the Weekly Routine

• Othello, Act I

• Parker on postcolonial and race studies

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• Othello, Acts II and III

Middle Acts Response, version A, from the Weekly Routine

• Othello, Acts IV and V
  • Shakespearean Marbury

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

• King Lear, Act I

First Act Response from the Weekly Routine

• King Lear, Acts II and III

Middle Acts Response, version B, from the Weekly Routine

• King Lear, Acts IV and V
  • An excellent conversation about Lear from the podcast Entitled Opinions, with Stephen Orgel and host Robert Harrison

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

• The Annotated Bibliography Assignment (including the full PDF version linked on that page)

• Professor Simpson's Quick Guide to Chicago NB Style

We will do an in-class workshop on sample bibliography entries.

• The Tempest, Act I

Your assignment for the Classwork Document has two parts today: it includes both the usual First Act Response from the Weekly Routine and the second Paper Prospectus.

Class will not meet today. Instead, we will have individual check-in conferences for everyone early this week, looking ahead to the stretch run of the semester.

• The Tempest, Acts II and III

Middle Acts Response, version A, from the Weekly Routine

• The Tempest, Acts IV and V

Final Acts Response from the Weekly Routine

PAPER DUE BY EMAIL ATTACHMENT OF WORD PROCESSOR DOCUMENT at 11:00 a.m. Iowa time

This is also the deadline for pre-portfolio revisions of the first paper. (You can always revise your portfolio submissions until you submit the portfolio.) Remember to mark clearly the changes you have made, so I can focus on them as I read.

In class, we will watch and discuss some video about performing Shakespeare.

PEER REVIEW OF RESEARCH PRODUCTS: Bring to class THREE COPIES of a) two full entries for your annotated bibliography and b) two paragraphs taken from current versions of your papers in which you quote an external source.

PORTFOLIO DUE BY EMAIL ATTACHMENT at 5:00 p.m. Iowa time