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Huron University College
Department of English
English 2400E
Dramatic Forms and Genres
Fall/Winter 2014-15
Tuesdays 10:30-11:30am
Thursdays 9:30-11:30am
HUC W18
Instructor: Dr. Amanda Di Ponio
Office: V123
Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:30am-1:30pm and by appointment
E-mail: [email protected]
Feel free to e-mail me with brief questions. Students can expect to receive responses to e-mails
within 24-48 hours. Please contact me via e-mail to make an appointment to see me or speak
with me outside of regular office hours. If possible, please make an appointment to see me
during office hours so that students who wish to see me are able to. During peak times (ie. before
essays submissions and the final exam), additional appointment times outside of regular office
hours will be made available to students.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is a survey course that explores forms of drama and introduces students to the main
principles of dramatic art, selected aspects of dramatic history, and dramatic genres and their
development. We will look at both canonical and non-canonical works, spanning antiquity to the
present day, and study these plays through close-reading and performance. Each week, the
lecture will be complemented by student-driven performance.
PREREQUISITE(S): At least 60% in 1.0 of English 1020E or 1022E or 1024E or 1035E or 1036E
or both English 1027F/G and 1028F/G, or English 1901E, or permission of the Department.
REQUIRED TEXT
The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. Sixth Edition. Ed. W.B. Worthen. Berkeley: University of
California, 2011.
Some plays and critical materials not included in these anthologies will be distributed to students
throughout the term, either electronically through OWL powered by Sakai or in class.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Analyze the forms and genres of dramatic literature.
Participate in “poor” theatre productions, assuming the various roles therein, to engage with the
texts in performance.
Incorporate evidence, both primary and secondary, in essay writing.
Research supplementary material in support of arguments.
Write essays that use and critically respond to secondary source materials effectively and present
complex and debatable arguments.
Apply principles of quotation integration using MLA documentation.
STRATFORD – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
Students enrolled in English 2400E are invited to attend a performance of Mother Courage and
Her Children on Tuesday, September 23 at 2pm at the Robert Patterson Theatre. The ticket price
is $40 (including transportation), or $25 (without transportation), and students will book their
own tickets and transportation by phoning Stratford directly and using a credit card. I will
provide students with the phone number, booking instructions, and the promo code in the first
week of classes. There are 30 tickets available; students should let me know of their interest in
attending as soon as possible and be prepared to book no later than the end of week two. As the
Performance Analysis assignment (10% – see below) is attached to this performance, it is
strongly encouraged that students do their best to attend.
ASSIGNMENTS
Performance Analysis (1,000-1,500 words) 10%
Essay 1 (2,000-2,500 words) 15%
Essay 2 (3,000-3,500 words) 20%
Final Exam 35%
Participation/Performance Work 20%
NOTE: In accordance with Department of English standards, students must pass BOTH the term
work and the final examination in order to pass the course. Students who fail the final
examination (regardless of term mark) automatically fail the course. Assignments must be
submitted to our course website for plagiarism checking.
DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENTS
Performance Analysis:
We will be seeing Mother Courage and Her Children at Stratford this season. The purpose of
this assignment is to strengthen your critical analysis of drama in performance. Write an essay of
1,000-1,500 words that analyses the Stratford production. If you’re unable to attend the
performance, please contact me.
While you will more than likely share whether or not you like the production, I am more
interested in your analysis of it. Focus on a few production choices – such as costumes, set
design, lighting and sound effects, gestures, staging – you consider important in how the
Stratford company interpreted the play. In your essay, describe the production choices concisely,
and then analyse how they shaped a certain interpretation of the action, perhaps in a way you
haven’t considered. You might analyse the choices in terms of the tone, power dynamics,
characterisations, etc. I would recommend taking notes during the performance. You should also
keep the theatre programme that you’ll be given when you enter, as it will tell you who played
which parts, who directed the show and wrote the music for it, and perhaps also provide some
insight into what the company was trying to achieve. We will discuss the production in the
following Thursday’s class, but as we won’t formally be discussing the play until the second
term. As such, I will provide background and notes on the play to help you complete your
performance analysis assignment, but you should read the play in addition to some
supplementary reading. MLA citation style is required.
Essay 1: A formal, extended critical review of one of the plays studied during the first term. The
essay should engage with more than one possible interpretation of the play and endeavour to go
beyond the simple exposition of ideas. Secondary research is required (at least 2 materials –
essays/articles from books/academic journals). Advanced essay-writing tips, as well as research
tips (finding/evaluating materials), will be provided early on. MLA citation style is required.
Essay 2: A formal, extended discussion of at least two of the plays/playwrights we studied
throughout the year. The essay should go beyond mere comparison and provide an in-depth
discussion of the dramatic forms employed in the genres discussed. You should focus on
articulating a position and its relative meaning. Secondary research is required (at least 3
materials – essays/articles from books/academic journals). MLA citation style is required.
Students should send me a short description of their topics for approval. Assignments should be
addressed and handed in directly to me. Be sure you keep/make/have a copy for yourself.
Unless a student presents a valid excuse prior to assignment due dates, late essays will incur a
late penalty of 2% per day, up to a maximum of 24% or two weeks. Assignments handed in
late will not receive comments. Assignments submitted after the two-week period will not be
accepted.
Final Exam: A combination of short answer and essay questions. The exam will be cumulative
and will be written during the exam period (date, time and location TBA).
Participation/Performance Work: In class, beginning in our fourth full week together (October
2, 2014), the formalities of a traditional university lecture will make way for in-class
performance. I will be dividing the class into four groups of approximately seven students to take
turns running the class. Our performance hour will begin with a scene study presentation by the
group designated, for that week, as THE COMPANY. It will be The Company’s job to stage a
scene from the listed play that week, and to take up roles such as actors, director, dramaturge,
and designers. The scenes you perform will be “poor” theatre in the best sense of the word: not a
formal, heavily rehearsed performance, although you are free to bring props and costumes as you
choose. Your primary task will be to work together to select a specific approach to the scene, and
then be prepared to defend and explore your choices in class. This “thought work” is the most
important component of your presentation. Those who aren’t acting or directing in any given
week must contribute behind the scenes, by helping to imagine potential visions for the scene, by
imagining a design (be prepared to explain and discuss it), or by applying dramaturgical –
critical, close-reading – skills to the text and then offering options to the actors and/or director.
My goal is for each of you to try different roles over the course of the term: if you’re shy,
challenge yourself to try acting at least once; if you’re not, challenge yourself to pull back a bit
and let the other members of your group be in the limelight.
Each Company group will need to read ahead and agree on a scene (or scenes) to perform in
advance of scheduled Thursdays. You need not clear your scene selection with me in advance,
but please choose something that will take approximately 10-15 minutes to perform. You should
be prepared to meet outside of class for an hour or two, at least a couple of times, before each
performance, and plan on communicating amongst yourselves via e-mail so that members of The
Company know their roles for each performance. Part of the challenge is coordinating the
schedules of a large group, which it should be as performance cannot happen with just a couple
of people. Do your best to accommodate everyone. It’s my hope that you’ll even get to be friends
rather than just colleagues.
After each performance, and a short break, The Company will be asked to get back on stage and
participate in a question-and-answer period. Each member of The Company should contribute
something during the Q&A. For this post-performance discussion, while The Company takes its
break, the rest of the class will get into its designated groups. You will be given 10-15 minutes in
your group to discuss the performance you’ve just seen, and to prepare a few challenging
questions about The Company’s performance choices. In order to ensure that your group’s
discussion runs smoothly, each of you will need to take some notes during The Company’s
performance; be prepared to talk about them with your group in preparing your questions. Once
in your groups, designate a discussion leader for that day. This role should revolve. In order to
make sure that the discussion is fair to all, your discussion leader should begin by going from
group member to group member, asking for a quick observation, question or concern about the
performance from each of you. From those initial observations, you can begin to build discussion
topics and questions to pose to The Company.
NOTE that the questions you develop must delve below the surface of what The Company is
doing. Colleague-critics are reviewers with a difference: your task is to explore what worked and
what didn’t, to investigate the critical effects of The Company’s choices, to offer alternative
readings, and to examine how others in the class received the performance (it’s a good idea to
address some questions to your fellow audience members as well). Ultimately, colleague
criticism should be helpful and respectful.
When the break is up, I will reconvene the class and ask each group’s discussion leader to speak,
in turn, to one of your questions. We hope to get a lively discussion going, and will bounce from
group to group until either our time or your notes are exhausted.
Assessment: Your group work is the core component of your participation grade; you will be
judged on the amount of effort you put into the work, and on your willingness to push yourself in
new directions. Note that you need not play a major role in each presentation: balance your
commitments to the group work as needed, but ensure that you are contributing helpfully in some
way each time your group is The Company, and that you challenge yourself to contribute during
your group’s Thursday discussions.
Attendance: Regular attendance and engagement are the keys to doing well at this assignment.
Each time you miss a performance during which your group is The Company without prior
leave, you will lose 5/20 marks. Attendance will be taken. Even if your group is not performing,
your attendance is still required and appreciated. Each time you miss any Thursday, without prior
leave, you will lose 1/20 marks. Excessive absenteeism is grounds for debarring a student from
taking the final examination.
PLAGIARISM
There is zero tolerance for plagiarism in this course.
Students must write their essays in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a
passage, from another author in this case including from course notes, they must acknowledge
their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing in the
form of citations. This includes Internet sources. Plagiarism is a major academic offence.
Plagiarism checking:
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All
papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose
of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is
subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western Ontario and Turnitin.com
(http://www.turnitin.com).
ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams,
participation components and/or assignments worth (either alone or in combination) 10% or
more of their final grade must apply to the Academic Counseling office of their home Faculty
and provide documentation. Academic accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or
department.
Documentation shall be submitted, as soon as possible, to the Office of the Dean of the student's
Faculty of registration, together with a request for relief specifying the nature of the
accommodation being requested. The Student Medical Certificate (SMC) can be found at
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/medicalform.pdf
Phone use in class is prohibited.
LECTURE AND READING SCHEDULE
Term 1
Week 1
(Thursday, Sept. 4): Introduction
Course presentation: readings, objectives, assignments, participation, etc.
Introduction, The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama
Week 2
(Sept.8-12) Classical Tragedy:
Sophocles, Oedipus the King, c. 431 BCE (Wadsworth 75)
Classical Athens (Wadsworth 13 ff)
Week 3
(Sept. 15-19) Greek Comedy:
Aristophanes, Lysistrata, 411 BCE (Wadsworth 111)
Week 4
(Sept. 22-26) Japanese Kabuki:
Chūshingura: The Forty-Seven Samurai, c. 1700; adapted by Nakamura
Matagorō, 1979 (Wadsworth 204)
The Development of the Kabuki Stage (Wadsworth 188)
No class Tuesday, September 26 – Stratford trip Mother Courage and Her
Children 2pm
Week 5
(Sept. 29-Oct. 3) Medieval Morality Plays:
Anonymous, Everyman, c. 1485 (Wadsworth 283)
Morality Drama (Wadsworth 225)
Medieval and Renaissance Drama in Performance and History (Wadsworth 271)
The Company Group 1
Week 6
(Oct. 6-10) Elizabethan Tragedy:
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, c. 1589 (Wadsworth 294)
Drama and Theatre in Renaissance London (Wadsworth 258)
The Company Group 2
Week 7
(Oct. 13-17) Elizabethan Comedy:
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, c. 1600 (Wadsworth 321)
Shakespeare’s Globe (Wadsworth 264)
The Company Group 3
Performance Analysis Due Tuesday, October 14 (10%)
Week 8
(Oct. 20-24) Jacobean Revenge Tragedy:
Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling, 1622 (handout)
The Company Group 4
Week 9
(Oct. 27-31) Court Masque:
Ben Jonson, Love’s Welcome at Bolsover, 1634 (handout)
The Jacobean Court Masque; Theatre in English, 1660-1737 (Wadsworth 268;
451)
October 30-31: Fall Study Break
Week 10
(Nov. 3-7) Spanish Golden Age Theatre:
José Manuel Caldéron, Life is a Dream, 1636 (Wadsworth 461)
Theatre in Spain’s Golden Age, 1580-1680 (Wadsworth 453)
The Company Group 1
Week 11
(Nov. 10-14) Seventeenth-Century French Theatre:
Moliere, Tartuffe, 1666 (Wadsworth 488)
Theatre in France, 1660-1700 (Wadsworth 449)
The Company Group 2
Week 12
(Nov. 17-21) Restoration Closet Drama:
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery,
1677 (handout)
The Company Group 3
Week 13
(Nov. 24-28) Early Eighteenth-Century Theatre:
George Farquhar, The Recruiting Officer, 1706 (Wadsworth 580)
Dramatic Innovation in France, England, and Spain (Wadsworth 455)
The Company Group 4
Week 14
(Dec. 2)
Term 1 Review
Essay #1 Due
No Class Thursday, December 4, 2014
Term 2
Week 1
(Jan. 5-9) Realism and Naturalism:
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, 1879 (Wadsworth 666)
August Strindberg, Miss Julie, 1888 (handout)
Theatre and Culture to 1950 (Wadsworth 633 ff)
Week 2
(Jan. 12-16) Realism and Naturalism (Continued):
Anton Chekov, The Cherry Orchard, 1888 (Wadsworth 758)
Week 3
(Jan. 19-23) Surrealism:
Alfred Jarry, Ubu Roi, 1896 (Wadsworth 714)
Antonin Artaud, from The Theatre and Its Double, 1938 (Wadsworth 1084)
The Company Group 1
Week 4
(Feb. 2-6) Epic Theatre:
Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage and Her Children, 1939 (Wadsworth 857)
“The Modern Theatre Is the Epic Theatre”, 1930 and “The Street Scene”, 1938
(Wadsworth 1075 ff)
The Company Group 2
Week 5
(Jan. 26-30) Against Heteronormativity:
Jean Genet, The Balcony, 1956 (Wadsworth 886)
The Company Group 3
Week 6
(Feb. 9-13) Tragedy and the Common Man:
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, 1949 (Wadsworth 1240)
Miller, from “Tragedy and the Common Man”, 1949 (Wadsworth 1485)
The Company Group 4
February 16-20: Reading Week
Week 7
(Feb. 23-27) The Theatre of the Absurd:
Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros, 1959 (handout)
Martin Esslin, from The Theatre of the Absurd, 1961 (Wadsworth 1091)
Week 8
(Mar. 2-6) The Theatre of the Absurd (Continued):
Samuel Beckett, Endgame, 1957 (Wadsworth 918)
Beckett, on directing Endgame (Wadsworth 1105)
Harold Pinter, The Dumb Waiter, 1960 (handout)
Week 9
(Mar. 9-13) Postcolonial Theatre:
Wole Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman, 1976 (Wadsworth 1586)
Frank Rick, “Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman”, 1987 (Wadsworth
1825)
The Company Group 1
Week 10
(Mar. 16-20) LGTB Rights:
Tony Kushner, Angels in America, I: Millennium Approaches, 1993 (Wadsworth
1366)
American Drama in Performance and History (Wadsworth 1128)
The Company Group 2
Week 11
(Mar. 23-27) Feminist Revisions:
Sarah Kane, Blasted, 1995 (handout)
The Company Group 3
Week 12
(Mar. 30-Apr. 3) Canadian Theatre:
Hayden Taylor, In a World Created by a Drunken God, 2006 (handout)
The Company Group 4
Week 13
(Apr. 6)
Review Term 2
Essay #2 Due
Appendix to Course Outlines
Prerequisite Information
Students are responsible for ensuring that they have successfully completed all course
prerequisites. Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission
from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from
your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in
the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
Conduct of Students in Classes, Lectures, and Seminars
Membership in the community of Huron University College and the University of Western
Ontario implies acceptance by every student of the principle of respect for the rights,
responsibilities, dignity and well-being of others and a readiness to support an environment
conducive to the intellectual and personal growth of all who study, work and live within it. Upon
registration, students assume the responsibilities that such registration entails. The academic
and social privileges granted to each student are conditional upon the fulfillment of these
responsibilities.
In the classroom, students are expected to behave in a manner that supports the learning
environment of others. Students can avoid any unnecessary disruption of the class by arriving in
sufficient time to be seated and ready for the start of the class, by remaining silent while the
professor is speaking or another student has the floor, and by taking care of personal needs prior
to the start of class. If a student is late, or knows that he/she will have to leave class early, be
courteous: sit in an aisle seat and enter and leave quietly.
Please see the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities at:
http://www.huronuc.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/StudentDiscipline
Technology
It is not appropriate to use technology (such as, but not limited to, laptops, PDAs, cell phones) in
the classroom for non-classroom activities. Such activity is disruptive and is distracting to other
students and to the instructor, and can inhibit learning. Students are expected to respect the
classroom environment and to refrain from inappropriate use of technology and other electronic
devices in class.
Academic Accommodation for Medical/Non-Medical Grounds
For UWO Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness and a downloadable SMC see:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf
[downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): https://studentservices.uwo.ca under the
Medical Documentation heading]
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams,
participation components and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must
apply to the Academic Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation.
Academic accommodation will be determined by the Dean’s Office in consultation with the
instructor.
For non-medical grounds or for medical grounds when work represents less than 10% of the
overall grade for the course, the student must submit a request to the instructor in writing
prior to the due date of an assignment, and immediately in the case of a test. (Or as soon as
possible following a medical emergency) Students are protected under the Official Student
Record Information Privacy Policy and so written requests need only include a broad and
general explanation of the situation, and the approximate length of time required. At the
discretion of the instructor, the granting of extensions and re-scheduled tests may require the
student to submit supporting either medical or non-medical documentation to the Academic
Counsellor, who will then make the determination as to whether accommodation is warranted.
Statement on Academic Offences
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy,
specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.
pdf .
Statement on Academic Integrity
The International Centre for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as "a commitment,
even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and
responsibility. From these values flow principles of behaviour that enable academic
communities to translate ideals to action." (CAI Fundamental Values Project, 1999).
A lack of academic integrity is indicated by such behaviours as the following:
Cheating on tests;
Fraudulent submissions online;
Plagiarism in papers submitted (including failure to cite and piecing
together unattributed sources);
Unauthorized resubmission of course work to a different course;
Helping someone else cheat;
Unauthorized collaboration;
Fabrication of results or sources;
Purchasing work and representing it as one’s own.
Academic Integrity: Importance and Impact
Being at university means engaging with a variety of communities in the pursuit and sharing of
knowledge and understanding in ways that are clear, respectful, efficient, and productive.
University communities have established norms of academic integrity to ensure responsible,
honest, and ethical behavior in the academic work of the university, which is best done when
sources of ideas are properly and fully acknowledged and when responsibility for ideas is fully
and accurately represented.
In the academic sphere, unacknowledged use of another’s work or ideas is not only an offence
against the community of scholars and an obstacle to academic productivity. It may also be
understood as fraud and may constitute an infringement of legal copyright.
A university is a place for fulfilling one's potential and challenging oneself, and this means rising
to challenges rather than finding ways around them. The achievements in an individual’s
university studies can only be fairly evaluated quantitatively through true and honest
representation of the actual learning done by the student. Equity in assessment for all students
is ensured through fair representation of the efforts by each.
Acting with integrity at university constitutes a good set of practices for maintaining integrity in
later life. Offences against academic integrity are therefore taken very seriously as part of the
university’s work in preparing students to serve, lead, and innovate in the world at large.
A university degree is a significant investment of an individual’s, and the public’s, time, energies,
and resources in the future, and habits of academic integrity protect that investment by
preserving the university’s reputation and ensuring public confidence in higher education.
Students found guilty of plagiarism will suffer consequences ranging from a grade
reduction to failure in the course to expulsion from the university. In addition, a
formal letter documenting the offence will be filed in the Dean’s Office, and this
record of the offence will be retained in the Dean’s Office for the duration of the
student’s academic career at Huron University College.
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All
papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference
database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the
system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The
University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com.
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for
similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that
may indicate cheating.
Personal Response Systems (“clickers”) may be used in some classes. If clickers are to be used
in a class, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the device is activated and
functional. Students must see their instructor if they have any concerns about whether the
clicker is malfunctioning. Students must use only their own clicker. If clicker records are used to
compute a portion of the course grade:
•
•
the use of somebody else’s clicker in class constitutes a scholastic offence,
the possession of a clicker belonging to another student will be interpreted as an attempt
to commit a scholastic offence.
Policy on Special Needs
Students who require special accommodation for tests and/or other course components must
make the appropriate arrangements with the Student Development Centre (SDC). Further
details concerning policies and procedures may be found at:
http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/ssd/?requesting_acc
Attendance Regulations for Examinations
A student is entitled to be examined in courses in which registration is maintained, subject to
the following limitations:
1) A student may be debarred from writing the final examination for failure to maintain
satisfactory academic standing throughout the year.
2) Any student who, in the opinion of the instructor, is absent too frequently from class or
laboratory periods in any course will be reported to the Dean of the Faculty offering the course
(after due warning has been given). On the recommendation of the Department concerned, and
with the permission of the Dean of that Faculty, the student will be debarred from taking the
regular examination in the course. The Dean of the Faculty offering the course will
communicate that decision to the Dean of the Faculty of registration.
Class Cancellations
In the event of a cancellation of class, every effort will be made to post that information on the
Huron website, http://www.huronuc.ca/AccessibilityInfo (“Class Cancellations”).
Accessibility
Huron University College strives at all times to provide its goods and services in a way that
respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are also committed to
giving people with disabilities the same opportunity to access our goods and services and
allowing them to benefit from the same services, in the same place as, and in a similar way to,
other customers. We welcome your feedback about accessibility at Huron. Information about
how to provide feedback is available at: http://www.huronuc.ca/AccessibilityInfo
Mental Health @ Western
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health @ Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain
help.
Program and Academic Counselling
English students registered at Huron who require advice about modules and courses in English
should contact Dr. T. Hubel, Chair – [email protected] Students should contact Academic
Counselling on other academic matters. See the Academic Counselling website for information
on services offered.
http://huronuc.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/CounselorsCounsellingSer
vices