Elit 17 syllabus fall 2016 n

ELIT
17

FALL
2016
M/W

12:30-‐2:20

Week
1

Class
Work
Homework

Class 1
9/26
Ñ Introduction to Class
Ó The Website
Ó The Green Sheet
Ó The Syllabus
Ñ Lecture:
Ó Shakespeare’s
works
Ó Introduction to
Shakespearean
Comedy
Ó Introduction to The
Comedy of Errors
Ñ Buy books
Ñ Establish Gmail account
Ñ Register for Wordpress
Ñ Read the Folger introduction from xiii to liii
Read The Comedy of Errors Acts 1, 2, and 3
Post #1 Choose one
1. Find examples of the different kinds of comedy we discussed
in class today. Explain why the scenes or elements are or
aren’t funny. Explain why they are still “comedic” given the
time period.
2. Wooing scenes are prominent in Shakespearian plays. Find
the wooing scene between Antipholus of Syracuse and
Luciana. Explicate the meaning and explain how successful
it is.
3. Compare and contrast one set of the twins. Are they more
alike or different?
4. QHQ
Use textual support for your answers
Class 2
9/28 • Teams 1
• Lecture:
• Shakespeare’s
England
• Discussion
• The Comedy of
Errors
• Discussion
Questions
• QHQs
Read: The Comedy of Errors Acts 4 and 5
Post #2 Choose one
1. Shakespeare’ s choice to make misidentification
unintentional complicates the issue of both identity and
trickery. Misidentification causes a rapid switching between
social positions. For instance, Adriana is both an alluring
temptress who tries to trick a traveler and a loyal wife who
mistakenly invites an impostor into her house. Find a scene
of intentional or unintentional deception. Who is the
trickster? What are the results of the miscommunication or
misidentification?
2. Discuss the theme of Identity as it is presented in the play.
Is there a difference between public/social identities and
private identities?
3. Are the Dromios servants or slaves? Are their beatings
meant to be farcical? Are farce and social custom
connected? Can you think of a contemporary example?
4. Discuss Pinch and his role in the story.
Week 2
Class 3
10/3
n Lecture
n Reading
Shakespeare’s
Language
n The Comedy of
Errors
n Discussion Questions
n QHQs
n Introduction to
Presentations
Read: The three “Trickster Articles” under “Course Readings”
Post #3: QHQ on one of the three. Don’t all do the same article!
Choose your recitation piece and post the following information:
1. Title of Sonnet or Title of Play and Act/Scene/Lines.
Remember, you may not duplicate another student’s
recitation, so note which are posted before you choose.
Posting order will be the final determination of who
chose first.

Class 4
10/5
Lecture: Sonnets
n Style and Format
n Activity: Scansion
n Recitation Sign up
sheet
n Introduction
n Trickster
Characters
n Twelfth
Night
Read: Twelfth Night: Acts 1 and 2
Post #4: Choose one
1. Compare and contrast the misidentification in Twelfth Night
with that from A Comedy of Errors.
2. Consider common practices of traditional wooing. In what
way would they be different from Cesario’s endeavors to
woo Olivia for Duke? Act I, Scene 5, 166-280
3. How does the clown prove that Olivia is a fool? Is he
correct or incorrect in his assessment? (Act 1 Scene 5)
Explain your answer with evidence from the text.
4. Analyze Maria’s speeches in Act 2 scene 3. Explain
carefully her motive to entrap Malvolio. Do you believe that
she is justified in doing it?
5. QHQ: Trickster Characters and Traits
Week 3
Class 5
10/10
Lecture
• Shakespeare: the
man
• Twelfth Night
Discussion
• Discussion
Questions
• QHQs
Recitation: Late sign-ups
Read: Twelfth Night: Acts 3 to 5 (to end)
Post #5 Choose one
1. As Olivia is in the process of revealing her feelings for
Cesario, she makes use of metaphors drawn from the animal
kingdom— Act III, Scene 1, lines115-140. State what these
animal metaphors are, and then explain their significance.
How do they illuminate the depth of Olivia’s feelings at the
moment?
2. Many characters in Twelfth Night adopt a role or otherwise
disguise their identities. Viola is the most obvious example
of this ruse in the play, but what others can you name?
Consider Fester, Orsino, and Olivia among others.
3. Discuss the outcome of the plot against Malvolio. Is the
yellow garter scene funny or cruel? Is his fate deserved?
How does his reappearance affect the end of the play?
4. QHQ
Class 6
10/12
Twelfth Night: Film
Screening (Run time:
1:45)
Post #6
1. Compare a scene in the movie She’s the Man to the
corresponding scene in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In
some cases, there will not be a direct correlation. In that
case, you may refer to themes as long as you use textual
evidence. How does the director both stay true to
Shakespeare and make the film more relevant? Which is
more successful? Why?
2. What do you make of the fact that Cesario and Sebastian are
apparently interchangeable for Olivia? What does this play
seem to say about love and about marriage as a social
institution?

Week 4
Class 7
10/17
Recitations: 2
Lecture:
Elizabethan Theater
The Globe
Actors
Discussion: Twelfth
Night
Questions and QHQs
from class 5
Exam #1 Preparation:
The Comedies
Study for exam #1
Read
• Sir Thomas More’s History of King Richard III 1518
• Horace Walpole’s Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of
King Richard III, 1768
Read
• a short bio of Richard III here http://www.r3.org/richard-
iii/king-richard-iii-bio-timeline/
Post #7: choose 1
1. Shakespeare based his Richard III on the writings of Sir
Thomas More. After reading both Thomas More and
Horace Walpole, who do you find more credible? Why?
2. How might More (and Shakespeare) have answered
Walpole’s questions?
Class 8
10/19
Exam
Exam 1 Comedies Read Richard III: Acts 1 and 2
Post #8:
1. It is important, in Richard III, for the audience to
understand what the Elizabethan audience would have
known. Read the selection from Act 1, scene 1, lines
148-166 and analyze Shakespeare’s strategies for
telling the audience of the schemes Richard had
devised. Does it seem forced or is it smoothly revealed?
2. Richard’s wooing scene is in Act 1, Scene 2 lines 72 to
244. How effective is it? Analyze his arguments and
his ability to mask evil under the guise of piety. Name
key moments that push his agenda. Why is Lady Anne
susceptible to his wooing?
3. Is Richard a Trickster Character? Why? Which traits do
you see in him? Are their other trickster characters in
this text?
Week 5
Class 9
10/24
Recitations
Teams 2
Lecture: History Plays
Discussion: Richard III
Questions and QHQs
Read Richard III: Acts 3, 4, and 5
Post #9
1. What is the impact of the visits of the ghosts to Richard?
See act 5, Scene 3, lines 139-188.
2. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience understands the
real significance of a character’s words or actions but the
character or those around him or her do not. Examine these
moments of dark comedy and comment on how and why
they work in the play. Look at the scene between Richard
and Clarence (Act 1 Scene 1) and also in Act 3 scene 2,
when Catesby suggests that Richard should be crowned
king in lieu of the Prince of Wales.
3. Ambition conjoined with an inherently evil nature cause
Richard to embrace the role of villain, but he plays the part
so fully that he eventually wreaks havoc on himself. Look at
Scene 5, Act 3, lines 194-203. What is the purpose of these
lines? What do we learn about Richard’s state of mind?
4. QHQ

Class 10
10/26
Recitations
Lecture: Richard III
Discussion: Richard III
Questions and QHQs
Watch the movie Richard III, staring Ian McKellen.
Post #10
1. Compare a scene in the movie Richard III to the
corresponding scene in Shakespeare’s play. In some cases,
there will not be a direct correlation. In that case, you may
refer to themes as long as you use textual evidence. How
does the director both stay true to Shakespeare and make
the film more relevant? Which is more successful? Why?
2. In the end is Richard totally evil or does his portrayal
suggest any admirable traits? Use textual evidence to
support your point of view.
Week 6
Class 11
10/31
Recitations
Discussion: Final
thoughts on Richard III
Introduction to Essay #1
Choose your essay topic: Twelfth Night, A Comedy of Errors, or
Richard III
Think about how to proceed
Post #11: Post your prompt and a one paragraph response to it.
Read Othello Acts 1, 2, and 3
Post #12
1. How does Shakespeare present the world of Venice in the
first act, and how does he construct the interactions of his
central characters (Iago, Othello, and Desdemona) with that
Venetian world and with each other. How are these
interactions complicated by the fact that Othello is a Moor
(and what exactly does that mean?) and that Desdemona is a
young woman?
2. What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in act 1? Are you
satisfied by the reasons he gives for hating Othello? What is
Iago's relationship with Roderigo? Is he a trickster
character? Why or why not?
3. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in act 2?
What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and
plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the
language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of
descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to
the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?
4. At the beginning of 3.3 Othello is completely in love with
Desdemona. By the end of that scene, 480 lines later,
Othello is ready to murder her for having an affair with
Cassio. How have we gone from the first position to the
second position so quickly? How does Iago plant the idea of
Desdemona's infidelity in Othello's mind, and how does he
make it grow?
5. What sort of person is Emilia, and what seems to be the
nature of her relationship with her husband Iago? How does
Desdemona's handkerchief come into play within that
relationship between Emilia and Iago?

Class 12
11/02
Recitations
Lecture:
Essay #1
MLA format
Lecture: The Tragedy;
Othello
Discussion: Othello
Read Othello Acts 4-5
Post #13
1. How does the handkerchief function in act 4? Why is the
handkerchief so important to Othello?
2. How is Othello changing in act 4? What is the effect of his
public humiliation of Desdemona by slapping her?
3. What is the nature of the relationship between Emilia and
Desdemona? What especially is the effect of 4.3, in which
we get an extended scene between these two women alone?
How effective is Shakespeare in portraying this private
world of women?
4. How does Othello approach the killing of Desdemona?
What does he think he is doing, and why?
5. What is the effect of having Emilia play such an important
role after the murder? Why is she now standing up to
Othello and her husband? What is her reward?
6. Does Othello justify his killing of Desdemona? What is he
doing in his last long speech?
Week 7
Class 13
11/07
Recitations
Short Film
Discussion Othello
Writing: Essay #1
Post #14
• Essay introduction and thesis, at least two good body
paragraphs.
• Essay Due Friday, Week 7 at noon
Class 13.5
11/09
No Formal Class:
Extended Office hours
by appointment or drop
in.
Writing: Essay #1
Due Friday, Week 7 at noon
Study for Exam 2
Week 8
Class 14
11/14
Recitations
Submitting your paper
via Kaizena
Othello: Film Screening
– O
– Actors: Josh
Hartnett, Julia
Stiles, Mekhi Phifer,
Martin Sheen,
Andrew Keegan
– Run Time: 95
minutes
Post #15: Choose one
1. Compare a scene in the movie O to the corresponding scene
in Shakespeare’s Othello. In some cases, there will not be a
direct correlation. In that case, you may refer to themes as
long as you use textual evidence. How does the director
both stay true to Shakespeare and make the film more
relevant? Which is more successful? Why
2. What sort of person is Cassio? What happens to him, and
how does Iago plan to use the situation in his plan against
Othello?
3. QHQ
Study for Exam #2
Class 15
11/16
Recitations
Othello
Discussion: Film vs.
Play
Exam #2 Preparation:
History and Tragedy
Study for Exam #2

Week 9
Class 16
11/21
Exam 2
Recitations
Exam #2: History and
Tragedy
Read: The Tempest Acts 1 and 2
Post #16: Choose one
1. Prospero presents himself as the civilized discoverer of a
desert island, with Caliban and Ariel as its not-quite-
human inhabitants. How does Caliban's history of the
island differ from Prospero's? Whom do you think
Shakespeare agrees with, Prospero or Caliban? Whom do
you agree with, Prospero or Caliban? Give textual
evidence in working out your answers.
2. Act One, Scene 1 shows the "tempest" of the play's title.
How do the different characters react to crisis?
3. Who was Sycorax? How does Prospero feel about her? Are
there any parallels between Sycorax's story and
Prospero's?
4. What kind of society would Gonzalo like to have found on
the desert island (2.1 146-70)? What is the reaction of his
companions?
5. What do Antonio and Sebastian want to do to Alonso and
Gonzalo? Why? What does Antonio mean when he says,
"What's past is prologue" (2.1 289)?
6. QHQ: Who is/are the trickster(s) in this play? Why do you
think so? Refer to specific trickster qualities or
characteristics.
Class 17
11/23
Recitations
Teams #3
Lecture: The Late
Romances; The Tempest
Discussion: The Tempest
Read: The Tempest Acts 3, 4, and 5
Post #17
1. Read with special care the scenes with Caliban, Trinculo,
and Stephano (2.2 and 3.2). What does Caliban think
Trinculo is? What does Trinculo think Caliban is? What
does Stephano think Trinculo and Caliban together are?
What is their plan, and what happens to it? To what extent
would you call this plan revolutionary?
2. What role does Ariel play in 3.2?
3. How does Trinculo and Stephano's discovery of Caliban
resemble aspects of Prospero and Miranda's first encounters
with him? What do these scenes of discovery reveal about
the political, religious, or social attitudes of each character?
4. What are the goals of the conspiracy staged by Trinculo,
Stephano, and Caliban (2.2 and 3.2)? What does each party
want to get out of it? Do you ever feel that they are likely to
succeed? How (if at all) does the playwright let us know
whose side he's on?
5. What is the overall impact of the Masque-like? How is it
supposed to affect the two young lovers? What is its
message about the sanctity of the marriage bond?
6. Why does Prospero decide to show mercy to his enemies?
Why is Ariel the first to speak of mercy? Do you think
Prospero had planned to forgive them from the beginning?
7. Why does Prospero decide to give up magic? What does his
choice show about what he thinks happened in the past?
How does he plan to live in the future? What has Prospero
learned? Has he changed in any fundamental way or had the
change already occurred before the beginning of the action?

Week 10
Class 18
11/28
Recitations
• Discussion
Questions
• QHQs
Revisions of Essay #1 due via Kaizena before Friday, Week 10
at noon
Read: Of Cannibals by Montaigne (both under links and
“Course Readings” on the website.
Post #18
1. Gonzalo, as Act 5 shows, has never approved of what was
done to Prospero. In his speech in 2.1 (on the ideal
commonwealth, echoing Montaigne’s essay Of Cannibals),
he expresses distaste for the more cynical and divisive
features of government and society—exploitation of labor,
expropriation of land and extremes of luxury, poverty,
drunkenness, gluttony. Discuss Gonzalo’s speech in the
context of Montaigne’s essay.
2. The play can be read as Shakespeare’s commentary on
European exploration of new lands. Prospero lands on an
island with a native inhabitant, Caliban, a being he considers
savage and uncivilized. He teaches this “native” his language
and customs, but this nurturing does not affect the creature’s
nature, at least from Prospero’s point of view. But Prospero
does not drive Caliban away, rather he enslaves him, forcing
him to do work he considers beneath himself and his noble
daughter. As modern readers, sensitive to the legacy of
colonialism, we need to ask if Shakespeare sees this as the
right order; what are his views of imperialism and
colonialism? What are our twentieth century reactions to the
depiction of the relationship between the master and slave,
shown in this play? How does Montaigne’s essay complicate
our view of colonialism?
3. The theme of Utopianism is linked to the explorations of new
lands. Europeans were intrigued with the possibilities
presented for new beginnings in these “new” lands. Was it
possible to create an ideal state when given a chance to begin
anew? Could humans hope to recreate a “golden age,” in
places not yet subject to the ills of European social order?
Could there be different forms of government? Consider both
Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Montaigne’s Of Cannibals
in your response.
Class 19
11/30
Recitations
Introduction to Essay #2
Terms List #3
Choose your essay topic: Othello or The Tempest
Post #19 (last post): Your prompt and a one paragraph answer:
focus on your thesis. Work on your essay!
Learn: Terms List 3
Revision of essay #1 due Friday, week 10 at noon.
Week 11
Class 20 Recitations
Discussion
• Hip-Hop and
Shakespeare?
• Self-assessment on
homework
Work on final paper
Complete self-assessment on homework: due before next
meeting
Prepare for recitation

Class 21 Recitations
Homework due: self-
assessment
Discussion:
Exam #3 Preparation
Final paper discussion
Work on final paper
Study for Exam 3
Finals Week
Final
Final Exam
Exam #3
(Comprehensive)
Essay #2 Due
CONGRATULATIONS!

Elit 17 syllabus fall 2016 n

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