Shakespeare En 255

Shakespeare - En 255

Dr. Richard Regan

Fall 2006

Office hours: Mon 11:30-12:15, Wed 1-1:45 (in classroom), 3-4,* Th 11:30-12:15
* except on Ed Tech committee days

Texts: Signet Classic editions of the plays listed below.

Grading: modified contract system. Three tests and an optional paper, each of equal weight in the final grade.

Attendance: for every three cuts, a point will be deducted from your semester average. Excused absences by written note from a Dean's office, Student Services/Health Center, or your faculty advisor. Excessive absences may result in a failing grade.

Required: 1) two tests based closely on the texts of the plays; 2) weekly summaries/responses to critical articles or WWW sites. These are graded as quizzes and can raise or lower the final grade.

Modified contract: an 8-10 page paper to be eligible for a grade of A or A-. Papers may be rewritten after a conference. Topics must be in writing and approved in conference.

You should submit your papers electronically, written in Microsoft Word. Word has a feature called Track Changes which we can use to write comments on papers (in color). Click here to download a document that contains some suggestions for writing in Word and for emailing papers as attachments.

Final Exam: essays and passages for analysis.

Students with documented learning disabilities, please see me. Alternative methods of testing and evaluation are available.

Campus Cable Listings of the BBC productions shown at

Theater related websites

Shakespeare's Globe Online

"The Elizabethan Theatre": a lecture with slides

Designing Shakespeare

Royal Shakespeare Company

Shakespeare in Performance Institute Acting Exercises

Interactive Shakespeare Project

Shakespeare at Hampton Court

Internet MetaSites for Shakespeare

Terry Gray's Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

Encyclopaedia Britannica

SH:in:E

Early Modern Literary Studies

Was Shakespeare Shakespeare? The Authorship Controversy

The Shakespeare Discussion List Archive

Shaksper Website

Teachers First

Shakespeare and Other Writers

Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historica (1555)

Surfing with the Bard

Podcasts (allow several minutes for download)

Shakespeare for Today (55 minutes)

Professor Ronald Rebholtz, Stanford University, Reunion Homecoming 2004
http://itunes.stanford.edu/

Roundtable Discussion of Romeo and Juliet (50 minutes)

27 February 2006 Shenandoah Shakespeare
http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/education/onShakespeare.html
http://americanshakespearecenter.blogspot.com/2006/02/blackfriars-backstage-pass-romeo-and.html

Macmorris, by John Morrison (46 minutes)

BBC Radio 4: "A comic fantasy about some of the minor characters in Shakespeare’s canon of plays who demand that their Creator write them better roles or they will destroy his universe.
This story takes place in a parallel world, a theatrical ether, which is populated by the characters in Shakespeare’s canon. Presiding over them all, godlike is their Creator, William Shakespeare.
Capt. Macmorris, a very minor character from Henry V with only one scene, is the only Irish character in the whole cannon and he is portrayed as a stereo typical Irish buffoon with a violent arrogant temper. This characterisation infuriates Macmorris. His dilemma is that he thinks he is real, a human being able to act for himself and that his nature can be changed. After 405 years trapped in this part, Macmorris he has decided that Shakespeare must give him deeper characterisation, better motivation and the chance to get the girl in the end. He enlists the help of the three other Captains in Henry V, Capt. Jamie, Capt. Fluellen and Capt. Gower and they go and confront their maker. Shakespeare throws them out and the ‘four musketeers’ resort to violent action. However they haven’t reckoned with the might of the immortal bard, William Shakespeare and his ally Iago who has spies everywhere." (3 October 2004)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/drama/productions/radio/missed.shtml

Schedule

Week of:

September 4 - Introduction, Theory of Comedy, The Taming of the Shrew

Read the Works of Shakespeare at MIT

Shakespeare Searched

The Internet Shakespeare Editions

RhymeZone Shakespeare Search Engine

Life in Elizabethan England

An Early Modern Chronology

Here are the instructions for viewing the Class pages and video clips. You'll need a password from Dr. Regan: rjregan@mail.fairfield.edu

Streaming video is a part of the course because I've written classes to be interactive with excerpts from performances. You will need a broadband internet connection. Cable or DSL will work. Satellite is probably OK too. Dialup is too slow for video.

As you scroll down the course page, for each of the plays you will see a link called "Click." That will take you to the Class, and requires the password. The video streams for a Quicktime viewer, the best video format. Macs come with Quicktime, but Windows machines may need to download the application. The password page sends a signal to your computer to download iTunes/Quicktime if you don't have it, but that may not be enough. You can go to the Apple Quicktime website to download the Windows version of Quicktime.

Install it, then restart the video link. You will need to adjust the Preferences of Quicktime to make the video and audio work smoothly. Open Quicktime, and use the top menu to find QuickTime Preferences (in one of the drop-down menus).

If you have Quicktime 6 for Windows, choose Streaming Transport, then choose Use HTTP, Port ID 80.
If you have Quicktime 7 for Windows, set the Preferences by going to the Advanced tab, then choose Transport Setup, then Custom, then set Transport Protocol for HTTP and Port 80.

If you have Quicktime 6 for Mac, go to Quicktime Preferences, choose the Connection Tab, then the Transport Setup button.
If you have Quicktime 7 for Mac, go to Quicktime Preferences, click on the Advanced tab, select Custom under Transport Setup, double-click on the word Custom, and choose HTTP and Port 80.

September 11 - The Taming of the Shrew