Shakespeare English 90 Spring 2018 Professor Arthur L Little Jr TR 2 00 3 15 p m Broad 2100A Professor s Office Info Humanities Building HB 226 206 7072 little humnet ucla edu Professor s Office Hrs 3 30 5 30 PM Tuesdays Gabriel Mehlman Teaching Assistant HB A94 office hours 12 00 2 00 PM gabriel s mehlman gmail com Sections Mehlman Mehlman 1A 10 00F HB A40 1C 11 00F HB A32 April T03 R05 T10 R12 T17 R19 M23 T24 R26 May T01 R03 T08 Schedule of Meetings Introduction Course Logistics Introduction A Historical and Cultural Context for Shakespeare Short Paper 2 3 pages PAPERS DUE in your TA s Mailbox and on TurnItIn by 5 00PM I The Rites and Rights of Bodies Theater as National Space Titus Andronicus A Midsummer Night s Dream The Merchant of Venice Romeo and Juliet MIDTERM EXAMINATION II Closets of the Mind Closets of the Body Theater as Private Space R10 T15 R17 Hamlet 1 T22 R24 Macbeth III Magic Deportations and Exorcisms Theater as Alternative Space T29 R31 Othello June M04 T05 R07 W13 Longer Paper 4 6 pages PAPERS DUE in your TA s Mailbox and on TurnItIn by 5 00PM The Tempest FINAL EXAMINATION 8 00AM 11 00AM Course Objectives Shakespeare s command of the theater and our imagination perhaps our global imagination is the centerpiece of our course Students enrolled in this course will be introduced to the full expanse of William Shakespeare s theater career meaning we will study plays from the beginning middle and end of his career as well as study some of the most conspicuous genres to be found in his repertoire these include the genres of romantic comedy history tragedy and romance We will carry out our exploration of Shakespeare in part by learning to execute close readings of the plays we are studying and discussing This means that our course will be very attentive to language imagery and some of the formal properties of theater especially during Shakespeare s day However so our course is especially invested in helping students understand Shakespeare as a sign of cultural knowledge Since at least the nineteenth century if not before to have culture in Anglo American societies and colonies has gone hand and hand with having Shakespeare Our course will explore some of the dimensions of the relationship between Shakespeare and culture as we do our close studies of individual plays Throughout our course will focus on a diversity of issues ranging from formal literary ones to broader cultural ones Our course will for example concern itself with issues of genre historiography nationalism race sexuality religion and psychology While our course is an introduction to Shakespeare we will not be interested in oversimplifications of Shakespeare Our objective is to introduce students to the complexities densities beauty elusiveness and sometimes the startling simplicity of this playwright and phenomenon known as Shakespeare Requirements You are strongly encouraged to attend lectures because lectures will focus on ideas and themes that you will not be able to get on your own from simply reading the plays simply copying your friends notes or looking up plays online or in other sources Besides examinations will depend heavily on material discussed in lectures and discussion sections Please make every effort to have plays read in their entirety before our first lecture on that particular play You will often find a second reading post lecture or post discussion section to be extremely helpful You are required to attend and participate in your assigned discussion section and you are required to have plays read in their entirety before the meeting of your sections 2 Please Take Special Note Electronic Note Taking and Recording Devices If any student is found using any electronic devices for other than taking notes there will be consequences Lectures can only be recorded with the expressed permission of the professor or for sections the teaching assistant Cellphones and texting are strictly prohibited students found chatting on the phone or texting will be asked to leave the lecture or discussion and can expect their overall course grade to be negatively impacted for each infraction To reiterate surfing the web is strictly prohibited students caught doing so will not be allowed to use any such enabled device during lecture or section for the duration of the term Grade Distribution The grade breakdown and completed requirements for the course are as follows discussion section 15 short paper 10 midterm examination 20 longer paper 25 and final examination 30 All assignments must be completed and in a timely fashion in order to receive a passing grade for this course Late work is not an option and all extensions must be cleared with the professor Texts The main text for our course is the second edition of the Wadsworth Shakespeare ASCULA Bookstore Please clear any other edition with your teaching assistant it s only in your best interest that you should do so BBC films of Shakespeare s plays are available in the Media Library Please note that viewing a film cannot replace your actually reading a play Please Enjoy the Course Pretending is acceptable 3