In this course, reading is our most important and most difficult task. The plays are not easy, and require careful and sometimes multiple readings. Be aware that reading drama from almost four hundred years ago calls on lots of resources – we need to battle the language, we need to immerse ourselves in the culture. I expect it to be difficult, and I expect you to read with care.

You are responsible for finding copies of the assigned videos. These can often be found at libraries; you can also look for them on Amazon or Netflix or another streaming service. Purchase costs, if you need to buy them, should not be high.  I strongly encourage you to include watching the plays in your plans for working in the course.

Required Videos:

Week 3:  Much Ado About Nothing (2012 version, dir. Joss Whedon)

Week 10:  Henry V (1989 version, dir. Kenneth Branagh)

You are required to schedule and hold two meetings with the teacher during the semester. You need to contact the instructor and choose times when both you and the instructor are available to meet online, and attend the scheduled online meetings via Big Blue Button during the meeting times you have chosen. Information about scheduling will be provided within the course materials.

Students will:

• analyze Shakespeare’s works through discussion and writing;
• demonstrate an understanding of such literary terms, themes, strategies, and issues as are relevant to the works being studied;
• express their understanding of the relationship between literature and the historical/cultural contexts in which it was written;
• effectively utilize contemporary criticism, original reception, text, and history as ways of providing a context for understanding the plays; and
• demonstrate a fuller and deeper understanding of all the facets of Shakespearean drama and the sonnets and their relation to the students’ lives.