L220 syllabus Summer 1 2017

Dr. M. L. Stapleton

English L220:  Introduction to Shakespeare

Summer (1) 2017   MTR 10-12.20 LA 116

Office:  LA 109   Hours: by appointment

email: stapletm@ipfw.edu    phone: 260.481.6841 (message)

Text:  Greenblatt, et al., eds., Shakespeare: The Essential Plays / The Sonnets (ISBN-13: 978-0393938630) Any edition with footnotes and scholarly apparatus is acceptable, but this is the one I’ll be using.  Be advised that page and line numbers vary from edition to edition.  Always bring your book to class. Please turn off your cell phones and texting devices. If I have to, so do you!

May

15 (M) Introductions: comedy, the theater, history; Twelfth Night

16 (T)  Twelfth Night

18 (R)  Twelfth Night; exercise due

22 (M) Twelfth Night

23 (T) As You Like It

25 (R) As You Like It; exercise due

29 (M) No class

30 (T) As You Like It; exercise due

June

1 (R) The Merchant of Venice

2 (F) exam on Twelfth Night and As You Like It, due by 9 a.m.

5 (M)  Merchant  

6 (T)  Merchant  exercise due

8 (R) Merchant   

12 (M) tragedy; Antony and Cleopatra exercise due

13 (T) Antony and Cleopatra

15 (R) Antony 

19 (M) Antony

20 (T) Antony exercise due

22 (R) No class

23 (F) exam on last two plays, due by 9 a.m.

Guidelines

1.  We’ll write six exercises, due on the above dates, assigned the previous class period. These are credit only, comprise 1/3 of your grade, and are a page in length. (I’ll assign prompts based on your place in the alphabet.) Do all six: 100% for that part of your grade (like an A); five: 90% (still like an A); two: 20% (like a D).Caveats: a) if the exercise is performed with great inadequacy or a discernable lack of effort, no credit; b) exercises are due at the beginning of class on the given dates; after that, they’re late, and no credit; c) you need to email me your assignment in a Word document only. 

2. Because I think highly of you and want to share your ideas with the world, I will be uploading these exercises to our class blog, shakespeareinyourface.blogspot.com .  Please be assured that your exercises will be posted anonymously. And, of course, if you really object to being included, we’ll leave you out.

3.  You are allowed three (3) absences for any reason you choose:  Students who miss more than this will fail the course, without exception, regardless of circumstances.  I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences; nor am I responsible for material that you miss because you are absent.  Students who miss the attendance call (the first five minutes), who depart unannounced, and who blow us off at the break will be marked absent. Please do not get up in the middle of class for bathroom breaks: take care of your business before class begins. If you must leave early, please be polite and let me know beforehand.  If you have an emergency, use good manners.

4.  You’ll have two exams, due on 2 and 23 June, both on Friday. These are essay in form and will be emailed to me by 9 a.m. on those dates in Microsoft Word form. Late exam, failure to take exam = F. No exceptions.

4. It should also go without saying that students are also expected to do their own work; indebtedness to secondary sources (either printed or electronic) must be clearly indicated so as to avoid plagiarism:

--(piecemeal) using someone else’s words and phrases as if they were your own, not paraphrasing or summarizing properly, even with proper documentation;

--(grotesque) using someone else’s ideas as if they were your own, without proper documentation;

--(more grotesque) allowing someone else to write your paper for you

5. Grades are not personal or negotiable.  The breakdown is fairly simple: exercises (1/3); midterm (1/3); final (1/3).  Attendance is a grading factor only if it causes you to fail the class (see #2).