Individualized study online with Video component (Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component). Delivered via Brightspace.
Credits:
3
Areas of study:
Arts or Humanities
Prerequisites:
ENGL 211 and ENGL 212 or equivalent first year English courses, or successful completion of ENGL 325 , or professor approval.
Course start date:
If you are a:
Self-funded student: register by the 10th of the month, start on the 1st of the next.
ENGL 324 is an introduction to the age of Shakespeare and his plays. It will begin with an introduction to the following topics: a brief biography of Shakespeare; a crash course in the origins of Western theatre and the evolution of Shakespearean drama; an introduction to Shakespeare’s political and cultural milieu; a survey of certain mysteries and critical questions about Shakespeare; and an overview of Shakespeare’s English. You will then be introduced to seven of Shakespeare’s earlier plays. In the units for each of these plays, you will participate in close readings and thematic investigations. In addition to thinking about these plays as literature, we will pay close attention to original staging techniques and we will perform analyses of the plays in production throughout history and into the present (as live theatre, TV, and cinema). The seven plays that you will study are Titus Andronicus, Richard II, Henry IV, Part One, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ENGL 324, you must submit all assignments and write the final examination, and you must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the final examination and a composite course grade of at least D (50 percent).
The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1
10%
Assignment 2
30%
Assignment 3
30%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Greenblatt, Stephen, ed. The Norton Shakespeare: Early Plays and Poems. 3rd ed. Vol 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. (Print)
Titus. Dir. Julie Taymor. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1999. DVD. (on library reserve for student sign-out) (Audio/Video)
NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage. Dir. Sam Mendes. BOND360, 2014. DVD. (on library reserve for student sign-out) (Audio/Video)
Other materials
The course materials also include an online Course Information, Study Guide, and AU Student Manual.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.