ENG 201 Introduction to Shakespeare: 1587-1600

Lecture Hours: 4
Credits: 4

Surveys selected early (1587-1600) Shakespearean works, emphasizing dramatic structure, characterization, imagery and theme. Uses critical essays to explore these plays and poems to provide background on the nature of the different genres of Shakespeare’s works including at least one example from each of these genres: comedies, tragedies, histories, and sonnets, and covering a minimum of six plays.

Prerequisite: Placement into WR 121Z; or WR 115 or higher, with a grade of C or better; or consent of instructor.
Student Learning Outcomes:

Read a play at a literal level: accurately describe the plot, character, and setting.
Read a play at a figurative level: recognize and interpret metaphor and symbol in the light of the total play.
Identify and explain the themes within the individual plays and trace similar themes throughout the other plays.
Define the concept of tragedy and comedy and explain the elements that make these plays particularly Shakespearean.
Write critical analyses of literary works, including at least one analytical essay that uses MLA style documentation and paper format.
Articulate and defend plausible interpretations of both the plays and the theories of several major critics orally.
Identify the major issues in staging a production of the plays.

Statewide General Education Outcomes:

Interpret and engage in the Arts and Letters, making use of the creative process to enrich the quality of life.
Critically analyze values and ethics within a range of human experience and expression to engage more fully in local and global issues.

Content Outline

Shakespeare’s Life and Times
- Elizabethan worldview
- Shakespeare’s audience
- Political climate
- Social climate
Elements of Dramatic Literature
- Stage design
- Blocking
- Directing/Interpretation
Methods of Literary Analysis
Study of Critical Essays
Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy
- Aristotelian definition
- Greek roots
Elements of Shakespearean Comedy
- Stock characters
- Greek and Roman roots
Elements of Shakespearean History
- Comparison to actual historical account
- Explanation for discrepancies
  - Artistic license
  - Political and economic pressure
The Sonnets and other Poetry
- Formal features of the English sonnet
- Key themes
  - Love
  - Aging
  - Immortality
Plays Such As:
- Romeo and Juliet
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Richard III
- Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Love’s Labour’s Lost
- Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Merchant of Venice
- As You Like It
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Henry V
- Julius Caesar