reading
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| The ten week quarter is divided into five two week periods, each focussed on one play. [English 339 Syllabus] To promote timely and careful completion of reading, the second class of each period begins with a multiple-choice quiz requiring identification of ten speakers of crucial lines, two questions per act. Students are encouraged to view one of two performances--usually the BBC full text video--to help prepare for this quiz. Discussion of quiz questions and answers frames an overview of plot, character, theme and language, informed by a paradigm of critical concepts. At the end of each two week period, students write a one page paper on a topic of their own choice. Students select their favorite paper for inclusion in Shakespeare Boiled Down. Reading notes, lecture notes, and notes on criticism are accessible by play titles listed under Comedies, Histories and Tragedies | Students read four plays and a selection of sonnets. They also read assigned critical essays on the plays and on the two film productions of each play they view. [English 431 Syllabus] Quizzes are not used unless deemed necessary. Students present ten minute oral reports on textual passages, on the critical readings, on a scene in a film production and on film criticism as basis for class discussion. The 154 sonnets are divided into groups of 8. Each student selects one of that group and reports on it. Individual students are assigned readings appropriate to their level of ability. Student comments on reading: | Students read three plays. In addition to assigned critical essays, each student prepares for the writing of a research paper on a historical topic by duplicating and presenting an archive of sample research materials they have discovered. See [English 510 Syllabus] and letter to registrants. Student comments on reading: | |
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