Course requirements: 

In addition to completing all reading assignments and participating in discussions both in class and on Blackboard, students will write two essays and one take-home mid-term exam essay over the course of the semester and an expansion of one of these three writing assignments to be submitted at the end of the course. The first three assignments (mid-term exam and essays) should be approximately 5 typed, double-spaced pages and the fourth, final essay should be approximately 8 typed, double-spaced pages. 

Research component; Since we will not be reading all of the critical essays in each edition of the plays that are assigned, students should read and incorporate aspects of at least two of these additional readings into each of their first three essays.  The final, fourth essay will reflect in some way the ideas of at least four of these additional essays. In this final project, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned over the course of the semester by applying specific critical approaches to a particular Shakespearean text, performance and/or film.  Remember that, while you are free to do outside research for any of your assignments, these essays can be successfully completed using only your textbooks.  In the final class meeting, students will be expected to briefly report on at least one of the outside essays that they have read to prepare their final paper.  This report will take place in a roundtable discussion format.

Grade Distribution:

Class participation                    15%

Mid-term exam + response       20%

2 essays                                   40% (15% and 25% each)

Roundtable discussion              10%

Final essay revision                   15%

Grade Scale:

Contrary to popular belief, instructors do not begin grading essays with the assumption that they will earn an “A” and then work their way down from there as problems emerge.  The default grade is a “C” – we work our way up or down from that point as described below.

A         outstanding work that demonstrates facility with the material under discussion, clear comprehension of sources used, smooth integration of material taken from both outside sources and class texts into the student’s prose, and truly original thought about the text(s) under discussion.

B         excellent response to the assignment that exhibits some originality of thought in conjunction with clear comprehension of sources used and the smooth integration of all material quoted or paraphrased into the essay.

C         adequate response to the assignment that meets all expectations in terms of using outside sources in conjunction with discussion of text(s) read as a class; ideas presented will largely be those learned from class discussion, or limited research.

D         inadequate response to the assignment that fails to meet several expected criteria; issues may include inadequate research, weak integration of quoted or paraphrased material into the text, improper citation of sources (including assigned readings), logical or organizational issues that adversely impact the success of the argument, or grammatical problems that impede the reader’s ability to understand the argument.

F          unsatisfactory response to the assignment that fails to meet many expected criteria; issues may include reliance on summary of assigned texts rather than informed discussion or analysis of them, limited and/or inappropriate use of outside resources, failure to adequately cite sources or document their use in a bibliography, poor logical development of the argument, or grammatical problems that impede the ability to understand the argument.