FRS 001GG — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 73941— T 1:10-2:00 PM — 25 Wellman
Shakespeare, Performance, Criticism: Romeo and Juliet

Instructor: Elizabeth Deitchman, Department of English, College of Letters and Science

Description: Although Shakespeare wrote his last play in the early seventeenth century, his work continues to be studied and performed around the world four hundred years later. While some have attributed this lasting presence to Shakespeare’s universality—claiming, in Ben Jonson’s words that “he was not of an age, but for all time”—others have credited the successive generations themselves with assuring Shakespeare’s longevity—asserting, in Terence Hawkes’s words: “Shakespeare doesn’t mean: we mean by Shakespeare.” In this course students will be introduced to two of the central methods for making meaning out of the plays—performance and literary criticism—through an in-depth study of Romeo and Juliet. Through our close reading of the text, students will gain a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of a play they first encountered in high school. With our attention to a range of critical readings and performances of the play, students will discover how a single literary text can generate a wide variety of interpretations, helping students to advance to a higher level of cognitive development. The focus on close reading and careful analysis will also enable students to develop their critical reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Format: The class will meet once a week for an hour. In the first half of the course, students will practice careful close reading techniques as we discuss the play act by act. During the second five weeks, students will be introduced to a range of literary criticism and film performances of the play in order to understand how it has been shaped by and for several generations. All reading should be completed by the date listed on the syllabus. In preparation for discussion in weeks eight and nine, students will be expected to watch various film versions of the play before coming to class; we will analyze short clips from the films during the class period. In addition to the reading and viewing assignments, students will be expected to prepare one oral presentation, the format of which will be determined by the size of the class. Students will also write two essays: one short close reading (2-3 pages) of a passage from the play and one longer essay (4-5 pages) addressing a central critical and / or performance issue treated by scholars and / or performers. Finally, students should be prepared to participate actively in weekly discussions Grading: Participation: 25%; Short paper (2-3 pages): 25%; Longer paper (4-5 pages): 25%; Oral Presentation: 25%.

About the Instructor: Elizabeth Deitchman is a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in the Department of English. She received her Ph.D. in English from U.C. Davis, specializing in Shakespeare and Performance Theory. Her research interests concern the intersections of culture, identity, and performance. She is currently working on a book about Shakespeare and American Culture, examining the relationship between Shakespeare films of the past fifteen years and America’s Culture Wars.