ENGL 325: Dramatic Literature

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Instructor: Dr. Jo Koster
Bancroft 241
323-4557; fax 323-4837; home 817-7854
e-mail: kosterj@winthrop.edu; http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj
Office hours

[Texts] [Goals] [Course Policies] [Grade Breakdown] [Attendance Policy] [Paper Requirements]
[Plagiarism] [Reading Schedule] [Reserve Readings]

Texts: (available from the Bookworm)
Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays, ed. A.C. Cawley (Cawley)
Early English Drama: An Anthology, ed. John C. Coldeway (EED)
A Handbook to Literature, 7th or 8th eds., ed. Harmon & Holman (required for English majors)

Goals:

1. To familiarize you with English drama before the mid-sixteenth century

2. To understand how history, gender, culture, and religion shaped the earliest forms of English drama

3. To understand the roles drama played in English society before the time of Marlowe

4. To introduce you to basic literary terminology for the discussion of drama

5. To sharpen your analytical, critical and writing skills

6. To engage as a classroom community in the performance of drama

Course Policies:

1. You will be required to do the reading and participate actively in class, to take several examinations, to write two short responses (3-4 pp) and one major critical paper (6-8 pages), and to participate actively in the production and performance of several scenes and perhaps a full drama.

2. All papers must be documented following the MLA parenthetical documentation style. This is explained in the Prentice Hall Reference Guide ch. 45 and in many other handbooks. You are responsible for following it. Any material taken from a source (your textbook, something from the library, something from the Internet, etc.) must be documented. There is a new edition of the MLA Handbook (5th edition) that covers Internet documentation; you can access these special forms at http://www.mla.org or through the English Department home page (http://www.winthrop.edu/english) or the Writing Center home page (http://www.winthrop.edu/wcenter).

3. Format your papers using the guidelines on pages 280-81 of the Prentice Hall Reference Guide; no need for a cover page. "Typed" (that is, computer-produced rather than handwritten) papers are expected. Use 12-point fonts and normal margins.

4. Evidence that you care about your writing, such as appointment slips from the Writing Center, influences me favorably. Yes, this is a hint.

5. Excuses offered in advance are likely to earn more leniency than those offered after the fact.

6. Failure to plan or manage time wisely on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

Grade Breakdown:

All written work is due by the last class meeting. No incompletes unless there's a Dean's excuse; no extensions, no prisoners, no exceptions.

Class Participation/Preparation: 15%
Two midterms: 20%
Final exam: 15%
Two short problem papers (3-4 pp each): 10%
Critical paper (6-8 pages): 20%
Participation in production/performance: 20%
Grade Distribution: A = 93+; B = 84+; C = 75+; D = 68+

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is expected. According to University Policy, if you miss 25% of the classes in a course (in a TR class, 7 classes), you cannot receive credit. Your final grade will be lowered if you miss 4 or more classes, excused or unexcused; my usual policy is to deduct 3 points from your final grade for each absence beginning with the fourth. If some crisis arises that will require you to miss class, please contact me immediately so that we can discuss alternate arrangements. A missed conference counts as two absences; perfect attendance adds two points to your overall final grade..

Paper Requirements:

All papers must be documented following the MLA parenthetical documentation style. This is explained in The Prentice Hall Guide and many other style manuals. You are responsible for finding one and following it. If your paper is not properly documented it will be returned to you ungraded. See Dr. Koster=s Guide for Writing Critical Papers on the syllaweb for more help.
All papers must be typed or word-processed. Use a conservative 12 point font with standard 1" margins and proofread carefully. Make all corrections neatly in dark ink. Remember that correction fluid exists for a good reason; use it! There is no need to for submitting papers in fancy folders; a staple in the upper left hand corner usually suffices. All papers must have your name, page numbers in the upper right hand corners, and a title. (See The Prentice Hall Guide p. 280.) Those missing such information will be returned ungraded.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the use of someone else=s thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in AWorks Cited@)Bwhether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not. Any papers containing plagiarisms will receive a grade of F and in severe cases may warrant your being turned over to the student judicial system for more significant punishment. Therefore, if you ever have a question about how to handle a sourceBin this or any other classBask me before you turn in the paper. I will be happy to help you understand how to document it correctly. The Prentice Hall Guide, the Writing Center web page, and the English Department web page all have lots of information to help you avoid plagiarism. Ignorance or failure to consult this material is no excuse.

Readings:

These are listed on the calendar and should be completed before the assigned class. Additional readings from a reserve list of recommended readings and from handouts will be assigned as the class= interest and direction develops.

Reserve Reading:

I will put a number of secondary sources on 24-hour reserve at Dacus. This will include some scanned-in articles from the Web that I will ask the class to read; the rest are to help you with your papers. If you need a book that Dacus doesn't have, ask me; if I own it, I will put it on reserve for you. Otherwise, prepare to use Interlibrary Loan--and leave extra time for that!

This page maintained by Jo Koster, who is solely responsible for its content. It does not necessarily express the views of the Department of English or Winthrop University.
Last updated 03/03/08.
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