Course Syllabus

HUSL 6313: Unread Shakespeare

Spring 2011
FO 2.208, Monday 12:30-3:15
Professor Jessica C. Murphy

Professor Contact Information

Jessica C. Murphy
Phone: 972-883-4445
Email: jessica.c.murphy@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 5.408
Office Hours: Monday 4-5 and by appointment

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions: Graduate Standing, Arts &
Humanities, or by permission of instructor

Course Description

How well do you know your Shakespeare? If you are like most, you have probably read all of the
big hits—Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and the like. But what about Titus Andronicus and
The Two Gentlemen of Verona? This class will attend to the Shakespeare plays most of us have
not read. On the first day, we will select 10 plays that we will cover over the course of the
semester based on the experience of the students present. The instructor will choose secondary
reading according to the play selections.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should demonstrate:

• a detailed knowledge of the texts we read;
• an understanding of the relationship between those texts and the social history of
Shakespeare's time; and
• a familiarity with some of the major scholarly arguments about the texts.

Required Textbooks and Materials

• Norton Shakespeare ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1 (or other
scholarly editions of the texts)
• Writing your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day (by Joan Bolker) ISBN
9780805048919
• UTD email account that you check frequently (see below for information on email)

Suggested Course Materials

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition), ISBN: 9781603290241 (or another
style guide)

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Academic Calendar

Date Reading Assignment Writing Assignment

• Introduction
• Play selection
1/10 • Zinsser selections on electronic
reserve (check your UTD email for
the password and link)
1/17 • NO CLASS MLK Jr. Day
• Presentation 1
o Rebecca Sader: Greenblatt
Introduction
• 1 page exploration of possible
1/24 o Cole Jeffrey: Doty
research topics for final paper (5)
"Popularity"
• Richard II
• Bolker Chapter 1 (pp. 3-18)
• Presentation 2
o Sara Keeth: Ellinghausen,
"Shame"
1/31
o Erin Naler: Smith "King-
commoner"
• Henry IV Part 1
• Presentation 3
o Sally Hogue: Helgerson,
"Buck Basket" • Result of a 10-minute freewrite
o Jackie Smith: Freedman, according to Bolker's directions
2/7 "Chronology" (see pp. 40-44) (3)
o Joan Bernstein: Garber, • Statement of your daily writing
"Merry Wives" goal for the semester (2)
• Merry Wives of Windsor
• Bolker Chapter 3 (pp. 32-48)
• Library
• Craft of Research (on ereserve) Part
2/14
II: "Asking Questions, Finding
Answers" (pp. 29-101)
• Presentation 4
o Andrew McConnell: Bertram,
"Falstaff's Body" • Annotated Bibliography (4
2/21
o Casey Hines: Evans, items) (10)
"Rumor"
• Henry IV Part 2

Course Syllabus Page 2

Date Reading Assignment Writing Assignment
• Presentation 5
o Sara Kazzi: Mead, "Chang'd"
o Stephanie Kirkbride: Baker, • Project Proposal (1000 words + 1
2/28
"Credit Risks" page bibliography) (15)
• Troilus and Cressida
• Bolker Chapter 4 (pp. 49-62)
• Presentation 6
o Erin Kelley: Hanson, "Law of
Nature"
3/7 • Zero Draft (10)
o Betsy Giron: Pierce, "Moral
Agent"
• Measure for Measure
3/14 • NO CLASS Spring Break
• Presentation 7
o Lora Burnett: Williams,
"Papa"
3/21 o Chris Foltz: Womack, "Sea of • First Draft (10)
Stories"
• Pericles
• Bolker Chapter 8 (pp. 116-126)
• Presentation 8
o Janet Fairfield: Langis,
"Inordinate"
3/28
o Stacy Chen: Ormsby, "Anti-
theatricalism"
• Coriolanus
• Presentation 9
o Teala Miller: Meek, • Revision Plan (1 page
"History" description of the method you
4/4
o Ruben Rosales: Lander, plan to use to revise your paper)
"Interpreting" (5)
• Cymbeline
• Presentation 10
o Brandon Blair: Orgel,
"Desire"
4/11 • Final Paper Due (15)
o Greg Ritchey: Iyengar,
"Moorish"
• The Two Noble Kinsmen
4/18 • Mini-conference 1
4/25 • Mini-conference 2
5/2 • Private Conference Appointments
5/9 REVISED FINAL PAPER DUE (25)

Course Syllabus Page 3

Assignments & Grading Policy

Below are the required assignments for this course. I will provide more detailed information as
the due dates approach. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about
assignments.

Completion of all of the assignments in this course is a condition for earning a passing grade.
The instructor reserves the right to amend any policies or assignments at her discretion.

Participation 20%
Participation includes attending class, participating in discussions and in-class activities,
completing assignments (on time—no late work will be accepted), and in-class writing
assignments.

Presentation 10%
You will give at least one presentation during the semester. These presentations will draw from
assigned criticism. Multiple due dates; responsibility varies according to enrollment.

Mini-Conference Presentation 10%

The mini-conference is an opportunity for you to discuss your ideas for the final project in a 5-7
minute presentation. The class will be set up like a mini-conference with panels. More
information will be available closer to the end of the semester.

Final Project 60%

Throughout the semester, you will be working on a 15-20 page research paper on a topic of your
choosing relevant to Shakespeare's plays, historical period, or cultural milieu. The class is
structured to support your research and writing process from the second meeting. Your grade will
depend upon successful completion of the process of writing as well as the final product (please
see schedule for the assignment of points out of 100 per assignment).

Grades
This class will use “plus/minus” grades.

Course & Instructor Policies

In this class, students will examine Shakespeare's "unread" plays through reading assignments,
writing assignments, and class discussion with attention to the ways that these plays respond to
and shape early modern culture. To that end, the policies below are meant to create the best
possible learning environment for the students. Please contact the instructor if you have any
questions about these policies. I will consider your continued enrollment in this class as evidence
that you accept these policies.

Attendance
Because this class is a seminar, participation in discussions is essential to your learning. You may
miss one class without penalty, but you will lose credit for each class above one that you miss.

Course Syllabus Page 4

Community
It is expected that we will respect one another and one another’s ideas. When we are in class, we
are present: no cell phones, pagers, email, or other forms of electronic communication. If your
phone rings, I or a classmate will answer it (if my phone rings, you may answer it).

Disability Services
If you are a student with a disability and would like to see me to discuss special academic
accommodations, please contact me after class or during my office hours. For more information
about The Office of Student AccessAbility, visit their website:
http://www.utdallas.edu/studentaccess/or call 972-883-2098. (see link below for more detailed
information)

Avoid Plagiarizing by Accident!

Using another’s ideas or language without acknowledging the source or passing off another’s
ideas or language as your own is plagiarism and will not be tolerated. Students often plagiarize
without intending to because they are unsure about how to cite sources. Plagiarism by accident is
still plagiarism (and will be punished as such), so please feel free to come see me if you are
unsure about how to cite sources. (see link below for policy on Academic Integrity)

The policies that comprise the rest of the syllabus may be accessed online:
http://provost.utdallas.edu/home/syllabus‐policies‐and‐procedures‐text

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
1. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
2. The Taming of the Shrew
3. The First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (2 Henry VI)
4. The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York and the Good King Henry the Sixth (3 Henry VI)
5. Titus Andronicus
6. The First Part of Henry the Sixth
7. The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
8. The Comedy of Errors
9. Love’s Labour’s Lost
10. Love’s Labour’s Won: A Brief Account
11. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
12. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
13. The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
14. The Life and Death of King John
15. The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice, Or Otherwise Called the Jew of Venice
16. The History of Henry the Fourth (1 Henry IV)
17. The Merry Wives of Windsor
18. The Second Part of Henry the Fourth
19. Much Ado About Nothing
20. The Life of Henry the Fifth
21. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
22. As You Like It
23. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
24. Twelfth Night, Or What You Will
25. Troilus and Cressida
26. The Sonnets and “A Lover’s Complaint”
27. Measure For Measure
28. The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice
29. All’s Well That Ends Well
30. The Life of Timon of Athens
31. King Lear
32. The Tragedy of Macbeth
33. The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
34. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
35. The Tragedy of Coriolanus
36. The Winter’s Tale
37. Cymbeline, King of Britain
38. The Tempest
39. All Is True (Henry VIII)
40. The Two Noble Kinsmen

Course Syllabus Page 6