Professor Laurel Amtower
Adams Humanities 4182
Office Phone: 594-1517
Office Hours: TTH 1000-1100

Texts:

Medieval and Tudor Drama (Ed. John Gassner)
The Complete Plays (Christopher Marlowe)
Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare)
Knight of the Burning Pestle (Francis Beaumont)
Epicoene (Ben Jonson)
The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster)
‘Tis Pity She's a Whore (John Ford)

Coursepack from Cal Copies
Douay-Rheims Bible on Reserve

Course Requirements:

Response Papers (six)
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Participation/Discussion

Requirements and Policies:

Bi-Weekly Papers:

Six short response papers (1 page, single-spaced) will be due every other week, covering the day's assigned reading materials. Due-dates are assigned by last name; refer to the schedule to see when your papers will be due. Some papers are open-topic, with suggestions noted in the reading schedule; others, such as the ones on the Mystery Cycles, are on pre-assigned topics. Refer to the schedule for specifics.

Exams:

The exams will include multiple choice items, short answer, and longer essay questions, and will include all the material covered in the reading assignments and class lectures, as well as any background material to be found in the introductions of the books. Questions will range from the historical to the literary; you will be expected to know titles, authors, and (approximate) dates of composition, as well as main characters, themes, major issues and concerns. You may also be asked to identify major passages and to comment upon them. Bring 8 ½ X 11 bluebooks to class.

Participation and Class Discussion:

Please read all materials to be covered that day in class in advance, and be ready to discuss core problems or issues relevant to the materials assigned. In addition: I will count any of the following disruptive behaviors as an ABSENCE: wandering in and out of the classroom; leaving early; sleeping or working on materials other than those assigned for class. These behaviors affect my teaching performance and distract your classmates. If you don't plan on attending and participating, don't come at all.

Late Work:

Late work will be penalized a grade per day, with the sole exception of a documented doctor's excuse that I find acceptable (i.e. emergencies only; colds don't count). Computer and/or printer problems will not serve as an excuse. Please save your files frequently and make back up copies.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is using another person's words or ideas and passing them off as your own. It does not matter if that person's work is published or not. Every idea and phrase that is not your own–including those you find on the internet or in your roommate's paper for another class–MUST be cited as belonging to its original author. A useful document on working with sources and avoiding plagiarism may be found on my website under "Study Aids."

Plagiarism is treated as a serious offense at SDSU. The punishment for plagiarism in this class is immediate failure of the assignment and/or class and disciplinary action by the Office of Judicial Affairs. I check every student paper I receive for plagiarism and for accurate use of sources. Please be exceedingly meticulous in your documentation.

READING SCHEDULE

Week 1 (Jan 21): Holiday

Week 2 (Jan 28):
Intro to the course; Problems in Medieval Drama

Week 3 (Feb 4):
Roman Influences and What the Middle Ages Did with the Romans. Reading: Plautus, The Menaechmi (196 BC, in The Comedy of Errors); Hrotswitha, Paphnutius, Dulcitius, and Callimachus (10th c., in Gassner and coursepack); Pamphilus (12th c., coursepack). Response papers due for last names A-L (Suggested topics: Note how the Roman comedies particularly figure stereotypical figures: the trickster, the old husband, the lover, the beloved, the pimp. How would you characterize these figures? What is their function in terms of comic writing? On Hrotswitha: Note how Hrotswitha translates secular love into sacred love. What tensions does she explore? How successful is her depiction of women? On a related note, why are sacred women always beautiful in her plays? Do you think this causes problems for them?)

WEEK 4 (Feb 11)
Mystery Cycles: Old Testament plays in Gassner; Douay-Rheims Genesis (or refer to any bible). Response papers due for last names M-Z. (Assignment: compare Douay-Rheims Genesis to the Old Testament offerings in the Mystery Cycle. What alterations do you observe? Be particularly observant of TYPOLOGY: that is, how OT events are described as prefiguring NT events. How are key moments dramatized? Why are these choices made?).

WEEK 5 (Feb 18):
Mystery Cycles: New Testament plays in Gassner; Douay-Rheims Gospels as appropriate (or refer to any bible). Second Shepherd's Play (film). Response papers due for last names A-L. (Assignment: compare Gospel texts to the New Testament offerings. What alterations do you observe? How are key moments dramatized? Why are these choices made?)

WEEK 6 (Feb 25)
Moralities, Medieval Farces and Folk Drama. Mankind; Dame Sirith and Clericus et Puella; Oxfordshire St. George Play, Revesby Sword Play (all in coursepack); Commedia dell'Arte (film). Response papers due for last names M-Z. (Suggested topic: Mankind is a "morality play," which is to say an allegory of human life, its temptations and foibles. Many have argued that the morality plays show that medieval culture had little appreciation for individuality. What do you make of the representation of "mankind" in the play? Do you think the play universalizes human experience to too great an extent? Or do you feel that the play exhibits an appreciation for what makes us individuals and what makes us human?)

WEEK 7 (Mar 4)
Courtly Interludes and School Plays. Nicholas Udall's Ralph Roister Doister; look over (but don't read) Norton and Sackville's Gorboduc (Gassner). Response papers due for last names A-L. (Suggested Topic: The school comedies continue the Roman tradition; RRD is particularly influenced by Plautus. In what ways are the Roman conventions reshaped for Tudor concerns? How do these new techniques differ from earlier English drama?)

WEEK 8 (Mar 11)
midterm exam

WEEK 9 (Mar 18)
Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors. Response papers due for M-Z. (Suggested Topic: Comedy of Errors is largely based on Plautus's Menaechmi. Thinking about last week's reading on the school comedies, how does Shakespeare further develop and adapt Roman conventions for the late 15th century? What kinds of differences do you see in comparison with the school plays?)

WEEK 10 (Mar 25)
Marlowe: Dr. Faustus. Response papers due for last names A-L. (Suggested topic: Note that Marlowe deals with the same general theme as the medieval Mystery Cycles and Morality plays: the fall and redemption of mankind. Yet of course his treatment is remarkably different. What key problems regarding these continuing theological debates seem to emerge in this late sixteenth-century play? What would you say is Marlowe's own stance toward these issues?)

Spring Break

WEEK 11 (Apr 8)
Marlowe: Edward II. Response papers due for last names M-Z (topic open).

WEEK 12 (Apr 15)
Renaissance Comedies and Masques: Jonson: Epicoene; The Speeches at Prince Henries Barriers (coursepack). Response papers due for last names A-L (topic open).

WEEK 13 (Apr 22)
Francis Beaumont: Knight of the Burning Pestle. Response papers due for last names M-Z (topic open).

WEEK 14 (Apr 29)
Renaissance Tragedy: Webster, The Duchess of Malfi. Response papers due for last names A-L (topic open).

WEEK 15 May 6)
Tragedy Again: John Ford, ‘Tis Pity She's a Whore. Response papers due for last names M-Z (topic open).