Reading Plays
Overview
All first-year English literature courses share the following features:
- Students are instructed in the writing of analytical essays on literary subjects.
- Students are taught to recognize and understand a variety of literary devices and textual elements, such as metaphor, symbolism, distinctions between author and narrator/narrating persona, and issues of language and of structure, as appropriate to the genres and texts studied.
- Readings and topics vary among sections of the same course, according to each instructor’s selection; however, all course materials are consistent with the objectives of the course.
In English 1115, course content will be governed by the following general principles:
- This course will introduce students to a variety of plays and playwrights. Assigned plays will include a sampling of modern and/or contemporary drama, and may also include works from pre-modern periods (such as classical Greek, medieval or Elizabethan plays).
- Students may be required to attend a live theatrical performance, on or off campus, and to write an analytical review of the production.
- Students may view film adaptations or productions of plays read in class.
Some or all of the following methods will be used:
- Lecture/discussion
- Reading aloud from assigned texts
- Group work
- Peer review
- Students’ attendance at a play
- Instructor feedback on students’ written work
- Individual consultation
The course evaluation is consistent with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
- A minimum of two formal academic essays, with a combined value of at least 40% of the course grade.
- A minimum of 80% of the course grade will be based on writing assignments such as essays, essay-based exams, journals or paragraphs. A maximum of 20% of the course grade may be based on informal writing such as quizzes or short answer tests, and/or non writing-intensive assignments such as oral reports, presentations, participation or preparation.
Upon completion of any first-year English literature course, the successful student should be able to
- read analytically and reflectively with attention to the subtleties of language;
- recognize and understand literary devices;
- practice writing as a process involving pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing;
- write an essay of literary analysis that develops an argumentative thesis supported by appropriate, correctly integrated and cited evidence; and
- give and receive constructive criticism on written work.
Upon completion of English 1115, the successful student should also be able to identify and discuss the following elements of drama:
- components of structure, for example plot and sub-plot, exposition and conflict;
- character;
- dialogue, monologue and soliloquy;
- stagecraft;
- performance; and
- the influence of an audience on a performance.
A list of required textbooks and materials will be provided for students at the beginning of the semester.
Sample Reading List:
- Shakespeare, Othello
- Ibsen, An Enemy of the People
- MacDonald, Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet
- Wertenbaker, Our Country's Good
- Sears, Harlem Duet
- Kanagawa, Indian Arm