Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 340"
COURSE NAME: "Modern European Drama"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Summer Session II 2022

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Daniel Connelly
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MTWTH 3:40 PM 5:30 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above.
OFFICE HOURS: TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This study of European drama begins with major realists and naturalists such as Chekhov and Ibsen alongside the experimental innovations of Strindberg and Brecht. The modern theater of, among others, Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, Osborne, Churchill, Kane and Butterworth are analyzed with special emphasis on plot, theme, character, structure and technique. This is a reading and writing intensive course. Students in 300-level literature classes are required to produce 5-6,000 words of critical writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
From the height of realism and naturalism, to modernist innovations, this course will explore late 19th and 20th-century European theatre. We will focus on specific texts chosen to facilitate our understanding of how theatrical movements are generated through social, cultural, political and aesthetic context.
Through a number of selected viewings, we will also examine how our selected plays transfer to screen. In doing so, we will assess the ways in which theatre as a genre either loses or gains integrity as an art form through such cross-genre representation.

The reading list is below. I will place secondary texts on hold in the library.

Please be sure ONLY to purchase the version of the text indicated:

1. August Strindberg, Miss Julie (1888) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Julie-Stronger-Frank-McGuinness/dp/0571205437/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1320324236&sr=8-62.

2. Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler (1890) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hedda-Gabler-Methuen-Student-Editions/dp/0413770702/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320324814&sr=1-1
3. Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya (1900) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncle-Vanya-Methuen-Student-Editions/dp/0413774716/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320324942&sr=1-3
4. Bertolt Brecht, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Resistible-Rise-Arturo-Student-Editions/dp/0713685115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320924631&sr=8-1
5. Samuel Beckett, Endgame (1957) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Endgame-Samuel-Beckett/dp/0571243738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320325490&sr=1-1
6. Harold Pinter, The Homecoming (1964) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Homecoming-Harold-Pinter/dp/0571160808/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320325603&sr=1-1
7. Sarah Kane, Blasted; 4:48 Psychosis (1995; 2000) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sarah-Kane-Contemporary-Dramatists-mPhaedras/dp/0413742601/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320325671&sr=1-1

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

On completion of this course, students will have learned to:

distinguish between the immediacy of dramatic discourse and other fictive narrative modes;

apply a variety of theories and contexts to our selected theatrical movements;

analyze and articulate influential principles and emergent critical theories in written and spoken discourse;

critique and review both readings and viewings of drama;

refine their writing skills, which will include proofreading, editing and rewriting abilities.

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
3 papers of 1,500 words each = 15% / paper		45
Final Research Paper, 3,000 words		25
In-Class Presentation = 20		20
Attendance and Input		10

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
More than three absences will result in either a failing grade or a recommendation to withdraw from the course.

Please note that unauthorised use of mobile technology during class will result in a lowering of your final grade.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

JCU: Summer 2022: Modern European Drama: Professor Connelly

Schedule

Week 1: Introduction and August Strindberg: What’s so Modern about Modern? Why here, why now? Why these plays?
Theatre’s 19th Century Context: Victorian Burlesques, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Brecht’s Life of Galileo (exercise)
Realism and Naturalism: Emil Zola, Naturalism on the Stage (1881); August Strindberg, Preface to Miss Julie (1888)
Lecture: Strindberg’s Miss Julie (1888): Naturalism, Class and Power
Presentation #1: The Meiningen Ensemble (1874-1890)
Selections: Miss Julie (1999), dir. Mike Figgis.

Week 2: Henrik Ibsen – The Riposte
PAPER 1: 1,500 words DUE IN CLASS
Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler (1890), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881) – Selections / Handout
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) – Selections / Handout
JL Styan, Modern Drama in Theory and Practice (1981) – Selections / Handout
Theatrical Determinism. Is she strong, is she weak? Suffocating fathers.
Lecture: Destruction/Creation: Hedda Gabler vs Ejlert Lövborg
Presentation #2: The Dionysian and the Apollonian: Ibsen and Nietzsche
DVD Selections + Class Discussion: Hedda Gabler (1980), Yorkshire Television

Week 3: Anton Chekhov & Konstantin Stanislavski
PAPER 2: 1,500 words DUE IN CLASS
Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya (1898), Three Sisters (1900), The Cherry Orchard (1904)
The theater of nastroenie, ("mood" & "atmosphere"); the "indirect action" play.
Konstantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares (1936) – Handout
David Magarshank, Chekhov the Dramatist (1960) – Handout
Presentation #3, The Moscow Arts Theatre, Stanislavski and Chekhov
Lecture: Indolence, Hopelessness, Self-Indulgence in fin-de-siecle Russia
DVD Selections + Class Discussion: Uncle Vanya (1962), dir. Stuart Burge

Week 4: Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter
PAPER 3: 1,500 words DUE IN CLASS
What are Epic Theatre and The Theatre of the Absurd?
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941), Mother Courage and Her Children (1941), The Life of Galileo (1943)
Samuel Beckett, Endgame (1957), Waiting for Godot (1952)
Harold Pinter, The Homecoming (1965), The Dumb Waiter (1957)
Language as a Weapon of Mass Destruction
Lecture: Theatrical Allegory and Fascism: Brecht’s Characterisations
Lecture: Beckett and Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence
Presentation #4, Verfremdungseffekt in Brechtian Theatre
Presentation #5, The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs
Presentation # 6: The Pinteresque, the beat, the pause, the silence
DVD Selections + Class Discussion: Endgame (2001), dir. Conor McPherson (84 min.); The Homecoming (1973), dir. Peter Hall

Week 5: In-Yer-Face Theatre
RESEARCH PAPER: 3,000 WORDS – DUE IN CLASS
War in the Balkans, 1990 – 2000
Sarah Kane, Blasted (1995), 4:48 Psychosis (1999), Mark Ravenhill, Shopping and Fucking (1996)
Presentation #7: ‘In-yer-face theatre’
The Atrocity Exhibition + Edward Bond, Saved (1965)

From you:

Papers 1, 2, 3 = 15% per paper. 1,500 words each on a choice of topics set by me.
Final Paper = 25%. 3,000 word research paper on a topic of your choice, in consultation with me.
Presentation = 20%. Do not cut and paste Wikipedia into a PowerPoint. Do not read your presentation to us word for word. I will not reward you for boring us. Instead, delight us and instruct us. Delve. Do not rely only on the internet. Go to the library. Pictures are good. A lack of love is not good.
Attendance and Input = 10%. This is crucial to your success in the course. You should come to the first class of each week having read the relevant play in its entirety. I will also assign secondary readings as necessary. Likewise, you should also have completed these.
I will expect each of you to bring to class three discussion questions per text. These will shape our learning. I would also like you to e-mail me your questions before the 1st class of any new text.
I expect you to come to every class and I will take a register to check on your attendance. If you start to miss classes, I will suggest that you drop the course and / or will hand you a failing grade for the course.
This course will present you with an intensely analytical learning experience with which you will become fully involved in class. If you are faint of heart or workshy, you will be better off elsewhere.
[email protected]