MENMD1STC: Introduction to Shakespeare: Texts and Contexts
Credits: 20 credits
Course Director: Dr Astrid Stilma
This module seeks to introduce students to the study of Shakespeare's drama and non-dramatic poetry. Initially, it equips students for the close textual analysis of an Elizabethan comedy and a Jacobean tragedy; and it seeks to ingrain the close reading skills which this work will have developed. Then, building on these, it aims to facilitate an intensive and appropriately historicised critical consideration of Shakespeare's sonnets, as well as of a history play and a late romance. The module will also use a secondary work, as a critical set text.
Assessment:
The module is assessed by two equally weighted 1000-word essays. Taken together, these count for 40% of the total assessment for the module. The remaining 60% of the assessment takes the form of a two-hour closed-book examination.
Illustrative Texts:
The texts listed below indicate the range of literature that is typically covered on this module. Please note, however, that this list is illustrative only. The reading list for each given year will be made available on Blackboard for students registered on the module.
Texts typically on the module include Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Richard III, A Winter's Tale, The Sonnets.
Recommended companion reading includes Stanley Wells and Lena Cowen Orlin, (2003) Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.