Prof. Robert Matz
Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:00, W 4:30-5:30
and by appointment
Office: Robinson A422
Email: rmatz@gmu.edu
Office Ph. #: 703-993-1169
home page: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rmatz 

Required texts:
Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al.
Bedford Companion to Shakespeare, ed. Russ McDonald, 2nd ed. (abbreviated BCS)

This course provides an introduction to Shakespeare's comedies and histories from a variety of interrelated perspectives. We'll study the brilliant and complex language of the plays--language that requires and repays careful close reading. We'll also study the plays and the Renaissance stage as sensitive responses to, as well as interventions in, the culture and politics of early modern England. And we'll consider how the plays are inflected--and enlivened--by performance. To that end we'll see a professional staging of The Two Gentlemen of Verona as well as view a number of film productions of the plays.

Course requirements: quizzes, reading responses, a group presentation on a film production of a play, attendance at the Folger Theater's Two Gentlemen of Verona, three 5-page papers and a final.

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Schedule of readings and events:
Note: this schedule is subject to change (I will give warning, however).

Comic Interlude:
Two Gentlemen of Verona, acts 1-3 and discussion of Folger Shakespeare Library Performance

Other important dates

Sept. 14:	Last day to drop a course with no tuition liability (for full semester courses)
Sept. 14:	Last day to add a course
Oct. 1:	Last day to drop a course (for full semester courses)

Course policies:

Readings:
The readings for each class are due on the date listed above. Approach each assignment actively by always reading with a pen or pencil in hand. Note words, phrases or sentences that interest you, that seem significant in the context of the work, or that you have questions about. Jot down in the margins any questions or ideas you have about a particular point or the work as a whole. This practice will help you come prepared to discuss the plays in class and get the most out of class discussion; it will also help you become a more skillful reader of literary texts in general.

Participation and Attendance:
I may occasionally lecture for a portion of a class, but we will also open up class time to discussion, to observations about the ideas presented in a text, about its style, its uses of language, its puzzling qualities--whatever grabs our attention. I am interested in your ideas. Contribution to class discussion will not be formally calculated into grades, but I will take participation into account for grades that are borderline. If you aren't in class, you can't participate in discussion, nor will active class participation wholly excuse excessive absences.

Quizzes:
Quizzes will pose questions about the day's assigned reading that are objectively and readily answerable if you have read attentively. They will be given irregularly. If you are absent you may not make up a quiz.

Reading Responses:
The reading responses are meant to help you read carefully, to prepare for class discussion and to aid you in finding starting points for your essays. A reading response should either ask a question about or observe some aspect of the reading that is not answerable by a fact. For example, a question about plot would not be appropriate while an observation about the use of a certain image or the reasons behind a puzzling sequence of events in the plot would be. You may also wish to speculate about how your question or observation would matter for other moments in the text, or why it seems an important matter to consider. A reading response of one typed page will be required for each week of the course. In other words, you can pick whether to write your response for the Monday or Wednesday class (if there is only one class day for a week or only one class day with assigned reading you must do that day). The responses will be collected at the end of class. I will frequently begin class by asking some of you to read out your responses. I will read all your responses and grade them on a credit/no credit basis. They will get credit if they are turned in at the end of class and meet the criteria above. Grading will be based on the number of no credits: 1=A; 2 =B; 3=C; 4=D; 5 or more=F.

Group Presentations:
The plays we are reading were first written to be heard and seen, and they changed each time they were performed. In order to get some experience of the plays as dramatic performances, I will ask each of you to work in a small group to present on the performance of a scene or part of a scene available for viewing on videotape or DVD. Your job will be to pick the production and selection for viewing, show it in class and then discuss it with the class according to a number of staging criteria (such as costuming, blocking, delivery of lines) that I will provide for you. I will also ask the group to explain why it picked its selection and to synthesize its evaluation of the selection in a typed, two-page essay written by the group and due on the day of the presentation. All the group members are expected to work together on this presentation and will receive a single grade for it.

Paper Deadlines:
Each paper will be due twice: the first time in class at the paper workshop scheduled one week after each paper is assigned, and the second time one week following that. During the workshop you'll have a chance to trade papers with fellow students and raise questions or give each other suggestions for revision. You'll have the second week to revise your paper, based on this input and on your own rethinking and rewriting. The second week after the paper is assigned both the revised and original version of the paper will be handed in to me. I hope that this system will build revision, so necessary to good writing, into the structure of the course.

Late papers: You need to have your first paper done on time so that you can work on it in the paper workshop. I also expect that the final versions will be handed in on time. Late final versions will be graded down a half grade for each day late. On late first versions, see below under "paper standards."

Paper Standards (final and first versions):
Each paper should be about five pages long, typed with standard margins, spacing and type size. It should be carefully proofread and neatly presented. The paper topics will relate to issues we have discussed in class, and you are encouraged to bring to bear class discussion in your writing. You are also encouraged to expand on these discussions and credit will be given for new ideas.

I'll grade the paper on basis of the revised version only, but I will expect the original version to be your best initial attempt at the topic. Original versions not done, not typed or obviously incomplete will result in a half letter grade reduction in the evaluation of the final paper. It would not be fair for other students to have to read work that is not your best; additionally, it is in your interest to write as good an original version as possible, so that your second version is even better. Remember that because everyone has two tries at the paper, I will accordingly have higher expectations for the final version.

Paper Helps:
During the scheduled workshops, you'll have a chance to give and get advice on your papers. Additionally, I encourage you to come see me at my office hours or to make an appointment to see me. When we meet, try to have a draft of the paper you are working on. This will give us something more concrete to talk about. There is also available a Writing Center at Robinson A116 that can provide you with further individual attention to your writing. I encourage you to take advantage of this excellent facility.

I would also suggest that you give yourself plenty of time to work. Writing a paper at one sitting is, for most people, unpleasant, and the results are not likely to be satisfactory. Start early!

Plagiarism:
Since this class emphasizes the development of your own close reading and interpretive skills, you are not encouraged to consult secondary sources. If you do choose to look at such work, however, you must cite, using a standard citation format, all the articles, books or other sources that your own writing draws on, either directly or indirectly. Such sources include (but are not limited to) introductions to editions of the texts we're reading, any kind study aid and resources found on the internet.

Also note that uncited sources will constitute plagiarism even if they ended up in your work without your conscious knowledge (e.g. you forgot you read the material; you confused your own notes with notes on a source), since part of the scholarly responsibility that comes with using secondary sources is keeping track of which words or ideas were yours and which came from a source. If you do not wish to take on this responsibility then you should not consult secondary sources.

I will take all suspected cases of plagiarism to the Honor Committee.

Final:
The final will require you to recall and synthesize ideas from the entire semester, as well as to demonstrate your skills as a close reader. It will likely also address any plays (e.g. Henry V) that you've had no chance to write about. It will be held in class on Dec. 15 from 1:30-4:15 p.m.

Grading:
The final grade will be derived as follows:

Quizzes	8 %
Reading Responses	11 %
Group Presentation	7 %
First paper	14 %
Second paper	20 %
Third paper	20 %
Final	20 %

Please come see me if you have any questions about grading, the syllabus or the class. I look forward to having the chance to meet you. Best wishes for a good semester!-

A Specific, complex and/or striking thesis, thesis developed without digression through the course of the paper, consistently precise, sensitive and/or striking interpretations of the text, crafted prose, no major mechanical problems

B Specific thesis, thesis generally developed through the course of the paper, consistently good interpretation of text, competent prose, minor mechanical problems

C Has a thesis, but one that needs greater specificity or complexity, thesis developed with some digression or repetition, some good interpretation, some mechanical problems

D Very general thesis, thesis development digressive or repetitive, plot summary or thoughts/speculations not based on textual evidence, major mechanical problems

F No thesis or thesis development