ENG32770 Shakespearean Comedies

Academic Year 2022/2023

The genre of comedy as we know it today still shows the influence of the Early Modern comedy play – and even today Early Modern comedy remains relevant and is being constantly reimagined in performance. This module will give students the opportunity to explore the comedies of sixteenth- and seventeenth-Century theatre; introduce them to the Early Modern theatrical environment; and encourage them to consider these plays in performance both then and now. Students will both read and watch the plays; we will consider how they are still influencing modern ideas of comedy and how these influences can be seen in modern cinema; and students will be given the opportunity to consider these plays as texts to be performed, and (if they want) to perform the texts for themselves.

Show/hide contentOpenClose All

Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understanding the key features of Early Modern comedy; the context of classical comedy, the typical staging and production in the Early Modern theatre; the sub genres of comedy in the era

2. Be able to identify and analyse how plays use and adapt the tropes of Early Modern comedy, and make comparative evaluations of how different plays either use or subvert these tropes

3. Being able to analyse and evaluate productions and adaptation of Early Modern Plays; being able to analyse how these productions stage the source material for a modern audience; be able to produce ones own suggestions for adaptation and staging of the source material and defend how their own adaptation presents and interprets the original play for a new audience

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

76
Total

200
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Not yet recorded 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: 1500 word proposed staging of one of the plays on the syllabus, either in written form or via poster Week 6 n/a Graded No

30
Essay: 3000 word essay OR 1500 word creative writing project with a 1500 word reflective report; ALL creative writing proposals need to be reviewed by the module coordinator in order to establish their suita Week 12 n/a Graded No

70

Carry forward of passed components
Not yet recorded
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Mid-semester assessment Feedback will be offered within the University Regulations timeline, through Brightspace and by appointment where requested.