Michael Olmert Fall 2009: TTh 9:30 (410) 924-4889 (Mobile)

(410) 745-3937 (Home: Wittman, MD.)

(301) 405-3746 (UMd Office)

Engl. 244: The Play’s the Thing!

OVERVIEW & APPROACH

In this course, we will read eight stage plays (and one radio play), taking into consideration such wildly disparate and untamable ideas as plot, narrative flow, analytical flow, staging, performance, manuscript and printing history, text and textual change over time, and interpretation. That last is important because plays, in their ambiguity and suggestiveness, prepare us for the imponderable messiness of life. I think.

The plays will be approached as public attempts to understand what it means to be alive. Lectures will involve close reading of the play texts to uncover what the plays are about in the deepest sense. That is, a major goal will be to determine each play’s “invention,” a technical rhetorical term we have inherited from the classical world. For instance, plays about sport are never “about” the game in question; instead, as our reading and thinking will reveal to us, such plays are more profoundly about identity and loyalty and love.

By the end of the course, I promise you will be at ease in interpreting plays (and movies too, I’ll wager) and saying sensible and persuasive things about them—based solidly on text and performance. In the three papers and three exams you write for me and in your discussion sections, you will hone your analytical, writing, and rhetorical skills.

You can be sure these are all plays I love, and love talking and thinking about. Moreover, these are the sorts of plays that can make you a different person from the one who inhabits your body right now. With the help of these nine playwrights and their characters, you can be a different you by December. It’s the whole point of a university education. Just do it.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The university wishes all its courses to provide students with specific skills on completion. The outcomes associated with this course are as follows:

1) Demonstrate familiarity and facility with fundamental terminology and concepts in drama.

2) Demonstrate an understanding of methods used by scholars in drama.

3) Describe how language use is related to ways thinking, cultural heritage, and cultural values.

6) Demonstrate the ability to formulate a thesis related to drama and to support the thesis with evidence and argumentation.

SET TEXTS:

Roy Williams, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (2002). Methuen, 2003.

ISBN-13: 9780413772510. Out of print; order from abebooks.com.

Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Country’s Good (1988). Methuen Modern Plays, 1991.

ISBN 9780413659002 Out of print; order from abebooks. com.

William Shakespeare, Othello (1601). CambridgeSchool Shakespeare, 2005.

ISBN 9780 5216 1876 2.

Harold Pinter, Betrayal (1978). Grove-Atlantic, 1994. ISBN9780802130808.

Joe Penhall, Blue-Orange (2000). A&C Black, 2002. ISBN 9780413752703.

Brian Friel, Translations (1978). Faber & Faber, 1995. ISBN9780571117420.

Alan Bennett, The History Boys (2004). Faber & Faber, 2006. ISBN 9780571224647.

Michael Olmert, Shakespeare & Dr. Lopez (2005). Text will be posted on ELMS.

Himanshu Ohja, Willow Song. A radio play,2008. Podcast available at:

On reserve at McKeldin:

Olmert, Milton’s Teeth & Ovid’s Umbrella. Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Olmert,The Smithsonian Book of Books. Smithsonian Press, 1992. Rpt. 2003.

PLAY TO SEE

You will be required to go see a professional play somewhere at a D.C. theatre. (Exact play to be announced soon.) And you will be required to write a 3-page reaction paper to the performance (staple your ticket stub to the paper). The paper is due Oct. 29.

PAPERS & EXAMS

Two 5-page papers on two topics to be announced later.

One 3-page paper on the play you attend in D.C.

Two in-class exams and a final exam.

Each exam will have about 15 tiresomely minute identifications based on class lectures and your close reading of the texts under consideration for that section of the course. And one killer essay, for which you must be prepared to marshall your favorite quotations from your reading. The exams are “closed book.”

Class Schedule

9/1 & 9/3:Introduction to Engl. 244.

What do we mean by Drama?

Short history of the stage, ancient, medieval, modern, its sacred roots, etc.

Literary History; Cultural History.

Personal archaeology via drama & literature.

Invention & Rhetoric.

“Negative capability.”

9/8 & 9/10: Sing Yer Heart Out For the Lads.

9/15 & 9/17: Our Country’s Good.

9/22: Our Country’s Good.

9/24:Willow Song.

9/29: FIRST EXAM (covering all the above).

10/1:Othello.

10/6: Othello.

10/8: Othello.

10/13: Othello.

10/15: Othello.

10/20: Betrayal.

10/22: Betrayal.

10/27: Betrayal & Blue Orange.

10/29: Blue Orange. PLAY-RESPONSE PAPER DUE; 3 PAGES.

11/3: Blue Orange. FIRST PAPER DUE: 5 PAGES.

11/5: SECOND EXAM (covering second segment of the course.)

11/10: Translations.

11/12: Translations.

11/17: The History Boys.

11/19: The History Boys.

11/24: No class (make-up time for your having to attend D.C. play).

11/26: No class: Thanksgiving.

12/1:The History Boys.

12/3:Shakespeare & Dr. Lopez

12/8: Shakespeare & Dr. Lopez.

12/10: Shakespeare & Dr. Lopez. SECOND PAPER DUE: 5 PAGES.

12/15; 8 AM: FINAL EXAM (covering third segment of the course).

EXTRA CREDIT

Throughout the semester, the English Department will be putting on five table-reads of classic plays, which you may attend for extra credit in 244. These are purely optional.

To get the credit, you must write a one-page reaction to the play, which should include your favorite line(s) and some details of your favorite character or moment from the play. This must be sent to me via e-mail, within ONE WEEK of the performance.

The readings will be held in the big room in Tawes Hall. Most of the readings will take place on Wednesdays, from 3:45 to 5:45 pm.

Other extra credit opportunities will include watching videos or other play performances in Washington or Baltimore, and doing the same sort of written response.

COURSE GRADING:

100 points -- Exam 1

100 points -- Exam 2

150 points -- Exam 3 (final)

100 points -- Discussion section participation

25 points -- Play-response paper

100 points -– Paper 1: Reportage paper

125 points – Paper 2: Set text analysis

700 points total.

Grade totals:

630 - 700 = A

560 – 629 = B

490 – 559 = C

420 - 489 = D

Under 420 = F

DISABILITIES

If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations with me, please contact me immediately.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

The University System of Maryland policy on religious observances provides that students should not be penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs. Students shall be given an opportunity, wherever feasible, to make up within a reasonable time any academic assignment that is missed due to individual participation in religious observances. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor in advance of any intended absences for religious observances. Notice should be provided in writing as soon as possible, but no later than the end of schedule adjustment period.

EXCUSED ABSENCES

It is also the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor in advance of any intended absences for university sanctioned events (e.g. competitions, conferences, athletic events). Notice should be provided in writing as soon as possible, but no later than the end of schedule adjustment period. Absences for medical reasons must be accompanied by clear, written documentation, on letterhead, from a physician (or other practitioner) specifying that the student was incapable of attending the missed classes.

HONOR CODE

The Student Honor Council has requested that faculty members place the following passage in their course syllabi:

“The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit

I assume that every member of the class is fully aware of the Code and the consequences for failure to live up to the Code. I urge you to visit the website indicated above and take seriously what you read there. All cases of academic dishonesty will be referred to the Honor Council.

Date of this syllabus: 24 I 2011

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