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Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Department of English Language & Literature
1st term, 2017-18
Course Title: Modern Drama
Course Code: ENG 284
Year of Study: 2
Number of Credits: 3
Duration in Weeks: 15
Contact Hours per Week: Lecture (2 hours)
Tutorial (1 hour)
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Prepared by: Maria Chan
Course Aims
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with modern drama and its characteristics. The course will examine a few representative plays from the modern period and survey the major aesthetic and cultural movements of the twentieth century.
Course Outcomes, Teaching Activities and Assessment
Course Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)Upon completion of this course students should be able to:
ILO1 / have a good understanding of the plays
ILO2 / describe the features of modern drama
ILO3 / demonstrate an understanding of the major aesthetic and cultural movements of the twentieth century
ILO4 / develop a critical reading of the plays
ILO5 / write critically on selected modern plays
Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)
TLA1 / Textual analysis of the plays
TLA2 / Explanation of the social, political and intellectual background of the plays
TLA3 / In-class discussion and writing assignments
TLA4 / Midterm test
TLA5 / Term paper
Assessment Tasks (ATs)
AT1 / In-class writing assignments / 20%
AT2 / Term paper / 20%
AT3 / Midterm test / 20%
AT4 / Final Examination / 40%
TOTAL / 100%
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Alignment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning Activities and Assessment TasksCourse Intended Learning Outcomes / Teaching and Learning Activities / Assessment Tasks
ILO1 / TLA1,3,4,5 / AT1,2,3
ILO2 / TLA1,3,4,5 / AT1,2,3
ILO3 / TLA2,3 / AT1,2,4
ILO4 / TLA1,2,3 / AT1
ILO5 / TLA1,3,4,5 / AT1,2,3,4
Course Outline
1. Introduction: Features of modern drama (1 week)
2. A Doll’s House (3 weeks)
Readings: A Doll’s House, Acts 1-3
3. The Glass Menagerie (3 weeks)
Readings: The Glass Menagerie, Scenes 1-7
4. Midterm test (1 week)
5. The Caucasian Chalk Circle (4 weeks)
Readings: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Scenes 1-5
6. The Birthday Party (3 weeks)
Readings: The Birthday Party, Acts 1-3
Academic Honesty
You are expected to do your own work. Dishonesty in fulfilling any assignment undermines the learning process and the integrity of your university degree. Engaging in dishonest or unethical behaviour is forbidden and will result in disciplinary action, specifically a failing grade on the assignment with no opportunity for resubmission. A second infraction will result in an F for the course and a report to University officials. Examples of prohibited behaviour are:
- Cheating – an act of deception by which a student misleadingly demonstrates that s/he has mastered information on an academic exercise. Examples include:
- Copying or allowing another to copy a test, quiz, paper, or project
- Submitting a paper or major portions of a paper that has been previously submitted for another class without permission of the current instructor
- Turning in written assignments that are not your own work (including homework)
- Plagiarism – the act of representing the work of another as one’s own without giving credit.
- Failing to give credit for ideas and material taken from others
- Representing another’s artistic or scholarly work as one’s own
- Fabrication – the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings with the intent to deceive
To comply with the University’s policy, the term paper has to be submitted to VeriGuide.
Resources
Primary Texts:
1. Ibsen: A Doll’s House (ISBN 9780521483421)
2. Williams: The Glass Menagerie (ISBN 9780141190266)
3. Brecht: The Caucasian Chalk Circle (ISBN 9780141189161)
4. Pinter: The Birthday Party (ISBN 9780571160785)
Supplementary Readings:
1. Begley, Varun. (2005). Harold Pinter and the Twilight of Modernism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
2. Bentley, Eric. (1999). Bentley on Brecht. New York: Applause.
3. Bloom, Harold, ed. (1988). Tennessee Williams. New York: Chelsea House Publications.
4. Bray, Robert, ed. (2009). Tennessee Williams and His Contemporaries. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.
5. Brustein, Robert. (1991). The Theatre of Revolt: An Approach to Modern Drama. Boston: Little Brown.
6. Esslin, Martin. (2007). The Theatre of the Absurd. London: Bloomsbury.
7. Gilman, Richard. (2000). The Making of Modern Drama. New Haven: Yale University Press.
8. Grawe, Paul H. (1983). Comedy in Space, Time and the Imagination. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
9. Gray, Ronald D. (1977). Ibsen—a Dissenting View: A Study of the Last Twelve Plays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10. Innes, Christopher. (1992). Modern British Drama 1890-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11. Johnson, Brian. (1989). Text and Supertext in Ibsen’s Drama. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
12. Kiberd, Declan. (1985). Men and Feminism in Modern Literature. New York: St. Martin’s.
13. Kolin, Philip C., ed. (2008). The Influence of Tennessee Williams: Essays on Fifteen American Playwrights. Jefferson: McFarland.
14. Malkin, Jeanette R. (1992). Verbal Violence in Contemporary Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15. Pfister, Manfred. (1991). The Theory and Analysis of Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16. Rondane, Matthew C., ed. (1998). The Cambridge companion to Tennessee Williams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17. Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. (1994). The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18. Valency, Maurice. (1975). The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama. New York: Macmillan.
19. Watson, G. J. (1985). Drama: An Introduction. London: Macmillan.
20. Williams, Raymond. (1993). Drama from Ibsen to Brecht. London: Hogarth.