| 9/12/2025 9:15:03 PM |
| Changed Course |
| CATALOG INFORMATION
|
| Discipline and Nbr:
ENGL 27 | Title:
INTRO TO SHAKESPEARE |
|
| Full Title:
Introduction to Shakespeare |
| Last Reviewed:9/8/2025 |
| Units | Course Hours per Week | | Nbr of Weeks | Course Hours Total |
| Maximum | 3.00 | Lecture Scheduled | 3.00 | 17.5 max. | Lecture Scheduled | 52.50 |
| Minimum | 3.00 | Lab Scheduled | 0 | 6 min. | Lab Scheduled | 0 |
| | Contact DHR | 0 | | Contact DHR | 0 |
| | Contact Total | 3.00 | | Contact Total | 52.50 |
| |
| | Non-contact DHR | 0 | | Non-contact DHR Total | 0 |
| | Total Out of Class Hours: 105.00 | Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50 | |
Title 5 Category:
AA Degree Applicable
Grading:
Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:
00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As:
Formerly:
Catalog Description:
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Students will study the works of William Shakespeare through a selection of his major plays and poetry, exploring how meaning is shaped by historical context, textual history, and performance. Students are invited to think critically about how Shakespeare's work has been interpreted, adapted, and staged across time and cultures, from Early Modern England to the present.
Prerequisites/Corequisites:
Recommended Preparation:
Eligibility for ENGL C1000 (formerly ENGL 1A) OR Eligibility EMLS 10 (formerly ESL 10) OR equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates
Limits on Enrollment:
Schedule of Classes Information
Description:
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Students will study the works of William Shakespeare through a selection of his major plays and poetry, exploring how meaning is shaped by historical context, textual history, and performance. Students are invited to think critically about how Shakespeare's work has been interpreted, adapted, and staged across time and cultures, from Early Modern England to the present.
(Grade or P/NP)
Prerequisites:
Recommended:Eligibility for ENGL C1000 (formerly ENGL 1A) OR Eligibility EMLS 10 (formerly ESL 10) OR equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;UC.
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION
| Associate Degree: | Effective: | Fall 2025
| Inactive: | |
| Area: | E
L3
| Humanities
Arts and Humanities
|
| |
| CSU GE: | Transfer Area | | Effective: | Inactive: |
| | C2 | Humanities | Fall 1981 | |
| |
| IGETC: | Transfer Area | | Effective: | Inactive: |
| | 3B | Humanities | Fall 1981 | |
| |
| CSU Transfer: | Transferable | Effective: | Fall 1981 | Inactive: | |
| |
| UC Transfer: | Transferable | Effective: | Fall 1981 | Inactive: | |
| |
| C-ID: |
Certificate/Major Applicable:
Major Applicable Course
COURSE CONTENT
Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
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1. Critically read, analyze, interpret, and write about the works of William Shakespeare.
2. Analyze formal qualities of Shakespeare's works relative to the texts' artistic, literary, and aesthetic contexts.
3. Situate texts within their respective historical, political, and cultural contexts.
4. Apply a range of critical approaches to Shakespeare's works.
Objectives:
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At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Analyze and critique Shakespeare's major plays and poetry.
2. Identify and interpret major themes in Shakespeare's work and their connections to Early Modern England.
3. Develop analytical arguments on assigned literature, informed by textual analysis and research, including literary criticism, theoretical frameworks (e.g. psychoanalytic, feminist, and Marxist theory), and socio-historical scholarship.
Topics and Scope
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I. Major Plays
A. Histories
B. Tragedies
C. Comedies
II. Poetry
A. Narrative Poems
B. Sonnets
III. Historical Context
A. Protestant Reformation
B. Anglo-Spanish Relations
C. Elizabethan and Early Jacobean Politics
IV. Literary Influences, such as:
A. Liturgical Drama
B. Classical Literature
C. Italian Renaissance Literature
D. Medieval Literature
E. Historical Chronicles
V. Literary Material History
A. Early Modern Print Culture
B. Publication History
C. Playhouse History
VI. Early Modern English
A. Semantic Change
B. Phonetic Change
C. Spelling and Typography
VII. Shakespeare's Biography
VIII. Shakespeare's Contemporaries
IX. Shakespeare's Legacy
X. Literary Analysis and Research
A. Library Research
B. Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation
XI. Schools of Literary Criticism
XII. Writing Literary Analysis Essays
Assignments:
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1. Weekly reading assignments
2. Participation in class discussions
3. Individual or group presentations or projects
4. Low-stakes writing assignments, such as:
a. Reading response journals
b. Summaries
c. Personal response papers
5. Short critical response papers (500 - 1,000 words each)
6. Library research assignments, such as:
a. Annotated bibliographies
b. Research sessions with a librarian, etc.
7. Essays including library research with Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation (1,000 - 2,500 words each)
8. Essay exams, objective exams, and/or quizzes
9. Additional assignments as determined by instructor may include: Field trips (ungraded)
Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.
| Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing. | Writing
50 - 65% |
| Low-stakes writing assignments; short critical response papers; library research assignment(s); essays | |
| Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills. | Problem Solving
5 - 15% |
| Library research assignment(s) | |
| Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams. | Skill Demonstrations
0 - 0% |
| None | |
| Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams. | Exams
10 - 20% |
| Exams and/or quizzes | |
| Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories. | Other Category
10 - 20% |
| Attendance; participation in class discussion; individual or group presentation | |
Representative Textbooks and Materials:
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Anthologies:
The Norton Shakespeare. 3rd ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. Norton. 2015. (classic).
The Arden Shakespeare Third Series Complete Works. Thompson, Ann; Kasten, David Scott; Woudhuysen, H.R.; Proudfoot, Richard. Bloomsbury. 2020. (classic).
Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems. Mowat, Barbara A. and Werstine, Paul. Simon & Schuster. 2006. (classic).
Biographies:
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. Greenblatt, Stephen. W.W. Norton. 2016. (classic).
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. Shapiro, James. Harper-Collins. 2006. (classic).
Open Educational Materials and Electronic Resources:
Instructor prepared materials
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