OXFORD TUTORIAL SERVICE
THE SHAKESPEARE ATRIUM
1. Course Description
2. Course Schedule
Shakespeare 1
Shakespeare 2
3. Introduction to Shakespeare
4. Introduction to the Plays
5.
Student Essay Topics
6. Shakespeare's Canon
7. Shakespeare Links
8. About the Tutor
9. Fees & Registration
Course Description: This is an excellent course for high school students in English literature. It is an online, internet course, which utilizes interactive software. It covers Shakespeare's life and times, focusing on several of his most well-known plays. Students will critique and analyze these literary works through reading, discussion, and a 'readers' theater' format. The minimum reading for this course is four plays, to include at least one comedy and one tragedy. Students are also encouraged to attend a live performance of Shakespeare, and to watch at least two video productions of Shakespeare's plays. Students have weekly reading assignments as well as assigned parts to read in class. The tutor sets the scene with historical background and guides discussion of selected themes and topics. Some essays and memorization may be required.
The Shakespeare tutorial covers four plays
each semester and introduces the student to the writings of Shakespeare through a
'reader's theater' format. Ages 13 and up. Three identical sessions
(choose one): Section A: Tuesdays, 8:00-10:00; Section B: Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00; Section
C: Wednesdays: 10:00-12:00 (Pacific Time).
Students have weekly reading assignments as well as assigned parts to read in class.
The tutor sets the scene with historical background and guides discussion of selected
themes and topics. Some essays and memorization may be required. The first
semester is scheduled to cover: Measure for
Measure, edited by S. Nagarajan (Penguin/Signet, ISBN 0451524098); Macbeth,
edited by S. Barnet in Four Great
Tragedies (Penguin/Signet, ISBN 0451527291); Much Ado About
Nothing, edited by R.A. Foakes and T.J. Spencer (Viking Press, ISBN 0140707093);
and Julius
Caesar, edited by S.F. Johnson and A. Harbage (Penguin, ISBN 0140714227).
The second semester will cover: Taming of the
Shrew, edited by R. Hosley (Penguin, ISBN 0140714251); Hamlet,
edited by S. Barnet in Four Great
Tragedies [This is the same text used for Macbeth in the first semester]
(Penguin/Signet, ISBN 0451527291); Merchant of
Venice, edited by B. Stirling and A. Harbage (Penguin, ISBN 0140714219); and Coriolanus,
edited by R. Braver (Penguin/Signet, ISBN 0451522966). A commentary used by
the tutor in this class is: Brightest of
Heaven of Invention by Peter Leithart (Canon Press, 1996; ISBN 1885767234).
Another handy and economical resource is The Friendly
Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard by Norrie Epstein
(Penguin, ISBN 0140138862). Any and all of these books may be examined and/or
purchased now online for a discount of 20-30%. Simply click on the blue title above
for a direct link to Amazon.com
Introduction to Shakespeare: William Shakespeare, the English dramatist and poet, is widely considered the greatest of all playwrights. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, the son of a local businessman. His father was a distinguished citizen who became an alderman and bailiff, but later suffered severe financial difficulties. It is assumed that Shakespeare attended the grammar school in Stratford where he would have received a good foundation in Latin and classic literature. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children: a daughter, born in 1583; and twins, a boy and a girl, born in 1585. Little else is known of Shakespeare before 1592, when he appeared as a playwright in London. He may have been a member of a traveling theater group, and there is some evidence that he may have been a school teacher.
In 1594 Shakespeare became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the most successful one of several companies of actors in London at that time. Shakespeare not only acted with this company, but eventually became a leading shareholder and the principal playwright. In 1599 the company, the Chamberlain's Men, built and occupied the best known of the Elizabethan theaters, the Globe.
Introduction to the Plays of Shakespeare: Although Shakespeare composed some exquisite, enduring poetry (especially the Sonnets), he devoted himself primarily to the theater. His genius is evident both in the breadth and the depth of some three dozen plays, many of which are counted among the greatest works in English literature. These plays are often identified in four primary categories as tragedies, comedies, tragicomedies (or "romances") and histories. They are listed in the following outlines below. The plays in each category are arranged chronologically, according to the presumed dates of their composition (listed in parentheses).
1. Titus Andronicus (1593-94)
2. Romeo and Juliet (1594-95) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi
3. Julius Caesar (1599-1600) *
MIT
Commentary; Study Questions by J.M.
Massi
4. Hamlet (1600-01)
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; Georgia Tech
Study Guide; MIT
Synopsis
5. Othello (1604-05) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi
6. King Lear (1605-06) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi
7. Macbeth (1605-06) *
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; MIT Commentary
8. Anthony and Cleopatra (1606-07)
9. Timon of Athens (1607)
10. Coriolanus (1607-1608) *
MIT Synopsis
II. The Comedies
1. The Comedy of Errors (1592-93)
2. The Taming of the Shrew (1593-94) *
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; MIT
Commentary
3. Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-95)
4. Love's Labour's Lost (1594-95)
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-96) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; MIT
Commentary
6. The Merchant of Venice (1596-97) *
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; MIT
Commentary
7. Much Ado About Nothing (1598-99) *
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi; MIT
Synopsis
8. As You Like It (1599-1600) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi
9. Twelfth Night (1599-1600) **
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions
by J.M. Massi
10. The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600)
11. Triolus and Cressida (1601-02)
12. All's Well that Ends Well (1602-03)
13. Measure for Measure (1604-05) *
The Lamb's Summary+; Study Questions by J.M. Massi
The
Interactive Shakespeare Project; MIT
Synopsis
III. The Tragicomedies
1. Pericles (1608)
2. Cymbeline (1609-10)
3. The Winter's Tale (1610-11)
4. The Tempest (1611-12) **
IV. The Histories
1. Henry VI, Part I (1590)
2. Henry VI, Part II (1590)
3. Henry VI, Part III (1590)
4. Richard III (1592)
5. Richard II (1595)
6. King John (1596)
7. Henry IV, Part I (1597)
8. Henry IV, Part II (1597)
9. Henry V (1598)
10. Henry VIII (w/ J. Fletcher?/1612)
V. The Sonnets
The Sonnets (150) (1592-1597) **
* Plays covered
in the first year of the Shakespeare Tutorial
** Plays covered in the second year of the Shakespeare Tutorial
+ An illustrated edition of the complete Tales
From Shakespeare, written originally by Charles
and Mary Lamb for children in 1806, and revised in a contemporary html format by Terry A.
Gray.
Gray comments that these: "prose renderings for children...though originally intended
for children
...are revered works in their own right and serve as wonderful introductions to the
plays."
SHAKESPEARE LINKS
Internet & Print Resources
The outstanding link on the internet for Shakespeare resources is the award-winning web site by Terry A. Gray, "Mr. Shakespeare and the Internet." Other great web links include the MIT Shakespeare Homepage and The Shakespeare Homework Helper. Here is an index to help you find your way around:
INDEX
Internet Resources:
1. William Shakespeare and the Internet": daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare
2. Shakespeare's Complete Works: www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.html
3. Barlett's Quotations: www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/Quotes/bartlett.html
4. Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare: http://daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/
5. Shakespeare Timeline: http://daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/
6. Shakespeare Genealogy: http://daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/
7. Online Biography Quiz: daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/quiz/bioquiz.htm
8. Shakespeare Glossary: www.gh.cs.su.oz.au/~matty/Shakespeare/glossary.html
9. Collected Works: www.gh.cs.su.oz.au/~matty/Shakespeare/Shakespeare.html
10. The Oxford Society Web Site: http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/
11. Interactive Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeare.com/
12. Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.eb.com
Print Resources:
1. Bate, Jonathan. The
Genius of Shakespeare (Oxford U. Press, 1998);
2. Chute, Marchette. Shakespeare of London (Dutton Co., 1949); This classic
is out of Print;
check your local library;
3. Clark, W.G. & W.A. Wright, eds. The Unabridged Shakespeare
(Running Press, 1989);
4. Cowan, Louise & Os Guiness, eds. Invitation to the Classics (Baker,
1998);
5. Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide
to the Best of the Bard
(Penguin USA, 1994);
6. Fox, Levi. The Shakespeare Handbook (G.K. Hall & Co., 1987);
7. Greenblatt, Stephen, gen. ed. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford
Edition (Norton & Co., 1997);
8. Honan, Park. Shakespeare
: A Life (Oxford U. Press, 1998);
9. Laroque, Francois, et al. The Age of Shakespeare (Abrams, 1993);
10. Leithart, Peter. Brightest
of Heaven of Invention (Canon Press, 1996);
11. Scott, Mark W. Shakespeare for Students (Gale Research Inc., 1972);
12. The introductions and literary notes in older encyclopedias (with 'signed' articles)
as well as older and contemporary critical editions of Shakespeare's works.