English 476: Course Calendar and Reading Schedule
Spring 2014 (T/TH Section)
This schedule is a work in progress. It WILL change as the semester progresses. These changes will
include additions and subtractions. All changes will be announced in class, and I will try to provide a
week’s notice on each addition. I encourage students to establish reliable contacts in the class and use
these contacts to stay informed of any information or changes missed due to absence.
All readings must be completed on the day they are to be discussed. All secondary readings (except
Poole) will be provided on WesternOnline in the order in which they appear on the calendar. A working
bibliography of provided secondary readings is provided on final page.
Please note that the reading load for this class will be heavy. Reading for this class cannot be completed
easily the night before class. You should read and contemplate the readings throughout the week.
WEEK 1:
Jan. 14:
Jan. 16:
WEEK 2:
Jan. 21:
Jan. 23:
WEEK 3:
Jan. 28:
Introduction to ENG 476, Syllabus, Policies.
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1,
Poole, Tragedy, Chapters 1-2.
Macbeth, Acts 2-3,
Tragedy, Chapters 3-4.
Macbeth, Act 4,
Tragedy, Chapter 5.
Macbeth, Act 5,
Tragedy, Chapters 6-9.
Jan. 30:
Ron Rash, Serena, Chapters 1-6,
Leitch, “Adaptations at a Crossroads” (pdf).
Jan 31:
Exploratory Essay on Macbeth due by 11:59 pm.
WEEK 4:
Feb. 4:
Feb. 6:
Rash, Serena, Chapters 7-20,
Fischlin and Fortier, “General Introduction” from Adaptations of Shakespeare (pdf).
Rash, Serena, Chaps 21-25,
Hutcheon, Chap 1 “Beginning to Theorize Adaptation” from A Theory of Adaptation (pdf).
WEEK 5:
Feb. 11: Rash’s Serena, Chapters 26- CODA,
Widdowson, “’Writing Back:’ Contemporary Re-visionary Fiction” (pdf).
Feb. 13: Cooney’s Enter Three Witches (ETW), paged TBD,
Sanders, “Introduction” from Adaptation and Appropriation (pdf).
Morrow, ENG 476, Calendar 2
WEEK 6:
Feb. 18: ETW, pages TBD,
Sanders, “What is adaptation?” and “What is Appropriation?” from Adaptation and
Appropriation (pdf – in the same file as the previous Sanders reading).
Feb. 20: ETW, pages TBD,
Secondary reading on YA adaptations of Shakespeare TBD.
Feb. 21: Exploratory Essay on either Serena or ETW due by 11:59 pm.
WEEK 7:
Feb. 25: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Acts 1-2,
Kaufmann’s Chap 2, “Aristotle: The Judge Who Knows,” from Tragedy and Philosophy (pdf).
Feb. 27: Hamlet, Act 3,
Kaufmann, Chap 9, “Shakespeare and the Philosophers,” from Tragedy and Philosophy (pdf).
WEEK 8:
Mar. 4:
Hamlet, Act 4,
Secondary reading on modern tragic concepts TBD.
Mar. 6:
Hamlet, Act 5,
Secondary reading on modern tragic concepts TBD.
Mar. 7:
Exploratory Essay on Hamlet due by 11:59 pm.
SPRING BREAK: March 10th through March 14th – No Classes
WEEK 9:
Mar. 18: Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (R&G), Acts 1 & 2,
Lanier, Chap 4, “Recasting the Plays: Homage, Adaptation, and Parody,” from Shakespeare
and Modern Popular Culture (pdf).
Mar. 20: R&G, Act 3,
Secondary Reading TBD.
WEEK 10:
Mar. 25: North’s To Be or Not To Be, reach at least 20 different deaths,
Secondary Reading TBD.
Mar. 27: To Be or Not to Be, reach at least 10 additional different deaths,
Secondary Reading TBD.
WEEK 11:
Apr. 1:
Haig’s Dead Father’s Club (DFC), pages 1-96,
Kidnie, “Introduction” and Chap 1, “Surviving Performance,” from Shakespeare and the
Problem of Adaptation (pdf).
Apr. 2:
Exploratory Essay on either R&G or To Be or Not To Be due by 11:59 pm.
Morrow, ENG 476, Calendar 3
Apr. 3:
WEEK 12:
Apr. 8:
Apr. 10:
DFC, pages 97-170,
Secondary Reading TBD.
DFC, pages 171-328,
Secondary Reading TBD.
No Class – WORK DAY
Apr. 13: 3-4 page Scholarly Essay Proposal Due by 11:59 pm.
WEEK 13:
Apr. 15: Updike’s Gertrude and Claudius (G&C), Part I,
Secondary Reading TBD.
Apr. 17: G&C, Part II,
Secondary Reading TBD.
WEEK 14:
Apr. 22: G&C, Part III,
Secondary Reading TBD.
Apr. 24: No reading; Discussion of Hamlet & Macbeth on Film and Television
Abstract and 2 printed copies of Rough Draft Due IN CLASS
WEEK 15:
Apr. 29: No reading; Discussion of Hamlet & Macbeth on Film and Television
May 1:
No reading; Discussion of Hamlet & Macbeth on Film and Television
2 printed copies of Reader’s Reports Due IN CLASS
Final Draft of Scholarly Essay due on WesternOnline and in hard copy to my office or mailbox by
Tuesday, May 6th by 3:00 pm.
Morrow, ENG 476, Calendar 4
Bibliography of Provided Readings
(will be updated periodically)
Fischlin, Daniel and Mark Fortier. “General Introduction.” Adaptations of Shakespeare. New York:
Routledge, 2000. Print.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation. New York and London: Routledge, 2006.
Kaufmann, Walter. Tragedy and Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979. Print.
Kidnie, Margaret Jane. Shakespeare and the Problem of Adaptation. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Lanier, Dougas. Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture. Oxford Shakespeare Topics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2002. Print.
Leitch, Thomas. “Adaptations at a Crossroads.” Adaptation 1.1 (2008): 63-77.
Sanders, Julie. Adaptation and Appropriation. New Critical Idiom. London and New York: Routledge,
2006. Print.
Widdowson, Peter. “‘Writing back’: contemporary re-visionary fiction,” Textual Practice 20.3 (2006): 491507. Print.