MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
1. The title of the module
Elizabethan Drama
2. The Department which will be responsible for management of the module
English
3. The Start Date of the Module
September 2009
4. The cohort of students (onwards) to which the module will be applicable.
2007/8
5. The number of students expected to take the module
c. 200
6. Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with
other relevant Departments and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
EN638 Shakespeare and his contemporaries I: Comedies
7. The level of the module (eg Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate [M])
I
8. The number of credits which the module represents 30 (ECTS credits: 15)
Note: undergraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 120 credits per year and
postgraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 180 credits per year for a Masters
award
9. Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn.
10. Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
None
11. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
Diploma and BA in English & American Literature
12. The intended subject specific learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to
programme learning outcomes
Students will:
1. Learn to read, respond to and understand the Elizabethan plays of Shakespeare and
his contemporaries;
2. Develop an understanding of the development of drama in the period c1580-c.1603;
3. Read the set texts in relation to their relevant literary, theatrical, political, cultural
and social contexts;
4. Become conversant with current critical approaches and debates to the drama.
13. The intended generic learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme
learning outcomes
6.
7.
8.
Be able to respond to and initiate group discussion of issues raised, based on
precise reference to text and context;
Analyse texts critically and make comparison across a range of reading;
Show a good command of written English, and be able to develop coherent
written arguments responding to the texts, contexts and critical issues
addressed by the module.
14. A synopsis of the curriculum
The drama of Elizabethan England broke new literary and dramatic ground. This module
will focus on key plays across the Elizabethan period. It will explore the development of
dramatic writing of c.1580-c.1603, playing companies’ home within the London theatres, its
links to court entertainment and its relationship to the provinces. Dramatic and literary form
will be a central preoccupation alongside issues of characterisation, culture, politics, and
gender.
15. Indicative Reading List
A selection of plays and other entertainments will be taught. These may include some of the
following indicative texts:
William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
The Comedy of Errors
Richard III
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Taming of the Shrew
Henry IV i and ii
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Twelfth Night
John Heywood, A Merry Play Between the Pardoner and the Friar, the Curate and Neighbor
Pratt
Anonymous, The Noble Triumphant Coronation of Queen Anne, Wife unto the Most Noble
King Henry the VIII
Richard Mulcaster, The Queen's Majesty's Passage
Sir Philip Sidney, The Lady of May
Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of D. Faustus
Anonymous, Arden of Faversham
Christopher Marlowe, The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second
Mary Sidney, Countess Of Pembroke, The Tragedy of Antony
Arthur Kinney ed., Renaissance Drama, An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments Second
Edition (2004)
Greenblatt, Stephen et al eds., The Norton Shakespeare (1997)
Secondary sources:
Barber, C.L. Creating Elizabethan Tragedy: The Theatre of Marlowe and Kyd (1988)
Braunmuller, A.R. and Michael Hattaway (eds), The Cambridge Companion to English
Renaissance Drama (sec. ed. 2002)
Briggs, Julia This Stage-play World: Texts and Contexts, 1580-1625 (sec. ed. 1997)
Greenblatt, Stephen Renaissance Self-fashioning, (1980)
Gurr, Andrew Playgoing in Shakespeare’s London (third ed. 2004)
Michael Hattaway, Elizabethan Popular Theatre: Plays in Performance (1982)
Kastan, David Scott and Peter Stallybrass (eds), Staging the Renaissance: Reinterpretations of
Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (1991)
Kinney ed., Companion to Renaissance Drama (2002)
Sullivan, Garret, Patrick Cheney and Andrew Hadfield (eds), Early Modern English Drama:
A Critical Companion (2006)
Wiggins, Martin Shakespeare and the Drama of his Time (2000)
16. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the
total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement of
the intended learning outcomes
There will be 10 weekly 2-hour seminars and 10 weekly 1-hour lectures (learning outcomes
1-7). Students will be expected to study for 20 hours per week. Total study hours 300.
17. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning
outcomes
The module will be assessed by two essays of 2,000 - 2,500 words each at 20%/20% (learning
outcomes 1-5, 8); seminar performance at 10% (learning outcomes 1-6); and a three-hour
examination at 50% (learning outcomes 1-5, 7-8). These assessment methods are intended to
foster exploration and discussion of primary and secondary materials in essays, examination
answers, and seminar contributions.
18. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Some new books will be required.
19. A statement confirming that, as far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning
and teaching methods and forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable
disadvantage to students with disabilities
No non-justifiable disadvantage to students with disabilities is presented as far as can be
anticipated.