Course Description
This course will present dramatic texts from the classical to the contemporary, across a variety of national and cultural contexts. We will investigate the answers to questions such as: What is world drama? Who gets to be involved in world drama? What does the theatre medium offer as a means of action and expression? As we read and watch theatrical pieces, we will build a repertoire of drama knowledge that will contribute to our capacities to understand and evaluate live performances. Throughout the semester, we will turn our attentions to the global currents that run between plays from different cultural, temporal, and linguistic contexts and discuss these works in a comparative context.
Course Objectives
Students will be able to…
Develop a vocabulary through which to discuss dramatic works across form and genre.
Recognize a variety of forms of performance, both classical and contemporary, from different cultures and languages.
Identify and compare key themes across plays written in different linguistic and cultural contexts from both a literary and a performance standpoint.
Appreciate and critically examine dramatic works.
Utilize theatre resources in State College.
Humanities Domain Goals
In Humanities (GH) fields, students focus on exploring important works of literature, history, religion, philosophy, and other closely related forms of cultural expression, thereby broadening their understanding of diverse ways of seeing, thinking about, and experiencing the self and society. Students will enlarge their intellectual horizons and knowledge of the world through encountering humanistic representations of both lived experiences and imaginative or speculative constructions, past or present. Students thus become increasingly prepared to live as thoughtfully engaged members of multiple communities, whether local, regional, or global.
In this class, students will learn to...
Demonstrate competence in critical thinking about topics and texts in the humanities through clear and well-reasoned responses.
Critically evaluate texts in the humanities—whether verbal, visual, or digital—and identify and explain moral or ethical dimensions within the disciplines of the humanities.
Demonstrate knowledge of major cultural currents, issues, and developments through time, including evidence of exposure to unfamiliar material that challenges their curiosity and stretches their intellectual range.
Required Texts
Césaire, Aimé. The Tragedy of King Chrisophe. Trans Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney,Northwestern U. P., 2015. ISBN: 9780810130586
**von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Goethe’s Faust. Trans Walter Kauffman, Knopf, 1962. ISBN:9780385031141
**Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. Dramatists Play Service, 1995. ISBN: 9780822207122
Hudes, Quiara Allegría. Water By the Spoonful. Threatre Communications, 2012. ISBN:9781559364386
Gordon, Natalie. Nine Night. NHB Modern Plays, Yuzu, 2018.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Folger Shakespeare Library ser., Simon & Schuster, 2003. ISBN: 9780743477543
Soyinka, Wole. Death and the King’s Horseman. Second ed., Norton, 2002. ISBN:9780393322996
**Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit and Other Plays. Arte Publico, 1992. ISBN: 9781558850484
**Copies of these texts are available as eBooks through the library website.
Note: While we may need to reference specific pages from the above versions in class, alternative, and especially more affordable, copies of any of these plays are acceptable. Copies of course all course materials assigned for purchase that are not otherwise available online will be available on course reserve at the library. In the case of many of these plays, additional or alternative copies are also available to check out at the library.
Grading
Assignment Weights
25% Attendance and Participation
20% Canvas Discussion Board Posts
15% Presentation on a Topic of Interest
15% Review of a Live Performance
25% Final Project
Grading Scale
A 94% - 100%
A- 90% - 93%
B+ 87% - 89%
B 84% - 86%
B- 80% - 83%
C+ 77% - 79%
C 70% - 76%
D 60% - 69%
F 59% and below
Note: Final grades will be rounded to the nearest whole percentage point. (I.e. a 93.5% will be rounded up to a 94% and will achieve an A, while a 93.4% will be rounded down to a 93% and will achieve an A-.)
Attendance and Participation (25%)
Your regular participation in class is valuable to maintaining a conversational classroom dynamic. Students are expected to attend class on-time each day, having completed the readings and being adequately prepared for discussion. Active participation in class activities is considered in your Attendance and Participation grade. Students who arrive more than five minutes late will be marked as tardy, and students who arrive more than thirty minutes late or who do not attend class will be marked as absent. Three tardies are equivalent to one absence. Each student is entitled to three no-consequences absences before the Attendance and Participation category of the final grade is reduced by 5% per each additional absence. Students who miss more than half of all class meetings risk failure of the course. Excused absences, such as for unavoidable events, school-sponsored activities, and other extenuating circumstances, are acceptable with adequate notice and approval of the instructor and will not negatively impact a student’s grade. The following form should be filled out in the case of university-sanctioned absences http://www.psu.edu/oue/aappm/classabs.pdf.
Canvas Discussion Board Posts (20%)
Students will be expected to produce weekly discussion board responses to verify comprehension of the material and to spark classroom discussion. Student posts should respond to a prompt posted on Canvas for the week, which will require students to practice an analytical skill or generate thinking related to the texts for the week. Responses should be about 150-250 words. Discussion board posts will due by 10AM on the day listed on the syllabus and will be graded on a three-point scale. The lowest two grades for the discussion board prompts will be dropped.
Presentation on a Topic of Interest (15%)
Students will be asked to choose one day of class to deliver a 5-7 minute presentation, then lead additional discussion based on the readings for that day. Students should plan to meet with the instructor to discuss presentation topics and plans for delivery. Presentations may, for example, offer a student’s own interpretation of an event or theme in the text for the day, an evaluation and elaboration on the critical reception of the text, or an argument about casting, costuming, or another performance aspect of the text. After the presentation, the student should lead a short discussion by posing two discussion questions that build from the presentation topic. We will use this discussion as a starting point for discussion during the rest of class for that day. Students will receive a full assignment sheet with suggestions and grading criteria for this assignment. A sign-up sheet for presentation dates will be circulated during the second week of class.
Review of a Live Performance (15%)
Students at Penn State benefit from many exciting opportunities to see theatre productions by local organizations, traveling groups, and students in the Penn State Theatre Department. Students are expected to attend at least one live theatrical performance during this semester. Within one week of seeing a show, students should compose and hand in a thoroughly considered review of the performance. Possible topics that might be included in a review are the quality of the acting, directing, or choreography, costuming or set design choices, fidelity to the original play (if this was something that we read in class), and more. Students will receive a full assignment sheet with grading criteria and examples for this assignment. Reviews should be 2-3 full pages long. You may use any live performance for your review, including the 7 November showing of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Eisenhower Auditorium.
Final Project (25%)
At the end of the semester, students will turn in a final project that compares plays across cultures and languages while representing key takeaway concepts that were discussed in the course. Options will include close-reading of passages from two plays (from different languages) that relate to each other in some way, research and analysis of productions of different plays (at least one of which we read for class), or a creative project based on a theme covered class, along with a brief explanation of how that theme operated in works from more than one language/culture that we read for this class. A short, written proposal and a rough draft for the project will be due before the final product. The completion of these process elements will account for 5 points and 10 points respectively of the 100-point Final Project score. Students will receive a full assignment sheet with prompts where applicable. The Final project should be 4-5 full pages long or the equivalent in creative work.
Extra Credit Opportunities (Up to 6% Extra Credit to Your Final Grade)
The following two assignments may be completed in any combination, for up to 6% extra credit toward your final grade. The final date to submit extra credit assignments is 9 December.
Additional Theatre Review – Although students are only required to attend one play during the semester, students may choose to attend and write additional reviews for additional shows for up to 3% extra credit per review. A maximum of two shows may count for extra credit, for a total of 6% of possible extra credit toward the final grade. Extra credit reviews need not be as long as the Review of a Live Performance project—rather, these should be 1.5-2 pages long. Extra credit reviews will be graded on a three-point scale, where each point is equivalent to 1%. These must be turned in within a week of attending the show that is being reviewed.
Syllabus Addition Argument – There are so many fascinating plays in the world, and not all could be included in our course. Imagine that, due to unforeseeable events, Penn State has decided to schedule one additional week of classes. What should our class read in that one additional week? Investigate and read one play that was not assigned this semester and argue why it belongs in the course. Your argument should include a short summary of the play that you read and a discussion of how key themes from the play interact with the themes of our Introduction to World Drama class. Your response should be 1.5-2 pages long. This assignment will be evaluated on a three-point scale for up to 3% extra credit toward your final grade and may be completed twice for up to 6% total extra credit toward your final grade. Plays for this assignment must be approved by the instructor.
Document Format for Written Class Assignments
All written class assignments, with the exception of discussion board posts, should follow MLA style guidelines. This means that papers should be written in 12-point, Times New Roman font and should be consistently double-spaced, on a document with 1-inch margins. The beginning line of each paragraph should be indented by one half-inch. This is not the default format on some word processing programs, so it is worthwhile to check before submitting a document. Each page should also include the student’s last name and the page number in the top-right corner. The heading for the written assignment should follow the format:
Student First and Last Name
Instructor Name
Class and Section Number
Day Month, Year
Written assignments that use outside research should include a Works Cited page in MLA style. Learn more about MLA style here https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html
or in the MLA 2016 style guide. Your instructor can also assist you with questions that you may have about MLA style.
All written assignments should be submitted to the appropriate Canvas drop box as either a .doc or .docx file, a submission from the One Drive Canvas plug-in, or a submission from Google Drive Canvas plug-in. Submissions for discussion board posts should be posted to the appropriate Canvas discussion thread, using the Canvas text box feature.
Looking for a Show?
The Review of a Live Performance and some extra credit opportunities require that you attend a theatrical performance. Here is a list of some of the productions that will happen near campus in the Fall as part of the No-Refund Theatre, Penn State Centre Stage, or Eisenhower Auditorium programs, with the price for a student ticket. You can find an updated list on Canvas.
Steel Magnolias – 12-17 September – FREE (No-Refund)
Doubt – 19-21 September – FREE (No-Refund)
Hooded or Being Black for Dummies – 24-28 September – Student tickets $8.50 (Centre)
The Importance of Being Earnest – 26-28 September – FREE (No-Refund)
Seascape – 3-5 October – FREE (No-Refund)
The Book of Mormon – 8-13 October – Student ticket prices vary (~$50) (Eisenhower Auditorium)
She Kills Monsters – 8-17 October – Student tickets $12.50 (Centre)
The Outsiders – 24-26 October – FREE (No-Refund)
A Bronx Tale – 30 October – Student tickets $50 (Eisenhower)
The Shining – 31 October-2 November – FREE (No-Refund)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – 7 November – Student tickets FREE (and already reserved for you!) (Eisenhower)
Our Town – 7-9 November – FREE (No-Refund)
A Little Night Music – 5-15 November – Student tickets $12.50 (Centre)
Other Desert Cities – 14-16 November – FREE (No-Refund)
RENT – 19 November – Student tickets $50 (Eisenhower)
The Heidi Chronicles – 5-7 December – FREE (No-Refund)
Note: You are expected to attend the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on November 7th. If you foresee that you will not be able to attend due to an important scheduling conflict, please inform the instructor with sufficient advanced notice.
Course Policies
Late Work
Late work that is graded on a full scale will receive a grade reduced by 5% per each late day, following a reasonable grace period for that assignment. Late work that is graded on a three-point check scale will be reduced by one point per each late day. Extensions may be arranged with the instructor for some assignments, with reasonable advanced notice to and approval from the instructor. Exceptions may be made where extenuating circumstances exist.
Technology
The use of technology, such as laptops and tablets, for class-related activities is acceptable. Students are responsible for remaining on-task in-class when using technology. Distracted use of technology in-class will result in a reduction of the student’s Participation grade.
Subject to Change Statement
This syllabus is subject to change. Any changes will be distributed in writing, which may include electronic communication.
Registration
During the drop-add period at the beginning of the semester, the Department of Comparative Literature encourages students to visit this and other courses in order to make informed judgements about which courses to take. After this drop/add period, however, only students registered in the course may remain; no student may late-add (or restore a dropped registration) after the third week of the semester without petitioning the department on a form available in the office, 466 Burrowes Building.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
No plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will be tolerated. These include, but are not limited to, copying or closely paraphrasing another person’s words in your own work without proper attribution, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, submitting the work of another person or work previously used in another class without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. Written work may be “checked” for plagiarism through http://turnitin.psu.edu/ or another similar online service, at the instructor’s discretion. Any of the above acts may result in academic sanctions and/or may be reported to the University’s Office of Student Conduct for possible further disciplinary action. Further information about the University’s policy on Academic Integrity can be found at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/conduct/AcademicIntegrity.shtml.
Equal Access
Penn State encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities, and admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible. For further information regarding policies, rights, and responsibilities, please visit the Student Disability Resources website at http://www.equity.psu.edu/ods/.
Counseling and Psychological Services
Many students at Penn State face personal challenges or have psychological needs that may interfere with their academic progress, social development, or emotional wellbeing. The University offers a variety of confidential services to help you through difficult times, including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, consultations, online chats, and mental health screenings; more information is available at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/ or by calling 814-863-0395. These services are provided by staff who welcome all students and embrace a philosophy respectful of clients’ cultural and religious backgrounds, and are sensitive to differences in race, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
Educational Equity and Bias Reporting
Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated. Consistent with University Policy AD29, students who believe they have experienced or observed a hate crime, an act of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment that occurs at Penn State are urged to report these incidents through http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/.
Course Schedule
Readings and other homework are due on the date listed next to the assignment.
We have plenty of interesting texts to read and discuss this semester! Readings and other homework are due on the date listed next to the assignment. Students can come prepared for each class by having completed the readings and homework ahead of time for that day. Taking notes on concepts and questions that arise in and from texts is a helpful way to remember your thoughts about a text in the time between homework and discussion.
Unit 1
What is world drama?
Who or what defines what drama is, and whose work is classified in this category? Where do our notions of drama come from?
How does Shakespeare’s play affirm or challenge classical Greek notions of drama through the context of Elizabethan England?
Week One: Introducing the course; Some Classical Forms of Performance
26 August
First day of class—no reading prior
28 August
Excerpt from Performance Studies (Canvas);
Wayang Kulit and Gamelan videos (Canvas)
30 August
Excerpts from Aristotle, Poetics (Canvas)
Week Two: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Context
2 September
Labor Day—NO CLASS
4 September
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Acts 1-3
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
6 September
Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Acts 4-5
Unit 2
How do artistic and philosophical ideas travel across cultures and time periods?
What have been the cultural impacts of Shakuntala and Faust?
How does remediating a play like Faust change the meaning and audience of the work?
Week Three: From Shakuntala to Faust, the Influence of Indian Art on German Romanticism
9 September
Kalidasa, Shakuntala Acts 1-4
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
11 September
Kalidasa, Shakuntala Acts 5-7
13 September
Goethe, Faust to end of page 123 [Note: The introduction is helpful, but not necessary. Skim the introduction, then focus on the play]
Week Four: Goethe’s Faust
16 September
Goethe, Faust pages 125-209
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
18 September
Goethe, Faust pages 209-277
20 September
Goethe, Faust pages 277-353
Week Five: Cultural Echoes of Faust
23 September
Goethe, Faust pages 355-421
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
25 September
Sontag, “Notes on Camp” (Canvas)
27 September
No additional reading; We will watch part of Little Shop of Horrors in class.
Unit 3
How do perceptions of race and gender inform the ways that different cultures are represented in drama over time?
How does intercultural communication appear in drama?
Who can self-represent in drama?
Week Six: Noh, Kibuki, and Interpretations of Japanese Culture
30 September
Kurozuka/Adachigahara transcript and performance video (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
2 October
Chûshingura introduction excerpt and video (Canvas) [Note: This play is quite long. Please watch enough to get a sense of how the play appears on stage]
4 October
Puccini, Madama Butterfly (Online via library)
Week Seven: Theatrical Portrayals of Gender and Race
7 October
Puccini, Madama Butterfly (Online via library);
Serinus, “Cultural Controversy Swirls Around Seattle Opera’s ‘Madame Butterfly’” (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
9 October
Hwang, M. Butterfly
11 October
Hwang, M. Butterfly
Week Eight: Medea, a Case Study in Gender and Race
14 October
Euripedes, Medea (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
16 October
Dev Sen, “Medea” (Canvas)
18 October
Excerpts from Moraga, The Hungry Woman (Canvas);
Excerpts from Anzaldúa, Borderlands (Canvas)
Unit 4
What is a postcolonial, anti-colonial, or decolonial approach in drama?
What is the role of drama in establishing personhood or nationhood?
What does the theatre medium offer in the interpretation of global or national conflict?
Week Nine: Chicanx Theatre
21 October
Contreras, “Chicana, Chicano, Chican@, Chicanx” (Canvas);
Valdez, “Notes on Chicano Theatre” (Canvas);
El Rabinal Achí video (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Valdez, “Notes on Chicano Theatre” (Canvas);
El Rabinal Achí video (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
23 October
Valdez, Zoot Suit
24 October
Valdez, Zoot Suit
Week Ten: Perspectives on Colony and Resistance
28 October
Ladipọ, Oba Wájá (The King is Dead) (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
30 October
Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman Acts 1-3
1 November
Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman Acts 4 & 5
Week Eleven: Perspectives on Colony and Resistance
4 November
Césaire (Aimé) The Tragedy of King Christophe
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
6 November
Césaire (Aimé) The Tragedy of King Christophe
Attend A Midsummer Night’s Dream on 7 November at 7PM in the Eisenhower Auditorium.
Attend A Midsummer Night’s Dream on 7 November at 7PM in the Eisenhower Auditorium.
8 November
Césaire (Ina) Island Memories (Canvas)
Unit 5
What does it mean to belong to a family, to a culture or in a location?
How can drama be transnational?
How is in-betweenness embraced, or nationality challenged in contemporary drama?
Week Twelve: World War II and the Theatre of the Absurd
11 November
Theatre of the Absurd readings (Canvas)
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
13 November
Beckett, Happy Days (Canvas)
15 November
Ionesco, The Bald Soprano (Canvas)
Week Thirteen: Arabic-Language Theatre in National and Transnational Contexts
18 November
Al-Hakim, "The Donkey Market," "The Song of Death"
Discussion Board Post
Discussion Board Post
20 November
Al-Bassam, The Al-Hamlet Summit
Final Project Proposal
22 November
Al-Bassam, The Al-Hamlet Summit
Week Fourteen: Thanksgiving Break (NO CLASS)
25 November
NO CLASS
27 November
NO CLASS
29 November
NO CLASS
Week Fifteen: (Social) Networks on Stage
2 December
Hudes, Water by the Spoonful, Act 1
Discussion Board Posts
Discussion Board Posts
4 December
Hudes, Water by the Spoonful, Act 2
6 December
Optional watching: RENT (Canvas); We will watch part in class
Week Sixteen: Belonging and In-Betweenness; Course Wrap-Up
9 December
Gordon, Nine Night
Discussion Board Post;
Discussion Board Post;
11 December
Gordon, Nine Night
13 December
Course Wrap-Up, Peer Review Party
Final Paper Rough Draft
Final Day to Turn in Extra Credit
Final Paper Rough Draft
Final Day to Turn in Extra Credit
Final Exam Week
Final Project Due on Wednesday, 18 December by 11:15 AM