Overview
In this unit, you will gain a knowledge of the history of Western theatre from the ancient Athenian period to the present day. You will also study performance practices of Western theatre and how they relate to broader political, social and cultural contexts.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Students and teaching staff
This unit provided a clear focus on the principles of theatre through a review of historical eras from Ancient Athenian to Post Modern eras.
Further integration of dance history into this unit would complement its relationship to the Term 2 Dance major unit: CART11012 Dance Origins and Principles
- Discuss the development and structure of various Western theatre styles from the ancient Athenian period to the present day
- Relate the performance practices of various Western theatre styles in to their broader political, social, and cultural contexts
- Articulate attributes of performance practice relating to various Western theatre styles.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) - 40% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.brown@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
This week will include an introduction to the unit as a broad sweep of the historical periods of theatre. The tutorial will also discuss how to access the library resources and create the Annotated Bibliography for assessment 1. There will also be discussion on the expectations for Assessment 2 and 3.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will focus on the origins and conventions established in ancient Athenian theatre and the influence these conventions have maintained on theatre throughout history.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will discuss the evolution of Medieval and Renaissance Theatre, including Elizabethan theatre and Commedia dell'arte.
Chapter
Readings for this week are available on the Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will focus on the advent of Restoration theatre in England following the Interregnum of 17th century.
Chapter
Readings for this week are available on the Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will focus on the development of European theatre of Naturalism and Realism in the late 19th century.
Chapter
Readings for this week are available on the Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
No classes scheduled.
Chapter
There are no readings set for this week.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events or submissions due.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will review and discuss the evolution of theatre in Australia from 18th century colonisation to 20th century practices.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will examine the development of 20th century theatre in the USA, its adoption of European realism, and its influence on modern theatre and the film.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture will focus on the practices and philosophy of Bertolt Brecht, the conventions established in his approach to Epic Theatre, and their continued influence on theatre production today.
Chapter
Readings for this week are available on the Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture focuses on the post World War II European movement known as Absurdism, its origins, and an introduction to prominent Absurdist playwrights.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week's lecture focuses on 20th century styles grouped under the title of Alt theatre. These include: Theatre of Cruelty, Poor Theatre, Theatre of the Oppressed, Forum Theatre and Post Modern Theatre.
Chapter
Readings for this week are available on the Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This weeks lecture will be used to revise the topics in preparation for the end of term in-class test.
Chapter
There are no readings set for this week.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
There are no readings set for this week.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
In Class Exam
Chapter
There are no readings set for this week.
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Task:
After selecting one of the essay topics (see Assessment item 2), prepare an annotated bibliography on the topic comprising of 10 different sources.
- Five books (these can be hard copy, online books or e-books)
- Five academic journal articles (these can be accessed through the CQUniversity library)
Presentation:
- Submit your assignment online as a Word document
- Use 12 Point Times New Roman Font
- 1.5 spacing throughout
-
Arrange annotations in alphabetical order by the surname of the author, as per APA style for reference lists.
- Include your name and student number in the header of the document
- Include page numbers in the footer of the document
Length: 1000 - 1500 words
The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. It excludes the cover page, abstract, contents page, reference page and appendices. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.
Week 5 Monday (6 Apr 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 6 Friday (24 Apr 2020)
- Correct number and type of annotations (10%)
- Correct presentation of each reference in APA style, 6th edition (20%)
- Appropriate length of each annotation (10%)
- Appropriate depth for each annotation (60%)
- Discuss the development and structure of various Western theatre styles from the ancient Athenian period to the present day
- Relate the performance practices of various Western theatre styles in to their broader political, social, and cultural contexts
- Articulate attributes of performance practice relating to various Western theatre styles.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Written Assessment
Task: Write an essay on ONE of the topics provided below:
Topic 1: Tragedy on the stage
The themes of tragedy have intrigued playwrights for centuries and allowed them to explore various views of the world and the human condition. Select two important playwrights of tragedy from the late 19th or 20th century and compare and contrast their work to the ideas of tragedy as outlined by Aristotle in his Poetics. You must include primary source materials as part of your argument, this includes relevant excerpts from various play scripts by these writers that will support your argument. You may include links to images and Youtube clips, appropriately referenced. You may choose from the following playwrights: Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Eugene O'Neill, Anton Checkhov or Tennessee Williams. If you would like to consider other playwrights, please check with your lecturer before commencing this assignment.
Topic 2: Theatre as an agent for social change
Satire has often been used by playwrights to highlight perceived hypocrisy, political injustice and social inequality. With reference to two important playwrights from the late 19th or 20th century, discuss how they have used satire as an agent for social and political change through their works for the stage.You must include primary source materials as part of your argument, this includes relevant excerpts from various play scripts by these writers that will support your argument. You may include links to images and Youtube clips, appropriately referenced. You may choose from the following playwrights: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge, Bertolt Brecht, Tom Stoppard, or Edward Albee. If you would like to consider other playwrights, please check with your lecturer before commencing this assignment.
Presentation:
- This assignment is to be saved as a Word document and submitted online through the course website.
- Use 12 point Times New Roman font.
- 1.5 spacing throughout
- Sub-headings may be used as appropriate.
- In-text referencing should be used throughout to show the sources of your information, even if this is paraphrased into your own words.
- All direct quotes from primary sources, including diagrams and pictures should include an in-text reference, and full details included in the Reference List.
- Do not rely solely on web-based sources. On-line research sources obtained from peer reviewed journals or academic databases are acceptable. Any internet sources used must be scholarly and accredited. Citations from Wikipedia, Sparksnotes, or similar websites are not to be used under any circumstances.
Length: 2000 - 2500 words
The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. It excludes the cover page, abstract, contents page, reference page and appendices. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.
Week 10 Monday (18 May 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 12 Friday (5 June 2020)
- Clear introduction and conclusion (10%)
- Accuracy of information and depth of treatment of the topic (25%)
- Appropriate use of primary and secondary sources to support the argument (20%)
- Ability to present the argument clearly and logically (25%)
- Correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and clear lay-out (10%)
- Correct use of APA style for the in-text referencing and reference list (10%)
- Discuss the development and structure of various Western theatre styles from the ancient Athenian period to the present day
- Relate the performance practices of various Western theatre styles in to their broader political, social, and cultural contexts
- Articulate attributes of performance practice relating to various Western theatre styles.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 In-class Test(s)
You will sit a two hour in class test. The test will consist of short answer questions. The exam will focus on a selection of the historical eras of theatre covered through this unit and all exam questions will be directly related to knowledge covered within the unit. Short answer question design will include questions focused on knowledge, comprehension and application of understanding.
Exam Week Monday (15 June 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Exam Week Friday (19 June 2020)
Students results will be uploaded to Moodle gradebook when marked.
- Accuracy of responses in short-answer questions
- Depth of treatment
- Discuss the development and structure of various Western theatre styles from the ancient Athenian period to the present day
- Relate the performance practices of various Western theatre styles in to their broader political, social, and cultural contexts
- Articulate attributes of performance practice relating to various Western theatre styles.
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
