Overview
In this Unit, you will investigate Shakespeare’s insights on what it is to be human by analysing a selection of contemporary versions of his works. You will also investigate a range of issues relevant to the contemporary study of Shakespeare. The Unit is suitable for those with no prior knowledge of Shakespeare and for those studying to be English teachers.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
18 credit points
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 2 - 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 Student response (unit evaluation)
The support and feedback throughout the unit was amazing. The lecturers genuinely had an interest in seeing you exceed and this was evident in their feedback and communication throughout the term
Unit coordinator continue to provide students with a supportive and positive learning experience.
Feedback from Student response (unit evaluation)
I do believe, with the movies, the links need to be updated and there should be more ways to access these for free so we do not have to pay a load of money on movies. I also do believe that some of the content needs to be updated, just so we are recent as the lecture notes are all from about 2010, which was nearly 10 years old. overall though it was a great detailed unit, I quite enjoyed it.
Content needs to be updated to cover the most recent versions of the movies, which is what many students were watching. Provide better access/links to movies (although cost is reasonable given there are no set textbooks).
- Analyse and appraise Shakespeare’s exploration of the human condition
- Articulate ways in which contemporary critical practices have shaped our interpretations of Shakespeare’s works.
Nil
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 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 - 30% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||||
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: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.dodd@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Shakespeare Today
Chapter
- Shakespeare's relevance today
- Film versions, adaptations, novelisations
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Othello
Chapter
Othello 1995 (Dir. Oliver Parker), motion picture, Castle Rock Entertainment.
+ YouTube; iTunes
Optional: Tracey Chevalier, New Boy: A Novel - William Shakespeare’s Othello retold, Hogarth Shakespeare.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
King Lear
Chapter
King Lear 2018, (Dir. Richard Eyre), motion picture, Playground Entertainment.
+ YouTube
King Lear 1970, (Dir - Peter Brook), motion picture, Orion Pictures.
+ iTunes
Optional: Edward St Aubyn, Dunbar: A Novel - William Shakespeare’s King Lear retold, Hogarth Shakespeare.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The Tempest
Chapter
The Tempest 2010 (Dir. Julie Taylor), motion picture, Miramax.
+ YouTube; iTunes
Optional: Margaret Atwood, Hagseed: a novel - William Shakespeare’s The Tempest retold: Hogarth Shakespeare.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The Taming of the Shrew
Chapter
The Taming of the Shrew 1967 (Dir. Franco Zaffirelli), motion picture, Columbia Pictures.
+ YouTube: iTunes
Optional: Anne Tyler, Vinegar Girl: A novel - William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew retold.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Hamlet
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Hamlet
Chapter
+ Hamlet explained by John Gielgud - 16 May 1954 (Radio).
+ Kenneth Branagh's interview on Hamlet (1996).
+ The making of Branagh's Hamlet.
+ Harold Bloom interview on Hamlet (2003).
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Word length: no less than 1000 words:
Answer one (1) of the following:
- According to José Arroyo, Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is a ‘kiss, kiss, bang, bang’ movie which aims to entertain but also to showcase Shakespeare’s language: the words are not the ‘raison d’être’ of the film and do not ‘nullify the mise en scene’, but they are there’ (Arroyo, J 1997,’Kiss kiss bang bang’, Sight and Sound, vol. 7, no. 3, p. 6). Find some evidence from the film that helps explain these two categories - Shakespeare’s language, and entertainment (Luhrmann style) - and explore the connection between them in terms of the overall significance we attribute to the story.
- ‘Bevington believes that although Much ado about nothing is a romantic comedy, the picture it paints of the way that men behave in love is “troublesome”’. Men seem ‘overly dependent on women for their happiness and sense of male achievement’. Yet men see women as ‘faithless’, ready to ‘cuckold’ them at the slightest provocation’. This is ‘why Claudio is putty in the hands of Don John’ (Bevington, D 2002, Shakespeare, Blackwell, Oxford, p. 102). Do the men in Much Ado have any redeeming features? (Draw on evidence from the film).
(Note: Students must not use the films/plays chosen here for the Essay).
Week 4 Friday (7 Aug 2020) 11:55 pm AEST
Week 6 Friday (28 Aug 2020)
The assignment will be evaluated on your ability to:
- Establish a clear argument supported by relevant direct textual evidence (minimum 3 scholarly sources);
- Express yourself clearly (including spelling and grammar); and,
- Acknowledge all your sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style.
- articulate the ways in which Shakespeare in film generate interpretative possibilities relative to the times of writing, reading, performance and/or filmic production; and,
- analyse and evaluate issues raised by the plays/films, including comedy, tragedy, race, gender, class, notions of divine being, war, authority, ambition, death, subjectivity, identity and (post) colonialism.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Written Assessment
Word length: no less than 2000 words
Students are expected to keep a reflective journal comprising 5 entries of no less than 400 words each. These entries will respond to the reflective journal questions listed on the Moodle site for weeks 5 to 9. The reflective journal should be submitted on the due date as a word document through the Moodle online submission system. Further guidelines for the reflective journal are available on the Moodle website. Students who post their answers to the relevant weekly forum and respond to the posts of other students will be eligible for a 5% bonus mark (i.e. 5% of 50% = 2.5%).
Week 9 Friday (18 Sept 2020) 11:55 pm AEST
Week 11 Thursday (1 Oct 2020)
This assignment will be assessed according to the extent to which entries in the journal demonstrate your ability to:
- Analyse and evaluate issues raised by the reflective journal question;
- Acknowledge all sources correctly using the Harvard (author-date) style; and,
- Edit your answer carefully (including spelling and grammar).
- articulate the ways in which Shakespeare in film generate interpretative possibilities relative to the times of writing, reading, performance and/or filmic production; and,
- analyse and evaluate issues raised by the plays/films, including comedy, tragedy, race, gender, class, notions of divine being, war, authority, ambition, death, subjectivity, identity and (post) colonialism.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
Word length: no less than 1500
Answer ONE of the following (NB: in answering this question, students should not use texts discussed in the Short Paper. Please also note that the films chosen MUST be of the plays studied in this Unit.)
- Many of Shakespeare's texts deal with the consequences of disruptions to the social order by naive, clumsy or malicious characters. Choose two of Shakespeare's films/plays (or a Shakespearean play/film and a contemporary adaptation or novelisation) and explore the legitimacy and significance of this view.
- 'In Shakespeare's plays, women are portrayed as unruly and uncontrollable or as beautiful and desirable'. Choose two of Shakespeare's films/plays (or a Shakespearean play/film and a contemporary adaptation or novelisation) and explore the accuracy and significance of this view.
- Henry IV says: 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" (Henry IV, 3.1). Choose two of Shakespeare's ‘royal’ play/films studied (or a Shakespearean play/film and a contemporary adaptation or novelisation) and explore the consequences of this view.
Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2020) 11:55 pm AEST
Essays will be returned to students as soon as practicable after the end of term.
The assignment will be evaluated on your ability to:
- Establish a clear argument supported by relevant direct textual evidence, analysis and critical comment (minimum 3 scholarly sources);
- Express yourself clearly (including spelling and grammar); and,
- Acknowledge all your sources using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style.
- articulate the ways in which Shakespeare in film generate interpretative possibilities relative to the times of writing, reading, performance and/or filmic production; and,
- analyse and evaluate issues raised by the plays/films, including comedy, tragedy, race, gender, class, notions of divine being, war, authority, ambition, death, subjectivity, identity and (post) colonialism.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
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?
