ENGLISH 109

Drama on Stage and Screen (15 points)

SEMESTER 1, 2018

TUTORIALS START IN WEEK ONE!

 

 

 Image: Mr Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Playwrights Horizon Theatre, New York, 2013. Photo: Joan Marcus

 

TUTORIALS START IN WEEK ONE!

  

Staff:

 

Convenor:                  

Dr Emma Willis (Rm 639 in Arts One Bldg 206, Phone: 3737599 ext 82254, email: emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz ).

 

Guests:                       

Dr Margaret Henley

Victor Rodger

Professor Tom Bishop

 

Tutoring Staff:           

James Wenley  james.wenley@auckland.ac.nz   (Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2-4pm @ Arts 1, Room 611)

Nicholas Sturgess-Monks. nstu078@aucklanduni.ac.nz

 

Lecture Times:           

Tuesday 11-12, 260-073 (Owen G Glenn, Room 073)                                     

Thursday 11-12, 260-051 (303-G20 (Sci Maths & Physics, Room G20))

                

Tutorial Times:        TUTORIALS START IN WEEK ONE!   

Tuesday 12-1, 206-325 (Arts 1, Room 325, The Drama Studio), James

Wednesday 12-1, 206-325 (Arts 1, Room 325, The Drama Studio), James

Wednesday 1-2, 206-325 (Arts 1, Room 325, The Drama Studio), James

Thursday 12-1, 206-325 (Arts 1, Room 325, The Drama Studio), Nick

Thursday 2-3, 114-G18 (Commerce A, Room G18), Nick

Thursday 3-4, 114-G01 (Commerce A, Room G01), Nick

Thursday 4-5, 206-325 (Arts 1, Room 325, The Drama Studio), James

Friday 3-4, 206-210 (Arts 1, Room 210), James  

        

Course content and aims:

In this course we 'read' plays and films for their own sake, in other words as individual texts. But the overall aim of the course is to discover, through close reading of these texts, some wider knowledge of the structures and conventions of drama as they are manifested in the modes of stage (the theatre) and film (the cinema). We move through texts with reasonable rapidity. We will study seven plays and nine films in fifteen weeks. Some of these are stage and film versions of the same drama. Some of these are dramas that have only a stage or a film version. But they are all dramas. Drama is the heart of all our study. Not all stage performance is dramatic (eg. concerts, cabaret etc) nor is all film dramatic (eg. documentary, news). In looking at drama, at what it is and how it works, we look at issues such as dramatic structure, genre, audience relationship, representation, acting versus reality, self-presentation and gender. We will also consider the questions of 'translation' and 'adaptation,' particularly in relation to film and stage versions of the same drama. Another important part of our reading will be the relationship between text and performance. There will be opportunities for students to perform, in lectures, scenes from the texts we study in lectures.

 

Learning outcomes:

By attending lectures and tutorials, and completing coursework and assessments to a passing level, by the the end of the course you will be able to:

• Identify, describe and analyse the principles of drama
• Compare and contrast the dramatic elements of stage and screen dramas
• Compare and contrast different dramatic styles and genres
• Employ the basic technical language of dramatic technique for stage and screen

 

Expected workload:

The expected workload for this course is 10 hours per week, including lectures, tutorials, readings/screenings and assignments.

 

Public performances of dramas taught in English 109:

You are strongly encouraged both to take part in and to see as much live theatre as possible. The shows below are particularly relevant to our course:

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Pop-up Globe, Dec 2017- end of March 2018

 

List of Plays and Films for study:

 

Plays:

 

Albert Belz, Awhi Tapu

Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

Victor Rodger, My Name is Gary Cooper in Urbanesia: Four Pasifika Plays

William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Anne Washburn, Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play

These texts can be purchased from the University Bookshop. They can also be borrowed from the University Library or read in the short-loan collection. Some texts are available as e-books via the UoA Library. Please check online. Please make sure you have read the text before coming to the lecture or the tutorial on that text.

 

Films:

Chinatown, dir. Roman Polanski

A Streetcar Named Desire dir. Elia Kazan

The Crying Game, dir. Neil Jordan

The Arbor, dir. Cleo Barnard

Adaptation, dir. Spike Jonze

The Library holds each of the films in the course on desk copy. To watch a film, cite the title of the film and the course number to a librarian at the desk. Films must be watched in the library and cannot be taken out of the library. Please make sure you have watched the film before coming to the lecture or the tutorial on that film.

 

Teaching Format:

The course will be taught in two kinds of classes:

 

1. Lectures: Here (mostly) you will be audience and the teachers will be the performers. Lectures are not there to provide you with ‘the answers.’ The answers you write in the readings responses and the test and the essay and the exam are your answers. The function of lectures is much more to provide you with questions; and also to provide you with background, context, and perspective on the text and its relation to stage and/or screen drama. It is from this material that you can construct your argument in writing your own answer. Though lectures are large and impersonal, audience participation in the form of questions is welcome. The lectures will make a lot more sense to you if YOU HAVE READ THE TEXT BEFORE THE LECTURE. Please make sure you do the reading/watching!

 

2. Tutorials: In the smaller tutorial classes you have a chance to take the stage. The active presentation of your thoughts makes for lively tutorial classes.   Again, coming to tutorial having read the text makes a positive difference. Your tutor will mark your essay and test and will be your first stop for advice and information. You will have TEN tutorials during the semester. There will be NO tutorial in week six and NO tutorial in the ninth week of semester, which is the week the essay/creative project is due.

 

Lecture Schedule:

 

27 Feb:           Awhi Tapu (EW)

1 March:         Awhi Tapu (EW)

TUTORIALS START IN WEEK ONE!

 

6 March:         Chinatown (MH)

8 March:         Chinatown (MH)

 

13 March:      In-class test close reading option

15 March:      In-class test close screening option

NO TUTORIALS THIS WEEK

 

20 March:      Streetcar (EW)         

22 March:      Streetcar (EW)         

 

27 March:      Crying Game (MH)

29 March:      Crying Game (MH)

 

EASTER BREAK 30 March – 15 April

Mini assignment due Monday 16 April

 

17 April:         In-lecture workshop of main assignment topics    

19 April:         My Name is Gary Cooper (EW)

NO TUTORIALS THIS WEEK

 

24 April:         My Name is Gary Cooper (VR)

26 April:         Shakespeare’s Theatre (TB)

 

1 May:             MND (TB)

3 May:             MND (TB) (assignment due 4 May)          

 

8 May:            Mr Burns (EW)

10 May:          Mr Burns (EW)

 

15 May:          The Red Shoes (EW)

17 May:          The Red Shoes (EW)

 

22 May:          Adaptation (MH)

24 May:          Adaptation (MH)      

 

29 May:          Revision  

31 May:          Revision

 

Assessment:

 

Note: The texts which you write about in your ESSAY or CREATIVE PROJECT cannot be written about for answers in the examination. You may repeat texts from the test.

Note, too, that each pairing of a play and of a film based on that play counts as ONE TEXT. Therefore, you may not write, for example, on A Streetcar Named Desire the play in one question and then on A Streetcar Named Desire the film in another. Nor may you write a comparative essay in Section A of the exam on, for example, A Streetcar Named Desire the play and A Streetcar Named Desire the film and count these as two different texts.

 

Coursework, 50%

1. Participation 10%

 Participation will be based on attendance, participation in class discussions and activities, and may include pop quizzes based on course texts.

 

2. Test in Class 15% Tuesday 13 March or Thursday 15 March

This test will be held in the lecture room during the lecture hour.  You have the option of either:

A close reading from a passage of Awhi Tapu, on Tuesday 13 March

OR

A close reading of a scene from Chinatown that will be screened in the test, on Thursday 15 March

You must only sit ONE of these tests

 

3. Essay 5% + 20% 1,500 words   

Proposal due week 6: Monday 16 April 4pm (will be returned by 5pm Friday 20 April)

Essay due week 8: Friday 4 May 4pm

 

You will have a choice of the following options:

 

An essay on a topic about ONE of the following texts

• Awhi Tapu
• Chinatown
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• My Name is Gary Cooper
• The Orator
• Midsummer Night's Dream

 

OR a creative writing task involving writing a scene for the stage that extends the drama of either Awhi Tapu, A Streetcar Named Desire, My Name is Gary Cooper or A Midsummer Night’s Dream

 

 

OR A video trailer of 1 minute - 90 seconds for a hypothetical stage production of either:Awhi Tapu, A Streetcar Named Desire, My Name is Gary Cooper or A Midsummer Night’s Dream

 

OR working in a group to stage a scene from either Awhi Tapu, A Streetcar Named Desire, My Name is Gary Cooper or A Midsummer Night’s Dream

 

Examination:  2 hours, 3 questions 50%

 

Section A: ONE Comparative Essay, addressing a topic in relation to two or more texts.

The topics will be pre-announced: they will be distributed in the final week of teaching.

50% of exam

 

Section B: TWO answers, each on an individual play or film or play and related film.

In some cases the question may be a close analysis of a selected passage.

 

Each 25% of exam

 

 

NB: In the exam you cannot write on the text you wrote on for your essay or creative project.

 

*   *   *

 

 Preparation and Presentation of Essay

 

1. All assignments should be written with keyboard on A4 paper.
2. Leave a margin at least 5cm wide on the left-hand side of each page.
3. Write on one side of the paper only, as this makes reading and responding easier.
4. Use wide spacing between lines.

 

Handing in Assignments 

 

1. ALWAYS keep a copy of your assignment.
2. Submit your work electronically via Canvas.  Hardcopies are not required.
3. Assignments must also be deposited electronically on Turnitin.com – Instructions will be given on the Essay Assignment sheet. Essays will not be marked unless they are submitted to Turnitin.

 

Extensions & Penalties for late submission of assignments

 

Extensions must be requested in advance of the due date from your tutor. A medical certificate may be required, and should certainly be supplied if an essay is late without prior arrangement. 

Essays are expected to demonstrate competence in spelling, grammar and punctuation. You must reference all sources you quote and these citations must be accompanied by a bibliography of texts cited at the end of the essay. Failure to fulfil these requirements will affect grades.

 

Tuakana Arts Undergraduate Mentoring Programme:

 

http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/sites/index.cfm?S=M_TUAKANA

The aim of the Tuakana Arts Undergraduate Mentoring Programme is to provide a mentoring service that assists first year students to achieve to their full academic potential. This programme is for Maori and Pacific students and all other students who think they would benefit from working in a collaborative study environment.

The Tuakana mentor is 

For information about applications for aegrotat or compassionate consideration:

 

(http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/currentstudents/academiclife/aegrotatinfo.cfm)

 

Plagiarism:

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting his or her learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced.   This requirement also applies to sources on the world-wide web. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

 

Complaint procedures

 

(http://www.ausa.auckland.ac.nz/wave/grievance.html)