English 630: Comedy and Tragedy
as Cultural Studies

Course Description:

This course examines theories and criticism of tragedy and comedy as they relate to a broad spectrum of cultural texts, from the usual sources such as literature, film, television and music to the less conventional sources such as architecture, art, and others. In addition to the course readings and materials described in this syllabus, each student will be asked on several occasions to bring in music and video materials as representations of comedy or tragedy. Concurrent short readings in theory texts will accompany longer readings of primary materials such as the novels or plays. We will not be seeking to establish definitive understandings of either tragedy or comedy, but rather we’ll explore the various qualities that make a text tragic or comic, and then see how these characteristics can be expressed, stretched and mutated to fit any number of narrative forms.

This is a graduate course and as such, the reading requirements are rigorous and the expectation is that everyone must actively contribute to our weekly seminar conversations.

Required texts:

• Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones’s Diary. Penguin.
• Frye, Northrup. Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton.
• Jarry, Alfred. Ubu Roi. New Dimensions.
• Moliere. Trans. Richard Wilbur. Tartuffe. Harvest.
• Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Penguin.
• Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Longman.
• Sophocles. The Oedipus Cycle. Harcourt.
• Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. Norton.
• A course reader will also be provided.
• Click here for course web resources

Course Requirements:

Participation: Come to class. Arrive to class on time. Assignment schedules are subject to changes announced in class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to contact me or a classmate for the assignment and any schedule changes. Perfect attendance contributes to an above average course grade. You will not pass the course if you accumulate more than three absences in the semester. No assignment may be turned in via email. You must notify me in advance if you will be absent on a day that you are scheduled to present or initiate a discussion.

Keep up with the reading. Each student is responsible for actively contributing to every class discussion.

Assignments:

You will have one major 15-page writing assignment, due on December 15. Preliminary work will include a thesis proposal with bibliography to be generated before the paper is written. No late papers will be accepted.

For each reading assignment, some students will be assigned a one-page reading journal, while others will write discussion questions. The reading journal-discussion question assignments will rotate so that everyone does equal work. Reading journals and questions are not accepted late under any circumstance, and never by email.

One student will lead our discussion for each assigned reading with an initial oral report to start our conversation.

Each student will select one text (from a provided list of essays, plays, and other material) upon which to report to the whole class and provide a one page summary handout of how that text relates to the themes of comedy and/or tragedy.

At regular intervals, class members will be asked to bring in an example of comedy or tragedy in forms such as music, standup, media, film, etc.. The example is usually accompanied by a one-page handout with explanatory notes.

All assignments must be typed in 12-point font and are due at the beginning of class. Work exceeding one page must be printed single-sided and stapled. Work that is not stapled, or not typed will not be accepted. Please make a habit of backing up your computer files so that disk errors and lost data do not affect your work.

Grading:

	10%		10 minute seminar lecture for one assigned reading (approx. 4 double-spaced pages)
	10%		10-15 minute lecture and handout on one selected reading
	15%		Reading/viewing journals and discussion questions
	15%		Presentations of tragedy and comedy examples
	25%		Participation
	25%		Final paper

* The Frankenstein faces above are Fred Gwynne as Heman Munster from the 1964-1966 CBS television series,The Munsters, and Boris Karloff as Frankesntein from the 1931 Universal Pictures film directed by James Whale.