EXPOS 20 • CONTEMPORARY THEATRE Section 105: TTh 2pm Section 106: TTh 3pm Sever Hall 105 // Fall 2013
Dr. Ken Urban Harvard College Writing Program, One Bow Street, Suite 250, Room 212 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 617 495 9818 Office Hours: Tuesday 4pm–5pm, and Thursday afternoon by appointment ** Note: There are no office hours during conference weeks. **
From Sophocles to Ibsen, theatre has always sought to push the envelope, to antagonize complacent audiences, daring them to question their beliefs, to re-imagine the world. Since the 1960s in particular, American and British theatre has served as a laboratory for unprecedented social and political provocation. This writing seminar analyzes works by groundbreaking playwrights from the past five decades, and examines how these writers use the stage to theatricalize analysis itself, to reveal just how dramatic and world-shattering critical thinking can be. We will consider the relationship between politics and dramatic form in Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, alongside the theories of Bertolt Brecht and Viktor Shklovsky. How do these plays “make strange” or “defamiliarize” the politically charged issues of AIDS and pedophilia? But provocation is not necessarily so serious. Equally provocative are the hyper-realistic comedies of Richard Maxwell and Annie Baker. How does awkwardness combine the mundane with the profound? How does it blur the awkward blur the boundaries between comedy and tragedy? For our research essay, we will examine the disturbing plays of Samuel Beckett and Sarah Kane. Are their sadistic displays of suffering a reflection of life, a cheap thrill that inures us to actual violence, or an ethical catalyst for change? Since playwrights write their plays to be performed, we must consider our readings not only as literature, but texts for the stage. No stage experience is necessary, just imagination.
As a writing-intensive course, we will spend the semester mastering the skills of academic writing. We will talk about the importance of thesis and argument, and how to use evidence to support your claims. We will also work on other crucial writing skills that might be new to you: questions of audience, how to avoid assumptions and define keyterms to ground an argument, the importance of style and tone, the role of counter-argument. You will also learn how writing is a process. Rather than writing and reading being considered separate activities, the course will stress how interconnected the two are. You will leave the course with an understanding of the elements of a successful academic essay as well as develop a repertoire of strategies for writing and revising that will serve you well during your time at Harvard and beyond, regardless of your concentration or intellectual interests. 2
Course Requirements:
Readings/Books
Available for purchase at the Harvard Square Coop, 1400 Mass Ave: Baker, Annie. The Vermont Plays (TCG) Beckett, Samuel. Collected Shorter Plays (Grove Press) Kane, Sarah and Ken Urban. Blasted (Student Edition) (Methuen) Kane, Sarah. Complete Plays (Methuen) -- optional Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches (TCG) Vogel, Paula. The Mammary Plays: How I Learned to Drive/ The Mineola Twins (TCG)
Some readings are available as PDFs on the course iSite < http://isites.harvard.edu/k97180 > Richard Maxwell, Caveman Viktor Shklovsky, “Art as Technique” Bertolt Brecht, Selections from Brecht on Theatre
The Harvard Guide to Using Sources < http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu >
A good dictionary and writing handbook are also advised. I recommend The Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook.
Writing
You will write three essays this semester. While each essay will focus on a different set of readings, each one builds off the lessons of the previous paper. You will write a draft of each paper followed by a revision. For each essay, you will also write a Response Paper to help you prepare. You will also be reading and commenting on each other’s writing throughout the semester. All writing assignments must be turned in on-time.
Conferences
For each essay, we will meet for a conference to discuss your draft and your progress as a writer. These meetings are a chance to help you strategize and plan your revisions. You should come to each conference prepared, having re-read your draft and any comments that I have given you on previous papers.
On occasion, I will be in touch about class-related stuff via email, so please check your email and the course iSite often. Assignments and essays will be submitted through the course Dropbox located on the iSite. Please submit all work as a Word document (either .doc or .docx). No PDFs, though an RTF will work in a pinch.
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Participation
Our course will be run as a seminar and therefore, all participants are expected to have come to class having completed all the reading and assignments, and ready to talk. There will be informal presentations/performances as part of class discussions.
Course Policies:
Grades will be determined this way:
Essay #1: 20% Essay #2: 30% Essay #3: 40% Participation, Class Presentations and Attendance: 10%
Attendance and Submission of Work:
Because Expos has fewer classes than other courses, and because instruction in Expos proceeds by sequential writing activities, your consistent attendance is essential. Students are expected to contact me promptly if they will miss or have just missed a class because of illness or religious holiday. Only these absences will be excused. If you are absent without medical or religious excuse more than twice, you are eligible to officially excluded from the course and failed. On your second unexcused absence, you will receive a letter of warning. Late work will be marked down half a letter grade each day it is late. If something comes up and you need an extension, please speak to me in advance of the due date.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of someone else’s as your own. It is illegal and carries with it serious academic consequences. We will spend time this semester discussing citation and the proper use of sources. If you have questions about the fine line between influence and plagiarism, a good rule of thumb is when in doubt, cite. More questions? Consult The Harvard Guide to Using Sources < http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu >
Completion of the Course
You can only successful complete and receive credit for the course if you complete all the assigned essays during the scheduled time allotted for the work. If you fail to submit at least a substantial draft of an essay by the due date, you are eligible to be officially excluded from the course and failed. 4
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE: ** Readings marked with PDF and assignments are available from “Readings and Assignments” on the course iSite. ** ** Videos are available from “Videos” on the course iSite. ** ** Dropbox, Shared Documents and Conference Sign-Up are available on course’s iSite. **
UNIT ONE: THE AWKWARD AND THE PROFOUND
Week 1
T 9/10 Introduction and Course Overview “How to Close Read Plays”
Th 9/12 Richard Maxwell, Caveman (PDF) Video: Soho Rep 2001 Production of Caveman (iSite)
Week 2
T 9/17 Annie Baker, The Aliens (in The Vermont Plays) ** Assignment for Essay #1 **
Th 9/19 Baker, continued ** Response Paper #1 Due by class, submit via Dropbox **
Week 3
T 9/24 Discussion of Response Papers ** Sign-up for Conferences **
Th 9/26 Sample Essays & Discussion: Argument & Evidence
** Draft of Essay #1 Due on Friday 9/27 by 4PM, submit via Dropbox. **
UNIT TWO: POLITICS AND FORM
Week 4
T 10/1 Shklovsky, “Art as Technique” (PDF)
Th 10/3 Selections from Brecht on Theatre (PDF)
** Conferences in the Conference Room at One Bow Street on Tuesday 10/1 & Thursday 10/3 **
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Week 5
** Revision of Essay #1 Due on Monday 10/7 by 4PM, submit via Dropbox. **
T 10/8 Kushner, Angels in America Pt. 1
Th 10/10 Kushner, continued Assignment for Essay #2
Week 6
T 10/15 Vogel, How I Learned to Drive ** Sign-up for Conferences ** ** Response Paper #2 Due by class via Dropbox. **
Th 10/17 Vogel, continued
** Draft of Essay #2 Due on Friday 3/15 at 4PM via Dropbox. **
Week 7
T 10/22 Discussion of Sample Essays
** Conferences in the Conference Room at One Bow Street on Tuesday 10/22 & Thursday 10/24 **
UNIT THREE: CRUELTY AND ETHICS
Th 10/24 Beckett, Selection from Collected Short Plays (Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I, Play, and Catastrophe) Videos of Beckett plays (iSite)
** Second Draft of Essay 2 Due by Friday 10/25 for Peer Review. **
Week 8
T 10/29 Beckett, continued Kane, Blasted
** Revision of Essay #2 Due on Wednesday 11/30 by 4PM, submit via Dropbox. **
Th 10/31 Kane, Blasted, continued Assignment for Essay #3
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Week 9
T 11/5 Workshop: Analytical Question ** Analytical Question for Essay #3 Due in Class **
Th 11/7 Lamont Library Session Class Meets with Librarian Stephen Kuehler
Week 10
T 11/12 Discussion of Sources ** Annotated Bibliography Due in class. **
Th 11/14 Discussion of Sample Essays/Presentations
** Draft of Essay #3 Due on Friday 4/19 by 4PM, submit via Shared Document. **
Week 11
T 11/19 NO CLASS// Group Conferences
Th 11/21 NO CLASS// Group Conferences
** Group Conferences in the Conference Room at One Bow Street on Tuesday 11/19 & Thursday 11/21 **
Week 12
T 11/26 READING DAY // NO CLASS
Th 11/28 THANKSGIVING // NO CLASS
Week 13
T 12/3 Final Class // Wrap-Up
** Revision of Essay #3 Due on Friday 12/6 by 4pm, submit via Dropbox. **