ENLT 565: Ibsen, Strindberg and Shaw (Spring 2009)

M 5:30-8:15 in DI 432
 http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/mdrama09.html
<http://english.montclair.edu>

 Prof. Wendy Nielsen
Office Hours: M 4-5:30, W 10-11:30, & by appt. in Dickson Hall 352
Email: nielsenw@mail . . . 

Texts available at University Bookstore (please use assigned translations):
Course description: What is the tragedy of the modern family? How are family members expected to perform? And can the theater even begin to portray the comedy and tragedy (or tragicomedy) that is modern life? Late nineteenth-century European theater raised these and other intimate questions to shocked readers and audiences. We will read the three playwrights of this course’s title—Henrik Ibsen (Doll House, Hedda Gabler), August Strindberg (Miss Julie, The Father), and George Bernard Shaw—in the context of the Naturalist movement. Students will leave this course with knowledge about these plays’ performance histories and with a better appreciation for the ways in which literary movements cross national boundaries (from Germany to Norway, Sweden, England, and Ireland); in addition to the “three great modern playwrights” mentioned in the course catalog description, we will examine two German plays—Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind and one of the few Naturalist plays written by a woman, Twilight, by Holocaust survivor Elsa Bernstein (writing under a male pseudonym, Ernst Rosmer).

Requirements:       Click here to get an explanation of my shorthand on Style issues, and my criteria for grading: http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/correction.html

#1: The Spirit of a Democratic Classroom: Respect, Collegiality, and Integrity

#2: Participation (10%) incl. regular attendance, timely completion of weekly reading, contribution to class discussion, 1 presentation of a Position Paper, and participation in peer review sessions

#3: Final Position Paper Portfolio (40%): After reading the assigned material, you need to arrive to seminars with a position in mind. In French called a précis, in German a Referat, the position paper is an academic tradition whereby seminar participants share their thoughts in writing (ca. 1-2 pages/250-400 words). At the very least, a position paper summarizes the salient critical points of a scholarly debate and connects these to the reader’s own thoughts on the primary text, but ideally, a position paper points towards the reader’s critique-in-process, or a mature critical perspective on both primary and critical text, opening the way for the seminar to discuss and debate themes that may call secondary authors' perspectives into question. Another way to think about a position paper is as a provocation: it should provoke readers to new ways about thinking about a complex issue. You should use position papers as opportunities to hone your critical perspective, as well as your academic writing persona. The ability to say something intelligent about texts in a short amount of time is a skill that English graduate students are expected to demonstrate in several different forums: in seminars, in theses defenses, in oral presentations at conferences, and ultimately, in front of the classroom as professors. If you are struggling for an approach to take for your paper, consider beginning with a critical question; closely analyzing a specific passage in detail (examining issues such as subtext, gesture, language, symbolism, etc.); researching additional theater reviews (see list "Researching Theater" under Blackboard/Assignments) and writing an anatomy of a specific performance that leads to a new interpretation of the text (by examining the potential for different interpretations that performance engenders); or arguing against a critical author's assumptions.

Nota Bene: All primary and secondary sources should be cited according to MLA. Sometimes we will be reading more than one critical text. Please choose your own focus: you do not have to write about every single text we read, but should form a critical perspective that might apply to one or more texts. Every seminar participant will write a position paper on assigned days and submit it to the instructor (hard copy, typed, stapled, 12 pt. font in Times New Roman, with 1" margins). Once a semester every student will present his or her position paper to the class. On these occasions, students should provide enough copies of the position paper for the entire class and the instructor, and should come prepared to read the paper aloud and to contribute in a significant way to the class discussion. In order to make these works in progress pedagogically effective for all seminar participants, please post your weekly writings on Blackboard/Discussion Board in addition to handing in a hard copy to the instructor.

Evaluation: I will read your position papers (hard copy only), comment on them, and provide check, check plus, or check minuses as pre-evaluative criteria. At the end of the semester, a portfolio of your position papers will be evaluated for a letter grade (see below). The presentation of your position paper is not graded, but you must do it in order to receive a satisfactory Participation grade. Owing to scheduling difficulties, I am afraid I am NOT able to read late position papers, although you may include them as part of your top 5 papers in the Final Position Paper Portfolio. I will NOT accept emailed Position Papers. If you cannot attend class, I suggest you ask a fellow participant to bring your hard copy to class. If you are unable to turn in your Position Paper on time, I suggest you ask a fellow student to read and evaluate the work-in-progress.
The Final Position Paper Portfolio will include a critical introduction, your TOP 5 Position Papers, the originals of these mini essays (if available), and at least 1 revision that highlights your editing skills. The cover letter should self-evaluate your own position papers and address the following questions: How do these position papers show the independence of your critical thinking? How would you describe your (evolving) academic writing persona? What have you learned about reading, researching, and the field of English? In what ways have these writing exercises prepared you to become a better student as well as to become a better researcher? How have these writing exercises aided your thinking this semester? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your position papers? Which is your best position paper, and why? What grade would you give yourself for this assignment? Immediately following the cover letter, place a well-edited revision of one of your position papers that highlights how well you can transform your writing from rough to final copy. Even though this is the only required revision, I encourage you to revise all papers carefully. Please include all five originals with my comments on them. You should also include any position papers that you’re handing in late--but only the five you are submitting for a grade (I will only evaluate the first five papers). Here’s a final list of everything you should include: 1) Cover letter; 2) Edited Revision; 3) Original Position Papers; 4) Any late material. Please simply staple everything together, or use a binder clip. No cover pages or folders, please.

#4: Annotated Bibliography (10%): Annotate 3 recent (less than 10 years old) peer-reviewed sources for your Final Essay. Put the full citation of the article, book, or book chapter first, and then answer the following questions, in about 5 to 10 sentences: 1) What is the author’s argument? 2) How does the author support this argument? What kinds of evidence does she use? 3) What does the author hope to accomplish by writing this piece? What kinds of biases might the author have? 4) Who is the author’s audience? To what kind of scholarly debate is she contributing? 5) In what ways is this piece relevant for your own research question? You should carefully distinguish (in each and every sentence) which ideas can be attributed to one of these three authors, and which ideas are the product of your own thinking. You must cite every time you report an author's ideas, not only by citing page numbers, but also by indicating through words and phrasing ("According to Smith's book Literature . . . "; "The author of this article argues . . . ") that you are reporting second-hand information. Failure to do so will result in a point being taken off every sentence that does not properly cite and attribute the source of ideas (a core tenet of academic writing).

#4: Final Essay, 12-20 pages on 1 or 2 dramas (40%): The Final Essay should represent new, innovative, and provocative research, reading, and thinking on at least one drama read in this course (or two, or a combination of one drama from this course material, and a play we did not read in this course). As with any seminar paper, you should begin with a research question that is the product of critical thinking, close reading of the primary text, and extensive outside reading of scholarly sources and performance reviews, all of which should be carefully documented in your paper (I will not put a number on the required number of secondary articles, but excellent scholars try to be thorough; in any case, I will examine the quality of your research).  Please be sure to distinguish your ideas from those of other scholars and thinkers (as with the Annotated Bibliography, failure to do so will result in a point being taken off every sentence that does not properly cite and attribute the source of ideas). Perhaps the idea for your Final Essay will emerge because you wish to argue against another author, scholar, or interpretive tradition. It could be that the Final Essay starts with one of your Position Papers. Your Final Essay should also touch on at least one performance of a drama, and the final product may touch on theater history, literary analysis, performance theory, gender studies, and/or a combination of these fields. I encourage you to avail yourself of local resources such as the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, which offers the opportunity to view taped performances and do archival research of playbills, photographs, and theater history. In evaluating your essay, I will award a maximum of 50 points for style (syntax, grammar, punctuation), and up to 50 points for content (originality, introduction, thesis/argument, paragraphs with main idea, logical structure, supporting evidence, sophistication/clarity, and conclusion). You may submit a self-addressed stamped envelope with your final essay if you would like it back before next semester (or pick it up next semester before Halloween).

Some Policies: Tentative schedule subject to change; see http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/ibsengrad.html for updates
Date
 Class Activities
 Homework Due
 Supplemental Reading
M 1/26 Course introduction; The Woman Question/The New Woman; Library Tutorial (7 pm)
 Read Innes, "Introduction" to A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre (1-42, through the "Chronology")
M 2/2 A Doll House; PP1 Read Ibsen, A Doll House; theater reviews (incl. alt. ending); Innes on Ibsen (65-96); Templeton, J. "Doll House Backlash;" and  write Position Paper (PP) #1
 Bloom, "Ibsen;" Moi, "First and Foremost a Human Being"
M 2/9 Hedda Gabler; PP2 Read Ibsen, Hedda Gabler; theater reviews; Innes on HG (96-122);  Finney, "Maternity and Hysteria;" and write PP2
 Torrey-Barstow, "Hedda is All of Us;" sel. chapters from Cambridge Companion to Ibsen
M 2/16 Miss Julie; PP3 Read Strindberg, Miss Julie; theater reviews; Templeton, A. "Miss Julie as a 'Naturalistic Tragedy';" Marker and Marker, "Before Inferno"(1-12 in Strindberg and Modernist Theatre); write PP3
 Schlueter, "A. v. Strindberg;" Reynolds, "Miss Julie;" Törnqvist and Jacobs, Strindberg's Miss Julie; Reynolds, "Miss Julie"
M 2/23 The Father; PP4 Read Strindberg, The Father; theater reviews; Finney, "The Devil in the House?;" and Sprinchorn, E. "Strindberg and the Greater Naturalism;" write PP4 Allran, "The Father"
M 3/2 Twilight; PP5 Read Bernstein, Twilight; Kord, "Intro.;" Weigert, "Gender-Art-Science;" Roesch, "Daughter and Sister;" write PP5
 Kord, "The Eternal Feminine and the Eternal Triangle;" Viëtor-Engländer, "Hidden from the World;" Lorenz, "Writing for Survival"
M 3/9 Spring Awakening; PP6 Read Wedekind, Spring Awakening + intro.; theater reviews; Skrine, "F. Wedekind;" S. Gittleman, Frank Wedekind; write PP6
 Dickinson, "Dickinson, E. R. "The Men's Christian Morality Movement in Germany;" Franklin, "Wedekind;" Shakelford, "Spring Awakening;" Expressionism; Meriam Webster's Lit. Ency.: Expressionism
M 3/23 Mrs. Warren's Profession, PP7--COULD CHANGE
 Read Shaw, Mrs. Warren's Profession; Innes on Shaw (59-63, 189-232); Li, "Mrs. Warren's Profession in China;" write PP7--COULD CHANGE
 Bloom, "Shaw;" sel. chapters from Cambridge Companion to Shaw; 
M 3/30 Brecht/Artaud; Quintessence of Ibsenism; Attend Guilllory talk @ 7pm in DI 179
 Read Brecht/Artaud excerpts and sel. pages from Shaw, The Quintessence of Ibsenism; start revising position papers and researching your Final Essay
M 4/6 Candida Read Shaw, Candida; Finney, "The New Woman as Madonna" and Morgan, "The Virgin Mother;" no PP due; start/finish revising Position Papers for Final Portfolio Cuomo, "'Saint Joan before the Cannibals:' Shaw and the Third Reich"
M 4/13 Presentation of your best Position Paper
 Position Paper Portfolio due
M 4/20 Conferences in 352 DI (no class meeting)
 Research and brainstorm a topic for your Final Essay, and post a proposal to Blackboard/Disc. Board by 2:30 p.m.; meet instructor for conference
M 4/27 Presentation of your sources, discussion of research process
 Annotated Bibliography due; continue reading, researching, and writing for your Final Essay
M 5/4 Peer Review of rough drafts; Informal Presentations of Final Essay; Informal Conferences
 Rough draft of Final Essay due: post to Bb/Disc. Board and bring at least one copy to class

M 5/11
 Final Essay due in 352 DI no later than 7:30 p.m. (early submissions welcome--just place under the door) Finish editing Final Essay. Please simply staple everything together, or use a binder clip. No cover pages or folders, please.

Bibliography of Secondary Works:

Cuomo, G. ""Saint Joan before the Cannibals:' George Bernard Shaw in the Third Reich." German Studies Review 16.3 (Oct. 1993): 435-461.

Dickinson, E. R. "The Men's Christian Morality Movement in Germany, 1880-1914: Some Reflections on Politics, Sex, and Sexual Politics." The Journal of Modern History 75. 1 (Mar., 2003): 59-110.

Finney, Gail. "The Devil in the House? Strindberg's The Father." Women in Modern Drama: Freud, Feminism, and European Theater at the Turn of the Century. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1989. 207-26.

Finney, Gail. "Maternity and Hysteria: Ibsen's Hedda Gabler." Women in Modern Drama: Freud, Feminism, and European Theater at the Turn of the Century. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1989. 145-65.

Finney, Gail. "The New Woman as Madonna: Shaw's Candida." Women in Modern Drama: Freud, Feminism, and European Theater at the Turn of the Century. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1989. 185-206.

Gittleman, Sol. Frank Wedekind. NY: Twayne, 1969.

 Innes, C., ed. Cambridge Companion to George Bernard Shaw. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.

Innes, C. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. NY: Routledge, 2000.

Kay Li. "Mrs. Warren's Profession in China: Factors in Cross-Cultural Adaptations." Shaw: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies 25 (2005): 201-220.

Kord, Susanne. "Introduction." Twilight. NY: MLA, 2003. xi-xlii.

Marker, F. J. and L-L. Marker. "Before Inferno: Strindberg and Nineteenth-Century Theatre." Strindberg and Modernist Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 1-12.

McFarlane, J. ed. Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.

Moi, Toril. "'First and Foremost a Human Being:' Idealism, Theatre, and Gender in A Doll's House." Modern Drama 49.3 (Fall 2006): 256-284.

Morgan, Margery. "The Virgin Mother." Modern Critical Views: George Bernard Shaw. Ed. H. Bloom. NY: Chelsea House, 1987. 121-38.

Shaw, G. B. The Quintessence of Ibsenism. NY: Dover, 1994.

Skrine, Peter. "Frank Wedekind." Hauptmann, Wedekind, and Schnitzler. NY: St. Martin's, 1989. 72-82.

Templeton, Alice. "Miss Julie as a 'Naturalistic Tragedy'." Theatre Journal 42.4 (Dec. 1990): 468-80.

Templeton, Joan. "The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen." PMLA 104.1 (1989): 28-40.

Törnqvist, Egil and Barry Jacobs. Strindberg's Miss Julie: a Play and Its Transpositions. Norwich: Norvik, 1988.

Torrey-Barstow, Susan. "Hedda Is All of Us": Late-Victorian Women at the Matinee." Victorian Studies 43.3 (Spr. 2001): 387-411.