Exercises

At one class each week (typically Monday), you will write a very short (100-150 word) essay on a topic related to the reading for the week. In some cases, the Exercises will involve supplementary reading assignments. Typically you will write your exercise at the beginning of class, then do further work on it with one or more other students. You must be present at the beginning of class to submit your Exercise for that day. I will grade most of your Exercises on the basis of my judgment of your effort, and the quality of your writing. Most of your Exercises (10) will be graded pass/fail. I will assign a letter grade to the rest (5), chosen at random during the semester (you will not know in advance which Exercises will be given a letter grade). At the end of the semester I will drop 2 Exercises (1 P/F and the lowest of the 5 that are letter graded).  Your P/F exercises will count for 15% of your final grade; your letter graded exercises will count for 10%.

You can download copies of the exercises as they are posted each week:

Lecture Responses

The Lecture Responses will help you reach all 4 goals. At one class each week (typically Wednesday) I will give a lecture on the reading for the week. At the end of class I will give you 5 minutes to write a brief response to the lecture. Your response will have two parts:

1. a question, in which you ask for clarification of a point I make, and
2. a comment, in which you offer your own opinion on the lecture topic.

I will use the Lecture Responses to help structure the following class (typically Friday), which will be primarily devoted to a discussion of the ideas from the lecture. I will post the lecture notes on the class website immediately after class; if you miss the lecture you may read it on the web, and bring a Lecture Response to the following class for half credit. I will grade your Lecture Responses pass/fail, on the basis of my judgment of your effort (you must do both parts of the response to get full credit). At the end of the semester I will drop 2 Lecture Responses. Your Lecture Responses will count for 10% of your final grade.

Term Paper

The Term Paper will test you on your understanding of 1) how Plato’s attack on theater can be interpreted as reflecting a concern for theatricality in political life, and 2) how Shakespeare uses the theatrical metaphor to reflect on politics.

For your paper you will choose a passage from Plato’s Republic, and discuss how it presents the idea of theatricality in political life. You must explain what point Plato is making about politics, and how he uses the comparison to theater to make it. Then you will choose one or more scenes from a play by Shakespeare (taken from the list below) that also suggest the comparison between politics and theater. (Choose from scenes in which Shakespeare shows characters exercising, and reflecting on, political power.) You will then compare the ways Plato and Shakespeare make use of the theatrical metaphor to interpret politics. That is, you will compare the outlook on politics each offers, in terms of the idea of theatricality. Throughout, you must specify in detail how, for each author, politics is like theater, using the categories (mask, script, role, etc.) discussed in class, or other categories you develop yourself.

Your paper should be between 1,500 and 2,000 words, or about 6 - 8 typed pages. It must be typed, double-spaced with 1" margins. (Pages must be numbered, and papers must be stapled together.

A draft of your paper is due in class on Monday, March 1. At that class you will work with another student to review each other’s paper according to criteria I will provide. (You must bring two copies of your draft: one to submit to me and one to exchange with the other student.) I will return your draft with comments, but ungraded, by March 22. You will receive credit for your draft based on my evaluation of your effort and your observation of the format. Your draft is worth 10% of your final grade for the course. You should then revise your paper for final submission on Monday, March 29. Your completed paper is worth 30% of your final grade.

For further details, and a printable version of this assignment, click here.

Final Exam

The Final will be held May 4, at 8:00 AM. It will have two parts: one will cover Rousseau’s Letter to d’Alembert; the other will ask you to use readings from the semester to discuss theatricality within interpersonal relations. You must take the Final to pass the course.  Your Final will count for 25% of your final grade.

For a printable study guide, click here.