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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2016/2017

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : English Literature

Undergraduate Course: Early Modern Comedy (ENLI10367)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course focuses on comic writing for the English stage during one of its most exuberantly creative periods. Beginning with the romantic comedy of Shakespeare and concluding with some of the most daringly sceptical drama of the Restoration period, the course explores the varieties of comic theatre developed over the seventeenth century, including festive comedy, the carnivalesque, fable, city comedy, and different modes of satire. In doing so, it examines the comic engagement with a range of moral, social and political debates and conflicts. It also reads the plays in the light of theories and critical accounts of the purposes and workings of comedy, as well as in the context of the very different social and staging conditions obtaining at either end of the century.
Course description This course focuses on comic writing for the English stage during one of its most exuberantly creative periods. Beginning with the romantic comedy of Shakespeare and concluding with some of the most daringly sceptical drama of the Restoration period, the course explores the varieties of comic theatre developed over the seventeenth century, including festive comedy, the carnivalesque, fable, city comedy, and different modes of satire. In doing so, it examines the comic engagement with a range of moral, social and political debates and conflicts. It also reads the plays in the light of theories and critical accounts of the purposes and workings of comedy, as well as in the context of the very different social and staging conditions obtaining at either end of the century.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( English Literature 1 (ENLI08001) OR Scottish Literature 1 (ENLI08016)) AND ( English Literature 2 (ENLI08003) OR Scottish Literature 2 (ENLI08004))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesA MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having four or more literature classes at grade A.

** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2016/17, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  30
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Other Study Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 166 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) one hour per week Autonomous Learning Group
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 10 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Course Essay 30% (2,500 words);
class participation assessment 10%;
sit-down exam 60% (2 hours)
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. In their work for this course, students will develop their knowledge of the variety and kinds of comic writing for the English stage prevalent in the seventeenth century
  2. In their work for this course, students will demonstrate a developing understanding of the formal properties and characteristics of early modern comedy
  3. In their work for this course, students will analyse comic writing in the context of changing social and theatrical conditions
  4. In their work for this course, students will analyse comic writing in the light of theories of, and critical reflections on, the workings and purpose of comedy
  5. By the end of the course students will be able to demonstrate the ability to reflect constructively on the development of their own learning and research practice
Reading List
Compulsory

William Shakespeare, As You Like It (Oxford)
David Bevington, gen. ed. English Renaissance Drama: an Anthology (Norton)
Aphra Behn, The Rover (New Mermaids)
Gamini Salgado, ed. Three Restoration Comedies (Penguin)

Recommended

Matthew Bevis, Comedy (OUP)
Simon Critchley, On Humour (Routledge)
Dustin Griffin, Satire: a Critical Reintroduction (UP Kentucky)
Penny Gay, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies (CUP)
Alexander Leggatt, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy (CUP)
R. W. Maslen, Shakespeare and Comedy (Thomson)
Alexander Leggatt, Introduction to English Renaissance Comedy (MUP)
Rick Bowers, Radical Comedy in Early Modern England (Ashgate)
Adam Zucker, The Places of Wit in Early Modern English Comedy (CUP)
C. L. Barber, Shakespeare's Festive Comedy (Princeton)
Richard Bevis, English Drama: Restoration and Eighteenth Century, 1660-1789 (Longman)
Deborah Payne Fisk, The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (CUP)
Elizabeth Howe, The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660-1700 (CUP)
Steven Zwicker, The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1650-1740 (CUP)
Additional Information
Course URL http://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information one 2-hour seminar per week, plus one 1-hour autonomous learning group at time to be arranged
KeywordsComedy,Early modern literature,Renaissance,Restoration,theatre,English
Contacts
Course organiserDr Dermot Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: Dermot.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Sheila Strathdee
Tel: (0131 6)50 3619
Email: S.Strathdee@ed.ac.uk
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