ENGL 2107 - Tragedy | Course Outlines

ENGL 2107 - Tragedy

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2021

Students will undertake a critical exploration of the theories and practices of tragedy from classical times to the present. Areas of investigation include but are not limited to: the history of tragedy and changing notions of the tragic; the formal qualities of tragedy; kinds of tragedy; the `death of tragedy; tragedy and discourses of the mind and body. Texts will be selected from the following list: Sophocles' Oedipus, Marlowe's 1Tamburlaine; Shakespeare's Hamlet; Goethe's Faust Part 1; Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children; Anouilh's Antigone; Miller's Death of a Salesman; Vickers' Where Three Roads Meet. Selected extracts from theoretical texts and additional materials will encourage students to explore tragedy in practices and theories (and countries and artistic movements) beyond those represented by the set texts.

Open All

Course Details

Course Code	ENGL 2107
Course	Tragedy
Coordinating Unit	English, Creative Writing, and Film
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	At least 12 units of Level I undergraduate study
Biennial Course	Course offered in odd years
Assessment	Major assessment: 40%, group research presentation: 20%, individual seminar paper: 20%, mid-Semester quiz: 10%, participation: 10%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Lucy Potter

Associate Professor Lucy Potter

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Read and interpret a selection of creative and theoretical texts central to the discourse of Tragedy

2. Understand the major theoretical and critical movements as they apply to Tragedy

3. Explain the interdisciplinary nature of the discourse of Tragedy

4. Evaluate the selected texts within their historical contexts

5. Undertake the formative stages of research, including an annotated bibliography

6. Present persuasive and sustained written arguments based on research

7. Contribute to group-based activities and work as a member of a team in the preparation and delivery of a seminar presentation

8. Generate questions based on research

9. Use technologies relevant to the preparation and completion of assessment tasks

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 2, 3, 4
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	3, 4, 5, 8
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	6, 7, 8
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	7, 8, 9
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	3, 4
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	4, 7, 8

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Primary texts:

Plays

Anouilh, Jean. Antigone. Trans. Lewis Galantiere. Publication details TBA
Brecht, Bertolt. Mother Courage and her Children. Trans. John Willett (Penguin Classics, 2007).
Marlowe, Christopher. Tamburlaine the Great Part 1. In The Complete Plays of Christopher Marlowe. Ed. Frank Romney and Robert Lindsay (Penguin Classics, 2003).
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays, 1976).
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Bate and Rasmussen (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2008). The Royal Shakespeare Company edition.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. In The Three Theban Plays, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics, 1984).

Sequencing: Sophocles, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Brecht, Anouilh, Miller

Sequencing may be modified to take into account the availability of the set texts.

Students may use other editions of all the set plays if they wish.

Other set texts

Aristotle. The Poetics. Trans. Malcolm Heath (Penguin Classics, 1996). Students may use another edition if they wish.
Eagleton, Terry. Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Reader

A Reader containing critical readings will be available for purchase from the Image and Copy Centre before the semester commences. Readings will also be available online via MyUni.

Recommended Resources

Barr Smith Library resources: TBA
Eagleton, Terry. Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Online Learning

Lectures will be recorded and made available to all students. The MyUni discussion board and/or blog will be used.

Learning & Teaching Modes

Problem solving seminars will investigate questions and key terms generated by students based on the set texts and additional readings. Seminars will be further student driven by group presentations and by peer discussion and review of assessment tasks. The generation of annotated bibliographies and other shared resources and knowledge will develop academic literacies and research skills, and will be posted online.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

1 x .5 hour online discussion and posting (x 12)	6 hours
1 x 1 hour lecture per week (x 12)	12 hours
1 x 2 hour seminar per week (x 12)	24 hours
1 x 3.5 hours reading (x 12)	42 hours
1 x 3 hours research per week (x 12)	36 hours
1 x 3 hours assignment preparation each week (x 12)	36 hours
	Total = 156 hours

Learning Activities Summary

Lectures are designed to introduce students to some of the ‘big ticket’ questions of / theoretical approaches to tragedy. Hence, there are few lectures on the set plays per se. Students’ knowledge of the plays will be augmented by the secondary material available in the course Reader, and by group seminar presentations.

Provisional Lecture Timetable
Week	Lecture
Week 1	Introduction
Week 2	Mimesis
Week 3	Aristotle’s Poetics and Sophocles’ Oedipus
Week 4	Catharsis
Week 5	Socrates and Tragedy
Week 6	1 Tamburlaine and Sidney’s Apology
Week 7	Hamlet: the Failure of Tragedy
Week 8	The German Tradition
Week 9	The Death of Tragedy
Week 10	Nietzsche and the (re) Birth of Tragedy
Week 11	René Girard: Tragedy and Mimetic Violence
Week 12	Tragic Renewal

Specific Course Requirements

Not applicable

Small Group Discovery Experience

Small group discovery experiences will occur in the seminars in weeks 2, 3, 10, and 12 around questions of defining tragedy over time, the cultural and political rioles it plays, and the generation of research questions.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Value	Learning Outcomes
1. Online quiz	Formative and Summative	Week 6	20%	1, 2, 3, 4
2. Leading a seminar discussion + annotated bibliography	Formative and Summative	To be scheduled during seminars	30%; 1000 words	3, 4, 7, 8, 9
3. Research essay OR Reflective Journal OR Creative Response (NB: those wishing to attempt a Creative Response must consult with the course coordinator)	Summative	Week 13	2000-2500 words (or equivalent)	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9

Assessment Related Requirements

Students are expected to have read the set plays and Aristotle's Poetics before lectures begin. A timetable of weekly activities (readings, seminar activities, assessment due dates etc) will be made available on MyUni in the Course Information folder.

Seminars: There will be no seminars in week 1 or week 11. In weeks 3, 4, 10, and 12 the course coordinator will engage with students in small group discovery experiences around set questions/tasks (see the timetable of weekly activities for more details). Note that attendance at seminars is compulsory.

Group seminar presentations: In week 2, we shall organise the group seminar presentations. Presentations begin in week 4. Think now about what text you would like to research for the seminar presentations. The text you choose for the seminar presentation MUST NOT be the same text on which you intend to write the second research essay/project. Please see the timetable below for an indication of what texts will be discussed and when. Mentally pencil your name next to one of them.

Week	Group Presentation on Set Texts
4	Oedipus
5	1 Tamburlaine
6	Hamlet
7	Mother Courage and Her Children
8	Antigone
9	Death of a Salesman

Assessment Detail

Participation

Students will engage in supportive peer interaction in class activities, and in the co-operative sharing of materials and information via online postings or distribution in class. Students are expected to have read all set materials in preparation for weekly seminars, and to actively engage in discussion.

Group research presentation
In the week 2 seminars, students will be assigned to a group investigating one of the set texts. Areas of investigation may include but are not limited to the following:

1. Brief biography of the author and survey of the author’s other works
2. Summary of the contents of the set text and delineation of its main themes
3. Historical / political / and other contributing circumstances surrounding the production of the set text
4. Form and structure of the set text
5. Reception (critical and otherwise) of the set text, both in its original context and subsequently
6. Performance history (if applicable)

More information will be available on MyUni.

Research essay/project #1

There are a number of options in this assignment for students to choose from. The research essay/project can be either:

1. The investigation of a key term or concept in the discourse of Tragedy, or a theorist. Note that the dramatists themselves may be considered as theorists of Tragedy.
2. An essay that summarises 5 critical materials related to the set text you intend to examine in the second research essay/project.
3. A preliminary investigation of the text on which the student has chosen to write his/her research essay/project #2, and an overview of the ways in which the student intends to approach the topic based on that investigation.

*Note that in this course students will develop their own research topic and related questions for the research essay/project #2 under the guidance of the course coordinator in the seminars in week 10. While students may use their findings in any of the options outlined above as a foundation for the research essay/project #2, outright repetition of material will incur a Fail grade for the second research essay/project.

Research essay/project #2

As noted above, students will develop their own research topic and related questions. There is also the opportunity to write on the same text(s) / key term or concept / theorist in both research essays/projects. This is not an excuse to be lazy but the chance to study an area of interest in more depth.

You will have noted that I have specified 'research essay/project' rather than simply 'research essay'. This is because students are strongly encouraged to be creative and contemporary in their thinking about possible research topics, and in the presentation of that research. More information will be available on MyUni.

Submission

Assignments will be submitted and marked in Turnitin unless otherwise negotiated with the course coordinator (for example, if you choose a creative response in research essay/project #2).

Extensions for assignments

Students may apply for extensions for assignments on medical or compassionate grounds, or in the event of extenuating circumstances.

For the policy on extensions, click on the following link:

http://www.adealide.edu.au/policies/3303/

To apply for an extension on medical or compassionate grounds, or in the event of extenuating circumstances, click on the following link, where you will find the relevant forms and information sheets:

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/students/exams/mod_arrange.html

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Refer to the Discipline of English and Creative Writing Handbook for further Policies and Guidelines. A copy of the Handbook is available on MyUni.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator