The University of EdinburghCollege of Humanities and Social Science

School of Literatures, Languages and CulturesUndergraduate Course Proposal Form

Please note:● All boxes must be completed, none to be left blank. Use ‘N/A’ if needed.● Help fields have been added to provide guidance.

1. COURSE NAME

Shakespeare's Comedies

2. RationaleThis is not a CCAM requirement but is a Board of Studies requirement, in which the reason for introducing the course and the need for it must be explained to the satisfaction of the

relevant school committee.

This course will introduce some of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies and explore a wealth of different interpretations, both on stage and screen, from early Hollywood to the present date. Plays will include The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night. Through this

course students will develop an understanding of both the plays as pieces of both written and performed art. The students' appreciation of Shakespeare's Comedies is enriched by studying them as a group: common concerns with language, word play and gender roles emerge. This increases the

understanding of the sources of Shakespeare's humour and reason for the plays' abiding interest

3.Business Caseapproved

Please confirm the course has been discussed and approved as per your

subject area practice

4. Library Resourcesapproved

This box can be left blank. Your reading list will be considered by the Library rep

and approval given at the Board of Studies.

yes

5. COURSE OUTLINE5.1 School Literatures, Languages and Cultures 5.2 College HSS5.3 Course Type Choose from:

Standard, Dissertation, Sandwich, Placement, Year Abroad, Project

5.4 Availability Choose from:Not Available to Visiting Studies; Available to All Students; Part Year Visiting Students Only

standard Not available to visiting students

5.5 CreditLevel

SCQF Levels 7 – 10 for UG 5.7 Credits Choose from: 10; 20; 40; Other (please

specify)

710

5.6 Normal Year taken

First year undergraduate

5.8 Home Subject Lifelong Learning (LLC) 5.9 Other Subject Area Unless the course is also being taught by

Area another school, enter N/A

5.10 Mode of Study Choose from: Classes & Assessment incl. centrally arranged exam; Class & Assessment excl. centrally arranged exam;

Exam only; Class only

5.11 Course Level UG

Class & Assessment excl. centrally arranged exam

5.12 Summary DescriptionAn informative short description of the course should be provided, the description will appear in the course catalogue within the DRPS.

An introduction to some of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies with extensive video and DVD material of different interpretations from early Hollywood to the present date. Plays will include The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night

6. Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)6.1 Pre-requisites These will probably be specific courses, although in certain circumstances, this might include alternative courses, e.g. Course A or

Course B.

6.2 Co-requisites Where they exist, these will be specific courses

6.3 Prohibited combinations Course(s) which cannot be taken with this proposed course and counted towards a graduating curriculum

6.4 Other requirements

This is unlikely to include additional requirements but might outline alternative qualifications, e.g. entry to honours in certain specified

programmes

7. Information for Visiting StudentsAny relevant information for visiting students should be entered here. This should include prerequisites.

8. Course delivery Information8.1 Delivery period S1, S2 or Full Year 8.2 Learn enabled Y or N (N results in no Learn

site for this course)8.3 Quota The rationale for Pre

hons quotas should be approved annually

by CHSS. Seek guidance from your

HoD.

Lifelong Learning session one

y

8.4 Days & Times of whole class sessions Mondays 10-12

9. Detailed description9.1 Course Description

If you have a longer description of what the student will experience in doing this course, enter it here. If so it should aim to capture the student experience.

The following themes and texts will be explored (although slight changes may be made each year):Week 1 Introduction: origins of Shakespeare’s comic form in the works of Plautus and the medieval mystery playsWeek 2 Shakespeare adapts Plautus: The Comedy of Errors (1593)Week 3 Cross-dressing the heroine: Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594)Weeks 4 and 5 Comic metamorphoses out of Ovid: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596)Week 6 Darker banter: Much Ado about Nothing (1598)Weeks 7 and 8 Comical-pastoral-satirical, and some more cross-dressing: As You Like It (1600)Weeks 9 and 10 Back to Plautus, for identical twins: Twelfth Night (1601)

9.2 Breakdown of learning & teaching activitiesEnter a value for each category (values under certain categories may be zero). A 20 credit course equates to 200 hours; 40 credits to 400 hours (these values will be

automatically calculated by attributing hours leftover after teaching/assessment to ‘independent learning’).

For more information see: http://www.studentsystems.ed.ac.uk/Staff/Support/User_Guides/CCAM/Teaching_Learning.htm#Programme

Lectures:

Seminar/Tutorials: 20

Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours:

Supervised Practical\Workshop\Studio Hours:

Fieldwork Hours:

External Visits:

Online Activities:

Feedback/Feedforward:

Formative Assessment Hours:

Summative Assessment hours:

Scheduled Revision Sessions:

Other Study:

9.3 Additional information

Any further information, not captured elsewhere about the learning and teaching activities or assessment.

Students who receive a mark less than 40% will be offered one chance to submit another essay within three weeks of marks being returned. A different essay question will be provided for the resubmission task.

9.4 Weighting of summative assessments

Breakdown of summative assessment between different types (coursework, exam, etc.), with percentage weighting

100% coursework

9.5 Exam informationExam diet Paper name Hours: minutes Stationery

requirementsChoose from:

December; April/May

Resit information Can be used to record details like changes of assessment method (especially from coursework to exam) in case of resits.The resit diet will be set as ‘August’ by default.

Students who receive a mark less than 40% will be offered one chance to submit another essay within three weeks of marks being returned. A different essay question will be provided for the resubmission task.

10. List of Learning OutcomesList the Learning Outcomes. Please refrain from using discursive text, but think about them as actual outcomes that relate to the activities of the course and, in particular, to the

assessment. The outcomes should also be ‘active’ in that they will involve intellectual activity – the student will ‘show’, ‘demonstrate’, ‘analyse’, etc.LO 1 evaluate the evolving treatment of women in the comedies

LO 2

examine the comic use of disguise and role play in these plays;LO 3

analyse Shakespeare’s complex imagery and comic languageLO 4

LO 5

LO 6

LO 7

LO 8

LO 9

LO 10

11. Detailed Assessment Information11.1 Formative Feedback Event (Nature and Timing)This regulatory requirement is not captured either by CCAM or DRPS. The nature and timing of it (including return of feedback) should be indicated, although be careful not to be too

precise here. The appropriate place for total precision is in the course booklet, or equivalent document.Students are given the opportunity to submit a formative essay of 1000 words in Week 6, feedback for which is returned in Week 7.

11.2 Elements Of Summative Assessment (With Weightings)More detailed version of 9.4.

One 2000 word essay submitted after the course finishes, worth 100% of the mark.

11.3 Relationship Between Assessment and Learning OutcomesMap the numbered LOs against the assessments. This could also include formative assessment.

The formative and final assessments will be assessed in relation to the learning outcomes LO1, LO2 and LO3

11.4 Relationship to Programme Assessment Spine/Plan

This is a stand alone course and does not form part of a degree programme

11.5 Main Graduate AttributesThis involves a very basic sort of mapping of the main graduate attributes in relation to the course pedagogy and assessment types.

This does not require detailed mapping of particular parts of the course or its assessment to individual attributes. A simple listing of the relevant attributes will suffice.This goes into the ‘Transferable Skills’ section of CCAM. In that box, please use the heading ‘Main Graduate Attributes’ as part of the free text insertion. This will then appear in the

DRPS.

12. OrganisationCourse organiser Rachael King Course secretary Sabine MurdochExam Board Convenor Dr. Caroline Bamford Marking Scheme Choose from:

Common Marking Scheme - Honours Grade Only

Common Marking Scheme - Honours Mark/Grade

Common Marking Scheme - UG Non-Honours Grade Only

Common Marking Scheme - UG Non-Honours Mark/Grade

Common Marking Scheme - UG Non-Honours Mark/Grade

Taught in Gaelic? Additional costs

13. Additional Information

14. KeywordsThese can be useful for database organization and searching

15. Course proposal informationCourse proposer Rachael King

Url for supporting documentation

16. School Specific Requirements

Syllabus:

Week 1 Introduction: origins of Shakespeare’s comic form in the works of Plautus and the medieval mystery playsWeek 2 Shakespeare adapts Plautus: The Comedy of Errors (1593)Week 3 Cross-dressing the heroine: Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594)Weeks 4 and 5 Comic metamorphoses out of Ovid: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596)Week 6 Darker banter: Much Ado about Nothing (1598)Weeks 7 and 8 Comical-pastoral-satirical, and some more cross-dressing: As You Like It (1600)Weeks 9 and 10 Back to Plautus, for identical twins: Twelfth Night (1601)

Reading List (Please breakdown into ‘compulsory’ and ‘recommended’):

EssentialGreenblatt Stephen. 1997. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W. W. Norton. (or any edition(s) with notes, i.e. RSC, Arden, Oxford, or New Cambridge).

RecommendedSalingar, Leo 1976. Shakespeare and the Traditions of Comedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Smith, Emma (ed.). 2004. Shakespeare’s Comedies. Oxford: Blackwell.

Rationale for Quota (if applicable):