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EL40AD: STAGING THE CITY: RENAISSANCE URBAN DRAMA (2018-2019)

Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07


Course Overview

Drama was the entertainment phenomenon of the early modern period: a popular art form that developed swiftly and attracted mass audiences. London was both the city that played host to this new cultural form, and the subject of much of its output. The course will examine the relation between life in the early modern city and the great flowering of drama by celebrated authors of the period.  Using works by well-known writers such as Middleton, Jonson and Shakespeare, as well as lesser known authors, we will explore how the plays of the period engage with key concerns of urban living.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Andrew Gordon

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • English (EL) (Studied)
  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Programme Level 4

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Course Aims

To examine how the urban drama of the early modern period is shaped by its cultural environment

To locate dramatic works within the contexts of production and performance

To examine the relationship between literature and other cultural spheres

To analyse works of literature with attention to content, style and historical significance

To gain a broader understanding of the development of drama in the Renaissance

Main Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding of:
- A range of plays by key authors from the period
- The conditions of drama in early modern London
- Key critical concepts in the study of early modern drama

Intellectual Skills -- an ability to:
- Analyse works of literature in an historically informed way
- Locate dramatic works in a critical context
- Explain how literary content, style and function are linked

Transferable Skills -- an ability to
- summarise complex arguments
- express ideas clearly and succinctly both orally and on paper
- present written work in a scholarly form

Course Content

Drama was the entertainment phenomenon of the early modern period: a popular that art form that developed swiftly and attracted mass audiences. London was both the city that played host to this new cultural form, and the subject of much of its output. In this course we will examine the relation between life in the early modern city and the great flowering of drama by the most celebrated authors of the period.  Using works by well know writers such as Middleton, Jonson and Shakespeare, as well as lesser known authors, we will explore how the plays of the period engage with key concerns of urban living. Incorporating interactive technology, we will plot the relations of key texts to the places and locations of the early modern city. The course will cover such topics as: urban ritual, sexing the city; ideal cities, and spatial drama.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt

1x 3000 word essay (50%)
1 x project exercise (40%)
SAM (10%)

Resit

For honours students only: candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit a new essay.

Formative Assessment

Oral feedback via seminars and written feedback via essay cover sheets and SAM forms

Feedback

Written feedback on essays and project
SAM mark/comment sheet

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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