EL2011: Encounters With Shakespeare

EL2011: ENCOUNTERS WITH SHAKESPEARE (2020-2021)

Last modified: 05 Aug 2021 13:04

Course Overview

So you think you know Shakespeare? This course invites you to think again. Studying a range of plays we get behind the mythology of Shakespeare, and rediscover the dynamic inventiveness of the Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare and his contemporaries were the principal players in a period of literary experimentation that reinvented the possibilities of literature. Encounters with Shakespeare is your chance to find out more.

Course Details

Study Type	Undergraduate	Level	2
Term	First Term	Credit Points	30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus	Aberdeen	Sustained Study	No
Co-ordinators	Professor Andrew D. H. Gordon

Qualification Prerequisites

Programme Level 2

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

One of EL1007 Reading Writing (Passed) or EL1008 Reading Writing (Passed) or EL1009 Acts of Reading (Passed) or EL1510 Controversial Classics (Passed) or EL1513 Controversial Classics (Passed)
Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

EL2006 Reading Shakespeare (Studied)

Are there a limited number of places available?

Course Description

So you think you know Shakespeare? This course invites you to think again. Studying a range of plays we seek to get behind the mythology of Shakespeare, and rediscover the dynamic inventiveness of the Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare and his contemporaries were the principal players in a period of literary experimentation that reinvented the possibilities of literature. The playhouse was a new cultural venue in Shakespeare's time, and the language itself was a rapidly evolving medium to which drama gave voice. Building upon study of the language of Shakespeare and the conditions of the Elizabethan playhouse, this course examines the ways in which the theatre imagined and debated key issues of the period. What was the place of Shakespeare's theatre within the culture of his time? How did his plays engage with controversial questions of politics, religion and gender? And how did he bridge the demands of a form that was both popular entertainment and a leisure activity of the elite? Encounters with Shakespeare is your chance to find out.

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 21st September 2026 for Term 1 and Full Year courses and 8th January 2027 for Term 2 courses.

Summative Assessments

1x comparative essay [2000 words] (70%)
1x reflective commentary on group project on staging of a single scene [1500 words] (30%)

Alternative Resit Arrangements for students taking course in Academic Year 2020/21

1 x Resit Essay (2,500 words)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge Level	Thinking Skill	Outcome

Factual	Remember	ILO’s for this course are available in the course guide.

51cg