Friday, March 17, 2006

Reading

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Acts 4–5

Notes

Today we’ll focus our attention on the fairies, especially on Robin. Note how his behavior is anathema to any sense of order or control. Even when Oberon requests that he use a pansy to enchant Titania (see especially the exchange between Oberon and Robin beginning at 2.1.155), Robin does much more than is desired of him.

We should also pay attention to how the play’s various settings and subplots intertwine. How do the various true and false loves comment on each other? How can the rude mechanicals’ decision to perform a play about the doomed lovers Pyramus and Thisbe inform our understanding of A Midsummer Night’s Dream itself?

Important!

• Next week will be dedicated to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Please have the play and other scheduled readings associated with it prepared by March 20. Response papers are also due on March 20. Please make note of the changes.
• If you have written five response papers but either feel dissatisfied with your work or want to explore more plays in your writing, you are welcome to continue writing response papers (although the one-per-play limit still applies). If one of these additional papers has a higher grade than one you previously submitted, the higher grade will count. (Note that this policy is different than the option to write a response on a sonnet, which is intended to aid those who will fall short of the 5 required response papers.)
• Mid-semester grade reports will be handed out on Monday. If you are in danger of a grade lower than C, I will notify you by the morning of March 18, no later than 8:00.

I’ll be holding extended office hours on Wednesday, 22 March, from 9:10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., in order to meet with any of you who are concerned about your course grade thus far, are interested in discussing the essay assignment, or just want to chat. As usual, I’m also available at other times, if my office hours don’t work for you. Just drop me a line, and we can set something up.