LIT 443 Shakespeare’s Plays

Students will examine five major plays of William Shakespeare. They will view and discuss the plays especially in terms of their application to the present time. The discussions will focus on the characters in the plays and the conflicts that they faced. Students will learn how Shakespeare used literary devices to create meaning for readers: plot, characterization, setting, meter, rhythm, rhyme, conflict, dramatic principles, comic techniques, and figurative language such as simile, metaphor, imagery, metonymy, personification, and allusion, Students will engage in close reading: they will be asked to analyze literature inductively, using clues from the surface level of literature (literary devices) to create larger truths they see in the literature. Student analysis of literature will be expressed through essays, presentations, and other activities.