This course is designed to enable you to experience Shakespeare's plays through printed texts and film productions.  It includes four plays that have been made into movies fairly recently:  A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello and Hamlet.  These four cover the traditional categories of comedy, history, and tragedy; they range from early to later works and from plays not frequently performed to his most famous play of all.  In them you will encounter several of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, experience the beauty and power of his language, and become familiar with some of the patterns and themes of the plays.

The prerequisties for this course are ENG 111 and ENG 112 or equivalent.

If you do well in this course, you will be able to:

• Identify major characters and discuss the conflicts they face.
• Discuss possible interpretations of scenes and compare and contrast printed texts and film productions.
• Identify instances in Shakespeare's printed texts that give clues for performance.
• Explain the contributions of lighting, camera work, sets, blocking, costumes, music, and special effects to individual film productions.
• Identify universal human concerns and themes in the plays.
• Write analytical and critical essays about the plays.

In this course, you are not permitted to submit more than one production assignment or exam in any given week.  So, while you can work at your own pace, the minimum amount of time you can complete the course is seven weeks.  To meet the deadlines for the course (last withdrawal date, end of enrollment), or if you have deadlines for graduation or other reasons, you will need to schedule your work carefully.

There are two (2) online exams in this course. You are expected to take your examinations at one of the NVCC campus Testing Centers (Note: ELI exams are not given at the Medical Education Campus.) Be sure to allow enough time to complete your exam before the Testing Center closes; Testing Centers have specific policies relating to the administration of ELI exams. You will need to take a photo ID, your NovaConnect empl ID number, and the appropriate Exam Pass when you go to the Testing Center.  

For Testing Center locations, hours of operation and policies, click here.

For information on taking exams outside of the metropolitan area, click here.

I am here to help you succeed in this course. Occasionally questions or problems may arise. Here is how to contact me when they do:

E-mail :cfroisy@nvcc.edu

1. Use your web browser to connect to http://www.nvcc.edu/bbstart. Follow the directions to determine your email, Blackboard and VIVA account user names and passwords.
2. Access your email account and make sure you know how to use it; you will be required to use this account for all course-related email.
3. Log on to Blackboard at http://learn.vccs.edu.
4. Click on this course under "My Courses." Review the entire course to make sure you understand what will be required of you. Then start completing the assignments.

Please note that account generation takes approximately one week from the time of your paid registration. If you cannot log on after one week, contact the IT Help Desk. If you can log on to Blackboard, but your course isn't listed, please contact ELI or your instructor.