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ENGL 3089/5089: The Bard's Beasts Dr. Perry Guevara Spring 2017, 3 Units perry.guevara@dominican.edu Thurs. 6:00 – 8:00pm Office Hours: Tues. 12:15 – 2:15pm Guzman 112 Angelico 326 Course Description Shakespeare's plays are crawling with creatures: lions, shrews, horses, dogs, and toads, just to name a few. Yet, despite their seeming ubiquity, the Bard uses the word “animal” a mere eight times throughout his oeuvre. Hamlet speaks of animals as does King Lear, but while Shakespeare writes his critters into the mouths of his most complex characters, rarely do they materialize on stage. Taking up the figure of the animal, this course surveys Shakespeare’s major works and representative genres including comedy, tragedy, long lyric, and the sonnet. By studying representations of zoological life in Shakespearean drama and poetry, we will think about human-nonhuman relationships and the ways in which they entangle issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality in both the English Renaissance and the ever-pressing present. We will adopt a variety of interdisciplinary approaches from animal studies, eco-criticism, feminism, and critical race studies to consider the following questions: how does Shakespeare treat animals? Abusively? Humanely? What about his human characters? Do animals function solely as symbols whose meanings are exteriorized from themselves? Or can we think of the Bard's beasts as not only semiotic but also fleshly beings inhabiting both page and stage? Is it even worthwhile to think about our non-speaking peers in literature? Perhaps Shakespeare's crawlers, hoppers, and howlers will answer us in unexpected and wild ways. Student Learning Outcomes This course is designed for both majors and non-majors. A cursory familiarity with Shakespeare is recommended but not required. Topics range from the staging of animals on the early modern stage to animals as companion species. Primary texts, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and Venus and Adonis, are paired with critical texts that will equip students with the conceptual tools and methods to approach key environmental, cultural, and ethical issues in literature. Assignments are geared toward sharpening skills of college-level research and writing. Students will also have ample opportunities to share their work, both in person and digitally, as well as to receive feedback on their writing.

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Required Texts King Lear Othello A Midsummer Night's Dream A Winter's Tale Titus Andronicus Other readings are available on the course website. Supplementary materials are available online and at the Archbishop Alemany Library. Should you have questions about obtaining materials, contact our course library liaison, Alan Schut, at alan.schut@dominican.edu or the manager of the Dominican Bookstore, Cameron Casey, at bookstore@dominican.edu. Course Websites

Twitter: twitter.com (@BardsBeasts) WordPress: english3089.wordpress.com Course Particulars

Participation Attendance is mandatory. You are allowed two absences without an excuse. Any absence beyond the second will result in a half letter grade penalty (for example, a B+ will become a B; a C- will become a D+) against your final grade. Five or more absences will result in a failing grade for the course. Moreover, each student is expected to make thoughtful contributions to our class discussions. Twitter Every meeting will be documented on Twitter by a pre-assigned scribe using #bardsbeasts. Each student will have the opportunity serve as a scribe. This assignment requires that each student has access to a Twitter account. Our goal is to create a digital archive of our discussions as we practice expressing our ideas as succinctly and eloquently as possible. The 140 character limit imposed by Twitter demands that we limit wordiness by articulating our claims with economy. Not only will we learn how to write with concision, but also we will gain digital fluency in a wired world undergoing the most rapid textual revolution since Gutenberg. Students are also encouraged to share relevant links, new stories, events, etc. via Twitter. Digital Bestiary A bestiary is a compendium of beasts. The genre discovers its origins in the ancient world but was popularized during the medieval and early modern periods as giant tomes, owned by the social elite, documenting diverse forms of zoological life. Edward Topsell’s History of Four-Footed Beasts was, arguably, the most important bestiary during Shakespeare’s time. Not only did bestiaries describe the physical traits and environments of animals, but also they accounted for the rich mythos surrounding creaturely species, often referencing classical sources such as Aesop’s Fables. This archive modernizes the premodern bestiary to a digital and environmentally-conscious format. Here you will find accounts of animals that appear not only in Shakespeare’s plays and poems but also in our Northern California ecosystems. Representations of animals in Shakespeare

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prompt this bestiary’s authors to consider the rich ecological, cultural, and historical contexts of local species inhabiting our shared geography. Take, for example, Shakespeare’s bear in The Winter’s Tale. In the play’s plot, “Exit, pursued by a bear” signals Antigonsus’ impending doom. Some scholars believe that Shakespeare used a real bear from the London bear-pits in this scene. A close literary and historical analysis of the figure of the bear in The Winter’s Tale leads to a consideration of California’s bears: Black Bears in the Cascades, the now-extinct species of Grizzly on our state flag, and the myriad ways these animals have entered our cultural lexicon and literary imagination. Like the bestiaries of yore, each entry provides a description of the animal’s physicality, habitat and, importantly, lore. However, in this decidedly modern and interdisciplinary rendition, the authors also account for the animal’s contemporary contexts including distribution, conservation status, and ecological role. Each student is responsible for a single animal and will create an entry that provides the following: 1) a close reading of the passage from Shakespeare in which the animal appears, 2) a physical description of the animal, 3) a description of the animal’s habitat, behaviors, diet, distribution, and conservation status, 4) a record of the animal’s historical, cultural, and literary contexts, and 5) a brief reflection on why it is important to understand the animal not only from the perspective of the sciences but also from the humanities. Each entry must be accompanied by a relevant image. Class Facilitation In pairs, students will facilitate a single class discussion. You may cover any of the required readings assigned for that particular day. It is recommended that you prepare a short (2-5) minute presentation to jumpstart conversation. A visual aid (i.e. Power Point, Prezi) or handout is required. I also recommend that you select quotations from the texts to analyze. Use open-ended questions to prompt students to respond. You might even include an activity or brief exercise to emphasize your main points. The structure and organization of your presentation is as important as the content. Argumentative Essay Choose one or more texts that we have covered in the past weeks and write a 3-4 page argumentative essay on a relevant topic. The essay should have a clear and identifiable thesis statement, cogent evidence, and a works cited list. A superior paper will demonstrate appropriate tone, a strong writing voice, a sense of audience, agile command of grammar, correct usage of transitions marking turns in the argument, and sentences of varying length and structure. You are welcome but not required to use outside scholarly materials to inform your argument. If you are unsure as to what counts as a scholarly text, please consult a librarian or myself. We will adhere to MLA’s requirements for citation and formatting. Finally, if you choose to write about more than one text, consider how these texts mutually inform one another. I recommend working on a draft well in advance of the due date, and don’t forget that, if you need assistance, you may visit me during office hours or schedule an appointment with a writing tutor in the Teaching and Learning Center. Late submissions will not be accepted. Essays should be submitted in hard copy by the end of class on the due date. Revision Students will revise their argumentative essay into a 7-8 page conference paper. However, unlike the previous assignment, this essay must cite at least three outside sources. Furthermore, essays should be written to be read aloud in a conference setting. Students will be instructed on how to prepare and revise their essays for presentation. Please note that the grade for this assignment will not replace the grade of the original essay.

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Annotated Bibliography An annotated bibliography is an alphabetized works cited list with a brief (usually 100-300 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph following each entry. The annotation following the citation should convey the central arguments and themes of the text as well as explain how and why the text is useful to your research. Your annotated bibliography must include five sources, one of which is a book and another which is a journal article or essay. The remaining sources are left to your discretion and may include a variety of media including newspapers, magazines, interviews, lectures, podcasts, documentaries, etc. You will be evaluated on your exposition, analysis, and ability to identify pertinent library materials. Presentation In a mock conference setting, each student will deliver a presentation on his or her research topic. Students should make efficient use of digital and/or audiovisual technologies to enhance their presentations. Talks should be brief and should include an introduction, body, and conclusion connected by clear transitions. Students will be evaluated on the content of their presentations, their ability to effectively communicate, and the quality of their supplementary materials. Shakespeare for Social Justice Shakespeare for Social Justice (SSJ) is an arts-in-corrections educational program sponsored by the Marin Shakespeare Company (MSC). This semester, our discussions of animals in Shakespeare will lead us inevitably to important questions about ethics and social justice. SSJ shows how the stakes of these questions in literature are actualized in our local community. Students will attend a guest lecture by Lesley Currier, Managing Director of MSC, who will speak about how SSJ combines drama therapy with the study and performance of Shakespeare in California State Prisons and other local institutions. Students will then have the opportunity to study Shakespeare alongside actors at San Quentin Prison in support of SSJ’s mission of self-expression, cooperation, and community engagement. After our field trip to San Quentin Prison, each student will write a two to three page essay reflecting on his or her experience. How did you feel before visiting the actors in prison? And afterward? What did you learn? What was rewarding about the experience? What was difficult? What is the role of Shakespeare in the college classroom? In prison? Can the study of Shakespeare promote citizenship skills, civil literacy, and social equity? How can the humanities not only critique but also raise awareness about social justice issues? There are many ways to approach this essay. Ultimately, I want to know about YOUR personal experience. Assessment Twitter 5% Facilitation 5% Bestiary 10% Argumentative Essay 20% Reflective Essay 10% Revision 20% Annotated Bibliography 10% Presentation 10% Participation 10%

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Graduate Students This course is available at the graduate level as ENGL 5089. Students seeking to receive graduate credit will write a thoroughly researched 15 – 25 page seminar paper on a topic of their choosing. This essay should reflect the student’s academic interests and ideally serve as the basis for a future publication. Additionally, the annotated bibliography must include ten rather than five scholarly sources, and the abstract should be formatted for submission to a scholarly conference. Finally, graduate students are required to meet with the instructor at least once during office hours to strategize their individualized research plans. Academic Honesty

Dominican University of California is rooted in the Dominican ideals of love of truth, beauty, and the life of the mind, combined with a deep respect for the dignity and worth of the individual. All of our community members are expected to abide by ethical standards both in their conduct and in their exercise of responsibilities toward other members of the community. Plagiarism is an act of academic dishonesty and is a serious ethical and scholarly violation. Broadly defined, plagiarism is presenting the work of another person as one’s own. The format of the information you use is irrelevant; any material [produced] by another that you incorporate into your papers must be properly acknowledged using the style manual appropriate to the discipline or required by the instructor. Diversity

Dominican declares its commitment to diversity, and the fulfillment of its educational mission is best achieved when every member of the University community upholds in thought, word, and deed E Pluribus Unum; Ut Unum Sint (“Out of many, one; that all may be one). Two profound visions—our American civic tradition and our Catholic heritage—inform Dominican’s commitment to the principle of pluralism and to the dream of a reconciled community. Faithful to these birthrights, Dominican seeks to nurture attitudes and behaviors that promote global awareness, inclusive sensibilities, and respect for the dignity of each individual regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, culture, political conviction, or disability—all in the light of the Truth that breathes forth love and in the hope of a common life that transforms the world. Students with Disabilities Dominican University of California is committed to equal access for students with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Any student who feels she/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services at (415) 257-1388 or write to maude.nazaire@dominican.edu as soon as possible to discuss specific needs. Please submit the relevant paperwork to the instructor. Student Health Center

The Student Health Center at Dominican is committed to quality care and the promotion of optimal health. Prevention of disease and health awareness are encouraged in our student clients. Services at the Health Center are available to all students currently enrolled at Dominican. The Health Center is located in Bertrand Hall, Room 100. For information and appointments, call (415) 485-3208.

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Counseling Services

Counseling sessions are personal and private. Our program provides a supportive environment where you can explore, change, and grow at your own pace, based on your own needs and desires. For information and appointments, call (415) 485-3285. Teaching and Learning Center

The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), located in Bertrand 110, is an academic resource for all Dominican students. It houses eight computer work stations, four tutoring carrels, and conference area for group tutoring. To sign up for a tutor, fill out an electronic tutor request form at http://secure.dominican.edu/tutor/request.php. Course Evaluations

Dominican University of California is committed to an ongoing evaluation of its programs and courses through a culture of constructive dialogue and feedback. As part of that process, students are required to fill out the online anonymous course evaluation for every course with the understanding that these evaluations have direct bearing on departmental and university hiring and promotion decisions. The instructor will designate a specific day at the end of the semester on the syllabus and set aside time during class time for students to complete the evaluation. Students are to bring a laptop, tablet, or smart phone to class on that day to complete the evaluation. If a student lacks such a device, a laptop can be checked out from the library. The link to the survey will be sent to all the students enrolled in the class by the Information Technology Department. The instructor will leave the room for approximately 15 minutes as the students complete the evaluations. Schedule January 19: Introductions

James Gorman, “Animal Studies Cross Campus to Lecture Hall” Barbara Johnson, “Speech Therapy” Sonnets 19, 50, 73

January 26: Shakespeare’s Animals

King Lear, Acts 1 & 2 Ursula Heise, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ecocriticism” Laurie Shannon, “The Eight Animals of Shakespeare; or, Before the Human”

February 2: Human Exceptionalism King Lear, Acts 3, 4 & 5

Laurie Shannon, “Poor, Bare, Forked: Animal Sovereignty, Human Negative Exceptionalism, and the Natural History of King Lear”

February 9: Humanism vs. Posthumanism The Winter's Tale, Acts 1 & 2

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Cary Wolfe, “Animal Studies, Disciplinarity, and the (Post)Humanities” February 16: Staging Animals The Winter's Tale, Acts 3, 4 & 5

Erica Fudge, “Screaming Monkeys: The Creatures in the Bear Garden” February 23: Animals and Sex

Venus and Adonis Dympna Callaghan, “(Un)Natural Loving: Swine, Pets, and Flowers in Venus and Adonis”

March 2: Animals in Theory

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Acts 1 & 2 Melissa Sanchez, “‘Use Me But as Your Spaniel’”: Feminism, Queer Theory, and Early Modern Sexualities”

Digital Bestiary Due March 9: Spring Break March 16: Role Playing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Acts 3, 4 & 5 Richard Rambuss, “Shakespeare's Ass Play” March 23: Animals and Race

Othello, Acts 1 & 2 Ania Loomba, “Vocabularies of Race”

Argumentative Essay Due March 30: No Class April 6: Shakespeare for Social Justice

Othello, Acts 3, 4 & 5 “Act V,” This American Life

Ayanna Thompson, “Reform: Redefining Authenticity in Shakespeare Reform Programs” Guest Lecture: Leslie Currier, Managing Director of Marin Shakespeare Company April 13: Companion Species

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Titus Andronicus, Acts 1 & 2 Donna Haraway, “When Species Meet” April 20: Sharing Suffering Titus Andronicus, Acts 3, 4 & 5

Charlotte Scott, “Still Life? Anthropomorphism and the Fly in Titus Andronicus and Volpone” Donna Haraway, “Sharing Suffering” Annotated Bibliography Due April 27: Conclusions Student Presentations Revision Due April 30: Arts Education in Corrections Class Visit to San Quentin Prison May 4 - 10: Finals Student Presentations

Reflective Essay Due Disclaimer This syllabus is subject to modification. Students will be notified of any changes.