An analysis of Henrik Ibsen's most significant
plays: idealism, realism, naturalism, symbolism, and new
techniques. Discussion will focus on ethical issues.
Instructor: Solveig Zempel, OM 14D, x3471 (home
663-0451)
Office hours: by appointment (call 3471 or send e-mail
to "zempel")
Credit: GE: EIN, WRI. Counts toward
major/concentration: Norwegian/Nordic Studies
In this course we will study the plays of Henrik Ibsen
in English translation. Lectures and additional readings
will help place the works in a historical and literary
context, will introduce philosophical ideas on which
Ibsen based his ethical concerns, and will present
various critical approaches. Class discussion will
investigate ethical issues and themes in Ibsen's plays.
Since class discussion will focus on the readings, you
will need to come prepared by thinking and writing about
each assigned text. Several short papers will be
assigned, as well as oral presentations and group
projects. There will be a final oral presentation and
paper. You will be encouraged to use the internet for
further information, and links will be provided.
Course Requirements:
- Attendance is required!
- Preparation for and participation in class
discussion
- daily response/question papers
- Two 4-6 page papers, revised as directed
Final 7-10 page paper
- Portfolio
- Oral presentations
Response/question papers: Response/question
papers are informal and designed to prepare for and
stimulate class discussion. They should be 1/2 to 2 pages
long, and computer produced. They should reflect your
personal reactions to the readings and raise questions
that you would like to pose to the class for discussion.
Sometimes they may respond to questions provided at the
beginning of a unit or to suggestions and questions
raised in class. The response/question papers will be
prepared before class on the assigned reading for the day
and will reflect your thinking about and response to the
text in question. Like journal entries, these may be
informally written. You may wish to leave space for class
discussion and lecture notes to be written directly on
your response/question papers, or you may use loose leaf
paper that can be kept together with the response papers
in a portfolio to be turned in at the end of the
semester. Remember to date and sign all your work. These
informal "papers" will serve several purposes. They
provide an opportunity for you to practice critical
responses in writing, to work through ideas for paper
topics, to come to class prepared for discussion, and to
encounter ideas from others in the class.
Response papers will be turned in at the end of each
class period.
Two critical papers. During the course of the
semester, you will turn in two critical papers of 4-6
pages each. I will be happy to work with you on
brainstorming, drafting, and preparing the final version.
Your response/question papers and class discussion will
help you think of topics and ideas. These papers may
reflect class discussion and should use the text(s) as
evidence. You can explore an ethical perspective, give
further consideration to responses, argue interpretations
offered in class, or relate one text to another or to
other interesting ideas.
Due Mar 23 and April 20
Final paper: This 7-10 page paper will serve as
a presentation and review of a significant ethical issue
in one or more of the plays we read (or an optional
reading). In it you will critique the text(s) you have
chosen, integrating perspectives from class discussion,
other primary and secondary texts read, and in some cases
critical articles or other background material. The paper
will serve as the final exam for the course, and the
final version will be due on Monday, May 22 during
the scheduled exam period (2:30-4:30).
Portfolio: You will gather your informal
response/question papers, discussion notes, two short
papers, and final paper in a portfolio to be handed in at
the scheduled final exam period (Monday, May
22-2:30-4:30). A preliminary portfolio will be turned in
just before spring break.
Oral presentations: 1) You will work in a group
to present a scene from an Ibsen play. The scene you
choose and your interpretation of it should reflect an
important ethical issue. 2) You will work in a group to
try in a court of law a significant character from an
Ibsen play. Each group will need an accused, several
witnesses, a lawyer for the defense and a prosecutor.
IBSEN TEXTS:You will need to purchase the
Geoffrey Hill (Penguin Classics) translation of
Brand, and Rolf Fjelde's Ibsen: The Major Prose
Plays.
OTHER readings: You will need to purchase
Lawrence Hinman, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach
to Moral Theory, Richard Hornby, Script into
Performance, Lars Roar Langslet, Ibsen, the Father
of Modern Drama, and a reading packet.