Catalog Description: Students analyze the plays
of Henrik Ibsen in English translation using a variety of
critical approaches. Students investigate ethical issues and
themes in Ibsen's plays by examining the plays through the lens
of ethics, using readings in ethical theory to better understand
both the ethical issues and the plays themselves. Students will
also study Ibsen's dramatic technique and the historical and
literary contexty of his work. Prerequisite: completion of BTS-T
or permission of instructor. GE: EIN
Instructor: Solveig Zempel, OM 14D, x3471 (home 663-0451)
Office hours: by appointment (call 3471 or send e-mail
to "zempel")
Credit: GE: EIN 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
- Participation in "ethics expert" group
- Daily response/question papers
- One 4-6 page paper
- Scene paper and trial script
- Final 7-10 page paper
- Portfolio (contains response papers,
class notes, short paper, scene paper, trial script and final
paper
- Group oral presentations (scene and trial)
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. 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. Response
papers may be informally written, making use of lists, key words,
and incomplete sentences where appropriate. 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.
One critical paper. During the course of the
semester, you will turn in one critical paper of 4-6 pages.
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.
This paper 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 March 15 (just before spring break)
One scene paper (due April 12) and one trial script
(due May 15)
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 May 17 during the
scheduled exam period .
Portfolio: You will gather your informal response/question
papers, discussion notes, short paper, scene paper, trial script,
and final paper in a portfolio to be handed in at the scheduled
final exam period (May 17). 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. 3) You will be assigned (with several other students)
to become the class experts on one of the significant
ethical theories.
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, and a reading
packet.