CLS 173 CDA The Comic Spirit

Syllabus

Description:

This course offers multiple experiences of comedy toward an exploration of the nature, form, and function of comedy. Reading and analysis of selected comic plays by Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence will illustrate themes, techniques, and conventions of comedy which may be still found in modern comedy. In search of a definition of comedy, comic criticism from Aristotle to Freud will be measured against reading, performance, and experience.

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

• increased knowledge of the cultures of Greece and Rome:
  • appreciation of their contributions to the genre of comedy
  • insight into the society as reflected in comedy (particularly issues of class and gender)
  • familiarity with the forms and conventions of Greek and Roman comedy and their impact on individual creativity
• understanding of comedy, performance and literary, as a distinctive form of aesthetic expression
• ability to analyze, evaluate, and compare the individual comic styles and themes of Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence
• awareness of the universal dimensions of comedy through reading comic theory and comparison of ancient and modern comedy
• development of the imagination through comic performance

Methods of Instruction:

• Discussion in class and on the Internet of assigned plays, essays, and student texts
• Slide presentations and lecture on the origins and development of Greek and Roman comedy, the ancient theater, and dramatic conventions
• Critical viewing and performance of ancient and modern comedy
• Writing projects, reports, computer workshops

Materials of Instruction:

• For this class, using a 3-ring binder with pocket folders will make it possible for you to stay organized (class notes, hand-outs, and graded assignments that must be kept for submission in your Comedy Portfolio).
• Purchase the following required texts in paperback at the bookstore ( in order for us all to be “on the same page” during class discussion, it is preferable that you use these editions):

1. Aristophanes. Four Plays: Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Frogs, translated by William Arrowsmith (New American Library)
2. Menander. Plays and Fragments, translated by Norma Miller (Penguin)
3. Plautus. Four Comedies: Braggart Soldier, Menaechmi, Haunted House, Pot of Gold, translated by Erich Segal (Oxford)
4. Terence. The Comedies, translated by Betty Radice (Penguin)

• Xeroxed materials (visuals, essays, articles, outlines, and reading guides), videos, slides
• Our class has its own on-line “Studio” for electronic discussion, in Washington State University’s “Speakeasy Studio & Cafe” in The CNR Neighborhood. Each student will be enrolled as a member and be able to log on.

Requirements: Students are expected to--

• attend all classes and workshops with their course materials, arriving promptly and remaining until the end of class. Anyone with more than four unexcused absences will fail the course. Those who are absent are responsible for obtaining assignments, notes, and materials
• read and reflect critically on assigned texts and contribute thoughtfully to discussions
• submit assignments on time (late work will receive a lowered grade) and in full: oral presentations must meet guidelines; written work must respond to instructions and conform to standards for formal writing (see your writing manual or the CNR Student Handbook), be typed, word-processed, or handwritten clearly
• take 3 quizzes
• collaborate cooperatively on a group performance project
• attend 3 special events: a film showing of “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”; Mardi Gras in costume; an approved live dramatic performance. I am organizing a group trip to “The Bomb-itty of Errors”, a hip-hop take-off on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” in lower Manhattan. Another possibility is Broadway’s “Kiss Me Kate” (expensive!)
• submit a Comedy Portfolio: your collection of comic materials (visuals, essays, articles, etc.), the semester’s graded comedy assignments (a checklist will be supplied), and your reflections on ancient and modern comedy

Grading:

Your grade will be based on the quality of your completed work as follows:
Class participation and assignments 30%
Quizzes (3) 30%
Group research and performance 30%
Comedy Portfolio 10%
Those who do not complete all requirements will receive an F grade for the course

January 25: Distribution and Review of the Syllabus

January 27- February 8: Orientation to the Topic, the Questions, the Course Methods:
Reflecting on and sampling the wide range of comedy in contemporary culture and your own experience of comedy, we will attempt to answer such questions as:
Why do we laugh? What do we laugh at? Does laughter define comedy? Have you got a sense of humor? Are you a creator or consumer of comedy? Is comedy universal and timeless or culture-gender-experience-specific? Where did comedy originate? What does comedy tell us about the culture from which it arises? What is comedy’s function? What is its relation to tragedy? Does comedy happen or is it constructed? Who are the people of comedy? What is the dress of comedy? What are the actions of comedy? Does comedy have its own language and methods? Where and when does comedy take place?

February 1 and 8: Computer Classroom (CC 314), Workshops # 1 and # 2
Handouts of essays and visuals; clips from videos of modern comedies

February 10-March 2: Domestic Comedy: The Family and Romance

• Family: The Brothers Menaechmus (Plautus), The Mother-in-Law (Terence), The Girl from Samos (Menander)
• Romance: The Girl from Andros (Terence), The Eunuch (Terence)

February 15: Computer Classroom (CC 314), Workshop # 3

March 2: Quiz 1

Handouts of essays and guides, slide-lecture, trip to a live performance of “A Bomb-itty of Errors”

March 7-23: Comic Heroes

• Lysistrata (Aristophanes), The Haunted House (Plautus), Phormio (Terence)

March 7: Computer Classroom (CC 314) Workshop

March 23: Quiz 2

Handouts of essays and guides, slide-lecture, video: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”

March 28- April 27: Comic Satire and Parody

• Public: Clouds (Aristophanes), Frogs (Aristophanes)
• Personal: Old Cantankerous (Menander), The Pot of Gold (Plautus), The Braggart Soldier (Plautus)

March 28, April 11, April 25: Computer Classroom Workshops (CC 314)

March 28 Evening: Mardi Gras

April 27: Quiz 3

Handouts of essays, slide-lecture, reading guides, video excerpts: “Miles Gloriosus”

May 2-11: Group Performances Closing Conversations

Group presentations and performances of ancient comedies

Comedy Portfolios due on the first day of exams