English 287:  Great Books

Course Schedule

Fall 2002:   Part 2

23 Sept (M):  In class today, we will view the second half of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou.  For today, though, you should have read

• Bernard Knox's essay "Greece and Theater," the general introductory essay to Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays (Penguin Classics), pp. 13-30.
• The first third (pp. 131-138 through ¶2) of Knox's Introduction to Oedipus the King in the same volume.

For each of these, there is a series of questions to guide your reading and reflections.  You will find them linked to in  our Study Guide on Sophocles' Oedipus the King:  Index to Resources.

25 Sept (W):  In class today, we will continue discussion of The Odyssey.  But you should make a start with the readings we will be doing in connection with Sophocles' Oedipus the King.  Before you read that play, 

• Review Knox's summary of the Theban Saga (middle of p. 27 through ¶2 of p. 29).
• Print off a copy of of the Brief outline of Sophocles' Oedipus the King.  Use it to keep oriented as you work your way through the play.  You may also find it useful to supplement parts of the outline with your own more concrete and specific notes about what is going on, and how.
• Print off a copy of Imagery to be alert to in Oedipus the King.  Devise your own abbreviations for each category of "figure of thought" featured in this memo, and enter that abbreviation in the margin of your text whenever you notice it showing up.

27 Sept (F):  Read the rest (the concluding two-thirds) of Knox's Introduction to Oedipus the King (pp. ¶2 [again] on p. 138  through p. 153.  This is pretty closely argued analysis, so be sure to consult the Study Guide to it.

• In addition (of course) to the text of the play, be sure to bring with you to class your copy of Dramatic Irony in Sophocles' "Oedipus the King. 

30 Sept (M):  There will be a quiz today in class over Oedipus the King.  It would be wise to re-read the play before taking the quiz.  After the quiz, we will continue our close reading of passages involving dramatic irony.

2 Oct (W):  There will be no class today.  But you should continue with our readings in connection with Shakespeare's King Lear.

• Read the brief biographical note on Shakespeare (the frontispiece -- p. i -- of our Bantam paperback edition of the play.
• Read Joseph Papp's Foreword to our edition.  How does Papp advise readers to cope with the difficulties of Shakespeare's language?
• Read the first three pages of the editors' Introduction (pp. xvii-xvix through ¶).  The summary there of "the complex double plot of the play" will be helpful for your orientation.
• Have a look at the editors' description of "The Playhouse" (pp. xxxvii-xxxix).
• Work your way through Act I of King Lear.  A good practice to adopt is to 
  • Key hint:  Before or immediately after you take up a scene, read quickly through the summary of that scene in the SparkNotes Guide to King Lear.  (You will want to return to this source for each scene, so if you're working from home you might want to bookmark the site.  You'll need to "join SparkNotes," but the sign-up is simple and free.)
  • Read a short passage (e.g., a long speech or a stretch of dialogue, but not longer than a page) without looking at the language notes at the bottom of the page -- that is, trying to make the best sense you can of the passage on your own.
  • As you read, put a dot in the margin whenever there is something that leaves you baffled.  
  • Then skim through the footnotes, reading the information that touches on points you found confusing.  
  • Finally, re-read the passage in the light of what you've picked up from the notes.

4 Oct (F):  In class:  continued discussion of dramatic irony in Oedipus the King.  

• Reading assignment:  Work your way through Acts II and III of King Lear.

7 Oct (M):  In class:  we will wind up our discussion of dramatic irony and theme in Oedipus the King, and take a look at a scene from the Tyrone Guthrie production of the play.

• Reading assignment:  finish your first reading of King Lear -- i.e., Acts IV and V.
• Read also the part of our editors' Introduction that discusses "the opposition of parable and realism" in the play (¶2 on p. xix through the long first ¶ on p. xxii).

9 Oct (W):  In class, we will be discussing King Lear.  Read the part of our editors' Introduction that treats of Lear's deficiency in self-knowledge (¶2 on p. xxii through p. xxvi).

But you should begin the readings we are undertaking with Molière's play Tartuffe.  For today:

• Read the Introduction to the play by the translator, Richard Wilbur.
  • How does Wilbur connect this comedy to Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear?
  • What does Wilbur see as the source of Orgon's mental aberration?
• Read Act One of the play.
• When you have completed your reading of Act One, review it in the light of the Outline and Study Guide for Act I of Tartuffe.
• Read Act Two of the play.
• When you have completed your reading of Act Two, review it in the light of the Outline and Study Guide for Act II of Tartuffe. 

11 Oct (F):  Continued discussion of King Lear.  Read the part of our editors' introduction that discusses "the inversion of the word 'natural' in the play" (pp. xxvii-xxviii).

The main part of the reading assignment, though, is to continue with Tartuffe:

• Read Act Three of Tartuffe.
• When you have completed your reading of Act Three, review it in the light of the Outline and Study Guide for Act III of Tartuffe. 
• Read Act Four of Tartuffe.
• When you have completed your reading of Act Four, review it in the light of the Study Guide for Act IV of Tartuffe. 

14 Oct (M):  There will be a quiz today in class over King Lear.   Continued discussion of that play.

• Reading assignment:  Finish Tartuffe (Act Five).  
• When you have completed your reading of Act Five, review it in the light of the Study Guide for Act V of Tartuffe. 

16 Oct (W):  In class, we'll wind up our discussion of King Lear, and begin discussing Tartuffe.

Reading assignment:  

• Review the Study Guide:  Moliere's Tartuffe as a satire on religious fanaticism
• Also today you should begin with our readings in connection with Cervantes' Don Quixote.

I will make an explicit assignment on this soon.  You'll want to return to this Study Guide to acquaint yourself with it.  It will also be posted  on the Message of the Day.

18 Oct (F):  No Class:  Student holiday.

21 Oct  (M):   Discussion of Tartuffe.  

Reading assignment:

• Review the Study Guide:  Political parable in Moliere's Tartuffe.
• Continue with your reading in Don Quixote.

23 Oct (W):  There will be a quiz today in class over Tartuffe.

Reading assignment:

• Continue with your reading in Don Quixote.

Preview of things to come:  we'll continue to push through Don Quixote.  While you are building your acquaintance with that work, we'll return to King Lear, and have a look at some contrasting productions of key scenes.

Also, you'll soon get your first out-of-class essay assignment.

  Return to Part 1 of the Course Schedule.

  Go to Part 3 of the Course Schedule.

  Suggestions are welcome.  Please send your comments to lyman@ksu.edu .

   Contents copyright © 2002 by Lyman A. Baker. 

Permission is granted for non-commercial educational use; all other rights reserved.

  This page last updated 28 October 2003 .