Evidently a number of you are worried that you can't prepare for class because of the format. I received a great suggestion: that we should prepare and post discussion questions in advance. So from now on:

If you are a presenter:

Please develop between 5 and 10 well conceived, articulated, interesting, and relevant discussion questions for the class. Please include areas of discussion such as: quotations you will be considering (from the primary and secondary sources), theorists you think might be helpful to illuminate your approach, and historical materials you think might be useful. Please feel free to include links to articles accessible from the university databases, and scholarly websites. These are due as soon as possible; no later than the Tuesday night before the class you present during.

If you are performing:

Please develop between 5 and 10 well conceived, articulated, interesting, and relevant discussion questions for the class. Talk about issues you have encountered in preparing the performance. Think about character, plot, and theme. Please be prepared to discuss these after the performance. You may create an assignment for group work, individual consideration, or as a way to set the tone for the seminar. Be sure to think about these issues while you consider how you are going to perform you play.

These will be considered in your  assignment grade.

Requirements for Performances:

A group of no more than 5 people
100 lines of memorized carefully chosen dialogue
Costumes and props
A 5 min question and answer period where you explain why you chose what you chose to perform. You will answer:
1.    What major themes are being presented in the performance
2.    Where else do these themes appear in the play and what their significance is in your section and elsewhere
3.    What the character’s motivations are
4.    What the playwrights motivations may have been
5.    How you hoped the audience would react (fear, laughter, anger)
6.    How you worked to achieve these goals
7.    What the staging of the play taught you about the play and the cultural concerns of the time

Requirements for the presentations:

This is a required class participation mark. 10%

You will present a 10 min. paper on a topic of your choice which willinform the classes reading of the topic. You may present on the text ortexts discussed during the week or you may present on a culturalconcern which is discussed in the text i.e. you may present onspecifics of Hamlet's madness, or how madness was diagnosed and treated in early modern England.

You must do research for this assignment. You may only use peer-edited journal articles or books/book chapters. You may not use website, anthologies, or encyclopedias or wikis. You must use 5 sources. Youmust quote directly from your sources and from the primary text/ texts.

A five page paper version of your presentation is due the same day. This will be properly formatted using MLA style format, times new roman12 point font, with one inch margins, a  MLA style works cited page, page numbers, a cover page.

You will present in an engaging and exciting style. You willpre-prepare discussion questions for the class which you will submitwith your paper.

You may bring handout, props, or any other tools (including treats for the class) which you think will help your presentation.