M. G. Aune
Office Hours TTh 2.00 – 3.30, W 3.00 - 6.00
and by appointment
724.938.4341
223 Azorsky Hall
aune(at)cup.edu
Tips and Links
Tips for
University Success
1. Always have
your homework assignment read, annotated, and be ready to ask and answer
questions about it.
2. When
emailing your instructor, always use a salutation (Dear…), identify yourself by
your full name, and use a closing (Sincerely…).
3. Do not wait
until the last minute to write and print your papers.
4. Attend class
punctually.
5. Get to know
at least three other people in each of your classes.
6. Be familiar
with Blackboard and all its features.
7. Visit the
office hours of each of your instructor at least once per term.
8. Have a
system for saving copies of all the papers you write for every class, either on
your own computer or on a flash drive.
9. Use a
calendar to keep track of all your deadlines and assignments.
Standard
Academic Usage
1. Titles of
books, films, magazines and newspapers are in italics:
Macbeth, New York Times, The Godfather
2. Write out
all numbers, cardinal and ordinal, that are two words or fewer: one hundred,
352. The exceptions are dates,
addresses, the time of day, percentages, Roman numerals, and decimals.
3. Put all
foreign words in italics, mise en scène
4. The first
time you refer to a person, use his or her full name; after that use only the
last name.
5. Avoid slang
and clichés.
6. Always
assume that you should use third person (he, she, it, one) rather than the first
person (I, we) or second person (you), unless you check with the instructor
first.
7. Place
punctuation inside quotation marks.
E.g. Shakespeare wrote, “To be or not to be.”
Not, Shakespeare wrote, “To be or not to be”.
8. Use
quotation marks only around words that are direct quotation.
Do not use them for irony or emphasis.
Tips for
Reading Shakespeare
Be patient.
Shakespeare's English (Early Modern English, we speak Modern English) is
different enough to be difficult, but similar enough to get the hang of pretty
quickly. Always read the
introduction to the play. It will
give you general ideas about the play and usually alert you to difficult
passages. Give yourself enough time
to read everything at least twice.
Try to read the first time without looking at the footnotes.
Keep a pencil in your hand to mark or underline difficult passages or
items of interest.
Much of Shakespeare is written in verse.
It was meant to be spoken out loud.
Try reading out loud and listening to yourself.
Your edition of the play is well-glossed and annotated.
But its primary audience is high school teachers, so often the notes are
sanitized so as not to shock teenage readers.
Therefore it is often useful to double-check definitions.
The best dictionary for Shakespeare is the
Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
It is a huge, fifteen volume set in the reference section of the library.
It is also available on-line via the library’s homepage.
Rasmussen's
Rule:
If you cannot understand a particular passage, it is probably about sex.
McGuire's
Dictum:
Always remember you are reading playscripts intended to be spoken, not read
silently.
Tips for
Writing about Shakespeare
There are
standard practices that nearly everyone follows when writing about Shakespeare
and literature in general. I have
briefly outlined them below and I expect you to learn and follow them.
When briefly summarizing or describing the action in a particular scene,
always write in the present tense.
"In the closet scene, Hamlet is speaking to his mother, unaware that Polonius is
hiding behind an arras."
When you use a quote from a play, cite the quote’s location in
parentheses after the quote. Give
the act, the scene and the line numbers in Arabic numerals, all separated by
periods.
"To be or not
to be" (3.1.55). Do not use page
numbers.
1. Always
italicize the title of the play.
The Porter believes he is at the gates of hell, “If
a man were porter of hell-gate.” (2.3.1).
4. If a
quotation is longer than four lines, separate it from your text by indenting it
five spaces, type it double-spaced.
Do not use quotation marks, but don’t forget the act, scene, and line numbers.
The Porter, who is most likely drunk, believes that he is in hell,
Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were
porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the
key. Knock, knock, knock! Who's
there, i'
the name of Beelzebub? (2.3.1-4).
5. If you quote
a single line of poetry or less, put it in quotation marks like a typical
quotation.
Once he is alone, Macbeth wonders, “Is this a
dagger which I see before me?” (2.1.44).
6. Do the same
with two or three lines’ worth of poetry, but use a slash (/) to indicate where
one line ends and another begins.
Once he is alone, Macbeth wonders, “Is this a
dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?” (2.1.44-45).
7. If you quote
four or more lines of poetry, set them off as would four or more lines of prose.
Indent the quote five spaces from the left, do not use quotation marks,
and don’t forget the act, scene, and lines.
Once he is alone, Macbeth wonders:
Is
this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? (2.1.44-51)
8. If you quote
dialogue from a play, follow the format for a long quotation.
Begin each portion of the dialogue with the speaker’s name indented five
spaces from the left, typed in all capital letters, and ended with a period.
Then type the quotation, indenting all the speaker’s lines an additional
five spaces. When another speaker
begins, follow the same format.
FIRST WITCH. All hail,
Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of
Glamis!
SECOND WITCH. All hail,
Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of
Cawdor!
THIRD WITCH. All hail,
Macbeth, thou shalt be king
hereafter!
BANQUO.
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? (1.3.50-57)
Length of the
Quote
Avoid using
long quotes. It is rare that a long
quotation will support a specific point you are trying to make.
If you have to use a long quote, paraphrase the quote instead.
Do not write about Shakespeare as if he were a person we can know and
judge. We know he wrote the plays,
but not much else.
Merchant of Venice may have strong
anti-Semitic elements in it, but we can't say Shakespeare the person was
anti-Semitic. We do not know what
his motives were in writing the plays so choose your words carefully.
Analyze the plays, not the author.
http://citationmachine.net/
This website gives you a form to fill in and it will generate a MLA style works
cited entry for most of the research you will be doing at Cal. In the
upper left hand corner, click on MLA and follow the directions. Remember
to proofread your works cited page and to put a period at the end of each entry.
http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/index.html
This website is maintained by the University of Toronto and has
content created and edited by a wide range of international Shakespeare
scholars. The "Library" section has versions of all the plays and poems,
edited and annotated, along with material on their historical contexts. You will
find especially good material here on Shakespeare's biography. The
"Theater" section has material related to the performance of Shakespeare's
plays, films, and illustrations.
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/
This website has all of Shakespeare's plays in html. There are no notes,
but the individual texts are searchable using your browser's search function.
http://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/
Another site that uses the same text, but allows you to search multiple texts.
http://dictionary.oed.com
This is the main entrance to the OED on-line. You shouldn't have any
problem using it if you are on campus. If you are trying to reach it off
campus, you should go through the Library's website (http://www.library.cup.edu/).
Click on "Try these first" and scroll down until you see the link for the
OED.
Pyramus & Thisbe
The Beatles' Pyramus & Thisbe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG9lIaabWgM
BBC Pyramus & Thisbe (1981), Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOzDfCOXFc
BBC Pyramus & Thisbe (1981), Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyjvYSXeZQY
BBC (1981) 2.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skEjMqaakug
BBC (1981) 4.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gleDhAQcYJ0
Peter Hall (1968) 2.1.62-103; 5.1.414-35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssrWYf8SWPE
Peter Hall (1968) 3.1.131-208; 4.1.1-46
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSDQjEJTPzg
Peter Hall (1968) 1.1.67-231
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRoIxwGsBR0
Max Reinhardt & William Dieterle (1935)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Zn9mPW95s
This scene represents the "dream" that occurs while Titania, Bottom, and the
four Athenians have while they sleep after 4.1.46. Oberon can be seen with
the Indian boy.
Adrian Noble (1994) 3.2.294-358
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APDtbZ4NYkQ
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