THE WORLD OF TRAGEDY
  • Syllabus
  • Unit One
    • Aristotle's Poetics
    • Ancient Greek Theater
    • Oedipus the King
    • Antigone
    • Medea
    • Playing the Other
    • The Birth of Tragedy
    • The Mourning Voice
    • Lars von Trier's Medea
    • Cherrie Moraga's The Hungry Woman
    • A Theory of Adaptation
  • Unit Two
    • Early Modern Theater
    • Richard III
    • THEATER EXCURSION
    • Original Practices
    • Women of Richard III
    • Hamlet
    • Notorious Identity
    • Shakespeare's Ghost Writers/King in the Car Park
    • Mock Hamlet Exam
    • Hamlet 2
  • ASSIGNMENTS
    • Student Website Assignments
    • MEDEA ESSAY SAMPLES
    • THEATER REVIEW GUIDELINES
    • THEATER REVIEW MODEL
    • FINAL PAPER HAMLET
    • TIPS FOR FINAL PAPER
  • Resources
    • WHAT WE LEARNED
    • Glossary
    • Further Reading
    • Professor Walsh Recommends
    • Places and Projects
    • The World of Tragedy
    • FINAL PAPERS
  • TECH
    • A History of Hamlet
    • Paul
    • Estella
    • Estella
    • Estella
  • FINAL PAPERS
    • Hamlet: Jedi Knight
    • The Lion King
    • Game of Thrones
    • House of Cards
    • Shakespeare's Hamlet
    • Sopranos
    • Tragic Women
    • Waiting for Godot
    • Films of Tim Burton
    • Miley Cyrus
Please sign up for a task that suits your taste (Note: some are a bit more complex than others).
When you have completed your assignment, please e-mail it to me at kwalsh36@fordham.edu.

DUE MONDAY OCTOBER 14 by midnight.
Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about your assignment.
Remember, the goal is to create a useful resource for members of the class to use when studying for the Final Exam.

P.S. It's very likely that I will ask you to make some revisions/edits to your submission, so please be prepared for that and don't think that you've done anything wrong!  Revision is part of the process and we are aiming for the most polished website possible.


1.    JENNAH K.  Write out a brief definition of each of the following terms from Aristotle’s Poetics: Imitation, Spectacle, Suffering.  Please keep it short and simple, use complete sentences, and include direct quotations from Aristotle (with page numbers).

2.    STEPHEN F.  The same as #1, but your terms are: Diction/Reasoning/Lyric Poetry

3.    TIM The same as #1, but your terms are: Completeness, Magnitude, Unity

4.    JENNAH S.  The same as #1, but your terms are: Universality, Astonishment, Purification (katharsis)

5.    DERRICK
The same as #1, but your term is: Character

6.    GINO The same as #1, but your terms are: Reversal and Recognition

7.    ____________________
  and _________________________
TEAM PROJECT—2 people, and you can divide up the task any way you like, but the most efficient is probably to assign one of you to the first half of the intro, the other to the second.
Using Fagles’ Introduction “Greece and the Theater” in The Three Theban Plays, make a list of 15 key points that we covered in class during our slideshow (you can draw on your class notes from the slideshow to pull out the things we emphasized).  Include occasional direct quotes from Fagles with page numbers.

8.  STEPHEN R. and SHAHNT   

TEAM PROJECT- 2 people, and you can divide up the task any way you like (probably by dividing the play in half).
Plot summary of Oedipus the King.  Make a bullet-point list of the major events of the play (you will probably end up with approximately 15-20 events).  Include occasional quotations with page numbers and line numbers.

9.  CJ and AVA

TEAM PROJECT—2 people, and you can divide up the task any way you like (probably by dividing the play in half).
Plot summary of Antigone.  Make a bullet-point list of the major events of the play (you will probably end up with approximately 15-20 events).  Include occasional direct quotations with page numbers and line numbers.

10. XI and _________________

TEAM PROJECT—2 people, and you can divide up the task any way you like (probably by dividing the play in half).
Plot summary of Medea.  Make a bullet-point list of the major events of the play (you will probably end up with approximately 15-20 events).  Include occasional direct quotations with page numbers and line numbers.

11.  MOLLY Playing the Other: In one paragraph of complete sentences, summarize Zeitlin’s argument about the Body, using occasional direct quotes with page numbers.

12.  CATRINA Playing the Other: In one paragraph with complete sentences, summarize Zeitlin’s argument about the Theatrical Space, using occasional direct quotes with page numbers.

13.  SYDNEY Playing the Other: In one paragraph with complete sentences, summarize Zeitlin’s argument about the Plot, using occasional direct quotes with page numbers.

14.  KARA Playing the Other: In one paragraph with complete sentences, summarize Zeitlin’s argument about the Imitation/Mimesis, using occasional direct quotes with page numbers.

15.  LEXI The Hungry Woman: Provide brief definitions for the Spanish and Aztec key words listed on the website on the page dedicated to The Hungry Woman

16. DIVEN Under “Glossary” on our website (which can be found under “Resources), provide definitions for the following terms from Zeitlin and Loraux (using course materials, texts and notes and/or internet research): DESIS AND LUSIS, EKKYKLEMA

17.   KELLY Under “Glossary” on our website (which can be found under “Resources), provide definitions for the following terms from Loraux (
using course materials, texts and notes and/or internet research): PROTHESIS, SKENE

18. ____________________ and _____________________ and _____________________      
TEAM PROJECT-- 3 People, divide the work in any way you like.
Shakespeare key terms: find them under “Glossary” on our website (which can be found under “Resources), provide definitions for the following terms (info for these is in your Introduction to the Folger edition of Richard III, under “Shakespeare’s Theater” and you may also draw on internet research).  Make sure you read definitions from a few different sites and then write up a description in your own words, not simply cutting-and-pasting someone else's words.  If you use parts of other people's definitions directly (such as words from the Folger edition of Richard III), but them in quotation marks and mention the source.

    Master of the Revels
    Queen Elizabeth I
    The Plague
    Christopher Marlowe
    Philip Henslowe
    Richard Burbage
    The Admiral's Men
    Lord Chamberlain's Men/King's Men
    The Thames
    The Globe
    Blackfriars
    Puritans
    Bear-baiting/Bull-baiting
    English Civil War (1642): Closing of the London Theaters
    Tiring House
    The Yard
    Children of Paul's/Children of the Chapel Royal

19._________________ Under Resources (Places and Projects), write up a brief definition of The American School of Classical Studies at Athens.  Use the American School’s website and Wikipedia for info—and keep it brief like the other examples on that page.

20. _______________ and ________________                     

TEAM PROJECT—2 PEOPLE, divide the labor as you please
Early Modern Theater:  Read “Shakespeare’s Theater” in your edition of Richard III (p. xxxv-xliii).  Make a list of key points from this section (about 15-20 points), a list that you think encapsulates the most important details about Shakespeare’s theatrical context

21. STUART Write a brief description of the plot of Aristophanes’ play Frogs for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play Frogs (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Include the year of composition (if known) and a few details about the author.

22.  JEFF Write a brief description of the Aeschylus’s Oresteia trilogy for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play the trilogy (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summaries from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Include the years of composition (if known) and a few details about the author. 

23.  ANDREW Write a brief description of the Euripides’ Hecuba for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Include the date of composition (if known).

24.  ______________ Write a brief description of Athol Fugard, Winston Ntshona and John Kani’s The Island for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Include some info about the date of composition and first production.

25. ______________ Write a brief description of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Include date of composition, brief bio of Ruhl, and a few details of first production.

26.  ____________ Write a brief description of Anne Carson’s Antigonick for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).  Give date of publication and brief bio of Carson.

27.  NATALIE  Write a brief description of Julie Taymor’s film Titus for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to watch the movie (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere). Give year of film release and a few details about Taymor.

28.  ERANDO Write a brief description of Euripides’ The Bacchae for inclusion under Resources, “Prof. Walsh recommends” section.  You don’t actually have to read the play (but feel free to)!  You can derive the short plot summary from online sources.  Please make sure you have read a few different plot summaries and then written it up your own words (and not simply cut-and-pasted it from anywhere).

29.  JONATHAN Design a map of sites of Greek tragedy (Athens, Corinth, Thebes, etc).

30.  LILY (LITONG) Design a simple map of Athens showing Parthenon, Agora, Theater of Dionysus etc.

31.  YIMING Make a list of recent academic books on Shakespearean tragedy (ie. published by university presses in the last 5 to 10 years) for inclusion under Further Reading (use Fordham’s library catalogue or WorldCat to find the books, and then format them in keeping with the Greek Tragedy Further reading section that is already on the website).  You can include books on Shakespeare in general, and also books on our specific plays (Richard III, Hamlet), or on the Tragedy or History plays as a group.

32.  EVA Type out a passage from Loraux’s The Mourning Voice.  Start on the bottom of p. 85 with “A perfect example is the exhibition of the corpse…” and end near the bottom of p. 86 with “a real prosthesis or a real kommos.”

33.   LOGAN Type out a passage from Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy.  Start at the beginning of the PDF handout I sent to you by e-mail with “We shall do a great deal...” and end on the second page at “cause the subjective to vanish into complete self-forgetfulness…”

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