Module: The Tragedy: Comedy Complex

Module Specifications..

Current Academic Year 2023 - 2024

Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	The Tragedy: Comedy Complex
Module Code	EL210
School	67
Module Co-ordinator	Semester 1: Gearoid O'Flaherty Semester 2: Gearoid O'Flaherty Autumn: Gearoid O'Flaherty
Module Teachers	Gearoid O'Flaherty Michael Hinds
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

Coursework Only
The repeat Autumn assignment will duplicate the format of the assignment from the first semester.

Description

This module will begin by exploring the creative tension between comedy and tragedy that has permeated culture. It will then move into a further exploration of genre, including fantasy and popular forms, moving across literary history and national literatures. Students will study works of drama, fiction and film across traditions and cultures – starting with Aristotle’s Poetics and the literature of ancient Greece, through literary examples of Renaissance drama from the Elizabethan and Jacobean era and on to more recent narratives and film adaptations from the 19th-21st century.

Learning Outcomes

1. Discriminate between comedy and tragedy, applying a knowledge of Aristotleian theory.
2. Indicate when the tragic and the comic converge or get confused.
3. Reflect upon the social responsiveness of genre.
4. Understand the flexibility potential within genres.
5. Comprehend the way in which presuppositions about genre shape reading.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	21	Covering a range of texts, films, contexts and concepts associated with the Tragedy-Comedy genre.
Tutorial	3	Guided class discussion in smaller groups
Independent Study	101	Reading a selection of plays and prose texts; viewing and reviewing a selection of stage productions and film screenings related to the module; analysis and revision.
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to The Tragedy-Comedy Complex

Concepts of Comedy? Comic Archetypes

Aristotle, 'Poetics'

Sophocles, 'Oedipus Rex'

Sophocles, 'Antigone'

Aristophanes, 'Lysistrata'

Christopher Marlowe, 'Dr Faustus'

John Webster, 'The Duchess of Malfi'

Thomas Middleton & William Rowley, 'The Changeling'

Franz Kafka, 'Metamorphosis'

Herman Melville, 'Bartleby the Scrivener'

P.G Wodehouse, 'The Code of the Woosters'

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Essay	Mid-Semester Assignment	25%	Week 8
Reflective journal	'Final Assignment'	75%	Sem 1 End

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Barker, Simon and Hinds, Hilary (eds.): 2003, 'The Routledge Anthology of Renaissance Drama', eBook, Routledge, London & New York,
Belsey, Catherine: 1985, 'The Subject of Tragedy', Routledge, UK,
Bloom, Harold: 1990, 'Sophocles', Chelsea House Publishers, New York,
Brown, John Russell (ed.): 1976, Webster, John, 'The Duchess of Malfi', Manchester University Press, Manchester,
Butcher, S.H. (ed.): 2001, Aristotle, 'Poetics: 350 BC', eBook, South Bend, IN: Infomotions, Inc., Blacksburg, VA. Virginia Tech,
Eagleton, Terry,: 2002, 'Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic', Blackwell, Oxford,
Rutter, Tom (ed.): 2012, 'The Cambridge Introduction to Christopher Marlowe', eBook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Slavitt, David R. (ed.): 2007, Sophocles, 'The Theban plays of Sophocles', eBook, Yale University Press, New Haven,
Steiner, George,: 1963, 'The Death of Tragedy', Faber and Faber, London,

Other Resources

60059, Film Screenings, 0, Indicative, 60060, Film, Leo McCarey (Dir.), 1933, Duck Soup, 60061, Film, Stanley Kubrick (Dir.), 1964, Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 60062, Film, David O. Russell (Dir.), 1994, Spanking the Monkey, 60063, Film, Park Chan-Wook (Dir.), 2003, Oldboy, 60064, Film, Werner Herzog (Dir.), 2005, Grizzley Man, 60065, Film, Asif Kapadia (Dir.), 2007, Far North,

Programme or List of Programmes

BRE	Bachelor of Religious Education &English

Archives: