ENG-30070 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

What happens when a theatrical text is transferred to the screen, or when the literary is transformed into the cinematic? How have the works of Shakespeare been adapted and appropriated by the film industry in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and what motivations lie behind the creative decisions made by screenwriters, directors and actors?
In this module, students will read a selection of plays by Shakespeare, from a range of dramatic genres, and analyse a series of film adaptations of those plays. You will learn about the various ways in which Shakespeare has been adapted and how different adaptations can be seen as responding to different aspects of the original texts. You will also have the chance to practise film adaptation for yourself, as we will spend some time in workshops and seminars thinking about how to adapt a play's setting and themes to suit new contexts, and exploring how to cut, modernise and otherwise adapt Shakespeare's text. The films studied will all be available to you via the Box of Broadcasts (an online film and TV archive to which Keele subscribes) or other free-to-use online platforms (e.g. YouTube).

To introduce students to concepts relating to adaptation, appropriation and intertextuality via an in-depth examination of Shakespeare on film. To relate the plays and films to their various social and cultural contexts, and to examine them in relation to a variety of critical and theoretical texts. To teach students how to create their own adaptations of Shakespeare into a film script.

Intended Learning Outcomes

assess critically the works of Shakespeare and the processes through which his plays have been adapted and appropriated in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: 1,2
present effective close analysis of film and literature: 1,2
demonstrate the research skills appropriate to advanced undergraduate study in the Humanities, and the ability to sustain an argument in written work: 1,2
plan, research, and produce work within the limitations of time and resources available: 1,2
assimilate, synthesise and assess major critical approaches to literature and film, in particular discussions of authorship, genre, commerce, culture, gender, sexuality, class, race and nation: 2
demonstrate an understanding of the technical processes and artistic choices involved in adapting Shakespeare to film: 1,2

Study hours

24 hours seminars
12 hours workshops
20 hours film viewing
34 hours seminar preparation
60 hours assessment preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment