Course Requirements for England Trip
January 4-26, 2001

Professors Catherine B. Burroughs and Michelle Mouton

1. Required Readings

The Mini Rough Guide to London
Let's Go Britain and Ireland or Lonely Planet Britain
Hibbert's The Story of England
Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2

2. Attendance/Participation: (30%)

In every venue, energetic listening and culturally-sensitive behavior are assumed. In addition, you will be expected to: attend every event and class meeting; honor the needs of the group; arrive at destinations on time; treat with politeness and unselfishness all peers and people involved in helping you on the trip; pay active attention to the events and tours scheduled; respect the guidelines and codes of Cornell College and of those we encounter on our way.

3. History and Play Quiz: (5%)

In our first week you will be tested on your readings of Hibbert's The Story of England and Henry VI, Part 2. The history component will focus on ties between Hibbert's narrative and our itinerary. Both components may ask you to briefly identify important places, people, events, and dates. To better understand Shakespeare's fairly difficult play, we recommend that you browse the website http://cgi.sparknotes.com/. It provides context and summaries for Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3.

4. Theatre Review: (15%)

Subject: one of the plays we see on the trip (Henry VI, Part 2 recommended).
Length: 750 to 1000 words (minimum).
Audience: a theatre-going audience in London or Stratford.
Due: January 25, but you may submit it earlier.
Structure: your review should include:

  • a thesis about the production (as opposed to an observation only);
  • description and analysis of at least four elements of the production
    (acting, directing, costuming, set design, lighting, etc.);
  • good organization;
  • mechanically correct prose.

5. Journal: (50%)

Prior to the trip, please purchase a hard-bound journal (no notebooks) substantial enough (8X11) to accommodate numerous and extensive entries for 3 1/2 weeks. Some of you will want to write more than others, but all of you should follow these guidelines while producing a well-written, absorbing, and detailed cultural narrative of your time in England:

  • create an entry for each date of our trip that both describes and analyzes the events of the day. These events will range from walking tours to special meals to performances of plays. Your aim is to record your observations about all that you do, see, think, and feel. Make and elaborate interesting claims, connections, and interpretations;

  • include detailed and vivid information that you absorb from tours, brochures, guidebooks;

  • include programmes, photos, ticket stubs, tube passes, and other "memorabilia" designed to illustrate and/or evoke your experience (pack tape!);

  • create a section in your journal that is essentially a long list: book, music, film, and play titles you encounter; historical and cultural events you want to read more about and pursue when you return to the U.S.; restaurants you want to return to; poems you discover; addresses of places you visit, etc. etc.;

  • make sure that each entry is written in pen and is legible and mechanically-correct.

We will read and evaluate your journal twice: once during and again at the end of the trip. In addition to this cultural, academic journal, you may wish to keep a more personal account of your time in England for your own use.

This trip is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lacey