Required Texts
[A] = Aristophanes. Lysistrata and Other Plays. Addison Wesley, 2008. ISBN: 9780140448146.
[WS] = Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. 1st edition. Edited by Charles Whitworth. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199536146.
[MDC] = De Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Reprint edition. Translated by Edith Grossman. Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN: 9780060934347.
[CL] = Lennox, Charlotte. The Female Quixote: or The Adventures of Arabella. Edited by Margaret Dalziel. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199540242.
[MT] = Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN: 9780486280615.
[JM] = McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird. Reprint edition. Riverhead Books, 2014. ISBN: 9781594632785.
[JL] = Leguizamo, John. Ghetto Klown. Illustrated by Christa Cassano and Shamus Beyale. Harry N. Abrams, 2015. ISBN: 9781419715181.
[AB] = Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Reprint edition. Mariner Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780618871711.
Freud, Sigmund. The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious. Translated by Joyce Crick. Penguin Classics, 2003. ISBN: 9780142437445.
Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts. Utah State University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780874216424.
Films
Chi-Raq. 2015.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. 1995.
Ghetto Klown. 2014.
Performance
Performance by NYC Drag Queen Miss Shuga Cain, entitled She’s the Man: A Drag Queen Performance (MIT’s De Florez Fund for Humor)
SES #
TOPICS
READINGS
Week 1: Introduction - What’s So Funny?
1-2
General introduction; basic vocabulary; course structure
No assigned readings.
Watch: Chi-Raq.
Week 2: Old Comedy
3
Aristophanes, Lysistrata
[A] pp. 131–159.
4
Lysistrata cont.
[A] pp. 160–193.
Week 3: Plautus & Shakespeare
5
Plautus, Menaechmi
Plautus. “Menaechmi.” In The Comedy of Errors. 1st edition. Edited by Charles Whitworth. Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 188–220. ISBN: 9780199536146.
6
Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors
[WS] pp. 85–130.
To prepare for Close Reading 3, read:
Harris, Joseph. “Introduction” and “Chapter 1: Coming to Terms.” In Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts. Utah State University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780874216424.
Week 4: Shakespeare cont.
7
The Comedy of Errors
[WS] pp. 131–180.
8
Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William. The Twelfth Night.
Week 5: Spanish Classics
9
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote of La Mancha
[MDC] pp. 1–102.
10
Don Quixote cont.
[MDC] pp. 103–249.
Week 6: Spanish Classics cont.
11
Don Quixote cont.
[MDC] pp. 250–352.
12
Don Quixote cont.
[MDC] pp. 353–449.
Week 7: Early Women Humor
13
Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote
[CL] pp. 1–100.
14
The Female Quixote, cont.
[CL] pp. 101–200.
Week 8: American Humor
15
Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
[MT] pp. 1–101.
16
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn cont.
[MT] pp. 102–220.
Week 9: American Humor cont.
17
James McBride, The Good Lord Bird
[JM] pp. 7–156.
18
The Good Lord Bird cont.
[JM] pp. 157–298.
Week 10: Women & Comedy
19
The Good Lord Bird cont.
[JM] pp. 299–458.
20
Tina Fey
Fey, Tina. Bossypants. Little Brown, 2011, pp. 3–10. ISBN: 9780316056861.
Week 11: Comic Memoir
21
Tina Fey & David Sedaris
“Act One: Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone.” 104: Music Lessons. This American Life, June 5, 1998.
Week 12: Graphic Novels
22
John Leguizamo, Ghetto Klown
[JL] pp. 1–74.
23
Ghetto Klown cont.
[JL] pp. 75–121.
Week 13: Gendering the Joke
24
Ghetto Klown cont.
[JL] pp. 122–181.
25
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
[AB] pp. 1–86.
Week 14: She’s the Man
26
Fun Home cont.
[AB] pp. 87–150.
27
Fun Home cont.
[AB] pp. 151–232.
