Dear students,
Welcome to European Tragedy! If you're an Associate student who's just joined us, welcome also to Queen Mary and to London - I hope you have a great experience here.
This initial announcement will explain what you should do to follow the module this week, and to prepare for next week.
As you'll be aware, teaching this week is 'asynchronous', i.e. delivered through video clips and reading tasks etc. Face-to-face classes begin next week: they take place on Mondays 9-10 am and Thursdays 4-5 pm, both in room 1.08 in the Bancroft Building (this is no. 31 on the online campus map). If you need any information about disability access to this building, you'll find it here.
The module's QMplus site hosts various supporting materials: the module guide, a link to the online reading list, and lecture slides etc. which will be progressively made available as the semester goes on. I normally make slides and other documents available in advance of classes, so you can follow things more easily.
For this week, you'll find the following in the Week 1 section:
- A brief set of instructions, which outlines the reading to do in advance of next week
- Five embedded video clips, which introduce the module and briefly present Aristotle's Poetics, a hugely important theoretical work on tragedy
- Separate copies of the slides that I show in each clip
- A short glossary of key terms from the Poetics, which may be useful for reference at some stage
Could you please watch the video clips in order, and then do the reading as specified? You might also find it helpful to look at the module guide. You should also, as per the instructions on QMplus, start acquiring your own copies of the set texts.
The first face-to-face class, at 9am on Monday 27 January, will be a seminar. You'll work in teams to reflect on various issues relating to Aristotle's Poetics. I'll allocate teams and tasks on the day, so you don't need to do any specific preparation - but if you have time, you may want to take a look at the two seminar activities in the Week 2 area, so you have an idea of what will be discussed.
I hope things go well this week, and I look forward to seeing you next Monday.
Best wishes,
Adrian Armstrong