“Bardolatry ” is a term particularly coined for Shakespeare by Bernard Shaw, for he thinks William Shakespeare has been excessively worshipped by readers, audience, and critics. There is no doubt that William Shakespeare has been deified since the 18^th century. William Shakespeare, “the Augustus in Hat” as Ben Johnson called, is the man “not for an age but for all the time,” the man whose works are “the map of life,” and the man whose “wonder and astonishment hast built thyself a live-long monument.” His A Midsummer Night’s Dream is for sure listed among his canonical works as well as in the repertoire of the movie companies and theatre stages for its fantastic plot and unparalleled linguistic genius. However, reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not easy for Chinese students who have little knowledge of Early Modern English, nor a few touches of Greek mythology, if not at all. This magnum opus now begins to come to the Chinese university classroom with an aim to make the literary canon accessible to Chinese students who are commissioned to build a future of the world rich in dreams, abounding in plenty, and embraced with kindness.

     Students taking this course must have an English level equal to what the CET-4 certificate requires or above. This course lasts 8 weeks focusing on the text of Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There are 32 sessions in this course covering nearly every event taking place in the play. Although the dialogues in the play are read and discussed in each session of the course, it is strongly recommended that the students should read them after class. In addition to the reading and interpretation of the play, a clip of video related to the dialogues that have been read and discussed is attached at the end for the sake of a better understanding of the text.

This is a course  designed to help students grow both linguistically and intellectually . By reading and watching Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, students are expected to increase their knowledge of English  literary canon and western culture. Together with the writing tasks and oral practices of the lines in A Midsummer Night's Dream, students are to be equipped with the capability to go further along  their academic career.  

To attend this course, students are required to have the English proficiency equal to what CET-4 requires  or above.

    Slade, Carole. Form and Style: Research Papers, Reports and Theses. Beijing: Foreign

             Language Teaching and Research Press, 2006.

    Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream.Ed. Barbara A. Mowat

           Werstine. New York: Simon&Schuster Paperbacks,2009.

Q :  Is this course fully in English?

A :  Yeah. Canonical works are believed to be read in their original language. In the beginning, it

      seems to be a bit hard, but not as hard as people presume. I assuredly believe that English

      proficiency progresses by practicing rather than by feeding.

Q :  ‍Is this coures easy to pass?

A :  Nothing is easy if one wants to do what he or she wants. Persistence, consequently, rewards.

Q :  ‍Is class participation important for students' perfromance assessment?

A :  Yeah. It matters very much.

Q :  ‍Is plagiarism offensive?

A :  Yeah. Citation should be properly quotated. Otherwise it is thought to be a serious crime.

Q :  Will ‍the questions raised be promptly answered?

A :  I am ready to answer the questions regarding the play any time when I can get access to

      icourse platform.