The purpose of English 15 is to provide an introduction to the major poetry and plays of William Shakespeare, a writer whose influence upon literature and culture continues today. In order to explain why Shakespeare could remain an influential cultural icon for over 400 years, we will approach the texts from a literary and performance-oriented viewpoint. The sonnets provide an introduction to Shakespeare's more technical elements (language and meter), and this introduction will smooth the transition into understanding five of Shakespeare's more prominent plays (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, and The Tempest). We will approach these works as not only "literary" works, but as living scripts for performance that actors and directors have interpreted in a variety of ways. Our study of Shakespearean performance will include several classic and more contemporary film adaptations.