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English 154 Robin Pruter IC 3009 Mailbox IC 2070 (630) 695-8164 (emergency only)
Course
Description: Introduces methods of analyzing
and interpreting the literary aspects of film in order to enhance enjoyment and
understanding. Includes the comparison of literary and film techniques. Through
the study of a selected variety of motion pictures, the course builds
sensitivity to the uses of verbal and visual languages and to the
characteristics of various genre and non-genre films.
Readings: For
this course, you will be required to purchase The Art of Watching Films,
by Joseph M. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie, Fifth Edition. You will also be responsible for selected
handouts and web readings. Course
Requirements:
Quizzes: Each week you will
have a ten-point, objective and short answer quiz based on the assigned
reading, in-class discussions, and the previous week’s film. Final Exam: On the last week of
class, you will take a final essay exam analyzing the films viewed for class
using the concepts covered in the book and class discussions. Journal Entries: Each week you will
write a short (500 word) essay responding to a question about that week’s
movie. All journal entries must be typed and double-spaced. Genre Project: The genre project
completed during the first half of the quarter will require you to research a
film genre, track its development over time, and discuss notable films from the
genre. Director Paper: You will write a research
paper (4-5 pages), containing at least four outside sources, about one of the
directors listed below. You will be required to view at least three
films by the director and discuss the common elements in that director’s
work. This analysis of the director’s
work should provide the focus of your essay; biographical details should only
be included as they relate to the director’s work. Class Participation and
Attendance: This portion of your grade will be determined by your
participation in class discussions and activities and your attendance.
Absences will affect this part of your final grade.
Deadlines: All homework is due at the
beginning of class on the date due. If you fail to turn in an assignment
on time, you must complete an additional assignment of my choosing. Exceptions
will be made for documented emergencies, such as major illness, death in the
immediate family, hospitalization. All exceptions will be at the
discretion of the instructor and will require documentation. Exceptions
will not be made for minor illnesses, court appearances, work conflicts, or
vacations. Attendance:You
are expected to attend all screenings, even if the movie being shown is your
“most favoritist ever.”
Academic Integrity:Turning in someone else’s
work as your own is a violation of COD’s plagiarism policy and will result
in failure of this course. Cutting and pasting portions of other people’s writing into
your assignments without proper documentation is a kind of plagiarism and will
be treated as such.
Withdrawal:
The last day to withdraw from class on your own is July 28. After that date, you will need my permission to withdraw. I will give my permission to withdraw throughout the quarter for any reason. If you don’t think you can complete the class, I would hope you would drop within the first few weeks, so you don’t waste my time and your money. If you remain in the class until after the last day for automatic withdrawal, I would hope you would have the fortitude to complete the class.
Course Schedule (subject to change): June 16 Introduction and syllabus; Hidden
Values: The Movies of the Fifties
(2001) June 18 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956,
Don Siegel); Discussion of Invasion; Quiz 1 Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 1 and 14 (408-425) June 23 Sunrise (1927, F.W. Murnau) Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 2 and 15 (454-460) Homework
Due—Journal
1 Due June 25 Enigma (2002, Michael Apted); Quiz 2 Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 3 June 30 No Class—View Lone
Star (1996, John Sayles) outside of class and take notes on story structure July 2 Discussion—Sunrise, Lone Star and Enigma;
Quiz 3 Homework
Due—Journal 2 Due July 7 Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Alfred
Hitchcock) Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 5 and 11 Homework
Due—Journal 3 Due July 9 Discussion—Shadow of a Doubt; Quiz 4 July 14 Tea and Sympathy (1956, Vincente
Minnelli) Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 4 and 7 Homework
Due—Journal 4 Due July 16 Discussion—Tea and Sympathy; Quiz 5 Homework Due—Genre Project July 21 Run Lola Run (1999, Tom Tykwer) Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 6, 9, and 15 (447-454) Homework
Due—Journal 5 Due July 23 Discussion—Run, Lola, Run; Quiz 6 July 28 The Big House (1930, George W. Hill) Reading Due—Boggs Ch. 8 and 10 Homework
Due—Journal 6 Due July 30 Discussion—The Big House; Quiz 7
August 4 My Foolish Heart (1949, Mark Robson) Reading Due—Boggs Ch. 13 and
16 and “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut,” by J.D. Salinger Homework Due—Journal 7 Due August 6 Discussion—“Uncle Wiggily” and My Foolish
Heart; Quiz 8 August 11 The Deep End (2001, Scott McGehee and
David Siegel) Reading
Due—Boggs Ch. 12 Homework
Due—Journal 8 Due August 13 Discussion—The Deep End; Quiz 9 August 18 Review for the Final Homework Due—Journal 9 Due; Director Paper August 20 Final
Eligible Directors and their notable films
Vincente Minnelli—Meet Me in St. Louis, Tea and Sympathy, Gigi, An American in Paris, Home from the Hill, Lust for Life, Father of the Bride (1950), The Clock, The Bad and the Beautiful
Billy Wilder—Sunset Blvd.; Double Indemnity; The Major and the Minor; One, Two, Three; Some Like It Hot; A Foreign Affair; The Lost Weekend; The Seven Year Itch; The Apartment; Sabrina (1954); The Fortune Cookie; Witness for the Prosecution
John Ford—The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Informer, Drums Along the Mohawk, Young Mr. Lincoln, How Green Was My Valley, They Were Expendable, My Darling Clementine, The Quiet Man, Mister Roberts, The Long Voyage Home
Howard Hawks—Bringing Up Baby, Red River, The Big Sleep, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Rio Bravo, To Have and Have Not, The Thing from Another World (uncredited), His Girl Friday, Scarface
Tod Browning—Freaks, Dracula, The Unholy Three, West of Zanzibar
Woody Allen—Manhattan, Another Woman, September, Radio Days, Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, Mighty Aphrodite, Deconstructing Harry, Take the Money and Run
Frank Capra—It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, State of the Union, You Can’t Take It With You, Meet John Doe, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Lost Horizon
George Cukor—The Philadelphia Story, The Women, Dinner at Eight, Little Women (1933), Camille, Holiday, Sylvia Scarlett, Adam’s Rib, Born Yesterday, A Star Is Born, My Fair Lady
Ernst Lubitsch—The Merry Widow, Trouble in Paradise, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, To Be or Not To Be, The Love Parade
William Wellman—A Star Is Born, Nothing Sacred, Wings, Night Nurse, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Public Enemy, Wild Boys of the Road, The Great Man’s Lady, Lady of Burlesque, The Happy Years, The Next Voice You Hear…
John Huston—The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Prizzi’s Honor, The Night of the Iguana, The Misfits, The Man Who Would Be King, Moulin Rouge (1952), The Asphalt Jungle, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
William Wyler—The Heiress, The Bishop’s Wife, Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Miniver, Ben-Hur, Funny Girl, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Little Foxes, Dead End, These Three
Nicholas Ray—Rebel without a Cause, They Live by Night, Johnny Guitar, Knock on Any Door, 55 Days at Peking
Elia Kazan—A Face in the Crowd, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, On the Waterfront, East of Eden, Wild River, Gentleman’s Agreement
Martin Scorsese—Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York
David Lean—Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage to India, Brief Encounter
Robert Altman—MASH, Nashville, Gosford Park, The Player, Cookie’s Fortune, McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Federico Fellini—La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 ½, Juliet of the Spirits, Amarcord
Ingmar Bergman—The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, Autumn Sonata, Cries and Whispers, Persona
Fritz Lang—M, Fury, Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window, The Big Heat, Metropolis
Sidney Lumet—Network, 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Running on Empty, The Verdict, Daniel, Murder on the Orient Express
Francois Truffaut—The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, Day for Night, Small Change, The Story of Adele H.
Satyajit Ray—The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali, Aparajito, The World of Apu; The Home and the World
Akira Kurosawa—Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Ran, Kagemusha, Yojimbo
Spike Lee—Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, Malcolm X, She’s Gotta Have It, 25th Houre
Werner Herzog--Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu--The Vampyre (1979), Every Man for Himself or God Against All, Invincible
Robert Bresson--Pickpocket, A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest, L'Argent, Au Hasard Balthazar
John Sayles--Matewan, Passion Fish, Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish, Limbo, Sunshine State, Return of the Secaucus Seven, Eight Men Out
George Stevens--Alice Adams, Giant, A Place in the Sun, Swing Time, The Diary of Anne Frank, I Remember Mama, Woman of the Year, The Talk of the Town, The More the Merrier
D.W. Griffith--Broken Blossoms, The Birth of the Nation, Intolerance, Orphans of the Storm, Way Down East, Abraham Lincoln
Charlie Chaplin--A Woman of Paris, The Kid, The Circus, A King in New York, City Lights, Modern Times, The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, Monsieur Verdoux, Limelight
King Vidor--The Big Parade, Gilda, Our Daily Bread, War and Peace, Duel in the Sun, Hallelujah!, The Citadel, Stella Dallas
Vittorio De Sica--Two Women, The Bicycle Thief, Umberto D., Indiscretion of an American Wife, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Marriage--Italian Style
Orson Welles--Citizen Kane, Macbeth, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil, Chimes at Midnight/Falstaff, The Trial, The Lady from Shanghai
Roman Polanski—Repulsion, Chinatown, Cul-de-sac, Knife in the Water, Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist, Tess
Nicolas Roeg—Performance, Walkabout, The Man who Fell to Earth, Don’t Look Now, Insignificance, The Witches, Track 29
John Frankenheimer—Seven Days in May, The Manchurian Candidate, Birdman of Alcatraz, The Young Savages, The Gypsy Moths, The Train, Black Sunday, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Reindeer Games, Ronin
Sam Peckinpah—Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, The Getaway (1972), The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Jean Renoir—Boudu Saved from Drowning, Grand Illusion, La Bête Humaine, The Rules of the Game, The Diary of a Chambermaid
Jean-Luc Godard—Contempt, Weekend, Breathless (1959), Masculine-Feminine, Pierrot le Fou, A Married Woman
Buster Keaton—Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, The General, Our Hospitality, Go West
Edward Dmytryk—Murder, My Sweet; Crossfire; The Caine Mutiny; The End of the Affair; Raintree County; Walk on the Wild Side; Where Love Has Gone; The Carpetbaggers
Preston Sturges—The Palm
Beach Story, The Lady Eve, The Great McGinty, Unfaithfully Yours, The Miracle
of Morgan’s Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, Sullivan’s Travels
Some Useful Websites Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)
19 Jun 2003 |
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