Catalog Description
- Transfer Status
- CSU/UC
- Unit(s)
- 3.00
- Lecture: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
- Total: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
Course Description: This course will examine the nature and meaning of the narrative structure of film, as well as the aesthetic and historical impacts of cinema on society. Using a variety of critical lenses, students will improve their analytical skills, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the written word as the literary foundation of the cinema. Graded only.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
- Analyze and compare ideas across course texts.
- Form and support an argument using evidence from multiple texts.
- Interpret literary works through different theoretical lenses that may include political, socioeconomic, geographical, ethnic, cultural, ecological, psychoanalytical, historical, gender, sexuality, or genre development.
- Analyze the intellectual, historical, and aesthetic significance of written and cinematic culture.
- Analyze and discuss the expectations and conventions used in literature - novels, short stories, plays and poems - and how those expectations and conventions are affected when translated into film.
- Assess the cultural, social, and psychological impact of film on society.
Course Content
Topic Titles / Suggested Time Topic
Lecture
| Topics | Lec Hrs |
|---|---|
Literary Form and Analysis
Reading and viewing: Annie Proux’s novella Brokeback Mountain and the film. Benshoff and Griffin. "Ethnographic Films and the Rise of the Hollywood Western” in America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in the Movies. 2004. Grapes of Wrath (1940), Calamity Jane (1953), Rear Window (1954), True Grit (2010). | 12.00 |
Film Form and Analysis
Reading and viewing: Sharman, Russel. "Mise-en-scene." Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema. The Apartment (1960), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Matrix (1999), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) | 13.00 |
Film Content
Reading and Viewing: Justin Torres' We the Animals novel plus the film. All about Eve (1950), Female Trouble (1974), Children of a Lesser God (1986). | 13.00 |
Film as Literature Theory, Criticism, and Analysis
Reading and viewing: Sharman, Russel. “Women in Cinema,” Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema. Halberstam, Jack. “Introduction” The Queer Art of Failure. The Stepford Wives (1975), Daughters of the Dust (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Little Miss Sunshine (2006) | 13.00 |
| Total Hours: | 51.00 |
Methods of Instruction
- Class Activities
- Discussion
- Homework: Students are required to complete two hours of outside-of-class homework for each hour of lecture
- Lecture
- Multimedia Presentations
- Reading Assignments
- Film viewing inside and outside of class, followed by discussion.
Methods of Evaluation
- Homework
- Essays and research papers
- Class Discussion
- Group Participation
- Film analysis and evaluation: students are expected to write a minimum of 4000 words for this course.
Examples of Assignments
Reading Assignments
- Read the literary work assigned by the instructor, choose the meanings of the identified quotes, and explain how you think they connect to the theme of the work as a whole. Be prepared to discuss your findings in class.
- Evaluate one classmate's literary analysis and offer suggestions for deepening it. Think about the ways your own interpretation of the work differs from your classmate's and offer these different perspectives. Select three additional quotes from the literary selection to question, debate, or add to your classmate's analysis during the next class period.
Writing Assignments
- Respond in 200+ words to one of the course films to articulate a specific question that has emerged from your viewing and analysis of it. Use that question to help you formulate a thesis that you can support and develop in a formal essay. Be sure to consistently synthesize specific details from your chosen literary work and outside research, and come to a logical conclusion that develops the implications of your thesis for the audience. Share your findings with the class.
- Articulate a specific question that has emerged for two of the course's assigned film and literary works, and formulate a thesis about that question. Compose a formal essay of 1000+ words, supporting and developing your thesis. Consistently synthesizing specific details from your chosen film and literary works, and from outside research, come to a logical conclusion that develops for your audience the implications of your thesis. Share your findings with the class.
Out-of-Class Assignments
- Select two or more of the assigned cinematic or literary works from a particular period, and research their historical and cultural contexts, using this new information to deepen your written analyses of those works (1000+ words). Be prepared to discuss in class.
- Choose one or two of the assigned directors or authors, and research specific circumstances of their lives and times that might have influenced their work. Write an analysis of this influence in 1000+ words and be prepared to discuss in class.
Recommended Materials of Instruction
Giannetti, Louis. (2018). Understanding Movies. Pearson, 14th. 9780134492087.
Sharman, Russel. (2020). Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema. University of Arkansas, N/a. OER.
Halberstam, Jack. (2011). The Queer Art of Failure. Duke University Press, n/a. 9780822350453.
Torres, Justin. (2018). We the Animals. Mariner Books, n/a. 9781328639073.
Benshoff and Griffin. (2021). America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in the Movies. Wiley-Blackwell, 3rd ed. 978-1-118-74365-2.
Proux, Annie. (2005). Brokeback Mountain. Scribner, n/a. 978-0743271325.
Other Learning Materials
Specific texts, authors and films to be determined by the instructor.
Minimum Qualifications
English (Masters Required)
Humanities (Masters Required)