Engl 225 Introduction to Film:
American Countercultures and Cult Classics
Instructor: Crystal Alberts Office: Merrifield 1D
Office Hours: M-T 11:00-12:00 and by appt. Phone: 7-2393
E-mail: crystal.alberts@und.nodak.edu
Required Texts:
Film Glossary (handout)
The films for this class are available at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, the English Department (Merrifield 110), and/or the Grand Forks Public Library.
Grading:
Attendance/Participation 5%
Screening reports 15%
Paper 1 (3 pages) 25%
Paper 2 (5-7 pages) 30%
Exam 1 25%
Objective of the Course:
Students in this course will learn the essential components of film language—staging, camera placement, camera movement, editing, lighting, special effects—to heighten perceptual skills in viewing films and increase critical understanding of the ways films function as visual discourse. Students will also learn how to write analytical, argumentative essays on films.
Course Requirements:
Completion of Work: PLEASE NOTE, ALL PAPERS AND EXAMS FOR THIS COURSE MUST BE COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED ON TIME TO RECEIVE CREDIT.
Attendance, Participation, and Punctuality: Your attendance and participation in class discussion is essential for the success of the class. Screenings will be held in class and the screening reports will be done immediately afterwards; screening reports will only be accepted in class the day of the screening. Please note that 4 or more unexcused absences will negatively affect your grade and that more than 6 unexcused absences constitute grounds for failure of the course. Note that three unexcused tardies is equivalent to an unexcused absence. Also, I will consider a tardiness of more than 20 minutes an absence. If you do miss a class, please see me during my office hours to find out what you missed, including important handouts, changes in the syllabus, etc.
Essay Format: Essays are due at the beginning of the class in which they are due. In other words, essays e-mailed to me later in the day will be considered late. Essays handed in after the class meeting will be deducted a 1/3 of the letter grade for each day that they are late. For instance, if you get a B+ on the essay, but you hand it in on Thursday instead of Tuesday, your grade will drop to a B-. If there is some reason why you are unable to hand in the essay on time, you must discuss this with me before the due date. For this class, all essays must be written using the MLA format. I will distribute handouts from the MLA Handbook to help you with this. In addition, all essays must be typed using Times New Roman 12-point font. Also, please use a one to one and a quarter inch margin and title your essays. Everyone is strongly encouraged to meet with me at least a week before each essay is due to discuss your paper topic.
S-U Option (aka Pass/Fail): If you wish to take the course under the S-U option, please consult the registrar’s office for UND’s policies available at: http://www.und.edu/dept/registrar/catalogs/catalog/ugdept/more.htm.
Scholastic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, is a serious offense and will be subject to official university policy and punitive action as found in the “Code of Student Life” available at http://sos.und.edu/csl/index.php?main=1&pg=s3&subpg=3-3 and reproduced here:
3-3 SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. Cases of dishonesty may be handled as a scholastic matter or as a disciplinary matter at the discretion of the instructor. Instructors choosing to treat the case as a scholastic matter have the authority to decide how the incident of dishonesty will affect the student’s grade in the course. If the instructor has treated the case as a scholastic matter involving the grade in a course and the student has a grievance related to this action, that grievance would be processed as outlined in Section 3-2. Instructors choosing to treat the case as a disciplinary matter will refer the case to the Associate Dean of Student Life for possible resolution; if final resolution does not occur the Associate Dean of Student Life may refer the case to the Student Relations Committee which will handle the matter under Section 2.
A. Cheating on a test includes, but is not restricted to:
1. Copying from another student’s test.
2. Possessing or using material during a test not authorized by the person giving the test.
3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test without permission from the instructor.
4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or in part the contents of an unadministered test.
5. Substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself to take a test.
6. Bribing another person to obtain an unadministered test or information about an unadministered test.
B. Plagiarism means the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another person’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one’s own work.
C. Collusion means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing any academic work offered for credit.
Please remember that you must cite all quotations, summaries, paraphrases and ideas of others, or you will be subject to disciplinary action, such as failure for the course or worse. If you have even the slightest doubt about whether or not you should cite a source, err on the side of caution and cite it.
Class Schedule
(Screenings and Reading Assignments are Subject to Change)
Week 1
6/29 Introductions/Syllabus
SCREENING: “Uncle Sam Goddamn” by Brother Ali (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO18F4aKGzQ)
“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSWuA-RttGU)
Reefer Madness (1936, B&W, 69 min., Not Rated)
6/30 SCREENING: Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932, B&W, 62 min., Not Rated)
READING: PCA Code (Handout)
7/1 READING: "Production Code of 1930" (handout)
7/2 SCREENING: Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950, B&W, 110 min. Not Rated)
Week 2
7/6 DISCUSSION/p>
7/7 SCREENING: Bonnie and Clyde
7/8 Paper #1 Due
DISCUSSION
7/9 SCREENING: Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969, 95 min. R)
Week 3
7/13 DISCUSSION
7/14 SCREENING: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin van Peebles, 1971, 97 min., R)
7/15 DISCUSSION
7/16 SCREENING: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974, 83 min. R)
Week 4
7/20 DISCUSSION
7/21 SCREENING: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100 min. R)
7/22 DISCUSSION
7/23 SCREENING: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Week 5
7/27 Unit Quiz #1
7/28 SCREENING: Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1991, 100 min., R)
7/29 DISCUSSION
7/30 SCREENING: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Week 6
8/3 DISCUSSION
8/4 SCREENING: Slam (Marc Levin, 1999, 103 min., R)
8/5 DISCUSSION
8/6 SCREENING: Teeth
Paper #2 Due
