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**This
syllabus will be made available in alternative media by request**
How are films made? How do we “read” films? What do movies tell us about who we are as
individuals, communities, cultures, and nations? We'll be exploring these critical questions aesthetically,
historically, and economically. Accordingly,
this course treats American Cinema as popular culture in order to discover some
of the cultural forms (ideas, images, characters, and narratives) that Americans
have used since the beginning of the Twentieth century to understand their
rapidly changing society. Students
should come away from this course having learned how what has happened in America
between 1920 and 1960 has shaped the present in which they live. Additionally, students will be equipped to
think both theoretically and historically about the complicated relationships
among film as a corporate-produced, mass-mediated form of entertainment, the
events and ideas that constitute social life, and viewers.
The course will include
lecture, large- and small-group discussion, with highly interactive class
sessions being the rule rather than the exceptions. Students should expect to
keep a film-viewing notebook. No previous study of film is assumed. Throughout the class, students will be asked
to make interpretive claims about the texts they read and the world they (and
their parents and grandparents) have lived in.
Since I believe that writing is thinking, students can expect to write
formally and informally, both inside and outside of class. Students
should expect to complete several assignments, including a portfolio of
screening reports, 1 short sequence analysis, a final analytical essay, and a
series of on-line quizzes.
Julie Passanante
2108 G St. NW #301
Hours: TBA
Tel. 994-6645
jpass@gwu.edu
The following required texts
are available at the Marvin Center bookstore:
Robert Sklar, Movie-Made
America
David Bordwell and Kristin
Thompson, Film Art
James T. Patterson, America
in the Twentieth Century
Students
will come to understand the American cinema as a multivalent aesthetic,
economic, and social institution. In
addition they will learn how to analyze films for form, style, narrative, to
recognize implicit assumptions about audience and values, and to place their
analytical findings in a broad social context. Students will demonstrate
awareness of the scope and variety of American film, learning how to understand
the cinema as an expression of human values by responding critically to
classical Hollywood films. Finally,
students will study the politics of the cinema to reflect on the formation and
representation of group identities in American history and culture.
Specifically, at the end of this course,
students should be able to
· Describe,
interpret, and evaluate the American cinema as an art, a form of commerce, and
a social institution
· Analyze
films at the level of images, sequences, films, genres and movements
· Identify
the characteristic narrative, formal, and aesthetic strategies of classical
Hollywood films, and to propose societal functions for these strategies.
· Identify,
describe and assess the ideological (and other) values embodied in classical
Hollywood films
· Explain how classical
Hollywood films function politically in American history and culture
· Demonstrate that popular
culture can serve its audience as a vernacular theory of society and even as a
mode of cultural history
· Place American cinema in an
historical context.
· View Twentieth century
social history through the eyes of a particular community of artists, and
thereby understand the partial nature of history.
A
Portfolio of screening reports, a Sequence Analysis, a Final Essay, and the
quizzes weighted as follows:
Screening Reports Portfolio à 40%
+ 1 Sequence Analysis à 20%
+ 1 Final
Essay à 30%
+ Quizzes à 10%
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Students
will be required to complete on-line quizzes for each assigned chapter of Film
Art. The quizzes can be found at
the Film Art website: www.mhhe.com/filmart/ When you arrive at the Film Art
homepage, click on "Student Center."
Choose the chapter from the drop-down menu and click
"Go." Review the chapter
objectives and discussion questions, then go on and complete the quiz (click
the link called "Multiple choice questions"). Take the test repeatedly until you have
answered all questions correctly. Once
you have scored a perfect 15, fill out the information required to send the
quiz results to Ms Passanante. Her email
address is: jpass@gwu.edu
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Sklar |
Bordwell |
Patterson
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Screening |
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Tu |
1/14 |
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Th |
1/16 |
Ch. 1-6 |
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The Crowd (1928) |
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Tu |
1/21 |
Ch. 7-8 |
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Ch. 6 |
Sherlock, Jr. (1924) |
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Th |
1/23 |
Ch. 9 |
Ch, 1; Excerpts Ch. 12 |
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Scar of Shame (1927) |
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Tu |
1/28 |
Ch. 10 |
Ch. 2 |
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Th |
1/30 |
Ch. 11 |
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Ch. 7 |
You’re Telling Me |
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Tu |
2/4 |
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59-78 of Ch. 3 |
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Th |
2/6 |
Ch. 13-14 |
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Ch. 8 |
Public Enemy (1931) |
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Tu |
2/11 |
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Th |
2/13 |
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Ch. 4 |
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Imitation of Life (1934) |
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Tu |
2/18 |
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Th |
2/20 |
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Ch. 6 |
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His Girl Friday (1940) |
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Tu |
2/25 |
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Ch. 7 |
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Th |
2/27 |
Ch. 12 |
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Ch. 9 |
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) |
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Tu |
3/4 |
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Ch. 8 |
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Th |
3/6 |
Ch. 15 |
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Ch. 10 |
Casablanca (1941) |
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Tu |
3/11 |
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Ch. 9 |
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Th |
3/13 |
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327-332 of Ch. 10 |
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Citizen Kane (1941) |
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Tu |
3/18 |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
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Th |
3/20 |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
Spring Break |
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Tu |
3/25 |
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78-90 of Ch. 3; 332-339 of Ch. 10 |
Ch. 11 |
Meshes of the Afternoon/At Land (1943) |
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Th |
3/27 |
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Ch. 12 |
Double Indemnity (1944) |
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Tu |
4/1 |
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Th |
4/3 |
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Out of the Past (1947) |
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Tu |
4/8 |
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Th |
4/10 |
Ch. 16-17 |
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Some Like it Hot (1959) |
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Tu |
4/15 |
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Th |
4/17 |
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Ch. 13 |
Native Son (1951) |
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Tu |
4/22 |
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Th |
4/24 |
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Baby Doll (1956) |
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Tu |
4/29 |
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Course Policies
Requirements for Written Work
BACKUP: You
should make a backup disk or photocopy of all your work. Error or breakdown—your, mine, or the
machine's—can happen. I will hold you
responsible to have copies of your work.
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP: All written work must be
accompanied by a signed page with the following declaration: “I, [name], declare that I am the sole and
original author of this work. This assignment
was completed in compliance with the requirements of the course and The George
Washington University’s Code of Academic Integrity.”
FORMATTING:
Except as noted, all written work must be word processed in Times New Roman 12, and double-spaced
throughout (except for identifying items).
Screening Reports may be single-spaced.
Print on one side of the paper only.
Set left margins to 1.75 inches and right margins to 1 inch. Do not justify the right side of the
page. All pages must bear the name of
the author, be numbered and stapled together.
Do not include a separate title page, nor submit your essay in a cover
of any kind. All papers must be neatly printed with a sufficient saturation
level of ink to ensure easy legibility.
Papers with text streaked by dirty print cartridges low on ink will not
be accepted.
LATE PAPERS: The
final grade of papers not submitted on the due date in class during the
scheduled meeting time will be reduced 2/3 of a letter grade for each business
day late. No assignments will be
accepted more than three business days late.
No exams will be accepted late.
HARDCOPY + ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: All papers must be
submitted both on paper, and as a plain text file (not MS Word) e-mailed as an
attachment to jpass@gwu.edu. If
you do not know how to save a file as a plain text file, please ask a consultant
in one of the computer labs. (See note
under Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism below for an explanation).
Academic
Dishonesty and Plagiarism
Any
act of academic dishonesty will be treated as a serious offense in this
class. By turning in any assignment,
students declare that they are the sole and original authors of their work and
are in compliance with The George Washington University’s Code of Academic
Integrity. Additionally they assert
that they have properly credited any words and ideas not their own (whether
those words and ideas originated in a published source, on the Internet, from a
multimedia presentation, or from a fellow student). Students with questions about how to properly credit the work of
others should consult with the instructor.
In
order to forestall academic dishonesty and plagiarism, and enable students to
learn on an equal footing, I will be requiring all essays to be submitted both
on paper and as a plain text file (not MS Word) e-mailed to jpass@gwu.edu. This will enable me to submit papers
suspected of plagiarism to an authentication service, which will determine the
originality of the paper. Students with
questions about this procedure should meet with the instructor in an office
hour.
Acts of scholastic dishonesty may result in an F for the course and
additional disciplinary action.
Incompletes
Incompletes
will not be given for frivolous reasons.
If you do not complete an assignment you will receive no credit for that
assignment and your course grade will reflect this. If there are specific attenuating circumstances, please contact
me immediately.
My office hours
are intended to be opportunities for students to come for one-on-one
discussions about anything: from writing and research problems to problems with
class dynamics. You just want to talk
about ideas or something interesting you’ve read? Come on in. I like
talking with students. I’ll do my best
to make you feel comfortable. Please
take advantage of this time.
If you call my
office and find that I am not available, please do not leave a voice
mail message for me. Instead, send me
an email outlining the problem. If it
is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll probably get back to you that
day or the next. If it’s Friday,
Saturday, or Sunday, you can expect a reply early the following week.
Policy for Human Dignity
All members of
the class will be treated with respect.
I do not believe that honest differences in passion, point of view, and
politics must be erased to facilitate harmony. But throughout this class,
thoughtful dialogue will replace aggressive confrontation and demeaning
behavior whenever disagreements arise.
Reasonable
accommodations will be made for students with documented disabilities. Please contact the office of Disability
Support Services (Marvin Center Suite 242; 801 21st St. NW,
Washington, DC 20052; Tel. 202-994-8250; V/TDD 202-994-8250; FAX 202-994-7610; dss@gwu.edu with any questions or requests for
accommodations.
Please turn off all cell
phones or pagers before entering the classroom. If, in case of emergency, you must receive a call during class,
please set the ringer on vibrate, rise quickly, exit the classroom, and answer
the call outside the room. In no case
may lectures or discussion be recorded on any kind of device without the
explicit written consent of the instructor and other participants.