This course examines film’s representation of powerful dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes. A close look at the relationship between these texts and others will lay bare aesthetic and philosophical visions of post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, and corporate-run societies.
Course Objectives:
- Understand that film and literary texts are forms of storytelling that reveal political and institutional sources of selfhood and human relations
- Comprehend verbal and visual representations of these disciplinary forces through literal, implied, and symbolic levels, e.g., allegory and myth
- Identify a text’s point of view, tone, exposition, and audience
- Analyze ideology through the textual and visual, e.g., classism, racism, ethnocentrism, sexism
- Recognize cultural diversity and cultural literacy through experiencing films and literary works
Course Evaluation:
There are four main class projects:
- Response Papers
- Book Presentation and Scene Analysis
- Final Essay
- Website
1. Response Papers. Response papers (4-5 pages) address a film and a related novel. Draw from the novels, films, and any theory mentioned in our supplemental readings and class discussions. The response paper should include critical and reflective analyses of the primary and secondary sources (film, book, and theory), and the following:
- A logical flow of ideas with unified paragraphs and effective transitions
- Effective incorporation of research materials
- MLA documentation including works cited page
2. Book Presentation and Scene Analysis. In groups of four or five, select a book and scene from one of our films, and discuss their relation in a 30-minute class discussion (not lecture). Help your classmates analyze content, style, and technique. Consider the scene’s overall effect as well as the director’s/author’s strategies that you believe created that effect. Most important, help your classmates see how film and literature are both complementary and distinctive art forms. Please note that all group members are expected to contribute equally and each is responsible for his/her own three-page written analysis.
- Each group is responsible for one academic journal article related to the topic. Copy and distribute your article to the class one week before your presentation date.
- Each person in their group is responsible for a three-page typed response.
3. Final Essay. Your final, seven-page essay uses film and literature to put forth a specific critique of a contemporary issue that you find interesting and important. That is, go beyond our texts to establish a clear position on a central topic. How do our films and novels shed light on political, economic, and institutional realities? Like your short essay responses, these longer essays should represent careful scholarly work. Two drafts required, first draft and final.
4. Website. Create a website and hypertext essay (a version of your final essay) based on key areas in which dys/utopian literature and film play an important role. Your hypertext essay will also be a version of our final paper. Since film necessarily augments literature’s symbolic realm through visual representation, pay particular attention to graphics and spatial arrangement. Use Google, Dreamweaver, or other Web design software. Be prepared to discuss your project to the class.
WebCT:
In addition to our main projects, everyone is required to post substantial (250 words or more) weekly journal responses on the course WebCT. These posts should address class discussions, readings, and classmates’ posts. Try to establish a conversation with your classmates. Begin here: https://webteach.csun.edu
Participation:
Class participation includes discussions, WebCT posts, student-instructor conferences, and workshop activities. Everyone has something to contribute to the class, and there is always an opportunity to learn from each other. If you do not feel comfortable speaking in class you may participate in other ways. Although participation grades will not be distributed, I will be happy to discuss any questions you have about your progress.
NOTE: Late work will not be accepted unless you have obtained an extension from me ahead of time. You must submit your essay even if you miss class on its due date.
Policies:
When you enroll in our class you make a commitment to your classmates. This is a participatory, collaborative workshop-style class and attendance is absolutely essential to our success. Grades are therefore dropped a letter after three absences. An F is given after six. You are responsible for completing and submitting any work due for a day that you miss and you must come prepared with any work required for the following class. Please feel free to contact me or see me during my office hours to learn what you missed and how to prepare for the next session.
Grades:
I grade holistically, so no final grades will be given until your work is assessed in its entirety at the semester’s end. Until then, I’ll write comments and suggestions on your papers and WebCT posts and discuss your progress in person. Please feel free to come by my office, email, or phone me if you have concerns.
Academic Honesty:
It is important for you to be scrupulously honest in documenting the work that you have drawn from others. Like other institutions, CSUN maintains a strict academic honesty policy. Plagiarism is illegal and dishonest. All cases of academic dishonesty must be reported to the Dean, who may suspend or permanently dismiss you from CSUN. You will receive a course grade of F if you plagiarize in E312.
English 312-02
Spring 2008 Syllabus
Please note that all course requirements and policies are subject to change. Not all readings are represented below.
Work is due on the date it appears. Each week requires a WebCT post prior to class.
1/22
Introduction: Large vibrating eggs, the future, and you
Read Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: Chapter 3 “Panopticism”
Begin reading Orwell’s 1984
1/29
Discuss syllabus
Choose book-scene groups
Course Vocabulary and Concepts
Foucault's Discipline and Punish, Chapter 3 “Panopticism”
2/5
Book: Orwell’s 1984
Exercise: Q&A
2/12
Film: 1984
Rorty's "The Last Intellectual in Europe: Orwell on Cruelty"
Howe's "1984--Utopia Reversed"
Discussion
2/19
Book-Scene Group #1, 1984
Althusser's “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”
Computer Lab
2/26
Biologism and GATTACA
Book: Boulle’s Planet of the Apes
Computer Lab
3/4
Book-Scene Group #2, Planet of the Apes
Scenes from Birth of a Nation
Computer Lab
3/11
Haraway’s "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century"
Martin’s “Where did the Future Go?”
Computer Lab
3/18
SPRING BREAK: NO CLASS
3/25
Book: Fahrenheit 451
Film: Fahrenheit 451
Computer Lab
4/1
Foucault's Discipline and Punish, Chapter 2 “The Spectacle of the Scaffold”
Foucault's Madness and Civilization, Chapter 2 “The Great Confinement”
BOOK-SCENE GROUPS
2/19
Group #1: 1984
3/4
Group #2: Planet of the Apes
4/8
Group #3: Fahrenheit 451
4/29
Group #4: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner)
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