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The first part of this course develops your abilities to read literature and films.  You will learn the "language" of fiction and film, exploring the artistic elements that make up each medium.  You will consider how writers and film-makers create meaning and elicit responses through their art.
 
 

Class 1	Introduction to Course Outcomes and Course Abilities  For next time, read “What Happened at Miss Minchin’s”; Constanzo, Chapter 1.
Class 2	Introduction to Elements of Film and Fiction  (character, plot, setting; camera angle, light, sound, symbol).  For next time, view A Little Princess (1995); read Constanzo, Chapter 2.
Class 3	Introduction to Elements of Film and Fiction  (narrative voice, diction, point of view; camera movement)  For next time, read The Sweet Hereafter, pages 1-159.
Class 4	Introduction to Elements of Film and Fiction  (mis en scene, editing; begin viewing The Sweet Hereafter).  For next time, finish The Sweet Hereafter; read Constanzo, Chapter 3.

 

In the second part of the course you will use your growing knowledge of fiction and film to explore and expand on your responses to works of art.  We will pay special attention to story-telling and narration as integral parts of the experience of fiction and film and consider the role of our own values and larger value systems in responding to moral dilemmas presented in art.
 
 

Class 5	Finish viewing and work with The Sweet Hereafter   For next time, review frameworks for in-class assessment; begin reading Like Water for Chocolate; write stage 1 of Storyboard Assessment.
Class 6	In-Class Assessment  For next time, finish Like Water for Chocolate; view film for Aesthetic Response/Analysis essay.
Class 7	Exploring the Self through Fiction and Film  For next time, write essay on Outside Film (see assignment sheet); view Like Water for Chocolate.
Class 8	Narrative Voices, Narrative Visions  For next time, create storyboard materials.

 

The final part of the course encourages you to make inferences and draw conclusions about the meaning of works of art within larger contexts (cultural, historical, biographical).  You will explore how your response to literature is influenced by film, how your response to film is influenced by literature, and how your response to art is shaped by growing knowledge of broader historical and cultural contexts.
 
 

Class 9	Begin Storyboard Conferences  For next time, read Constanzo, Chapter 5.
Class 10	Finish Storyboard Conferences  For next time, find film reviews; finish Storyboard Assessment.
Class 11	Films in Context:  Historical Approaches to Film  For next time, read "Wives and Concubines."
Class 12	Viewing of Raise the Red Lantern  For next time, complete Aesthetic Responsive to Raise the Red Lantern.
Class 13	Films in Context:  Film Criticism  For next time, finish preparation of group syntheses and presentations.
Class 14	In-Class Assessment:  Presentations of Film Criticism Overview

 

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