Writing and Film

English 153

Instructor: David Sharpe
Ohio University, Athens OH

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www.ohio.edu/sharpe/eng153

SYLLABUS

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Movies are not only a treasured part of our culture, but they are also a native language that has a special appeal to our ideas and emotions.  As we uncover the ways in which film affects us, we will discover that they are often the same methods that writing uses to move and influence a reader.  As a result, we can use this familiar art to illuminate and improve our writing skills.  At the same time, movies give us a colorful, energetic source of ideas and content to work with as we practice and experiment with clarity, structure, fluency, and rhetorical control.  By looking carefully at style, you will improve your writing in ways that will help the rest of your university career.  At all times, the discussion and treatment of movies will be a means to a greater end -- the ability to express yourself well in writing as your ideas become deeper and richer.

• During the quarter, you will produce twenty pages of strong, clear, polished writing in four formal projects. Rewriting of each project is expected, though formal grading of those rewrites won't take place until the end of the quarter. In addition, you'll be writing short memos, and adding suggestions to papers by other students in the class.  A final rewrite of each paper takes the place of a final exam.
  • IMPORTANT: Projects are due at the start of the class -- in most cases, by Tuesday at 11 a.m.  Submission by email is encouraged, and papers should be sent well in advance of the class.
  • All papers must be prepared with a word-processing program.  If this is a problem, please see me individually.
  • Because word-processing allows great variation in formatting, the number of pages is approximate and translates roughly into 300 words per page. Graphics and large fonts are disregarded in the word count.
• When asked as part of a class exercise, you will add constructive corrections and suggestions to examples of student work. In some cases, you will be asked to write a paragraph addressed to the writer that summarizes your reactions.
• In addition to the formal projects, you will complete a number of in-class exercises.
• We will be studying six movies.  Each is on reserve at the library, and you'll be responsible for viewing each one on your own time.  Even if you have seen the film previously, please see it again for the class.  In addition, you will be choosing one movie to concentrate on.  Your central movie can be any other movie besides the seven discussed in class.
• In preparation for class discussion on the films, you will be asked to write short reaction memos that will be handed in.
• The readings in this course will be substantial, as much as 40 pages a week.  Your best effort is asked for, not total recall.  Short quizzes will show me that the reading has been done.
• If this class is scheduled in 2 1/2 hour blocks, the last half-hour of the class is reserved for individual conferences.  If the class schedule includes a Friday 1 hour block, the Friday time is reserved for conferences.  Some of the conferences may take place during my office hours.  On the day you are scheduled, attendance is required, and will count as a two-hour absence if the meeting is missed.
• Problems in grammar and usage must be worked on as they are pointed out. We will confirm your grammatical abilities with the help of The Everyday Writer by Lunsford. Continued grammatical errors will affect your grade.

• Lunsford, Andrea, The Everyday Writer, 4th edition, New York: Bedford / St. Martin's Press, 2005. (ISBN 0312452802)

• Bordwell, David, Film Art: An Introduction, 8th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. (ISBN 13 97800733)
   
• Mda, Zakes, Cion, 1st edition, New York: Picador, 2007.  (ISBN 0312427069)

• the six assigned films on DVD are available through the Alden Library.  You will select a seventh from your own favorites for special study.  Any of these can be viewed by other arrangements, including personal ownership of the DVD.
   
• the standard for word processing will be Word.  WordPerfect or Works will not be adequate.  You can prepare drafts in either, but final versions will need to be done in Word (available in all labs on-campus).  Until Word 2007 is standard on campus, please submit all coursework in Word 2003 format (use File / Save As to convert your document, if necessary).  If you forget, you will be asked to resubmit.

Three absences (six hours total) will be permitted, but each absence thereafter will lower your final grade -- after all other factors have been counted -- by one-third (e.g., B to B-). Absences beyond three will be noted REGARDLESS OF THE REASON. You cannot do the work and participate in the class if you are not there, and even 'legitimate' reasons (illness, university functions, etc.) cannot replace what is missed. I would strongly advise you to keep your absences unused in case of unforeseen, future emergencies. If you must be absent, you are still responsible for whatever you missed, including finding out what is required and submitting, before the next class, any work that is due.  If you were unable to view a film in time for discussion, you will need to view it afterwards and submit the reaction memo before the next class.  Please contact me if you need to miss more than one class in a row.

Classes begin promptly; three late arrivals will count as an absence. Assignments are due at the beginning of class, and late assignments will be graded lower -- or not accepted at the discretion of the instructor. Papers that are late due to unexcused absences will be counted as late. Excuses based on ill-planned use of computers will not be accepted:  leave enough time to respond to possible hardware/software glitches, and always make backups of both your document file and your disk.

Energetic participation in discussion and class activities, generous critiques of other student work, and a willingness to examine what may be normally unseen and unconscious -- all of these are surefire routes to better writing, a better class, and a better grade.

Projects and lab exercises are not graded individually. This is meant to encourage experimentation, and to shift the 'worth' of a piece of writing away from an associated grade to its perceived effect on readers, namely (for now), on myself and your fellow students. When given, a grade combines a sense of how your work compares with your peers and how it compares with your own previous work. Substantial improvement as measured against yourself counts for more than any pre-existing, static excellence at writing.

You will be graded four times, including an assessment at the end of the course that will be written during class time:

Each grade will reflect the following considerations: the quality of writing and evidence of improvement, the completion of all assignments and readings, and class participation. Each late assignment will lower the interim grade by one-third (e.g., B to B-) and may not be accepted at all, at the discretion of the instructor. Each interim grade refers to its own time period and the final grade is calculated by simple addition of the points.

You are entitled to a B for your final grade if you do all the work, do it on time, do it with care, and if you are helpful to others in the class. Grades lower than B result from carelessness, lack of participation and/or attendance, casual/superficial thinking, and disregard for the value of rewriting. Note that attitude affects a grade of C or below more than writing ability.

An A or A- can't be earned by effort alone. A few are given to reward superior ability and/or superior improvement, and must always be supported by active participation. Superior writing shows clarity, organization, polish, language skills, confidence, imagination, energy, and insight. An A student isn't afraid to experiment, and occasional disappointing results will not damage the grade. Rewrites may not always be better, but they must be different.

You must work with your own writing. The ease with which text can be imported electronically brings temptations and dangers; use other writers only as support or points of departure for your own ideas and expression. Work which is copied directly from someone else's writing (or which has been altered in minor ways) must be identified, and must not overwhelm your own approach and your own voice. Sources used without acknowledgement ("plagiarism") will affect your grade, and could result in failure. In addition, writing which has been (or is intended to be) used for credit in another course is not permitted and could result in failure.

If you absorb the content and methods of the course successfully, at the end you should be able to --

Write Rhetorically:

• Write in various formal genres
• Write in various informal genres
• Show ability to summarize, analyze, critique, and synthesize
• Compose original arguments
• Write about primary and secondary texts
• Fit writing to specific purposes, audiences, and situations
• Draft and revise earlier writing
• Control writing style and grammar

Read Rhetorically:

• Evaluate and synthesize primary and secondary texts
• Analyze and/or evaluate textual organization structures
• Analyze and/or evaluate audiences, purposes, and writing situations
• Identify and use rhetorical concepts (ethos, tone, audience, etc.)
• Analyze and/or evaluate in-text documentation
• Identify and analyze various genres and contexts
• Identify and analyze various writing styles

Research Rhetorically:

• Search databases for appropriate sources
• Evaluate the quality of sources
• Paraphrase and summarize sources
• Synthesize sources
• Quote texts and incorporate visuals appropriately
• Document sources correctly
• Understand plagiarism

Respond to and Assess Student Writing Rhetorically:

• Understand writing as recursive
• Understand writing as collaborative/social
• Develop ideas in relation to others’ ideas
• Use language of rhetorical analysis to critique ideas
• Identify peers’ writing contexts
• Identify correct documentation
• Identify suitability of peers’ grammar and punctuation

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