Screenings W 6:45pm, Eaton 209

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Links Goals   Writings Screenings Participation  Schedule

Frann Michel
Eaton 204
x6389
fmichel<a>willamette.edu
MW 10:20-11:20; F 2:30-4, and other times by appointment

Goals

This course explores some recurring texts and topics in feminist film criticism. We will be viewing feature-length American films and reading critical and theoretical works on images of women, psychoanalytic theories of the gaze, formal studies of mise-en-scene and montage, cultural studies of voice and narrative, and studies of viewer response and genre (road movie, mystery, melodrama, horror). We will be examining questions of race, class, and sexuality as well as gender, and we will also be writing feminist film criticism. By the end of the term, students will be able to employ various critical perspectives in order to analyze how a film represents gender, race, class, and sexuality, will be able to critique and evaluate an author's thesis about the relations between feminism and film, and will have improved writing skills.

Readings

Assigned readings are due on the day scheduled. Readings will be available online or on reserve. Please print out or photocopy the readings, both so that you can make notes on the texts as you read, and so that we will all have the text to refer to during our class discussions. You should come to class having read the assigned material, having thought about it, and having questions or ideas about it.
 
Writings

This is a writing-centered class. There will be frequent (nearly daily) brief assignments: summaries, discussion questions, and other short assignments.  The more you write, the easier it will get. There will also be in-class writing assignments, which will be collected sporadically.  There will be four formal papers, and drafts of these due in advance.  You will revise two of these essays. You'll also write a preface to these revisions, assessing your writing this term.  See below for more information about writing assignments.

Participation

I expect students to attend all classes, to prepare for discussion by viewing and reading assigned materials and by completing all written work. I expect you to participate actively and responsibly in discussion, peer editing,  and in-class writing. See below for more about participation.
 
Evaluation
Final grades will be determined as follows:

4 essays: 10% each
revisions of essays 2 & 3: 20%
drafts, blog, and other short writings: 20%
attendance, editing, presentation of scene analysis, participation in discussion: 20%

If you have a documented disability for which I can make accommodation, please speak with me individually.

Screenings

Each film will be shown in Eaton 209, and will be on reserve in Hatfield library. If you cannot attend a scheduled screening, you are responsible for screening the film on your own. Eaton 209 is available every Monday and Wednesday evening this term. If you wish to schedule additional screenings there, please let me know.  Please note that the copy on reserve is the copy we will be watching during the scheduled screenings; please do not take the movie out during these times.

Jan 21 Thelma & Louise (1991) dir. Ridley Scott
Jan 28 & Feb 4 Vertigo (1958) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feb 11 Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) dir. Dorothy Arzner
Feb 25 Imitation of Life (1959) dir. Douglas Sirk
Mar 4  Alien (1979) dir. Ridley Scott
Mar 11 & Mar 18 Surname Viet Given Name Nam  (1989) dir. Trinh T. Minh-ha
Apr 1 & Apr 8  Daughters of the Dust (1991) dir. Julie Dash
Apr 27 in-class viewing: The Watermelon Woman (1996) dir. Cheryl Dunye

Links
Electronic Reserves
Article databases
Class Blog  
Blogland
WISE
The Internet Movie Database
Women in Cinema Reference Guide
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Writing About Film
Basic Glossary of Film Terms
Writing Center
More information about writing
On Plagiarism and how to avoid it

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Tentative Schedule

Policies & Participation Guidelines

Keep cell phones turned off or silenced during class.

Please do not use laptop computers in class.

Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the scheduled date.   You should bring to class any assignments, the assigned text (print out or photocopy readings on reserve or online), and appropriate notetaking material (notebook, pen). You should be prepared to discuss the reading and share your responses. Read actively, mark your texts, and take notes.

Try to contribute at least once to each general class discussion and at least once to each small-group discussion. Quality of response is more important than quantity, but you cannot offer thoughtful comments unless you speak up! Expect to be asked to support your observations with specific textual references. Stay on topic, avoid repetition.  Ask questions.

Be respectful of your classmates. Listen attentively.   Avoid side conversations.  Don't interrupt others; if you wish to speak next, raise your hand.  If you tend to speak a lot, keep yourself in check; make space for others to speak. Avoid personal attacks; challenge the idea not the person.

Writing assignments:  discussion questions -- blog -- summary -- scene analysis -- essays -- revision preface

Discussion Questions

Some weeks, after viewing a film, you will post to the class blog a question about the film and a response to a question posted by another student.

A discussion question is one that cannot be answered simply by looking the answer up somewhere, one that does not have an obvious answer, but that must be explored and argued. It is not completely open-ended, but specifically grounded in the film. It arises from careful consideration of what the film text says, and how it says it. In about 150 words, explain what prompted the question, what thinking went into arriving at the question, what possible answers (if any) have been considered, and why those answers are unsatisfactory. Try to frame the question itself in one brief interrogative sentence.

Responses need not be definitive answers, but may be speculative, and may point to relevant parts of the film text or to readings for the course.

Discussion questions are due 1/24, 1/31, 2/14,  2/28, 3/7, 3/14, 4/4.

Blog

Point your web browser to http://blog.willamette.edu
Login using your WU username & password
On the "My Weblogs" list you should see "Feminist Criticism: Film"
Click on one of the "Create new entry" buttons to do just that.
You need to select the "Publish" option for Post Status for your entry to appear on the formal blog site page.
To comment on someone else's entry, you have to be viewing the actual site, which you can get to via the "view site" links or this link:  http://blog.willamette.edu/people/fmichel/femfilmcrit/

You might want to compose your posts in a word-processing program and paste them into the blog.

In addition to the required discussion questions and responses, feel free to post to the blog questions for clarification, interesting links, or other comments related to the course.

Summary & Contrast

Writing summaries, also known as abstracts or précis, is an important skill for your classwork and in many professions.  A summary should condense the essential points of an argument using your words (paraphrase); be objective (no explicit or implicit judgment about the argument’s strengths and weaknesses); and avoid quotation. Begin by locating what you think is the article’s thesis or main point.

Summary and contrast assignments should devote about a paragraph to summarizing each essay, and then 1-2 paragraphs to juxtaposing the works, highlighting the significant differences between their arguments.

Summaries are due 1/26, 2/4, 2/9.  Please submit papers to your WISE folder for this course.

Scene/Sequence Analysis

In analyzing the mise-en-scene and montage of a brief, important sequence of a film, you will want to note the formal features described by Monaco. Note, for instance, if and when cuts occur, as well as whether and how the camera moves. Consider how the shot is framed (near/far, high/low angle, color, shadow & light, foreground/background, focus) and edited (cuts/dissolves/fades/blurs, fast or slow pace). Ideally, you will want to consider the relation between these formal features and what they convey: the choice of subject, positioning of the spectator, or development of the narrative. But be very specific and concrete about the formal features of the sequence. I expect everyone to present a sequence analysis in class at least once.

Scene/Sequence analyses are due 2/11, 2/18, 3/ 4,  3/11, 4/1, 4/20.  Please submit papers to your WISE folder for this course.

Essays

Feminist critical essays often start with discussion of an issue of feminist concern, such as family, sexuality, race, violence. This frames the discussion of the film, tells us why we should care. Similarly, feminist film critics often consider the apparatus of the film, the role of the gaze, the look, identification, spectatorship. They examine the conversation so far about an issue, about feminist film theory and criticism, &/or about a particular film. A brief summary of the film, the critical debate about it, and the issues at stake can prepare the reader for what follows.

The thesis of the essay articulates an argument, analysis, or interpretation of the film, typically addressing both form and content, and the relation between the two. Though feminist theorists may either emphasize the social content of representations, seeking positive images of women, or emphasize the formal innovations of a film text, feminist film critics most often explore how form creates, supports, or subverts content, or how the film positions the viewer and what that positioning implies.

A critical essay on a film will often develop the critic's ideas by analyzing a couple of scenes in some detail as illustrations of points within the discussion. How do the film's mise-en-scene and montage affect or position the spectator? How is the narrative conveyed or encapsulated within a shot, scene, or sequence? What's the effect of the choice of subject, framing of the shot (near/far, high/low angle, color, shadow & light, foreground/background, focus), editing (cuts/dissolves/fades/blurs, fast or slow pace)? The critic might explore questions of authorship/auteurship, genre, allusions to other films or texts, and conditions of production and distribution.

Drafts will be due at the beginning of class on 1/28, 2/23, 3/16, 4/22.  Bring four copies.

Essays will be due on  2/2, 3/2, 3/30, 4/29. Please submit papers to your WISE folder for this course

Use MLA format.

Revision preface

This should explain how you have revised these essays and what you see as their strengths and weaknesses. More generally, you should discuss and assess the development of your writing and thinking in this class. It should be about 2-3 pages long.

I strongly encourage you to visit the writing center for a consultation.  

See also my guidelines on writing and suggestions for revision.


Questions?

My office hours are listed at the beginning of this syllabus. Some weeks, I may need to reschedule some hours.  I will post temporary changes on my office door. Most weeks, I will have a sign-up sheet on my office door for scheduling appointments. I will be happy to meet with you individually to go over drafts or discuss your ideas for a paper. If you cannot meet with me at any of the scheduled times, contact me after class or by phone or email to set up an appointment at another time.

When you have questions about materials or assignments, please raise them in class-others may have the same questions. When you have questions or concerns about your work, or suggestions for improving the class, please come see me as soon as possible. I can answer questions, resolve problems, and make use of suggestions only if I know about them.
 

 
 
 


 

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