English 339 Course Blog

End of the course

2010-05-08T21:41:00.001-07:00

Grades have been submitted for English 339, so this is the official end of the course. I will be out of town and not available on email for several weeks, but if you have questions, you can contact me next fall.

Have a great summer!

E-papers have been emailed to you

2010-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

If you turned in an electronic copy of Paper 2, it has been graded and sent back to you along with the presentation grade. If you did a report and had not received the Report Response Sheet before this, that has been sent to you, too.

If you gave me a paper version of Paper 2 and would like to see it before the exam, please contact me. I'll scan it to a .pdf copy and email it to you.

Papers are not quite done

2010-05-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Although I'm in the office (Avery 357, 335-4831) as I mentioned in my email last week, I haven't finished grading your papers yet, although most of them are done. If you turned in an electronic copy, you'll be receiving your paper (and the report response sheet, if you did a report) by email later tonight or tomorrow.

For those of you who turned in paper copies, I should have those completed by noon today, so you can pick them up in my office or at the exam. If you can't stop by and won't be taking the exam, let me know if you would like to have me scan the paper and send you a .pdf copy.

Study Guide for Exam 2 now available

2010-05-02T20:45:00.001-07:00

The study guide for Exam 2 is now available here: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/study2.htm.

Links for WE WERE SOLDIERS

2010-04-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

These are the websites that I was going to use for my presentation on We Were Soldiers. Please post them on the blog for me. The first three go to the "behind the scenes" footage of the movie. The last web address is the book site with combat footage, pictures, battle plans, the prologue, and more.

Behind the Scenes Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtPoCtbEyog&playnext_from=TL&videos=bcJ44onKx-U

Behind the Scenes Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDigNHataJ8&feature=related

Behind the Scenes Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCOF8CeB7h0&feature=related

Novel: http://www.lzxray.com/overview.htm

Thank you!

Shantelle Dein

Final exam date; Withdrawal date; Papers and Reports

2010-04-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

1. As mentioned in class (and on the blog), our final exam will be held on Friday, May 7, from 10:10 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. in our usual room, CUE 409. You will need to bring paper for this exam. A study guide will be posted at this link by Sunday night: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/study2.htm.

2. Important: If you have missed a significant number of classes or assignments, you should know that tomorrow, April 30, is your last day to use an uncontested withdrawal from this course. If you are not sure of the number of your absences, email me and I'll tell you.

3. Reports. I will be on campus on Tuesday, May 4 from 9-1 to give back papers and reports. If you'd like to know your report grade before that, email me and I will send you a .pdf copy of my report comments and the grade.

4. Papers. Those of you who submitted papers electronically (without a paper copy) will be getting your graded paper back through email. If you turned in a paper copy, please let me know if you would like me to send your paper back (in .pdf format) by email before the final exam, when the papers will be available. Your presentation of your final project grade will be included on the comments for your final paper.

5. Some of you have asked me to give you an estimate of your grade going into the final exam. I don't calculate those grades before the final, but you can do this yourself by using the grades you have received and the percentages chart on the bottom of your syllabus (http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/sched339s10.htm).

Paper 2 received

2010-04-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've now responded to everyone who sent me an e-version of Paper 2. If you didn't get a response, I didn't receive your paper.

Final Exam Day and Time

2010-04-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

The final exam will be held from 10:10 to 12:10 on Friday, May 7. Please write this down, since it is not the date originally listed on your syllabus.

End of blog posts

2010-04-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Posting to the blogs for this semester is now closed, and the points have been recorded. I'm looking forward to reading your papers and to listening to class presentations next week.

Technical problems, Smoke Signals, and Last Blog Posts

2010-04-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

1. After today's class, Instructional Media Services came over to CUE 409 so that we could test for possible reasons for the dark picture that prevented the class from watching the movie. We weren't able to find any reason for it, unfortunately.

2. The movie Smoke Signals is available in the library and through Netflix; you can also check with the class bloggers (click on the links at right), who may be able to share a copy with you. Please try to watch this film before next Tuesday's class and fill out the comment sheet that you had today. We should have some time to discuss the film then.

3. Most of you have a good idea of how many blog posts you've completed and whether you'll want to rely on the blog post grade rather than taking the final; if you're not sure, email me and I'll tell you.

4. Although your last (optional) blog post is due tomorrow night, it does not have to be on Smoke Signals, under the circumstances. Here are some other possibilities:

You can write about some other movie that you believe would fit the themes of the course or that would make a good comparison with films we have seen.
You can also project your ideas into the future, as we did during one class discussion, by asking yourself this: what features of the 2010s or 2000s will future generations choose to memorialize with nostalgia in the ways that Back to the Future or American Graffiti looked at the 1950s and 1960s?
What film trends, especially those dealing with social issues, do you see emerging today?

Paper 2

2010-04-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

If you have sent me your e-version of Paper 2, you should have received an email acknowledging that I received it; if you haven't received a confirmation email, I haven't received your paper.

I'd like to thank you for sending your papers, especially those who took the time to write a courteous message when sending their papers.

No class today, 4/20; Paper 2 due tomorrow, 4/21

2010-04-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

This is just a reminder that there is no class today, 4/20. We will meet as usual tomorrow, 4/21.

Your second paper for this class is due tomorrow as well, even if you are not presenting on it until next week. If you are handing in a paper version, which is optional, the paper is due in class; all electronic versions are due to me via email (campbelld@wsu.edu) by 9 p.m.

If you have not yet used your automatic extension option and wish to do so on this paper, please contact me.

Since you will be using outside sources, or at the very least additional films, which should be cited (DVD versions included), your paper should have a Works Cited page. You can find information about citing sources here: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html or on p. 177 of Corrigan.

Presentation Schedule for Final Project

2010-04-18T10:02:00.001-07:00

The presentation schedule for the final projects is here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/present.htm .

If you have not signed up yet, you need to do so right away. The only available slots are for this Wednesday, April 21. You can email me about signing up or use the signup form:

http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/signupform.htm

You do not need to supply a fact sheet for these final presentations, and we will not be filling out comment sheets on them. As before, if you want to use PowerPoint, you either need to bring your own laptop or email me the presentation no later than the night before your presentation (which for most of you will be next week).

Please let me know if you have any questions. I will be on campus Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week, so let me know if you'd like to meet with me.

Presentation schedule for final projects

2010-04-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

The presentation schedule for your final projects is here:

http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/present.htm

If you have not signed up yet, there are still times open on April 21.

Extra blog posts

2010-04-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last "official" blog post (although you can make comments on this week's posts until next week). Although one additional "extra" blog post is on your syllabus. I've decided that instead of one extra blog post (and set of comments) for credit, you'll be able to write two:

4/15
4/22

If you'd rather, you can also write on something other than the films for these last two posts: a film that you think would fit well into this class that we didn't get to see, for example, or some other aspect of film that you'd like to discuss.

As mentioned earlier, each post counts 2 points and a week's comments (must be done within that week) counts 1, for a perfect score of 30 by the end of the semester (10 posts x 2 + 10 comments x 1 = 30).

Those of you who have already kept up with blog posts by writing each week can opt not to do these extra posts, since they won't give you any extra points if you're already at 30.

Reports on Tuesday

2010-04-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Our last day for reports is next Tuesday, and here's a list of the people presenting:

Jeremy Dorn
Haley Ogburn
Matt Quigley
Andrew Stevens
Saundra Ramaker
Brandon Chapman
Marshall Thompson

If you want to use PowerPoint, remember that you need to send it to me no later than 9 p.m. on Monday so that I can load it onto my computer. You can also bring your own laptop, if you prefer.

Resources on Bonnie and Clyde

2010-04-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

Blog posts and comments on others' blogs are due tonight by 9 p.m., as usual.

If you are interested in working on Bonnie and Clyde for your paper, our library has some useful books:
My life with Bonnie & Clyde / by Blanche Caldwell Barrow ; edited by John Neal Phillips. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, c2004.
HV6248.B334 A3 2004
[FBI documents regarding Bonnie and Clyde] [electronic resource; .pdf file].

[Washington, D.C. : Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1998?]
Bonnie and Clyde [videorecording] / Warner Bros. Pictures ; a Tatira-Hiller Production ; produced by Burbank, CA : Warner Home Video, c1997.

VIDEO,DVD,ETC.
LOCATION CALL NUMBER STATUS
WSU Media-Materials-Services Reserve DVD 57 ON SHELF
WSU Media-Materials-Services Reserve DVD 57 c.2 ON SHELF

The lives and times of Bonnie and Clyde / E.R. Milner.
Milner, E. R.
Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c1996.
HV6245 .M54 1996 ON SHELF

Running with Bonnie and Clyde : the ten fast years of Ralph Fults / by John Neal Phillips.
Phillips, John Neal, 1949-
Norman : University of Oklahoma, c1996.
HV6248.F87 P55 1996 ON SHELF

The strange history of Bonnie and Clyde / John Treherne.
London : Cape, 1984.
HV6245 .T73 1984 ON SHELF

Focus on Bonnie and Clyde, edited by John G. Cawelti.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall [1973]
PN1997.B6797 C3
The Bonnie & Clyde book / compiled & edited by Sandra Wake & Nicola Hayden. New York : Simon & Schuster, c1972.
PN1997.B6767 B66x 1972

Bonnie and Clyde : screenplay / by David Newman and Robert Benton.
Newman, David.
[S.l. : s.n., 1966]
WSU Vancouver PN1997 .B6763 1966a ON SHELF

You can hear the recording of "Deep Night" by Rudy Vallee, the song that played at the beginning of Bonnie and Clyde, here: http://www.archive.org/details/1920sPop

Reports tomorrow; no class on April 20; presentation signup

2010-03-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

We have several reports for tomorrow:
Brie Geffre Historical: the historical Bonnie and Clyde
Megan McKenna Martin Scorsese
Lauren Chavez Special effects
Oliver Ryder Comparison: The Godfather, American Gangster or another

If you are giving a report and want to use PowerPoint, please email me your presentation by 9 p.m. tonight.

Also, the English Department Awards Ceremony will be held on April 20 from 3-5 p.m., so there will be no class on that day (Tuesday). Instead, you're welcome to come to the Awards Ceremony in the Bundy Reading Room.

The signup page for the end-of-term presentations is here: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/signupform.htm

Raymond Chandler in Double Indemnity

2010-03-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

For those who are interested: this site (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jun/05/raymond-chandler-double-indemnity-cameo) has a picture of Raymond Chandler as he appears in the film Double Indemnity:

Now, however, more than 60 years after its release, a French cinema historian and two US crime-writers almost simultaneously happened on the same bizarre discovery - that Raymond Chandler, uncredited and previously unnoticed, has a tiny cameo in Double Indemnity. . . . [T]here he is, 16 minutes into the movie, sitting outside an office as Fred MacMurray walks past. Chandler glances up at MacMurray from a paperback he is reading, in hindsight a rather obvious clue about the true identity of this extra. Sadly, it is impossible to determine what the book is as the film briskly moves on and Chandler vanishes.

Noir and Hardboiled Fiction

2010-03-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

The PowerPoint overview on hardboiled fiction is available here.

Reports on Tuesday

2010-03-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

In addition to discussing Chapter 10 in Belton, we have a number of reports being presented on Tuesday, March 9 (http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/reports.htm).

If you are presenting on that day, remember to bring enough "fact sheets" for the people in the class (35 students + 1 instructor); also, if you're using PowerPoint, you need to email me your presentation no later than tomorrow night, 3/8, by 9 p.m. so that I can load it onto my computer. You can also use your own computer, if you'd rather. If you're not using PowerPoint, please let me know that, too, so that I can group the presentations accordingly.

Lecture on screwball comedy

2010-03-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

The slides from yesterday's lecture on screwball comedy are available here.

Also, if you're interested in seeing more of Bringing Up Baby, it's available (in parts) on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErX2P1UI2vc .

Reading for tomorrow

2010-03-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Your assigned reading for tomorrow is Chapter 8 in Belton. However, because the movie we'll see on Wednesday is a movie about the process of making movies, I will also be talking about the star system and the studio system (Chapters 4 and 5). If you have a chance to read these as well as Chapter 8, please do so, although I am not making this a mandatory assignment because of the late notice.

Although most of you already bring your book to class, please be sure to bring your copy of Belton to class tomorrow. We'll be working in groups for part of the class, and you'll need your book.

E-versions of papers

2010-02-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

If you turned in the e-version of your paper, you should have received an acknowledgment message from me. If you didn't receive one, I didn't receive your paper.

Thanks to all who submitted papers, especially to those of you who, after our brief class discussion of email etiquette, took the time to write a courteous message when you sent the paper.

Extended office hours

2010-02-23T08:38:00.001-08:00

My usual office hours today are from 12-1, but I'll be in the office, 357 Avery, from 10:30 on in case you have any questions about the midterm or the paper. You can also email me (campbelld@wsu.edu) or call (335-4831).

Blog posts and comments

2010-02-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

In case you're wondering how the blog posts and your comments on others' blogs are recorded: each blog post counts as 2 points and each week of comments (regardless of the number) as 1 point, so each week of blog post and comments is worth 3 points of a possible total of 30 points. As I've mentioned to some of you in passing, there is an optional blog post and comment opportunity on 4/21, at the end of the semester, to make up any points that you may have missed.

Paper 1 and various items

2010-02-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you who want to pick up your close analysis papers and Quiz 2, I'm in Avery 357 and will be here until about 1:15. I'll be back in the office from 2:50 to 3:30.

Remember you do NOT need to write Paper 1 based on the close analysis, although you can do that if you want to. Your paper should focus on one of the films we've seen (in whole or in part) or a closely related film from the period; please ask me if you're not sure.

As I mentioned in class yesterday, the midterm will be next Tuesday, and the paper is due on Wednesday. If you would like to turn in a paper version, it must be turned in at the beginning of class. Everyone must turn in an electronic version (sent as an attachment), and that is due to me by email by 9 p.m.

Chapter 7 in Corrigan has information about manuscript format and citing sources. You don't need to use secondary sources for this paper, but consult Corrigan if you do. Page 177 has the information that all of you will need: citing material from a DVD or videotape.

Midterm, blog posts, absences

2010-02-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

The midterm for this class will be held on February 23, as your syllabus indicates. The study guide will be available by Friday night at this link. Please note that your class notes and your books will be your best guide; the study guide is simply a reminder of what should already be in your notes.

Blog posts are due as usual tomorrow night by 9 p.m. You should comment on a classmate's blog by then, too.

If you are not sure how many absences you've accrued thus far, please ask me. Some of you are at or are approaching the 4-absence limit, after which your grade will drop.

Books on Pre-Code Film

2010-02-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

The books I mentioned in class this week are these:

Thomas Doherty, Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934

Lea Jacobs, The Wages of Sin: Censorship and the Fallen Woman Film, 1928-1942

You can get these through Summit. We also have the following book on pre-Code films at the library:

Mick LaSalle, Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood

Collections of the films we've seen are available on reserve and others are available here and here and here in the library.

Also, I forgot to mention in class that we will be having a quiz very soon.

Scarface

2010-02-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

In class today, we talked about the symbolism associated with the murders that Tony commits. Here's a rendition of the music that he whistles before several of them (Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor).

For a rendition that's closer in time to the 1920s, here's one from the great Italian opera star Enrico Caruso, who was hugely popular in the U.S. as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeBpKNRpKZQ. The music we heard starts at about 2:11.

Change in reading assignment

2010-01-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

Your syllabus lists an essay on "Gangsters and the Fallen Woman Cycle" as an assignment for Tuesday, but you need not read that. Instead, read Belton, ch. 2 in addition to the other assignment, Corrigan, pp. 39-61.

Today's films

2010-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

White Fawn's Devotion is available at archive.org, but Ramona is available only through the set of movies on reserve.

Tomorrow we'll be watching Redskin. If these films interest you, you might think about a paper topic that would look at Redskin and The Vanishing American (which we're not watching), among others.

You can find the PowerPoint slides from today's class and last week's class at the Lectures link on the right sidebar of this page.

Blog posts

2010-01-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

I've commented on all the blog posts available that had comment features. If you don't have comments enabled, I didn't leave a comment.

Please put your name (first and last) somewhere on your blog or at least in your profile, so that I can credit you for blog posts and comments that you leave. In Blogger, you can do this by editing your User Profile.

Within Our Gates

2010-01-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

The film we saw today, Within Our Gates, is on reserve at Holland/Terrell library; just look under ENGL 339 in Course Reserves (or use this link). You can also find it, with a different soundtrack, in 8 parts on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJIz5-ULbg/

The book I mentioned at the beginning of class is Jane M. Gaines's Fire and Desire: Mixed-Race Movies of the Silent Era. It's not in our library, but you can get it through Summit.

What to look for in a film (from class discussion)

2010-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of what you all suggested as important items to look for in a film. Thanks to Brianne Geffre for sending this information.

1. Art Form or Not pure Art? (are they out to make money?)

2. New Technology

-Effects

3. Technical issues

Lighting, angles (length of cuts, quality of movement)

4. Direction of Action (gaze, sight lines)

5. Genre

6. Budget/ Purpose

-Quality

7. Method of narration and subject matter

-music/ sound

-Narration/ voice over

8. Dialogue between viewer and movie

-what questions arise while watching

9. Intended audience

-era, population

10. Symbols that repeat

11. Context

-historical background

12. Setting, props, staging

13. Beginnings and Endings

-Order of the scenes

14. Acting,

who is chosen
Type Casting

15. What sells the movie?

Effects vs Story/ Characters

Broken Blossoms and The Birth of a Nation

2010-01-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

We saw excerpts today from Broken Blossoms and The Birth of a Nation; you can see full versions at the links. (BOAN is in 20 parts at YouTube or in one continuous film at archive.org)

I'll bring the scenes from Micheaux's Veiled Aristocrats to class tomorrow.

Updates to blogroll

2010-01-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

I've updated the links on the blogroll, so if you don't see your blog listed, please send me another email with the link. I've also updated the report list, so please check to see if your report date is listed correctly.

Updates on this page; blog and report signup

2010-01-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Although I sent you all an email last night (and if you didn't get it, you should check your MyWSU email address), I won't typically be sending email unless there's some sort of major announcement like class cancellation. Instead, I'll post the information and links here, so you should make it a practice to check this blog on a regular basis.

You can check it on the web at the above address, by becoming a "follower" if you have a blog in Blogger, or by using an RSS feed reader like Bloglines or Google Reader. If you want to check it on your iPhone, you could use an app like Bylines or Reeder, or you could use Viigo or another such application if you have a Blackberry.

About blogs and reports: you need to sign up for either a blog or a report (or both) by next Tuesday, January 19.

Movies and books from yesterday's class

2010-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of the authors I mentioned yesterday:
Tom Gunning (we read his essay on the "cinema of attractions")
Jonathan Auerbach, Body Shots
Kenneth Brownlow

The films we saw:

Edison Kinetoscope films: The Kiss, Serpentine Dances, Sandow, Genroy Brothers Boxing, Cockfight, The Barber Shop, Feeding the Doves, Seminary Girls
Dickson Experimental Sound Film
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Actualities: President McKinley at Home, Pack Train on Chilkoot Pass
Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery (1903)
D. W. Griffith, A Corner in Wheat (1908)

Favorite (or most influential) books and movies

2010-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a compilation of what your responses were to the question of your favorite (or most influential) book or movie:

Amadeus / Seven Samurai / The Thin Man
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Fountain
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Black Hawk Down
The Royal Tennenbaums / adaptation of Jane Austen's novels / Big Fish
any film by Quentin Tarantino
William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy: Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Of Mice and Men
Trading Places
Harry Potter movies and books
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy
Cool Hand Luke
Sweeney Todd and The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Lovely Bones
The Great Dictator
The Big Lebowski
horror films
Selena
Pineapple Express
Suspira
documentaries
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (book and miniseries)
Harry Potter books
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fahrenheit 451
Angels and Demons / Crash
Novels of William Gibson
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Mary Poppins
Harry Potter books

To set up your own blog, go to http://www.blogger.com (or http://www.wordpress.com or another site), create a username, and create a blog. Send the link to me (campbelld@wsu.edu) so that I can add you to the blogroll on this page.

I'll see you all at 3:10.

First post

2010-01-12T15:23:00.001-08:00

Welcome to English 339!