Introduction to Film and Its Literatures (214-0-01)
Instructors
Nicholas K Davis
847/491-3433
1897 Sheridan, Uh 215, Evanston, IL 60208
Meeting Info
Fisk Hall 217: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This course harbors two primary objectives: 1) to acquaint students with vocabularies and frameworks of argument required to analyze film in terms specific to that medium; and 2) to familiarize students with a broad range of written texts crucial to the study of cinema, enabling them to render persuasive interpretations of those texts, as well. The first half of the course will emphasize recent case studies of literature adapted into popular movies, tracking how not just the plots and characters but the perspectives, voices, structures, prose styles, and associated politics of written work get preserved but also transformed on screen, in blatant and subtle ways. In the second half, we will reverse course to examine plays, essays, and other literary works inspired by the movies. Cultivating techniques of close analysis—whether breaking down a film sequence, parsing a scholar's arguments, or negotiating between two versions of the "same" story—will be the paramount skill developed in the course, hopefully leading to deeper appreciations of several kinds of texts.
Lectures, discussion sections, and assignments will presume no prior coursework in film studies, but they will require quick, studious absorption of terms and concepts that might be new. Moreover, the course requires a willingness to put movies and other assigned materials under close observation and interpretive pressure, while hopefully retaining the joy of watching, reading, and evaluating them.
Teaching Method
Twice-weekly lectures as well as weekly discussion sessions.
Evaluation Method
Graded writing assignments; lecture quizzes; section participation.
Assignments: Writing assignments will include one conventional, argument-driven essay of 4 5pp. (around mid-quarter), a similar essay of 6-7pp. (as a final), plus two shorter, skill-building exercises of 1-2pp. (around Weeks 2 and 7). At least one quiz will be administered to confirm absorption of key concepts and film-specific vocabularies.
Class Materials (Required)
Readings: Most assigned readings and all assigned films will be available free on Canvas, with the exceptions of Nella Larsen's Passing (ISBN: 0593437845), Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (ISBN: 1973762196), Annie Baker's The Flick (ISBN: 1559364580), Ron Stallworth's Black Klansman (ISBN: 1250299055), and Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown (ISBN: 0307948471). The combined costs for these texts on Amazon total around $50.
Films: Movies screened in whole or in part are likely to include Arrival (2016), Birdman (2014), Passing (2021), BlacKkKlansman (2018), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Salesman (2016), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - University Hall 018 English: Thurs 4:00PM - 4:50PM
DIS - Parkes Hall 213: Thurs 4:00PM - 4:50PM
DIS - University Hall 018 English: Thurs 5:00PM - 5:50PM
DIS - Parkes Hall 213: Thurs 5:00PM - 5:50PM
DIS - University Hall 018 English: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Locy Hall 305: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - University Hall 018 English: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - Locy Hall 305: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Hall 018 English: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-331: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - University Library 4670: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-335: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Library 4670: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Hall 318: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM