Beacon College—LIT 2901
Film and Theater Analysis
1:00-4:00 M-F
Three Credits
Instructor: Dr. William Nesbitt
Office Phone: 365-2839
Office Hours: 4:00-4:30 (half an hour after class)
E-mail: wnesbitt@beaconcollege.edu
Required Text: Various handouts I will give you in class.
Required Supplies: Pen, pencil, loose leaf paper, or notebook, white typing paper, collegiate dictionary, thesaurus, and two computer disks.
Course Description: This class examines the workings of production in the theater and film industry. It includes film history, style, and technique through a detailed critical analysis of major works from the silent period to the present day.
Course Objectives: In order to become active (rather than passive) film viewers who can watch films as not just entertainment but as complex and conflicting statements, we will use the categories of race, gender, and class as a way to organize our considerations of the various films we will watch.
Grading Scale:
93-100 A 90-92 A-
87- 89 B+ 83-86 B 80- 82 B-
77 – 79 C+ 73 – 76 C 70- 72 C-
67 – 69 D+ 63 – 66 D 60 – 62 D-
Below 60 – F
How I will determine your final grade:
Race Paper 25%
Gender Paper 25%
Class Paper 25%
Presentation 15%
Participation 10%
Total: 100 percent
Cell Phones: All cell phones must be turned off during class.
Intellectual Honesty: Students are responsible for the authorship of their own papers and oral presentations. Papers that show signs of plagiarism will be returned for rewrite and may put the student in jeopardy of receiving a failing grade for that paper and the course.
Late Assignments: If late papers are accepted, there will be a penalty of one letter grade.
Early Assignments: If a student turns in an A or B paper the class period before it is due, I will award five (5) bonus points.
Attendance and Tardy Policy: Students are expected to be present and on time for all class meetings. Making up work because of an absence is the responsibility of the student. The student is responsible for knowing and understanding the policies for making up work outlined in the syllabus for each course.
Upon the third unexcused absence, the student’s final grade will be dropped one mark (for example, from A to A-).
Upon the fourth unexcused absence, the instructor will withdraw the student from the class.
Three tardies (being 10 minutes late to class or coming back from break after the assigned time) will be considered an unexcused absence and plugged into the policy above. A student late to class and coming back late from break can receive two tardies in one class period.
On occasion I may be detained in an official college meeting or in a meeting with a student. Please allow the instructor 10 minutes to get to class. After that time, or upon notification by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, students may assume that class has been cancelled for that day.
VA Attendance Policy: Tardies or absence from part of a class will count as an absence from the class. Upon the fourth absence from any class during any month, the student will be terminated from Veterans Benefits for unsatisfactory attendance.
Field Trips: Any field trips taken in this course are required. No one may be excused without mitigating circumstances. The instructor must be informed of these circumstances at least two class periods in advance. Missed field trips must be made up with appropriate compensatory work.
CLASS CALENDAR
(May 8-12)
Thursday: Citizen Kane (1941) (119 mins).
Friday: Shine (1997) (120 mins).
(May 15-19)
Monday: Million Dollar Baby (2005) (132 mins).
Tuesday: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) (108 mins)
Wednesday: Paper 1 due. Crash (2005) (113 mins).
Thursday: start Schindler's List (1993) (196 mins).
Friday: finish Schindler's List (196 mins). The Iron Giant (1999) (86 mins).
(May 22-26)
Monday: House of Sand and Fog (2003) (126 mins).
Tuesday: Paper 2 due. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) (128 mins)
Wednesday: Cabaret (1972) (124 mins).
Thursday: start Malcolm X (1992) (201 mins).
Friday: finish Malcolm X (201 mins). Smoke Signals (1998) (88 mins).
(May 29-June 2)
Monday: No class. Memorial Day.
Tuesday: Paper 3 due. North by Northwest (1959) (135 mins).
Wednesday: Basquiat (1996) (110 mins).
Thursday: House of Flying Daggers (2005) (119 mins).
Friday: Presentation (finish movies if need be). If we have time we may watch two famous endings: Iron Monkey and Scarface.
I plan for us to stop periodically and discuss these movies and questions we have about these movies. As a result we may or may not get to every movie on the syllabus. The above assignment dates are subject to change as conditions in the class dictate (no new work will be added).