Course Description and Objectives
Rules:
1. You must be sat at your desk with necessary materials when the late bell rings. Three tardies will result in a reduction of 1 point from your final grade.
2. To reduce distractions, our classroom is a screen-free environment. In addition to the school’s new no-phone policy, use of all other technological devices (including laptops and tablets) is prohibited — except for during designated digital time.
3. Notes must be taken everyday using pen and paper. Notes are subject to inspection.
4. Respect is fundamental. Disrespectful behavior towards ANYONE will not be tolerated.
Goals: This semester we will study selected films about war in the twentieth century. After giving some thought to the general idea of genre in cinema and the war film in particular, we will study specific films that seek to represent the war experience from various perspectives. We will consider the war film’s generic qualities and variations, its artistic and social significance, and its cultural and ideological functions. Fundamental to these goals is another: learning to read and write about film as we do literature--to understand its conventions and techniques, to use its specialized vocabulary, and to consider its possible interpretations.
Required Texts:
Eberwein, Robert. Ed. The War Film
Course Requirements and Procedures
Attendance
Prompt and regular attendance.Class discussion and class activities are the most important part of your grade, Points are awarded or deducted as follows:
0-2 absences: +5 pts
3-4 absences: no loss, no gain
5-6 absences: - 5 pts
7-8 absences: - 10 pts
9 or more: -15 pts
Discussion Questions
On the days we discuss the assigned secondary readings, you should come to class with two or three questions (written down!) that you want the class to consider. Your goal may be clarification of an idea, further exploration of a particularly interesting or important point, contestation of an assumption or conclusion, additional background information, and so forth. We will use your questions to identify and discuss the readings’ main points and interesting or debatable observations. These questions will be turned in each time.
Viewing Journal
When a film is assigned, you will complete a viewing response of about 1-2 in class. You will be prompted on a wide range of topics such as film-making elements (lighting, camera technique, mise en scene, montage), the film as genre, or film themes.
Paper
Final Exam
Grading:
Discussion: 20%
Discussion Questions: 20%
Viewing Journal 20%
Paper: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
I. Introduction
1. Read: Part 1 and Part 2 of Tips on film viewing
2. The Great Escape
Read Dreams of Flight: The Great Escape in American Film and Culture, pp. 1-16
II. The Battle Film
3. Letters From Iwo Jima
Read Eastwood's Iwo Jima
Hollywood and the Pacific War Powerpoint
The Battle Unit
4. Saving Private Ryan
Prisoners of War
5. Bridge on the River Kwai
Read Lean and Kwai
Colonialism
6. Zulu
Read Monkey Feathers
Nuclear War
7. Threads
The Home Front and Gender
8. Mrs. Miniver
Mobilizing the Nation
9. Casablanca
Race and War
10. Home of the Brave
Holocaust
11. Schindler's List
Anti-colonialism
12. Battle of Algiers
Anti-War
13. All Quiet on the Western Front
1. You must be sat at your desk with necessary materials when the late bell rings. Three tardies will result in a reduction of 1 point from your final grade.
2. To reduce distractions, our classroom is a screen-free environment. In addition to the school’s new no-phone policy, use of all other technological devices (including laptops and tablets) is prohibited — except for during designated digital time.
3. Notes must be taken everyday using pen and paper. Notes are subject to inspection.
4. Respect is fundamental. Disrespectful behavior towards ANYONE will not be tolerated.
Goals: This semester we will study selected films about war in the twentieth century. After giving some thought to the general idea of genre in cinema and the war film in particular, we will study specific films that seek to represent the war experience from various perspectives. We will consider the war film’s generic qualities and variations, its artistic and social significance, and its cultural and ideological functions. Fundamental to these goals is another: learning to read and write about film as we do literature--to understand its conventions and techniques, to use its specialized vocabulary, and to consider its possible interpretations.
Required Texts:
Eberwein, Robert. Ed. The War Film
Course Requirements and Procedures
Attendance
Prompt and regular attendance.Class discussion and class activities are the most important part of your grade, Points are awarded or deducted as follows:
0-2 absences: +5 pts
3-4 absences: no loss, no gain
5-6 absences: - 5 pts
7-8 absences: - 10 pts
9 or more: -15 pts
Discussion Questions
On the days we discuss the assigned secondary readings, you should come to class with two or three questions (written down!) that you want the class to consider. Your goal may be clarification of an idea, further exploration of a particularly interesting or important point, contestation of an assumption or conclusion, additional background information, and so forth. We will use your questions to identify and discuss the readings’ main points and interesting or debatable observations. These questions will be turned in each time.
Viewing Journal
When a film is assigned, you will complete a viewing response of about 1-2 in class. You will be prompted on a wide range of topics such as film-making elements (lighting, camera technique, mise en scene, montage), the film as genre, or film themes.
Paper
Final Exam
Grading:
Discussion: 20%
Discussion Questions: 20%
Viewing Journal 20%
Paper: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
I. Introduction
1. Read: Part 1 and Part 2 of Tips on film viewing
2. The Great Escape
Read Dreams of Flight: The Great Escape in American Film and Culture, pp. 1-16
II. The Battle Film
3. Letters From Iwo Jima
Read Eastwood's Iwo Jima
Hollywood and the Pacific War Powerpoint
The Battle Unit
4. Saving Private Ryan
Prisoners of War
5. Bridge on the River Kwai
Read Lean and Kwai
Colonialism
6. Zulu
Read Monkey Feathers
Nuclear War
7. Threads
The Home Front and Gender
8. Mrs. Miniver
Mobilizing the Nation
9. Casablanca
Race and War
10. Home of the Brave
Holocaust
11. Schindler's List
Anti-colonialism
12. Battle of Algiers
Anti-War
13. All Quiet on the Western Front
