Film Viewing and Films on Syllabus:
Many film clips will be shown in class for reasons of comparisons.
You are responsible for reading all about them on the Internet Movie Data Base
(the film list on the class website, under the "films" link, has hotlinks to one data page;
the IMDB has more, so click around once you get there).
You are responsible for knowing the following data on each film
(which may be part of a day's quiz; see below):
- release date
- full title
- director
- country of origin
- major awards won (if any)
- lead actors (the main 4-6)
- basic setting and synopsis (what year, what war, what country; see the posed
that will also be used in class)
- viewing the online trailer, if it exists.
The class sessions will assume that you know the "who, what, where, when" of the films
to be discussed each day.
Over the course of the semester, you will be responsible for viewing at least
8 of the listed films all the way through. You may choose which ones, but
remember that you will need to distribute your viewing over all the wars --
two each from WW I, WW II, Korea/Vietnam, and the Cold War and beyond.
Be sure that the two you choose are split in time or national origin, since
you'll have to answer questions on the midterm and final that ask you
to compare national points of view, or points of view from different eras.
You will lose points on any examination if you only use the classroom clips
for your examples; it will be expected that you do watch your eight
films carefully.
Some films will be shown to the group in special, optional showings,
as noted on the syllabus. All are (or shortly will be) available at the Undergraduate
Library for library viewing; all are currently available commercially at discount prices
(and at sites like Amazon.com, often used, for very cheap prices), and so can be ordered
quickly (DO IT NOW, IF YOU INTEND TO BUY); Vulcan Video north (29th & Guadalupe) has
all the films for rent (with one or two exceptions). You are responsible for planning
your own viewing times and patterns, so that all the written assignments can be turned
in on time.
Daily Quizzes:
Many days, the class will start with a pop quiz.
These will consist of one or two questions, usually
multiple choice, true/false, or a brief fill in the blank.
The topic can be facts from readings, data on films, or something discussed
in an earlier class. These quizzes will introduce the item type in the online quizzes.
No makes ups; no taking the day's quiz late (it will be OVER by 5 minutes into class).
Don't come late. Quizzes are worth 2 points each: one for taking it, and one for
getting the answer(s) right.
Online Short Tests (4):
Tests on facts about the wars will be administered online, for you to login
and complete at your convenience until the access to each is cancelled; close dates
for each quiz are indicated on syllabus -- do the quiz BEFORE that day, or you will
have no chance to get credit for that assignment. You will use your EID to log in
to a URL linked to the class CLIPS page.
The quizzes are short factual quizzes: multiple choice, matching, true-false,
and short fill-in the blanks (including map labels -- identify the country).
When you log in, you will have 30 minutes to complete approximately 20 items
(note that these are randomly-generated items: you will not get the same quiz as your friends). Due as Indicated on the syllabus.
There will be one quiz each on:
- World War I
- World War II
- Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War
- film terminology (how to describe shots and scenes properly)
The online war tests will be based on lectures, the material in the Goff book,
and main information contained in supplementary websites listed on the syllabus.
The film terminology quiz will require you to learn terms on the list provided either by
buying and reading the textbook by Monaco, How to Read a Film, or by consulting
the websites dictionaries linked to the class website (they combine, too!).
The Monaco book is a standard, but it can strain a budget; using the websites
is free, but will take some work on your part.
Two study guides are part of your syllabus (and posted on the website):
"How to Study a War" and "How to Study a Film."
Each outlines what information you need to know first to orient yourself into
discussions about wars. Take them as checklists for the minimum you need to
do to qualify as "knowing about" a particular war and thus to pass the course
-- for daily class quizzes, for the online short tests, and for the midterm and final.
Film Précis:
A précis ('pray-see) is an assignment grid that helps you make an
informed and consistent analysis of a text (book or film). You will have to
turn in two one-page précis worksheets in the course of the class, on films
of your choice (pick different wars; for the purpose of this assignment,
the European Theater and the Pacific Theater of WW II may be considered different wars!).
They will help you with your group project and with the essay tests in the course, because
they show you how you might structure comparisons/contrasts between films and history.
Attached to the assignments, find a general description of what a précis does,
and a précis worksheet for you to copy as the basis for your assignments.
A précis is about a page long. Focus on the matter at hand and continuity are
rewarded, not length or wordiness.
Each précis must be typed (use a table for layout!); they must be submitted
in hard copy. No funny fonts. No inflated font sizes. Due dates indicated on syllabus.
Group Project:
See separate how-to handout; due as indicated on the syllabus.
Midterm:
The in-class midterm will be a short essay examination that asks
you to compare history and films or two or more films about one historical moment.
You will come in prepared to compare/contrast films and history, and to speculate about
which audience(s) the film is made for. You'll have a choice among more specific essay
questions; you may choose your examples from the class and from the films that you have studied in more detail.
Bring a new blue book to the exam. A "correct" answer must necessarily include
a bibliographic entry on any film it refers to (as in prŽcis header); answers
that use as examples only those clips shown in class will lose points -- you are
expected to draw in other examples from films you have seen.
Final:
The final will be a 2-hour essay examination administered at the official
final examination time; it will be comprehensive, requiring at least some of
the materials from the first half of the course. Like the midterm, you will come
in prepared to compare/contrasts films on a single incident, from different countries,
eras, and perspectives. One additional analysis factor will come into play:
how traditions of representation and intervening history necessarily change
what the audience will understand. Thus be prepared to answer, for example,
what impact the public's experience of Vietnam has on its memory of WW II.
That is, how does the audience's experience necessarily change what a filmmaker
can say about WW II -- what scenes can or cannot be considered "obligatory"
in the story-telling.
You'll have a choice among more specific essay questions; you may choose your examples
from the class and from the films that you have studied in more detail.
Bring a new blue book to the exam. A "correct" answer must necessarily
include a bibliographic entry on any film it refers to (as in a précis header);
answers that use as examples only those clips shown in class will lose points --
you are expected to draw in other examples from films you have seen.
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