The University of Tennessee at Martin Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages

Spring 2014

“Adaptation(s)”

English 395/595.01: Literature and Film (3 credit hrs.) Featuring: Dr. Jeffrey Longacre (as himself)

Class Times: TR 2:30-3:45 Class Room: HU 116

Lab: W 5:30-7:30 (meets in FA 142) Essentials: Office: 130A Andy Holt Humanities Bldg. Mailbox: English Department, 131 Andy Holt Humanities Bldg. Office Hours: MW 1:00-3:00, TR 1:00-2:30, and by appt. Office Phone: 881-7295 e-mail: jlongac1@utm.edu (best way to reach me) Course Description: In this course students will explore the relationship between Literature and the “newer” art form of cinema through careful comparative study of a variety of different approaches to the adaptation of various literary texts into films. Ranging from relatively close adaptations, like David Lean’s classic version of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations to very loose experimentations with adaptation, such as Michelangelo Antonioni’s adaptation of Julio Cortázar’s short story “Blow-Up,” we will spend a great deal of time discussing and writing about the process of adapting page to screen. Along the way students will be introduced to key concepts of film studies and adaptation theory such as genre, intertextuality, and the problem of authorship. This course will also serve as a general introduction to cinematic terminology and to historical and theoretical concepts important to the study of film in general. NOTE: this course includes a required lab component during which most of the required films will be screened. Course Prerequisites Successful completion (C or higher) of ENGL 112 is the minimum prerequisite for this course; keep in mind, however, that this is a reading- and writing-intensive upper-division English course, so your writing will be evaluated accordingly, and a certain mastery of grammar, style, and format will be taken for granted. Required Texts Thinking About Film: A Critical Perspective, Dean Duncan Great Expectations, Charles Dickens Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Macbeth, William Shakespeare Libra, Don DeLillo Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad A few short stories and essays that do not appear in any of the above texts will also be required reading and they will be made available on reserve at the library and/or on Blackboard. Recommended Text

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A Short Guide to Writing About Film by Timothy Corrigan While this text is not required, it is a brief, handy, and very useful reference guide for writing about film. Required Screenings As a literature AND film course there will be approximately 12-15 films that will be considered required viewing and you should treat them with the same attention and seriousness that you would a required written text. All students are required to attend the screenings of films for this course on Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:30 (or occasionally later) in FA 142. Attendance at these screenings is a mandatory component of this class and it will comprise a portion of your final grade. Furthermore, I cannot guarantee the availability of these films beyond those screenings, although I will try to put all required titles on reserve in the library. If you miss a Wednesday screening, you are still responsible for viewing all required films by the date for which they are scheduled. Also, a few films (i.e. Apocalypse Now, The Tree of Life, etc.) will exceed the allotted 120-minute time slot of our Wednesday lab; you will be notified in advance when this is the case and you are expected to plan accordingly for the extended time on those evenings. See course schedule for dates and times of specific films. Course Requirements and Grading: Course requirements will include 3 short essays (3-5 pages each), 1 analytical essay with a significant research component (8-10 pp.), a comprehensive final exam (short answer and essay), Blackboard participation, and attendance and participation in all class activities and discussions. ALL major writing assignments and exams must be completed in order to pass this course. Your grade will be broken down in the following manner: 1 Screening Report (to be posted on Bb) 10% 1 Film Review 10% 1 Adaptation Analysis 15% 1 Term Paper (8-10 pages) 20% Comprehensive Final Exam 25% Blackboard Participation 10% Film Lab Attendance 10% Final grade evaluation is based upon the standard University of Tennessee-Martin scale: A=90-100% B=80-89% C=70-79% D=60-69% F=anything below 60% Blackboard Each student will be required to post one screening report (300-500 words) to Blackboard over one of the films we screen over the course of the semester. These reports will be due no later than 24 hours after the film is screened. The rest of the class then has until class time the following Tuesday to respond to at least one of the screening reports on each film. The screening report will be one of the required short essays and participation in these on-line discussions is mandatory. A sign up sheet for the screening reports will be passed around on the first day of class.

Class Participation and Attendance

Class participation is a very important part of this course; attendance is mandatory, and four unexcused absences will constitute a deduction of one letter grade from your final grade (i.e. a “B” becomes a “C”); six unexcused absences will result in a deduction of two letter grades (i.e. “B” becomes “D”), and eight unexcused absences will result in automatically receiving an “F” for

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the course. Be sure to contact me if you are having problems attending the class. No late daily grade assignments will be accepted. For late essay assignments, students will receive a deduction of one letter grade (10%) per day late. Late daily grades cannot be made up for any reason. Please contact me if you are having on-going problems at any point during the semester. THIS POLICY WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. If an emergency situation arises and class is cancelled please check Blackboard or your UT Martin email account for instructions about the class. Writing Center The Writing Center is always available to assist you with your writing assignments (for this and other classes). I STRONGLY recommend you take advantage of this free resource whether you think you need to or not (did I mention it is free?) It is located in Humanities room 209. Phone: 881-7277. Email: owl@utm.edu. Web: http://www.utm.edu/organizations/wcenter/ Special Needs Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation from the Student Success Center within the first two weeks of the semester. I cannot provide any special accommodations without proper documentation. Plagiarism Plagiarism consists of the unacknowledged use of the work of another. It is the student’s responsibility to understand what consists of plagiarism, so if you have any questions about how to cite sources properly or about what constitutes plagiarism, then please do not hesitate to ask me. Plagiarism is a very serious offense and will in turn be dealt with severely. There is a no tolerance policy regarding plagiarism in this course. Essays that are plagiarized or contain plagiarism, whether accidental or intentional, will automatically receive a “0” and I will report the incident to Student Affairs. In addition, I reserve the right to fail the student for the course and/or recommend suspension from the University at my discretion. If you have ANY questions about this policy or about plagiarism, please ask me at any time and I will be glad to help. All papers must be submitted electronically through SafeAssignment on Blackboard in order to receive credit. Paper Format All essays for this course MUST BE TYPED and will be deducted from if they do not meet the following criteria: Use one-inch margins all around, a four-line heading on left side (on the top of page one that includes name, course, assignment, date), a title, and a 12pt (or 11pt) font in one of the following flavors: Arial, Cambria, Times New Roman, Garamond, Calibri (I will not accept Courier New or Palatino Linotype). Everything, including heading, title, and quotes are double-spaced. All prose quotations of over four lines and poetry over two must be blocked and indented one inch. You are encouraged to use headers, layout, tables, and illustrations in your documents; they simply must conform to consistent conventions (see your handbook for ideas). For documentation, use the MLA style, and refer to the MLA Handbook for guidelines. In fact, although it is not a required text for the course, I would strongly recommend acquiring a copy of the MLA Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers. Electronic Devices All cell phones, iphones, ipods, and any other electronic devices that prove distracting must be turned off and put away during our class meetings (and especially during film screenings!). In

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general, please exercise common sense and show the proper respect to me and to your classmates so we can have good, engaging class discussions. Graduate Credit This class is cross-listed as English 595 for graduate credit. If you are enrolled in this course as a graduate student, you need to come meet with me individually sometime during the first week of classes so we can discuss some additional assignments and expectations to meet the requirements of a graduate-level course. Elastic Clause This syllabus is subject to change throughout the course of the semester. Students will be notified if any changes occur. You are responsible for knowing the assignment and for being prepared at the beginning of each class period. Readings are due on the day that they appear on the schedule and occasionally may be met with quizzes

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE FOR ENG 395: “Adaptation(s)”

Dr. Longacre/Spring 2014 An asterisk (*) denotes that a film's run time exceeds 120 mins.; please plan accordingly

(X indicates reading will be made available either via Bb or as photocopy)

Jan. 09 Syllabus; Watching Films; Ch. 1 Film Viewer’s Guide (X) 14 “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce; Writing about Films; Ch. 2 Film Viewer’s Guide (X) 15 SCREENING: Citizen Kane (1941—136 mins) 16 Discuss Citizen Kane; Thinking About Film, Chs. 1 and 3 21 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 22 SCREENING: Great Expectations (1946—118 mins) 23 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; Thinking About Film, Ch. 5 28 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 29 SCREENING: Great Expectations (1998—111 mins) 30 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; “It Wasn’t Like that in the Book” by Brian McFarlane (X) Feb. 04 “It Had to be Murder” by Cornell Woolrich (X) 05 SCREENING: Rear Window (1954—112 mins) 06 Discuss Rear Window; Thinking About Film, Ch. 6

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11 “Blow Up” by Julio Cortazar (X) 12 SCREENING: Blow-Up (1966—111 mins) 13 “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” by Laura Mulvey (X) Film Review Assignment due through SafeAssignment by 11:59pm, Friday, 02/14 18 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 19 SCREENING: Frankenstein (1931—70 mins) 20 CLASS WILL NOT MEET 25 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 26 SCREENING: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994—123 mins) 27 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Withdraw Deadline: February 28th is the last day to drop a class and receive a W) Mar. 04 SPRING-BREAK 06 NO CLASSES 11 Macbeth by William Shakespeare 12 SCREENING: Macbeth 13 Macbeth by William Shakespeare 18 Macbeth by William Shakespeare 19 SCREENING: Throne of Blood 20 Libra by Don DeLillo Adaptation Assignment due through SafeAssignment by 11:59pm, Friday, 03/21 25 Libra by Don DeLillo 26 SCREENING: JFK 27 Libra by Don DeLillo; “From CNN to JFK” by W.J.T. Mitchell Apr. 01 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 02 SCREENING: Apocalypse Now 03 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 08 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 09 SCREENING: The Tree of Life 10 Selections from William Wordsworth and The Book of Job 15 “Orchid Fever” by Susan Orlean 16 SCREENING: Adaptation. 17 “Twelve Fallacies in Contemporary Adaptation Theory” by Thomas Leitch (X) 22 “Notes on the Auteur Theory” by Andrew Sarris (X); course evaluations 23 SCREENING: F for Fake 24 Discuss F for Fake and “Auteur Theory” Term Paper due through SafeAssignment by 11:59pm, Friday, 04/25 Final Exam: Friday, May 2nd, 10:00am-12:00 (bring pens and blue book)

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