engl 4860: special topics in film studies the gangster film spring 2011 room: ph 322

ENGL 4860: Special Topics in Film Studies

The Gangster Film

Spring 2011Room: PH 322

Day/Time: Monday, 430-730 pm

Gangster FilmGangster Film

Dr. David Lavery Office: PH 372 | Office Hours: M 300-420; W 200-400 | E-mail:

[email protected] | Office Phone/Voice-Mail: 615 898-5648; Home Page: http://davidlavery.net

Dr. David Lavery is Professor of English at MTSU (1993- ). The author of over one hundred and twenty published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is author / co-author / editor / co-editor of twenty three books, including the forthcoming textbook Television Art (Blackwell), a Sopranos trilogy: This Thing of Ours: Investigating The Sopranos (Columbia U P, 2002); Reading The Sopranos (I. B. Tauris, 2006); The Essential Sopranos Reader (U P Kentucky, 2011), and books on Cult Television, Lost (2), Twin Peaks, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Teleparody, Seinfeld, Deadwood, My So-Called Life, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, TV Finales, and Crying. The organizer of international conferences on the Whedonverses, Lost, and The Sopranos, a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of the Whedon Studies Association and Critical Studies in Television, he has lectured around the world on the subject of television (Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica (Portugal), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From 2006-2008, he taught at Brunel University in London.


mailto:[email protected]

http://davidlavery.net/


TextsTexts

A Resource CD (provided by me)

GFRGFR


Course Policies and Procedures

Class format: We will follow a lecture / discussion format during most class meetings. A substantial portion of class time will be spent screening and discussing the gangster films/television in question. Manuscript form: All written assignments must be word-processed and submitted as Microsoft Word or Rich Text e-mail attachments sent to [email protected]. Please name the file with your own last name (for example: lavery.doc.) Essay Evaluation: I will evaluate your essayusing a grading scale which can be found here. Reading assignments: You are responsible for having read the entirety of each week's assignments See the agenda. Participation & involvement: Please come prepared for each day’s class. I encourage you to become an active participant in class discussion and to ask constructive and meaningful questions at all times. Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to the ongoing progress of the course. Two absences will be permitted. A third absence may result in the loss of a letter grade. A fourth absence may result in failure of the course. Inclement Weather Policy: Go here.

mailto:[email protected]

http://davidlavery.net/Courses/2030/Handouts_Extras/evaluation.pdf

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/weather.html


Course Policies and Procedures

Plagiarism / Cheating: The unacknowledged use of the words / ideas / insights / original research of another is, of course, prohibited. Should I catch you plagiarizing, or cheating in any way, you will receive a grade of "0" on the assignment in question, the violation may be reported to University authorities, and you may fail the course. Students with Disabilities: Any student with a disability will be given all the rights and privileges guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act if he/she is registered with Disabled Student Services (call/contact John Harris, KUC 120/2783). University Writing Center: At The University Writing Center (now located in the Walker Library), sponsored by the English Department and staffed by full-time and adjunct faculty and graduate teaching assistants, you can get constructive help with a variety of writing problems, from pre-writing to organization to grammatical errors. (Please be aware, however, that the UWC does not do proofreading.) Grading Scale: 90-99%=A | 80-89%=B | 70-79%=C | 60-69%=D | 0-59%=F

http://www.mtsu.edu/~dssemail/

http://www.mtsu.edu/~uwcenter/

Gangster FilmGangster FilmCourse Requirements Critical Essay. A critical essay of at least 1500 words interpreting/analyzing one of the films or two or more considered together. This essay must be solely the product of your mind and imagination.—30% of course grade. Source Paper. A critical essay of at least 1500 words on some aspect of the gangster genre which makes use of at least ten sources [sources may include course readings in the GFR and RCD and no more than three purely internet pages].—30% of course grade. Final Examination [two parts]:

Part I: A take-home essay exam, consisting of a menu of topics, from which you will select two. These topics will all be "leading questions," intended to inspire your own comprehensive synthesis of course ideas, questions, problems.—20% of grade.Part II: An in-class cognitive-memory test, consisting of a variety of primarily matching questions (on films, filmmakers, characters, terms). It will be a piece of cake for anyone who has been present and attentive in class throughout the semester.—20% of grade.


Agenda

1/24/11 | Meeting 1Introduction to the Course

Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930; 79m)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0021079


Agenda

1/31/11 | Meeting 2

Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931; 83m)



Agenda2/7/11 | Meeting 3

Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932; 83m)




The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972; 175m)




The Godfather II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974; 200m)




The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1981; 114)

Spring Break, March 7-13




Miller’s Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1990; 115m)



Agenda

3/21/11 | Meeting 8 GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990; 148m)

Either Critical Essay or Source Paper Due by this Date



Agenda3/28/11 | Meeting 9 Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992; 99m) or Bound (The Wachowski Brothers, 1996; 109m) or Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999; 119m)




The Sopranos (1999-2007)Episodes: "The Pilot" (1.1); “College" (1.5)


Agenda4/11/11 | Meeting 11 The Sopranos (1999-2007)Episodes: "Funhouse" (2.13); "Pine Barrens" (3.11)


Agenda4/18/11 | Meeting 12 The Sopranos (1999-2007)Episodes: "Whoever Did This" (4.9); "The Test Dream" (5.11)


Agenda4/25/11 | Meeting 13The Sopranos (1999-2007)Episodes: “Mayham" (6.3); "Made in America" (6.21)

Either Critical Essay or Source Paper Due by This Date



Final Exam Part II in Class; Final Exam Part I due by the end of the day, May 4

engl 4860: special topics in film studies the gangster film spring 2011 room: ph 322

Documents

sopranos trilogy

class discussion

gangster filmspring

cult television

gangster filmstelevision

sopranos columbia u

class meetings

days class