Required Texts

Muller, G. H. & Williams. J. A. (2003). Ways in: Approaches to reading and writing about literature and film (2nd.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Course Description

Humanities 422 introduces contemporary narrative literature and film/video.  The course stresses the narrative techniques of both media and also highlights differences between them.  Students' understanding and appreciation of these art forms are developed through study of paired works highlighting specific artistic techniques of each medium.

Film and Literature provides a primary emphasis on the presentation of traditional narrative elements in both art forms, significant elements of technique in both, and the similarities and differences in their use of these elements.

The course also presents both arts in the context of larger classification schemes, such as significant genre categories and in the context of broader artistic trends.  Finally, the relationship of both film and literature to a social, historical, and cultural context is an important subject of discussion in the course.

Terminal Course Objectives

General education competencies expected from a DeVry educational include the following:

1. Communicate clearly with particular audiences for particular purposes.
2. Work collaboratively to help achieve individual and group goals.
3. Apply critical thinking skills in learning, conducting applied research, and defining and solving problems.
4. Develop tolerance of ambiguity and mature judgment in exploring intellectual issues.
5. Build on intellectual curiosity with fundamental concepts and methods of inquiry from the science, social sciences, and humanities to support life-long learning.
6. Apply mathematical principles and concepts to problem solving and logical reasoning.
7. Use study and direct experience of the humanities and social sciences to develop a clear perspective on the breadth and diversity, as well as the communality, of human experience.
8. Connect general education to the ethical dimensions of issues and to responsible, thoughtful citizenship in a democratic society.

Course Terminal Objectives:

1.  Analyze individual works of literature and film in terms of the basic elements of narrative structure, including theme, plot, character, setting, conflict, and point of view; compare and contrast the use of these elements between literary and filmic narratives. 

2. Assess the purpose and value of narrative literature and film on the individual and cultural level.

3.  Analyze the relationship between works of literature and film and the cultural contexts in which they were created.  

4.  Apply the principles of major literary and cinematic approaches to the analysis of specific works of literature and film.     

5.  Interpret individual works of literature and film using traditional critical approaches to analysis.         

6.  Differentiate between key visual elements within a film and examine their relationship to corresponding literary elements.           

7.  Compare and contrast literature and film as popular media both to each other and to other forms of art.         

8.  Analyze the considerations involved in translating individual works of narrative literature to film.           

9.  Analyze the meaning and importance of archetypal images and symbols in both literature and film.        

10.   Apply both genre and auteur approaches to particular works of literature and film.          

11.  Evaluate the impact of both past and present technological advances on both literature and film.
        

Course Schedule

Hum 422 Schedule

Grading Policy

Papers, Presentations, In Class Assignments, Exams and Homework:

No make-ups will be given on any exams or in class assignments, with a grade of zero recorded for ANY missed evaluation.  Homework or individual project assignments are considered late ten minutes after class has started.  Five points per day will be deducted for every day that the assignment is late.

Homework, Projects, Presentations:

There are a variety of assignments presented in this course.  Specific instructions and grading criteria will be distributed on the day assigned.

 Weekly Threaded Discussions Assignment (TDA)
The Threaded Discussion Assignment is a major online component of the iOptimize shell.  The TDA is a weekly asynchronous virtual classroom discussion aimed at promoting understanding of the major concepts and principles underlying the complex relationships of the course.  Students should plan to participate in the discussion(s) for approximately two hours each week (this time does not include homework for the onsite meetings). 

Each week the student will be graded on his/her contribution(s) in the Threaded Discussions using the TDA Grading Criteria. Each entry is worth a maximum of five points based on the following three categories.

Suggested Criteria for Grading Threaded Discussions

Frequency – At a minimum, each student must participate 3 days per week, every other day, spread out from the beginning to the end of each week.  The more a student participates, the more points the student is able to earn.  
Volume – (The number of posts per Thread) For each Thread in a TDA, a minimum of three postings must be made by each student per week.  These postings cannot be completely directed only to the professor; the postings must also respond to the entries and comments of the other students in the class in the virtual classroom discussion. 

Quality – It is expected that each student will bring content from the weekly lectures and weekly readings during each TDA (adding value including personal examples, new analysis, important questions, tying posts together, references to reading, responding to the instructor and/or the questions).  While personal opinions may be interjected, the emphasis of each discussion is the course content. 
Grading:
Online Component                25%
Research Project                   25%
Midterm                                 25%
Final Exam                            25%    

Course Policies and Procedures

  Students are expected to attend and participate in each class session, as well as with all online components for the course.

DeVry’s attendance policy allows a professor to withdraw a student from a course when he/she has been absent 30% of that course.  IF a student is withdrawn from a course, the student must appeal to the professor of that course to be reinstated.  If a student is not reinstated he/she will receive a “W” grade for the course and it could affect the student’s eligibility for financial aid the following semester.

Students are expected to be in class since it is impossible to duplicate the class environment.  Much of this course is based on in-class assignments.  Activities that occur in the classroom are evaluated in test question and through classroom presentations.  All of these exercises form a large portion of the student’s grade.  Students are expected to bring all materials to class; it is impossible to complete assignments without coming to class prepared.

School Policies

A. Academic and Professional Conduct
Ensuring academic integrity is an educational objective DeVry takes very seriously. The School's Academic Policy is printed in the catalog, and the following explanations may be helpful in interpreting what are considered to be violations of the policy. 

Students have a responsibility to maintain both the academic and professional integrity of the School and to meet the highest standards of academic and professional conduct. Students are expected to do their own work on examinations, class preparation, and assignments and to conduct themselves professionally when interacting with fellow students, faculty, and staff. Students must also make equitable contributions to both the quality and quantity of work performed on group projects.

Academic and/or professional misconduct is subject to disciplinary action including course failure, probation, or dismissal. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on examinations, plagiarism, bribery, falsification of student records and improper attempts to influence Instructors or School officials.

Examinations: Using notes, looking at another student's test paper, or providing another student with answers during an examination are violations of the policy. 

Course Assignments/Projects: Unless a course assignment is specifically designated as a group/team assignment, collaborating with another student in completing assignments intended to be completed independently or submitting another student's work as your own are violations of the policy. 

Research Reports: To use another person's ideas, words, expressions, or findings in your writing without acknowledging the source is to plagiarize. A writer who does not give appropriate credit when quoting, or even paraphrasing, another's writing is guilty of plagiarism and in violation of the Academic Policy. 

The policies and procedures set forth in the DeVry Handbook will be the guide for standards of conduct, including cheating, plagiarism, grading, and other policies. 

Students should adhere to the same types of conduct for cheating, plagiarism, etc. that are followed in the traditional classroom.

Students should be familiar with the consequences of cheating, plagiarism, or rules infractions as set out in the DeVry Handbook.

B) Computer Virus Disclaimer
“Students have a responsibility to maintain both the academic and professional integrity of the School, and to meet the highest standards of academic and professional conduct."  Any intentional, willful or reckless transferring of viruses, as the result of an email message or attachment will be considered professional misconduct.  Professional misconduct is subject to disciplinary action including being placed on probation, failing a graded course component, failing a course, or being dismissed from the School.  DeVry will not be liable to any affected student for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages that may occur as a result of this type of misconduct by any person.

Faculty and DeVry staff have a responsibility to maintain both the academic and professional integrity of the School, and to meet the highest standards of academic and professional conduct.  Any intentional, willful or reckless transferring of viruses, as the result of an email message or attachment will be considered professional misconduct.  Professional misconduct is subject to disciplinary action. DeVry will not be liable to any affected person or organization for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages that may occur as a result of this type of misconduct by any person.