Requirements

Class Participation

Class discussion constitutes one key method of developing your analytical skills. Thus, I expect prompt, regular attendance and active participation in discussions of films and readings. You should come prepared for each class session with assigned reading completed. You should also plan to ask questions, make comments, summarize scholars’ arguments, analyze clips, paraphrase your electronic postings, or contribute to small-group discussions. Like all skills, speaking in class becomes easier with practice. I do not expect fully polished analyses in class discussion; rather, your contributions represent ideas for further development.

Electronic Discussion

Students will use the class posting board to post responses to films and readings. Each week, I will pose questions on course texts. In a 250- to 300-word response, you may address one of my questions or introduce another point. Feel free to engage your classmates’ ideas as you write. The electronic postings allow us to extend class conversations, raise issues for in-class discussions, and develop ideas for presentations, the clip annotation and essays. Your postings receive points on a credit/no credit basis, with full points granted to on-time postings that meet the length requirement and demonstrate serious engagement with the questions provided.

I have divided the class into two groups to keep the discussion manageable:

• Group One: Students with last names A through H
• Group Two: Students with last names I through Z

Clip Annotation

Early in the quarter, you will create an online text and/or video analysis of how elements of narrative form, cinematography, and mise-en-scene function in a clip from The Blot, Christopher Strong, The Piano or Danzón.

Presentation

Students will work together in groups of two or three to create a 15- to 20-minute collaborative analysis of a selected course film clip. The presentation should focus on the formal, thematic, or ideological significance of the clip. Presenters will use visual aids (PowerPoint, film clip, screen shots, transparencies, handouts) to structure their remarks and underscore key points.

Essays

You will compose two five- to six-page essays on assigned topics. I will be available to discuss ideas-in-progress and drafts. You can also seek feedback from consultants at the CLUE Writing Center in the Mary Gates Commons; or the Odegaard Writing and Research Center in Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

Please title, paginate, and double-space your essays, and set margins at one inch. In the upper left hand corner of the first page, include your name, the course number, the assignment, and the due date; this information should be single-spaced. Please use a 10- or 12-point Arial, Bookman, Century Schoolbook, or Times New Roman font for your papers. When citing sources, use MLA format. You will submit the essays via the course Collect It tool.

Policies

Lateness Policy

I will not accept late electronic postings or presentations. Late clip annotations and essays will receive a 10-point deduction per day late, including weekends and holidays. I will make exceptions to the lateness policy only in cases of documented illness or family emergency.

Technology glitches do not constitute valid excuses for lateness. To avoid computer problems, you should save frequently while working, and you should back up work saved to a hard drive on USB drive or Dante account. When submitting essays via Collect It, make sure that you upload the correct file. If the posting board or Collect It breaks down, email your work directly to me. If the posting board or Collect It breaks down, email your work directly to me.

Plagiarism Policy

In your electronic postings, clip annotation, presentation, and essays, you may draw upon the ideas and words of other writers. However, you must make clear to your audience that you are incorporating another’s work by placing quotation marks around exact words and citing the author’s name whenever you quote, summarize or paraphrase. Failure to credit sources may result in a failing grade for the assignment, a failing grade for the course, or expulsion from the university.

Grading

Grades in English 345 will be computed by points, with 400 points equaling a 4.0, 300 points a 3.0, and so on. If your total falls between grades, I will round up if you score one to five points below the higher grade and round down if you score one to four points above the lower grade. For example, 274 points equals a 2.7 and 275 points a 2.8. Students who score less than 65 points total will receive a 0 for the course, as the UW grading system does not scale grades lower than .7.

Apart from postings, which are graded on a credit/no credit basis, points for each assignment will be awarded based on quality of work submitted. I will distribute grading criteria with all assignments. Each component of the course is worth the following number of points:

• Class Participation: 60 points
• Clip Annotation: 60 points
• Electronic Postings: 80 points
• Essays: 160 points
• Presentation: 40 points

Course Information

• Times
• M, 2:30-5:20 p.m.
  TTH, 2:30-4:20 p.m.
• Rooms
• Mary Gates 251 (M)
  Mary Gates 271 (TTH)

Instructor Information

• Contact
• Kimberlee Gillis-Bridges
  206.543.4892
  kgb[at]u[dot]washington[dot]edu
• Office
• Padelford A305
  
• Office Hours
• TTH, 4:30-5:30 p.m., or by appt.
  

Claire Denis, Director

I was never very interested in my own experience, I think in fact, if my films have a common link, maybe it's being a foreigner-- it's common for people who are born abroad--they don't know so well where they belong. It's not the kind of thing you find in literature, music or photography--being from abroad makes you look different.