I'm still in the process of calculating grades. The numbers you see on Turnitin are not final, but there is no way for me to hide them while in progress. Please realize that they are subject to change, still.
When they are in their final form, I will say so right here. Meanwhile, no need to inquire...
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Final Announcements
We have moved the due date for the Essay 3 to December 15 at 5pm. This is an absolute deadline, and papers submitted after 5pm cannot receive credit (and in fact will never even be seen). They must be submitted to turnitin. If you have trouble with turnitin, you will need to send the text of your essay to me in an email message (not an attachment) to show that it is done...and then deal with the turnitin issue later.
Dec 12 is an optional class meeting for those who want me to review a draft or work-in-progress of Essay 3. Use the link on the right side of the class home page http://english39jung.blogspot.com to put your name down in a time slot. Conferences will be approximately 15 minutes, longer if possible.
The blog post for next week is also optional, meaning that it will improve your participation score if you do it and not affect it at all if you don't. It involves going to tvtropes.org, a website I mentioned on the first day of class, and exploring the site. Then write a post of about 200 words identifying some of the tropes that you feel apply to Changeling and explaining in detail how the details of the movie stick to or vary the trope. Tvtropes may seem incomprehensible at first, but I believe that if you browse around for a while, you will pick up what it is about. Browse a little longer and you'll find tropes that correspond to Changeling.
I keep a Facebook page for Former Students of Dr Jeff Jung. I will send an email out to whatever email you used for turnitin.com with the link to my page for those who want to keep in contact. I post my mini-reviews of movies, and sometimes books, to my page so that you will never have to be deprived of access to good taste for too long. The page is also a great way for me to find out what happens to all of you later on down the line, and for you to help determine the viewing and reading habits of future college students.
One last announcement is a compliment that I had been meaning to pass along, but forgot. During our "The Devil Wears Prada" discussion, you may recall we had a class observer. We do that at El Camino from time to time to verify that none of the faculty members have gone stark raving mad in the last few years and now constitute a real and present danger to the community. Our observer later told me that he was extremely impressed with the quality of the comments and discussion that he observed and that it seemed more like a UCLA seminar. He mentioned the confidence, clarity, and articulacy of the students who contributed, and the subtlety of their remarks. Most of all, he was struck by how participants were genuinely responding to one another. In fact, you all were particularly "on" that evening (good thing he wasn't there on Macbeth night). So, since the praise should be heard by those who earned it, here it is (was).
I found a good number of our discussions to be very interesting and would like to thank all those who made it that way. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Dec 12 is an optional class meeting for those who want me to review a draft or work-in-progress of Essay 3. Use the link on the right side of the class home page http://english39jung.blogspot.com to put your name down in a time slot. Conferences will be approximately 15 minutes, longer if possible.
The blog post for next week is also optional, meaning that it will improve your participation score if you do it and not affect it at all if you don't. It involves going to tvtropes.org, a website I mentioned on the first day of class, and exploring the site. Then write a post of about 200 words identifying some of the tropes that you feel apply to Changeling and explaining in detail how the details of the movie stick to or vary the trope. Tvtropes may seem incomprehensible at first, but I believe that if you browse around for a while, you will pick up what it is about. Browse a little longer and you'll find tropes that correspond to Changeling.
I keep a Facebook page for Former Students of Dr Jeff Jung. I will send an email out to whatever email you used for turnitin.com with the link to my page for those who want to keep in contact. I post my mini-reviews of movies, and sometimes books, to my page so that you will never have to be deprived of access to good taste for too long. The page is also a great way for me to find out what happens to all of you later on down the line, and for you to help determine the viewing and reading habits of future college students.
One last announcement is a compliment that I had been meaning to pass along, but forgot. During our "The Devil Wears Prada" discussion, you may recall we had a class observer. We do that at El Camino from time to time to verify that none of the faculty members have gone stark raving mad in the last few years and now constitute a real and present danger to the community. Our observer later told me that he was extremely impressed with the quality of the comments and discussion that he observed and that it seemed more like a UCLA seminar. He mentioned the confidence, clarity, and articulacy of the students who contributed, and the subtlety of their remarks. Most of all, he was struck by how participants were genuinely responding to one another. In fact, you all were particularly "on" that evening (good thing he wasn't there on Macbeth night). So, since the praise should be heard by those who earned it, here it is (was).
I found a good number of our discussions to be very interesting and would like to thank all those who made it that way. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Monday, November 28, 2011
No blog post this week
No blog post this week. After viewing Changeling next week, we will have just one more blog posting.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Macbeth and Scotland PA
Due November 28...approx. 200 words on one of the following:
1. Support the following assertion: when compared with Macbeth's crime, it is far less clear that Joe Mcbeth had the intent to cause his victim's death or that he was the direct cause of it?
2. Do the three hippies perform the same function and operate in the same manner as the witches in Macbeth?
3. Joe Mcbeth is obviously the corresponding character to Macbeth, but what is one important way in which their psychologies differ from one another? Is he more or less of a villain?
4. Pat Mcbeth is obviously the corresponding character to Lady Macbeth, but what is one important way in which their psychologies differ from one another? Is she more or less of a villain?
5. Have changes in gender roles caused the Joe/Pat relationship to function differently from the Macbeth/Lady Macbeth relationship, or is the dynamic between the couples essentially unchanged?
6. In what way(s) does Scotland, PA transmit a different moral message or view of the world than does Macbeth?
7. What is one of the less obvious parallel moments between Macbeth and Scotland PA?
1. Support the following assertion: when compared with Macbeth's crime, it is far less clear that Joe Mcbeth had the intent to cause his victim's death or that he was the direct cause of it?
2. Do the three hippies perform the same function and operate in the same manner as the witches in Macbeth?
3. Joe Mcbeth is obviously the corresponding character to Macbeth, but what is one important way in which their psychologies differ from one another? Is he more or less of a villain?
4. Pat Mcbeth is obviously the corresponding character to Lady Macbeth, but what is one important way in which their psychologies differ from one another? Is she more or less of a villain?
5. Have changes in gender roles caused the Joe/Pat relationship to function differently from the Macbeth/Lady Macbeth relationship, or is the dynamic between the couples essentially unchanged?
6. In what way(s) does Scotland, PA transmit a different moral message or view of the world than does Macbeth?
7. What is one of the less obvious parallel moments between Macbeth and Scotland PA?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Macbeth and other announcements
- Remember to investigate your current grade on turnitin.com and report it to me next week in class.
- Due date for Essay 2 is moved to November 28, 5pm.
- I will be posting a link on the right side of the page that allows you to sign up for times over the next few weeks (last hour of class or office hours) to review your completed Essay 2. The point is not to allow you to rewrite it, but rather to give you some insight on how to write Essay 3.
- Essay 3 is described in the syllabus as a comparison of Changeling to the real-life events upon which it is based. However, I am also giving you the option to write the same assignment but based on the film Heavenly Creatures (which you would have to rent yourself.
- Remember to bring Macbeth to class next week.
- Instead of a blog post, your simple assignment for this week is to identify at least one passage that you find either a) difficult to understand or b) interestingly ambiguous. You don't need to write or post anything this week, but be ready to mention your passage in class if asked.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Devil Wears Prada
I know this is appearing late, but then nobody ever posts this early anyway....
Choose just ONE of the following questions and post a comment supported by specific textual details. Aim for about 100 words.
Choose just ONE of the following questions and post a comment supported by specific textual details. Aim for about 100 words.
Due Nov 7
1. For me, one of the film's flaws is that it attempts to show that Andrea has sold her soul to the devil (who wears Prada), but I don't get the sense that she ever did anything all that morally wrong. Has the film successfully showed moral errors on Andrea's part, or did they come up short on that count? Justify your answer by examining one (or more) of the choices that Andrea makes and how it is presented. How does this contrast to the book version of Andrea?
2. Obviously, Miranda has been given vulnerability in the film. But even before that, I would argue that she isn't truly diabolical (though admittedly rude and unpleasant to work with). Let's assess the depth of her alleged evil. ASIDE FROM the ending in which she betrays Nigel, what is the worst (most morally problematic) thing that Miranda does? Is there any excuse for it? Does the film imply or show that it was anything more than pure sadism/devilry? How does this compare with the book version?
3. I said that the film doesn't make clear its position about the fashion world. What would be some reasons for either feeling that a) the film endorses the values of the fashion world; or b) it satirizes/rejects them? How does this compare with the book version?
4. We've talked about the concept of compressed sequences in film that convey much meaning in the smallest time possible by taking advantage of as many audiovisual cues as possible. Write about a brief (60 seconds or less) segment of the film that is richly packed with meaning and discuss what allows it to convey so much meaning in so little time. How was this meaning conveyed differently (better/worse) in the book?
5. What easy formulas or cliches that are familiar to Hollywoodized scripts does the movie use? Does it do anything inventive to those formulas to make them more acceptable and less tiresome than they usually are? What parts of the book, if any are these cliches based on?
1. For me, one of the film's flaws is that it attempts to show that Andrea has sold her soul to the devil (who wears Prada), but I don't get the sense that she ever did anything all that morally wrong. Has the film successfully showed moral errors on Andrea's part, or did they come up short on that count? Justify your answer by examining one (or more) of the choices that Andrea makes and how it is presented. How does this contrast to the book version of Andrea?
2. Obviously, Miranda has been given vulnerability in the film. But even before that, I would argue that she isn't truly diabolical (though admittedly rude and unpleasant to work with). Let's assess the depth of her alleged evil. ASIDE FROM the ending in which she betrays Nigel, what is the worst (most morally problematic) thing that Miranda does? Is there any excuse for it? Does the film imply or show that it was anything more than pure sadism/devilry? How does this compare with the book version?
3. I said that the film doesn't make clear its position about the fashion world. What would be some reasons for either feeling that a) the film endorses the values of the fashion world; or b) it satirizes/rejects them? How does this compare with the book version?
4. We've talked about the concept of compressed sequences in film that convey much meaning in the smallest time possible by taking advantage of as many audiovisual cues as possible. Write about a brief (60 seconds or less) segment of the film that is richly packed with meaning and discuss what allows it to convey so much meaning in so little time. How was this meaning conveyed differently (better/worse) in the book?
5. What easy formulas or cliches that are familiar to Hollywoodized scripts does the movie use? Does it do anything inventive to those formulas to make them more acceptable and less tiresome than they usually are? What parts of the book, if any are these cliches based on?
Monday, October 24, 2011
No blog post this week
No blog post this week.
Complete reading The Devil Wears Prada by November 9.
The class has partially redeemed itself in terms of bringing the book to class. Make sure you all bring books to class on November 9 as well.
Again, turnitin will not accept essay submissions even one minute past the deadline of Oct 31, 5pm. Avoid turning in essays at the last minute or even on the last day, and you will not fall prey to this problem.
Complete reading The Devil Wears Prada by November 9.
The class has partially redeemed itself in terms of bringing the book to class. Make sure you all bring books to class on November 9 as well.
Again, turnitin will not accept essay submissions even one minute past the deadline of Oct 31, 5pm. Avoid turning in essays at the last minute or even on the last day, and you will not fall prey to this problem.
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