Expository Writing: Reminder

Please remember to read pages 203-235 in your text and to bring your text to class. Pay special attention to pages 203-206 and to the articles about Jerry Seinfeld, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mike Nichols. In class, we'll talk about the issues raised by this reading assignment.

Adaptation: Reminder

Our second test is scheduled for 2.28.13. Please be there and be on time. It will cover everything since our last test including readings, films, lectures and discussions.

Also, many of you have conferences on that same day. The conferences will be in our classroom. Please wait on the bench outside the classroom for your conferences. Please be there 10 minutes early. Here's the conference list:

12:50: May
1:00: Marissa
1:10: Chelsea
1:20: Adriel
1:30: Michael
1:40: Roxanne
1:50: Samuel
2:00: Jesse
2:10: Joe
2:20: Josh
2:30: Eric
2:40: Jaime
3:20: Shahira (Or earlier, Shahira, if that works for you.)

Law in Film: Reminder

James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder: No short paper with this one.

Please keep in mind that there are only four films left this semester about which you can write short papers. So far, everyone has written at least one short paper. You need to write a total of at least five short papers (plus a final paper).

Please note that the final film of the semester, Anatomy of a Murder, does not have a short-paper assignment attached to it. If you've only written one paper so far, you need to write short papers about the next four movies: Erin Brockovich, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chicago and The Verdict.

Criticism: Talking Points

Questions to consider:

1) Is a critic's opinion of a movie any more valid than that of a non-critic? (I know we talked about this last time, but I don't think we're done.)
2) What is the critic's mission -- or missions?
3) Is it important for a movie critic to keep up in the other arts?

Honors Comedy: Talking Points

Dr. Strangelove:

1) Who is the "I" in the subtitle How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?
2) What event, which happens before the movie begins, sets the story in motion?
3) What do you think of Peter Sellers' three performances and characters?
4) How does sex figure into this movie?

Adaptation: Talking Points

Scene from Stagecoach

About "Stage to Lordsburg":

1) How would you adapt this short story as a film today?
2) Who are the story's characters?
3) How do we find out about their personalities?
4) How does the story single out Malpais Bill?

Reminders:
1) Bring your text with this story to class.
2) Continue reading Being There.
3) Christine and Lindsay: Remember we have conferences this week after class.
3) Our next test is on 2/28.

Expository Writing: Talking Points

Don't forget to read pages 116-149 in your text. Some questions to consider:

1) What assumptions about the reader is Manohla Dargis, the writer of the essay "Defending Goliath" on page 118 of your text, making in that essay?
2) What do you think of the descriptions of the actors in Elvis Mitchell's review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on page 122 of your text?
3) What do and don't you like about the review of Star Wars on page 125 of your text?
4)  What do you think of the first sentence of the review of The Godfather on page 127 of your text?

 

Criticism: Talking points

REMINDER: Please read pages 140-149 in your text before class.

A few questions to consider:

1) How can you make your writing more distinctive?
2) How would you describe your own writing style?
3) Which writers do you admire? Why?
4) How much of yourself are you willing to share with your readers?

Law in Film: Talking Points

Philadelphia:

1) How are various types of music used in this film?
2) How does this film handle the social issues it raises?
3) How does it handle the legal issues it raises?
4) How does it handle the characters, both the major and minor ones?

Honors Comedy: Talking Points

Some Like It Hot:

1) Remember the scene with Daphne (Jack Lemmon), Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) and a bunch of the other "girls" in Daphne's upper bunk on the train? Does that remind you of any other scene we've watched?
2) Is this the funniest American film ever made? If not, what's funnier?
3) In addition to the characters, what else is disguised in this film?
4) What do you make of the final line? ("Nobody's perfect.")

Adaptation: Talking Points

Daniel Day Lewis in A Room With a View

About the novel, A Room With a View:

1) How would you adapt this novel as a film?
2) What would you emphasize and de-emphasize?
3) What would you definitely not change?
4) Could this novel work as a film set in the present?

Expository Writing: Correction

Writing Tip #13 should read:

Avoid using “lawyer” words like aforementioned, moreover and heretofore. You're communicating ideas, not protecting clients.

Criticism: Talking Points

About Body Heat:

1) Does this movie have a hero?

2) Does a movie need a hero?

3) What do you make of the scene in which Ned sees a clown driving a car?

4) Were you surprised at the end?

Law in Film: Talking Points

About Legally Blonde:

1) Why do you think this film was dismissed by critics?

2) What are some examples of its visual humor?

3) How does the film address gender issues?

4) How does Elle's personality affect her work on the legal case?

5) Which characters grow throughout the course of the film? Which do not?

6) Does this movie engage in stereotyping?

Honors Comedy: Talking Points

About His Girl Friday:

1) Through whose eyes do you see the events of this movie?

2) What does the film have to say about marriage and divorce?

3) What does it have to say about journalists?

4) What does it have to say about law enforcement and government?