Instructor: Dr. Lesley Jenike
Course: LA491/Lecture/02-Screenwriting
Time: Fall 2009, Wed 3:30-6:20
Location: #224 Kinney Hall
Office: #206 Kinney Hall (last door)
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:20-5 pm by appointment
Phone: 614-437-7380
Email: lesleyjenike@gmail.com, ljenike@ccad.edu
Blog: www.ccadfall09.blogspot.com
Course Description: Our class will serve as an introduction to the composition of screenplays, and the critique of peers’ scripts in a workshop setting. We’ll be focusing on the basic three act structure, plot and character development, and how to think (and write) visually. We will use as our models finished films and their scripts. We’ll also discuss essays and articles by those who’ve worked in the industry, and consult writers of all stripes who deal with the art of storytelling in general. It’s my hope that our class will give you the skills you need to finish what you started here, and the drive to keep writing in the future.
Texts:
Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. Random House, 2005.
Scripts found on www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml (this list is subject to change):
1. Rushmore (Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson)
2. Sunset Boulevard (Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman)
3. On the Waterfront (Bud Schulberg)
4. Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen)
5. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola) www.dailyscript.com/scripts/lost_in_translation.pdf
6. LA Confidential (Brian Helgeland) www.dailyscript.com/scripts/ellay-confidential_early.html
Various handouts and supplemental materials distributed in hardcopy or electronically.
A Note On Assigned Screenplays:
To save you money and give us flexibility, I’m asking you to access and read the above scripts electronically. I realize that not everyone has a computer at home, so I’ll break our reading assignments up into digestible pieces that you can easily read on public computers if necessary (i.e. up to pg. 60 of a 120 min/pg. script). Because we won’t have hard copies in our hands during class, I will also ask you to take copious notes in your WRITER’S JOURNALS.
Requirements:
1. Your participation in the daily workings of the class, that is: exercises every week typed up for workshop critique, many of which will be the result of formal assignments, imitations, etc. (this number may fluctuate depending upon the number of students enrolled in the course), contributions to our conversations, and comments on peers’ exercises/scripts.: 30%
2. A detailed, scene-by-scene screenplay treatment and AT MINIMUM 30 minutes (30 pgs or the first act) of your screenplay 30%
3. Weekly written responses to reading assignments (600-800 words or roughly 3-4 double-spaced pgs.): 30%
4. Writer’s journal: I’ll ask you to keep a bound notebook for informal, handwritten exercises, movie-watching and script-reading notes, overheard bits of dialogue, character sketches, images that strike you, etc.: 10%
A Note on Reading Responses: There may be weeks when I give you specific questions to respond to in your typed essays (especially in respect to the readings from Screenplay, so check our blog and your email accounts regularly), and sometimes I may give you the freedom to discuss what you wish. When generating your responses, you might compare/contrast the reading to other scripts/texts we’ve discussed, or even those we haven’t. You’re even welcome to include, to some extent, your own experiences in writing your own screenplays. The main idea is to get you to start thinking about filmmaking as structural and formulaic, a formula that you yourself can imitate! However, I DO expect your responses to have a main idea or thesis statement that includes SUPPORT FROM THE TEXT. I DO NOT WANT PLOT SUMMARIES OR SIMPLE STATEMENTS OF LIKE OR DISLIKE!!! I will be grading your responses not only on your reading comprehension, but also on your ability to construct well-organized analyses/arguments. Please TYPE your responses and double-space them, use the MLA citation format when necessary. Make sure, too, that the responses come out to about 600-800 words or about three-four double-spaced pages.
A Note on Workshops: For the first ten weeks we’ll be working on exercises that may or may not be directly related to your final project (of course, it’s preferable that they are). They will take a variety of different shapes and pg. lengths (though for the sake of brevity and your pocket-books, I’ll ask you to keep things contained to no more than five pgs), and on a rotating basis (meaning not everyone every week), I’ll ask you to bring in copies to share with the class. We may not get to read/talk about everyone’s exercises, but you will be contributing to our overall experience and your course participation grade. In the final few weeks of class, I will be dividing you up into roughly four groups of four. Each person in their given group will be designated time for an in-depth discussion of AT LEAST ten pages (ten minutes) of their final 30 pgs/min. first act to be turned in on the last day of class. Each person will be asked to pass out a copy of his/her script to each member of class for discussion. NO EXCUSES.
Course Policies:
Attendance: It’s vital that you attend class and regularly participate in the discussion. In fact, the workshop depends on it! Don’t simply expect to show up for the class during which your script/exercise is to be discussed. Your peers deserve your respect and attention just as much as you do. Also, absences will disrupt the tight workshop schedule. You may miss one class for any reason without any repercussions, but if you miss more you may be asked to drop the workshop. If you miss a class when your exercise or script is “up” for critique, you’ll be relegated to the end of the next workshop session and there’s no guarantee we’ll get to your work. If you miss the class in which you are required to pass out an exercise, you’ll have to make arrangements to get copies to me and the rest of the class.
Other Late Assignments: You may always make up missed reading response assignments but if the assignment is not received by 5 pm the day it’s due, it will be docked five points (i.e. A to A-)
Other Stuff: Please turn off all electronica during class (unless you choose to take notes with a laptop on Tuesdays). Also, please remember to be respectful of others during class discussion (think before you speak!) and bring your texts and peers’ poems to class with you everyday. Be sure you have all the materials you need, you’re able to gain regular access to a computer and printer, and you have a way to save your work.
ADA Statement: If you have a documented cognitive, physical, or psychological disability, which includes learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, anxiety, or mobility, as described by Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is recommended that you contact Disability Services at 614-222-3292. Disability Services will assist you in arranging appropriate accommodations with the instructor.
Schedule: (Subject to change)
Note: (When you see an assigned reading beside a date, please have the reading completed by that date)
*=Reading Response Due
#=Exercise Due
Week 1
Wed 8/26: Introduction to course, introduction to screenwriting format/form, in-class exercises and readings
Read: Chapter 13, Screenplay, On the Waterfront (online)
Week 2*, #
Wed 9/2: Beginning with a subject, determining dramatic need/conflict, in-class exercises and readings, continued discussion of On the Waterfront, screening scenes from On the Waterfront
Read: Chapter 1-2, Screenplay, On the Waterfront (online)
Week 3*, #
Wed 9/9: Beginning with a character, the art of characterization, developing a character, in-class exercises and readings
Read: Chapters 4-5, Screenplay, Rushmore (online)
Week 4 #
Wed 9/16: Cont. work with character, in-class exercises and readings, screening scenes from Rushmore
Read: Chapters 4-5, Screenplay, Rushmore (online)
Week 5*, #
Wed 9/23: How to begin: communicating important information quickly and visually, in-class exercises and readings
Read: Chapters 5-6, Screenplay, Sunset Boulevard (online)
Week 6*, #
Wed 9/30: Incidents and plot points—for every action a reaction, in-class exercises and readings, screening scenes from Sunset Boulevard
Read: Chapters 8-9, Screenplay, Sunset Boulevard (online)
Week 7*, #
Wed 10/7: Scenes and sequences: How to write them and what purpose do they serve? In-class exercises and readings
Read: Chapters 10-11, Screenplay, Broadway Danny Rose (online)
Week 8#
Wed 10/14: Cont. work on scenes and sequences, in-class exercises and readings, screening scenes from Broadway Danny Rose
Read: Chapters 10-11, Screenplay, Broadway Danny Rose (online)
Week 9*, #
Wed 10/21: Building the storyline scene by scene, in-class exercises and readings
Read: Chapter 12, Screenplay, Lost in Translation (online)
Week 10#
Wed 10/28: Cont. work with treatments (beat sheets), index cards, outlines, etc. screening scenes from Lost in Translation
Week 11*, #
Wed 11/4: Workshop Group 1
Read: Chapter 14, Screenplay, LA Confidential (online), Peers’ scripts
Week 12
Wed 11/11: Workshop Group 2
Read: Peers’ scripts
Week 13
Wed 11/18: Workshop Group 3 (GRADUATING SENIORS FINAL PROJECTS DUE)
Read: Peers’ scripts
Week 14
Wed 11/25 NO CLASS THANKSGIVING
Week 15
Wed 12/2: Workshop Group 4
Read: Peers’ scripts
Week 16
Wed 12/9 LAST DAY OF CLASS/FINAL TREATMENT/30 PAGES DUE/FILM PITCHESInstructor: Dr. Lesley Jenike
Course: LA490B/Lecture/02-Writing Poetry
Time: Fall 2009, Wed/Fri 11 am-12:20 pm
Location: #224 Kinney Hall
Office: #206 Kinney Hall (last door)
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:20-5 pm by appointment
Phone: 614-437-7380
Email: lesleyjenike@gmail.com, ljenike@ccad.edu
Blog: www.ccadfall09.blogspot.com
Course Description: Our class will serve as an introduction to the composition of poetry, the critique of peers’ poetry in a workshop setting, and poetry’s basic tenets and forms. We will also discuss a wide range of twentieth century and contemporary American poetic models. It’s my hope that the class will give you the skills you need to keep writing even after our workshop has ended, and that writing and discussing poetry will ultimately enhance and inform your own artistic endeavors.
Texts:
Dawson, Erica. Big-Eyed Afraid. Waywiser, 2007.
Drury, John. Creating Poetry. Writer’s Digest Books, 1991.
Kartsonis, Ariana-Sophia M. Intaglio. Kent State. 2006.
Rerick, Michael. In Ways Impossible to Fold. Marsh Hawk, 2009.
Various handouts and supplemental materials distributed in hardcopy or electronically.
Requirements:
1. Your participation in the daily workings of the class, that is: six poems (two per turn) brought in for workshop critique, many of which will be the result of formal assignments, imitations, etc. (this number may fluctuate depending upon the number of students enrolled in the course), contributions to our conversations, and comments on peers’ poems.: 30%
2. Six min., ten max. (this number may fluctuate depending upon the number of students enrolled in the course) poems REVISED and collected in a final portfolio or chapbook: 30%
3. Weekly written responses to reading assignments (600-800 words): 20%
4. A final exam consisting of terms/concerns raised during the course: 20%
Course Policies:
Attendance: It’s vital that you attend class and regularly participate in the discussion. In fact, the workshop depends on it! Don’t simply expect to show up for the class during which your poem is to be discussed. Your peers deserve your respect and attention just as much as you do. Also, absences will disrupt the tight workshop schedule. You may miss three classes for any reason without any repercussions, but if you miss more you may be asked to drop the workshop. If you miss a class when your poems are “up” for critique, you’ll be relegated to the end of the next workshop session and there’s no guarantee we’ll get to your work. If you miss the class in which you are required to pass out a poem, you’ll have to make arrangements to get copies to me and the rest of the class.
Other Late Assignments: You may always make up missed reading response assignments but if the assignment is not received by 5 pm the day it’s due, it will be docked five points (i.e. A to A-)
Other Stuff: Please turn off all electronica during class (unless you choose to take notes with a laptop on Tuesdays). Also, please remember to be respectful of others during class discussion (think before you speak!) and bring your texts and peers’ poems to class with you everyday. Be sure you have all the materials you need, you’re able to gain regular access to a computer and printer, and you have a way to save your work.
ADA Statement: If you have a documented cognitive, physical, or psychological disability, which includes learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, anxiety, or mobility, as described by Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is recommended that you contact Disability Services at 614-222-3292. Disability Services will assist you in arranging appropriate accommodations with the instructor.
Schedule:
Tuesdays we’ll discuss reading assignments and Thursdays we’ll workshop your poems.
A Note on Reading Responses:
Some weeks’ assignments may be of your choosing, but there will be weeks when I assign specific exercises (like imitations) or ask specific questions, especially relating to some of the information in Drury’s Creating Poetry. (Check our course blog for explanations of assignments, schedule updates, extra readings, etc.)
When generating your responses, you might compare/contrast the reading to other texts we’ve discussed, or even those we haven’t. You can place the reading in a cultural/historical context, and/or discuss it in relation to something you’ve been thinking about lately, or something we discussed in class. You’re even welcome to include, to some extent, your own experiences in writing your own poems. However, I DO expect your responses to have a main idea or thesis statement that includes SUPPORT FROM THE TEXT. I DO NOT WANT POETIC PLOT SUMMARIES OR SIMPLE STATEMENTS OF LIKE OR DISLIKE!!! I will be grading your responses not only on your reading comprehension, but also on your ability to construct well-organized analyses/arguments. Please TYPE your responses and double-space them, use the MLA citation format when necessary. Make sure, too, that the responses come out to about 600-800 words or about three-four double-spaced pages.
*=Reading Response Due
Schedule:
Week 1
Wed. 8/26: Course Introduction
Fri. 8/28: Chapter 2, Creating Poetry
Week 2
*Wed. 9/2: Up to and including pg. 41 (“When the City Calls Me Names”), Big Eyed Afraid
Fri. 9/4: Finish Big Eyed Afraid
Week 3
*Wed. 9/9: Chapter 3, Creating Poetry, Big Eyed Afraid (Group 1 distribute poems)
Fri. 9/11 Workshop Group 1
Week 4
*Wed. 9/16: Chapter 4, Creating Poetry, Big Eyed Afraid (Group 2 distribute poems)
Fri. 9/18: Workshop Group 2
Week 5
*Wed. 9/23: Up to and including pg. 50 (“Blues Turned to Bruise”), Intaglio (Group 3 distribute poems)
Fri. 9/25: Workshop Group 3
Week 6
*Wed. 9/30: Finish Intaglio (Group 4 distributes poems)
Fri. 10/2: Workshop Group 4
Week 7
*Wed. 10/7: Chapter 5, Creating Poetry, Intaglio (Group 1 distributes poems)
Fri. 10/9: Workshop Group 1
Week 8
*Wed. 10/14: Chapter 6, Creating Poetry, Intaglio (Group 2 distributes poems)
Fri. 10/16: Workshop Group 2
Week 9
*Wed. 10/21: Up to and including pg. 31 (“X-Ray”), In Ways Impossible to Fold (Group 3 distributes poems)
Fri. 10/23 Workshop Group 3
Week 10
*Wed. 10/28: Finish In Ways Impossible to Fold (Group 4 distributes poems)
Fri. 10/30: Workshop Group 4
Week 11
*Wed. 11/4: Chapter 7, Creating Poetry, In Ways Impossible to Fold (Group 1 distributes poems)
Fri. 11/6: Workshop Group 1
Week 12
*Wed. 11/11: Chapter 8, Creating Poetry, In Ways Impossible to Fold (Group 2 distributes poems)
Fri. 11/13: Workshop Group 2
Week 13
*Wed. 11/18: Chapter 9, Creating Poetry, handouts (Group 3 distributes poems)
Fri. 11/20: Workshop Group 3 (GRADUATING SENIORS FINAL CHAPBOOKS DUE/TAKE HOME FINAL EXAM)
Week 14
Wed. 11/25: CLASS CANCELLED FOR THANKSGIVING
Fri. 11/27: CLASS CANCELLED FOR THANKSGIVING
Week 15
*Wed. 12/2: Chapter 11, Creating Poetry, handouts (Group 4 distributes poems)
Fri. 12/4: Workshop Group 4
Week 16
Wed. 12/9: FINAL EXAM
Fri. 12/11 LAST DAY OF CLASS/FINAL CHAPBOOKS DUE/READING
Instructor: Dr. Lesley Jenike
Course: LA390/Lecture/05- Readings in American Literature
Time: Fall 2009, Tues/Thurs 2-3:20 pm
Location: KH 224
Office: KH 206 (last door on left)
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:20-5 pm or by appointment
Phone: 614-437-7380
Email: lesleyjenike@gmail.com, ljenike@ccad.edu
Blog: www.ccadfall09.blogspot.com
Course Description: Our course will focus on American poetry, fiction, and drama from the mid-twentieth century (approximately late 1940’s to early 1960’s) as a means for exploring larger American literary, cultural, political, historical, and theoretical trends. Our class is designed not only to improve your knowledge, but your critical writing and reading skills as well.
Texts:
Albee, Edward. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? NAL Trade, 2006.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage, 2004.
Lowell, Robert. Life Studies and For the Union Dead. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin, 2003.
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. Vintage, 1991.
O'Conner, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories. Mariner, 1977.
O'Hara, Frank. Meditations in an Emergency. Grove, 1996.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. Harper, 2006.
Various handouts and supplemental materials distributed in hardcopy or electronically.
Requirements:
Weekly Reading Responses (600-800 words/ approx. 3-4 typed pages, double-spaced): 20%
Weekly Quizzes/Group Presentations: 20%
Mid-Term Exam (will include mainly essay/long-answer questions): 20%
Final Paper (6-8 pgs. double-spaced, MLA citations): 20%
Attendance/Class Participation: 20%
(You will submit reading responses on Tuesdays and take short quizzes on Thursdays)
A Note on Quizzes and Reading Responses:
Some weeks’ assignments may be of your choosing, but there will be weeks when I assign specific exercises (like imitations) or ask specific questions. (Check our course blog for explanations of assignments, schedule updates, extra reading, etc.)
When generating your own responses, you might compare/contrast the reading to other texts we’ve discussed, or even those we haven’t. You can place the reading in a cultural/historical context, and/or discuss it in relation to something you’ve been thinking about lately, or something we discussed in class. You’re even welcome to include, to some extent, your own experiences. However, I DO expect your responses to have a main idea or thesis statement that includes SUPPORT FROM THE TEXT. I DO NOT WANT PLOT SUMMARIES!!! I will be grading your responses not only on your reading comprehension, but also on your ability to construct well-organized analyses/arguments. Please TYPE your responses and double-space them, use the MLA citation format when necessary. Make sure, too, that the responses come out to about 600-800 words or about three-four double-spaced pages.
Our quizzes will generally be in short-answer/essay format because I’m more interested in helping you develop ideas and less interested in making you memorize facts. I’m looking to see that you’ve read and digested our texts, and that you’re able to make connections between them.
Please keep all your reading and responses and quizzes because some of the ideas there might be useful in your final papers.
A Note on Group Presentations:
At the end of each “unit” (except for the last) I will ask groups of four-six people to add to our conversations by conducting a little extra research on the author(s), literature, art, music, film, political and social scenes of the period to share with us.
Policies:
Attendance: You may miss a week’s worth of classes for any reason without any repercussions. After a week, your grade will suffer and you may be asked to drop the class. Please come to class on time. Repeated tardiness will result in an absence.
Late Assignments: You have until 5 pm the day an assignment is due to get it to me on time. For each day thereafter, the assignment will be docked five points or A to A- (for example).
Missed Quizzes: You’ll take a short quiz to make sure you’ve been keeping up on your reading every Thursday. If you happen to miss a quiz, you have a week to make it up. After that you’ll take a loss. See me during my office hours to make up quizzes.
Other Stuff: Please turn off all electronica during class (unless you choose to take notes with a laptop). Also, please remember to be respectful of others during class discussion and bring the texts under discussion to class with you EVERYDAY. Be sure you have all the materials you need (paper, pen, books), you’re able to gain regular access to a computer and printer, and you have a way to save your work.
ADA Statement: If you have a documented cognitive, physical, or psychological disability, which includes learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, anxiety, or mobility, as described by Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is recommended that you contact Disability Services at 614-222-3292. Disability Services will assist you in arranging appropriate accommodations with the instructor.
Schedule: Keep in mind that our day-to-day schedule is subject to change. (When you see pages beside a date, please have those pages read by that date.) Beyond the readings listed, I will also be bringing in supplementary poems, essays, films, etc. to help us better understand the literature and its socio-political contexts.
*= Reading Response Due
#=Quiz
UNIT 1/Mid-Century Madness and the Compulsion to Confess
Week 1
Tues 8/25: course introduction
Thurs 8/27: “Part One,” Life Studies
Week 2
*Tues 9/1: “Part Two,” Life Studies
#Thurs 9/3: “Part Four” Life Studies.
Week 3
*Tues 9/8: Acts 1-2, The Crucible
#Thurs 9/10: Act 3, The Crucible
Week 4
*Tues 9/15: Act 4, The Crucible and “Myopia: a Night,” “Returning,” “The Drinker,” “July in Washington,” and “For the Union Dead,” For the Union Dead.
#Thurs 9/17: Up to and including Chapter 5, The Bell Jar
Week 5
*Tues 9/22: Up to and including Chapter 11, The Bell Jar
#Thurs 9/24: Up to and including Chapter 16, The Bell Jar
Week 6
*Tues 9/29: Finish The Bell Jar
Thurs 10/1: Group Presentations
Unit 2/Race, Class and Regionalism: Are We Moving Toward Equality or Away From It?
Week 7
*Tues 10/6: Act 1, A Raisin in the Sun
#Thurs 10/8: Up to and including Scene 2, Act 2, A Raisin in the Sun
Week 8
*Tues 10/13: Finish A Raisin in the Sun
#Thurs 10/15: “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” A Good Man is Hard to Find
TAKE HOME MIDTERM
Week 9
*Tues 10/20: “The Displaced Person,” A Good Man is Hard to Find
#Thurs 10/22: “Good Country People,” and “The Artificial Nigger,” A Good Man is Hard to Find
Week 10
Tues 10/27: Group Presentations
Unit 2/Who’s in Charge Here? Issues of Gender and the “Nuclear Family”
#Thurs 10/29: Act 1 “Fun and Games,” Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Week 11
*Tues 11/3: Act 2 “Walpurgisnacht,” Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
#Thurs 11/5: Act 3, “The Exorcism,” Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Week 12
*Tues 11/10: Up to and including Chapter 20 (Part 1), Lolita
#Thurs 11/12: Finish Part 1, Lolita
Week 13
*Tues 11/17: Up to and including Chapter 20 (Part 2), Lolita
#Thurs 11/19: Finish Lolita (SENIORS’ FINAL PAPERS DUE)
Week 14
Tues 11/24: Class Presentations
Thurs 11/26 CLASS CANCELLED FOR THANKSGIVING
Unit 4/Popular Culture, Cosmopolitanism, and the New Media
Week 15
*Tues 12/1: Up to and including pg. 25 (“A Terrestrial Cuckoo”), Meditations in an Emergency
#Thurs 12/3: Finish Meditations in an Emergency
Week 16
Tues 12/8: Discussion of final papers
Thurs 12/10 LAST DAY OF CLASS
FINAL PAPERS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN NOON, 12/14
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