This course is designed to introduce you to the complex and challenging relationship between written and cinematic text. Reading and viewing stories with an informed eye and critical consciousness can be complicated, but worth the effort. So embrace the challenge and discover that there's more than meets the eye when you encounter literature and film. This course will explore basic elements of literary and cinematic analysis through examples in fiction and creative non-fiction and their cinematic counterparts. This course will focus more specifically on the portrayal of misery in both written and visual narratives.
Misery is a potent emotion in both fiction and film.
Through the intensity of the miserable, this course will demonstrate the power and joy of textual analysis, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the human spirit. In addition, you will need to pass 3 out of 4 short reading quizzes in order to pass the course. If you have done your reading, you should have no trouble passing the quizzes. You will also be expected to adhere to the attendance policy outlined below. You may be asked to view a clip as part of a particular question.