HC 421H, Honors College colloquium The Middle Ages and the Movies
Bishop, Spring '07| 308 Chapman | (541) 346-0733 | lmbishop@uoregon.edu
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday, 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, and by appointment.
Sign-up sheet on office door.
This course syllabus also available under "Course Information" on the course's Blackboard website.
Concerned about grammar and writing mechanics? Buy a copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style; check out the Princeton writing lab here.
Class hours: Monday and Wednesday, noon to 1:50 pm
| Requirements | Texts | Grading | Reading/film schedule | Paper format instructions | Medieval movies for term paper | Discussion starters list |
The Middle Ages have often been portrayed in films. These portraits have been lionized (Braveheart's Academy Award), censored (Pasolini's Canterbury Tales), and often -- perhaps deservedly -- forgotten (Tony Curtis's Brooklyn accent in The Black Shield of Falworth). One source, Kevin Harty's The Reel Middle Ages, lists 564 movies that treat medieval Europe, including silents and middle eastern and Asian films from the 1890s to 1999. As a class we will treat four of those movies, comparing them with the written medieval source material that provides their impetus. In order to read the sources effectively, we will treat medieval history as well as medieval literary aesthetics. In order to treat the movies effectively, we will acquaint ourselves with film aesthetics and film language. Our work will be to analyze the subtleties of representation that both our primary texts and the medieval movies related to them engage, and to find a critical language with which to express the challenges filmed representations of the Middle Ages present their makers and their audiences. Is the Middle Ages different in cinematic imagination from other periods and, if so, how and why?
Five of our class meetings will be devoted to showing films: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Harty no. 361), Braveheart (Harty no. 60), Stealing Heaven (Harty no. 486), The Sorceress (Harty no. 358), and The Passion of Joan of Arc (Harty no. 390). Students will write analyses of the intersections between the films and the texts that spawned them. Students will also work in groups to analyze another medieval movie (see list here), and to write individual term papers on that film. There will also be short quizzes on both texts and films. Each student will also lead a class discussion.
There is no final exam for the class.
Texts: Abelard and Heloise, The Letters and
Other Writings, trans. William Levitan (to accompany Stealing Heaven);
Blind Harry's Wallace, trans. William Hamilton (to accompany Braveheart).
Both books ordered at UO Bookstore.
The readings from the Joan of Arc trial records and Etienne de Bourbon's
narrative of his experience as inquisitor in Dombes will be provided on Blackboard.
The readings from Understanding Movies will also be provided on Blackboard.
1. Quizzes on film terminology and readings. In order to familiarize ourselves with film criticism, we'll be reading chapters from Louis Gianetti's Understanding Movies. This book costs $80, so instead of ordering the book, chapters will be available online from our Blackboard site. You can, of course, see whether you can find used copies (Smith Family had none as of March 30): aim for the ninth edition or later. Quizzes may also include obvious questions about the readings. 10 % towards your final grade.
2. Ungraded response papers. You'll write four one- to two-page response papers this term. See the schedule below for due dates: bring the paper at the beginning of class on the due date, use it for class discussion, then hand it in at the end of class. Response paper are formal in the sense that spelling, grammar, and thinking count. At the same time, these are papers in which to try out ideas, to experiment and challenge yourself intellectually. I will read these papers, comment on them, and grade them pass/no pass. Normally, a no-pass paper lacks a thesis and/or contains egregious writing errors. Four passing papers will count as a 4.0, three as a 3.0, two as a 2.0, one as a 1.0. No-pass papers may be re-written, but MUST be handed back to me within a week. You may also request that I give any response paper a "grade," meaning the grade it would get were it a graded assignment. I would "grade" the paper in order to give you an idea of how grading works on formal papers, but the grade won't "count," per se. 15 % towards your final grade.
3. Two formal papers on the film/text interface. You'll write an in-depth analysis (1000-1500 words) for two of our four films, evaluating their relationship to a medieval text. See due dates below. Analysis should go beyond a sort of "factual" criticism (not a bad starting point in itself) to consider, through attention to film language and medieval literary aesthetics, the film's and text's treatment of one particular theme. Themes include love, nobility (and peasantry), violence, religiousity and religious scruples, and the four themes Harty ascribes to film in general: love, friendship, intrigue, passion, and war. Each paper contributes 20% towardsyour final grade. (Back to top of page)
4. "Your Medieval Movie." I have chosen eleven medieval movies from which you'll choose one for your term project. Working on the same movie with someone else will provide you a mutually-curious audience for the film, an informed reader for drafts, and a collaborator for research into the film. The older films afford a wealth of critical comment on them; I can provide an article (from a 2007 book) for five of the recent films: King Arthur, Thirteenth Warrior, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Knight, and A Knight's Tale. The questions you'll bring to your film are the same questions we'll be bringing to the class films, although you don't need to have a medieval text to accompany your film (but you may if you wish). Length: approximately 2500-3000 words. Be advised that the Honors College has a library specialist at the Knight Library to help you with your research: Elizabeth Peterson, <emp@uoregon.edu> and telephone 346-3047. 30% of your final grade.
5 . Leading class discussion. You'll each sign up for one reading for which you'll start off class discussion. Think of your effort as more than participation; think of it as contribution. 5% of your final grade.
The quizzes cumulatively constitute 10% of your grade; the ungraded response papers, 15%; the two formal papers together 40%, the term paper, 30%; and leading class discussion, 5% of your grade. Please note the University's "grade point value" system effective 9/90, as I will be using this system (unless otherwise noted):
|
A+ = 4.3 |
B+ = 3.3 |
C+ = 2.3 |
D+ = 1.3 |
|
A = 4.0 |
B = 3.0 |
C = 2.0 |
D = 1.0 |
|
A- = 3.7 |
B- = 2.7 |
C- = 1.7 |
D- = 0.7 |
Note that a grade of "C" is, according to academic regulations, "satisfactory," while a "B" is "good." That means that a "B" is better than average, better than satisfactory, better than adequate. The average grade, then, is a "C"; a grade of "B" requires effort and accomplishment.
Check Blackboard for updates and documents; readings are due on the day they're listed
Week 1 April 2 and April 4
Week 2 April 9 and April 11
Week 3 April 16 and April 18
Week 4 April 23 and April 25
Week 5 April 30 and May 2
Week 6 May 7 and May 9
Week 7 May 14 and May 16
Week 8 May 21 and May 23
Week 9 May 30
Back to top of page | Back to Bishop Home Page | This page created by Louise M. Bishop | Last updated April 2, 2007