Embedded Files
Required Texts: Be certain to have the correct edition; check with UR Bookstore before you order one elsewhere. You must cite by page for writing, so if you buy an e-book, you'll have to cross-check with the correct printed edition.
Kerouac, On the Road
Krakauer, Into The Wild
Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere
Least-Heat Moon, Blue Highways
Films:All will be on reserve in-house at the MRC and I will schedule one screening + availability on campus cable if possible. Our film-analysis project will require that you select and see another "road movie" in addition to these required ones. I'll provide a list of candidates later.
Benedek, dir. The Wild One
Hellman, dir. Two Lane Blacktop
Kaplan, dir. Heart Like A Wheel
Payne, dir. About Schmidt
Scott, dir. Thelma and Louise
Week of January 13
Day One: About the course and its theme
Day Two: Turner, excerpt from "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" and short film from the General Motors' exhibit at the 1939-40 World's Fair, "To New Horizons" (be ready for a first reading quiz)
Week of January 20
Day One: Kerouac, On the Road, Part 1 Literary terms to know before class: Motif and Telling Detail (at our list, here) and Foreshadowing (I'll teach you this one during class).
Day Two: Kerouac, On the Road, Part 2 (I start randomly collecting annotations and journals so read that link; read the annotated example from Kerouac to guide your work). Literary Term discussed: Irony (from our English handbook here).
William ("Old Bull Lee") S. Burroughs talks about Kerouac
Jack Kerouac on the Steve Allen Show, 1959
Week of January 27
Day One: Kerouac, On the Road Part 3 Literary Term discussed: Fatal (or Tragic) Flaw, Protagonist, Narrator, Unreliable Narrator (from our English handbook here).
Day Two: Kerouac, On the Road, Parts 4-5; Short analysis project due by start of class. Literary Term discussed: Epiphany, Denouement, Story Arc, Allusion (from our English handbook here).
Note well: if you choose to watch the streaming version of "The Wild One" for next week, you'll need to be on campus and you may be prompted to download a plug-in, Microsoft Silverlight.
Week of February 3
Screenings of this week's film: Monday Feb. 3, Adams Auditorium, 3pm. Watch on campus streaming video as well.
Day One: Benedek, dir. The Wild One Film Terms discussed: MacGuffin, Anti-Hero, Mise-en-Scene, Scene, Shot, Montage, Transition (from our English handbook here).
Day Two: Benedek, dir. The Wild One. Film Term discussed: Establishing Shot (Not yet in our online handbook).
In your notebooks, identify one scene from the film that uses transitions to build mood. Be specific about the mood and how Benedek juxtaposes images or sounds to develop his idea. The pages with screenshots and Dr. Cheever's advice here (as well as mine) about studying film will help you.
Week of February 10
Screenings of the next week's film: Monday Feb. 17, Adams Auditorium, 3pm. Watch on campus streaming video as well.
Day One: Krakauer, Into The Wild, Chs. 1-12
Day Two: The Wild comes to campus. UR closed for winter storm. Don't act like Chris McCandless.
Week of February 17
Screenings of this week's film: Monday Feb. 17, Adams Auditorium, 3pm. Watch on campus streaming video as well.
Day One: Krakauer, Into The Wild, Chs. 13-end + "In Alaska's Wilds, The Mystic Hiker's Bus Draws Pilgrims to Danger & Death." (note references to Kerouac and "beatification" here).
Draft of project two due, printed and given to me at the start of class. Schedule meeting with Max Payeur (sign-up sheet is here).
Day Two: Scott, dir. Thelma and Louise
Week of February 24
Day One: Least-Heat Moon, Blue Highways, Parts 1-3 (up to page 127, my copy)
Day Two: up to end of part 5 (up to page 212, my copy). Take a peek at Heat-Moon's van, Ghost Dancing, now in a museum.
Revisions of project two due (and bring the 383 students' commentary along. You can keep Max's) at start of class.
Week of March 3:
Day One: Least-Heat Moon, Blue Highways, Part 6, 7 and 8. Work on the Blue Highways "Exquisite Corpse" Q&A
Day Two: Midterm in class and Take-Home part due at start of class (late = -4 points)
Week of March 10: Spring Break
Week of March 17
Day One: Least-Heat Moon, Blue Highways, part 9 (page 341, my copy)-10 & Afterword. Close analysis vs. summary example.
Take-home quiz for Thursday, due at start of class Thursday:
Go to the Special Programs Building near the UR apartments, then peek through the fence at the campus apartments under construction as well as the design of the older apartments. In at least 200 words, write about the differences in design elements and materials used between these structures, and you should employ the ideas from Kunstler's Chapter 5. We'll share our answers in class on Thursday. Campus architecture examples we will discuss.
Day Two: Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere Chs. 1-5 + Redbook Magazine, "In the Suburbs" (1957 short film) + have a look at these examples of American Suburban Architecture.
Week of March 24
Day One: Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere Chs. 6-9. Draft of Project 3 due, start of class. I'll review these, not Max, though I may send you to him or the Eng. 383 students for advice, as needed.
Take-home quiz for Thursday: bring the quiz to class but also e-mail it to me so I can send them to James Howard Kunstler.
Your quiz: come up with a question you'd like to ask him about the last part of his book, preferably a question you feel he did not address completely earlier in the book. We will share these in class Thursday along with the "why you think this is important" bit, so we don't embarrass ourselves in front of our author.
Day Two: Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere Chs. 10-end. Terms discussed: Modernism, Gothic, Neo-Classical.
Week of March 31
Day One: Cars and TV, a short-film festival. Watch all the commercials below.
Your job: Each of you has been assigned a car or two to discuss. In class, screen your video for the group and you will come up to talk about what the manufacturer wants the customer to recall. This might be VERY different between two commercials. What themes from our readings or films are being employed? Give me a write-up of your remarks (200 words or more).
Automotive Homage: 2014 Cadillac ELR & Ford "Anything is Possible" -- how DO we sell cars today? Film-studies term: Homage
Chevrolet, "A Great New Star" (1953 short film) & "Sleeping Beauty" (1956 Chevy)-- I'll take these!
Ford 1958 Country Squire & Oldsmobile 1964 F-85 Station Wagon (Hadi)
Dodge 1970 Charger 500 & 1971 Plymouth Duster (Mike)
Volkswagen 1970 Beetle & 2013 Jetta "So Close" (Robbie)
Chrysler 1975 Cordoba & 1976 Plymouth Volare (Kate)
1984 Ford Tempo & 2000-era Thunderbird (Brett)
Day Two: Cars and TV, a short-film festival (be sure to sign the release form for the next class' video-taping)
Honda Civics: 1990 and 1997 (Thomas P)
2009 Ford Pickup & 1971 Chevy C-10 Pickup (Thomas D)
Chevrolet "Chevy Runs Deep" (2012 Superbowl) (Divij)
Mini Cooper "Not Normal" and "Win Small" (Emma)
More Mustangs! 1974 "Mustang" II & 1983; (Ashmina)
"Welcome Home, Veterans" 2008 (?) Mustang (Marc)
Week of April 7
Screening of Two-Lane Blacktop: 3pm Monday, Adams Auditorium, MRC (film is also on reserve)
Day One: Q&A day with Jim Kunstler International Commons 231. You can also have a peek at Jim's TED talk here. The campus YouTube video of the talk can be found here.
Day Two: Writing workshop in class! Bring your drafts of either Project 3 or 4 and I will provide guidelines to help you do some peer-edits.
Campus streaming of "Two Lane Blacktop" here.
Week of April 14
Screening of Duel: 3pm Monday, Adams Auditorium, MRC (film is also on reserve)
Day One: Hellman, dir. Two Lane Blacktop. Terms discussed: Existentialism, Take, Shot, Panoramic Shot, Soundtrack.
Day Two: Hellman, dir. Two Lane Blacktop
Draft of project four due, printed and given to me at the start of class. Schedule meeting with Max Payeur (sign up for a meeting here).
Campus streaming of "Duel" here
Week of April 21 (last day of classes: 4/25)
Screening of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: 3pm Monday, Adams Auditorium, MRC (film is also on reserve; it cannot be streamed)
Day One: Spielberg, dir. Duel
Day Two: Hughes, dir. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Friday, April 25, noon: Revised drafts of project four due at my office, and bring drafts with Max's commentary.
In-Class Final: T April 29th, 2-5pm (no rescheduling). Take-home and revisions to Project 3 due at exam start time, 2pm. Don't forget to log in and complete course evaluations .
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