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HSS 403, Fall, 2020 Office: 413 Cullimore Hall Hours (Virtual): M, 4-5, & by app't Mail: Humanities Dep't, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102 |
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COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course examines modern journalism art and film that—intentionally or unintentionally, explicitly or implicitly—have called reality into question. Cultural problematizing of reality or factuality and/or truth emerges with the invention of photography, followed by other paradigm-shifting developments in modern technology and the science; such developments inevitably affected, even if only indirectly, activities in journalism and the arts. This course will study some of these activities. As the course progresses, it will become evident how both journalism and the arts shape not only a society's opinions and beliefs, but also its policies and laws (thus, in this context, it might be argued that the real is a product of a society's artistic and intellectual activities).
The course will consider movements and concepts such as, in the visual arts, Impressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Conceptual Art and Hyperrealism; in literature stream of consciousness, creative non-fiction, non-linear poetry, and in prose the “factualization” of literary/fictional narratives; in film propaganda documentary, documentary-styled drama, mockumenatry, biopic, and adaptation of literary work; in the media (journalism, certain social media etc.) Literary Journalism including Gonzo Journalism, and New Journalism. Analyses of examples of these developments, and writings about these developments, will be undertaken as a way, ultimately, to ask whether or not there is a central need for truth in daily human affairs and specifically in social and artistic activity in our present time, and whether or not our arts and journalism are serving our society adequately.
Prerequisites:
HUM 102, with a grade of C or higher, and 6 credits at the 300-level History
and Humanities GER with a grade of C or higher.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course it is expected that you will have had the experience of thinking deeply into a narrowly focused subject area, in a nuanced way, and that you will have been able to communicate effectively about it both orally and in writing; furthermore you will have written an in-depth, narrowly focused, polemical, researched essay that will be fully documented, an essay of substantial length. As well, you will have been able, successfully, to write argumentative, substantive and informed essays in response to thematic questions posed to you in the form of a take-home examination. These abilities and generally the skills you will develop in this course are necessary for success in the present world, for any professional, and indeed they are salutary for any citizen. In this regard, this course comports with NJIT's mission as set out in its most recent mission statement.
COURSE TEXTS
Books:
Capote,
Truman. In Cold Blood: A True
Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences
Essays and encyclopedia entries of various kinds.
Kovach, Bill, and
Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of
Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect.
Gervasi, Sacha. Dir. Anvil! The Story of Anvil. 2008.
Hersonski, Yael. Dir. A Film Unfinished. 2010.
Miller, Bennet. Dir. Capote. 2005.
Reiner, Rob. Dir. This Is Spinal Tap. 1984.
Riefenstahl, Leni. Dir. Triumph of the Will. 1935.
N.B.: These films
are available at Amazon, Kanopy, NetFlix and other sources. The films in their entirety
may not be shown during class meetings.
Writing and Documentation Guides (explanations, examples, etc.)
Abbreviations
for Marking Papers
See also:
Guidelines for a Successful Oral
Presentation (see also
SUGGESTED
PROTOCOL FOR TEAM ORAL REPORTS toward the bottom of page):
http://go.owu.edu/~dapeople/ggpresnt.html
http://www.auburn.edu/~burnsma/oralpres.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~riceowl/oral_presentations.htm
http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/skills/oral.htm
• Oral/Visual Reports, one a group report on a weekly assignment, the other an individual report on the term paper project.
• Two Weekly Canvas postings (one original of 100 to 150 words, another 50 to 100-word response to someone else’s post).
• A two-staged research project culminating in a researched and fully-cited term paper (see writing and documentation guidelines above, listed with the course readings):
Stage One: a Term Paper Announcement (see below^) consisting of a Working Title, a one-sentence Thesis Statement (one sentence only, though the sentence can be long and multi-claused and may use one semicolon), a detailed, step-by-step Description of your future paper’s Writing Strategy (i.e. how you will prove your thesis, not a summary of what will be in your paper), and a Bibliography (in MLA format--see the link to documentation guides above) of at least three secondary sources, one of which must be a hard-copy source (for the purposes of this assignment assigned readings, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and textbooks will not be considered as counting toward the requisite minimum number of secondary sources, although they can be used in your term paper project);
Stage Two: a 1500 to 3000-word, fully-documented, original and critical, discursive, polemical (please look up this word if you don't really know what it means) and otherwise argumentative essay that must include at least some detailed analysis of the artifacts being discussed (see below^^), along with a bibliography of all sources (the bibliography will not be considered part of word count). The term paper topic is open (though the topic must have something to do with the subject of this course) but must be approved ahead of time by the instructor.
The Term Paper is credited when preceded
by the Term Paper Announcement.
• Final examination, comprehensive, essay in format, open-book.
Failure to submit the final exam will result in the papers that are part of the term paper project being disqualified.
N.B.: Papers must be word processed using a 12’ font, double-spaced with one inch margins, spell-checked, and to the best of one's ability grammar-checked. Papers must be submitted as Word files; under no circumstances should a paper be submitted as a pdf.
Weekly Moodle posts should be single-spaced
but otherwise must also be spell-checked and to the best of one's
ability grammar-checked, and must be in standard English and adhere
to standard formal writing protocols.
As regards all writing submitted in this course, please keep the following in mind. If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented in MLA format (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in your text, and complete bibliographical information). WRITTEN TEXTS NOT MEETING ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE READ AND WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT.
Students are expected to abide by the NJIT Honor Code. (You may wish to see NJIT's Academic Integrity web site that contains much information about strategies to avoid plagiarism: https://njit.instructure.com/courses/50/pages/njit-honor-code-and-policy-on-academic-integrity?module_item_id=3521.)
Papers must be submitted to the instructor via Canvas, as Word attachments, using a proper identifying subject line.
N.B.: Failure to participate in class discussions (especially online) at a minimally acceptable level will result in disqualification of end-of-term assignments such as the term paper and final exam; such disqualification must inevitably spell failure in the course. In order to pass this course a student must be consistently active in weekly class work starting from the beginning of the course term. Furthermore, only three unexcused absences will be allowed; more than these will mean automatic course failure.
^Term
Paper Announcement:
Consists of 1) a
descriptive paper title, and a subtitle to show focus and
specificity, 2) a one-sentence thesis statement that includes the
point of your argument, the breadth of that argument, and the
argument’s significant concepts and details, 3) a detailed,
step-by-step description of the writing or argumentative strategy to
be employed in your paper, 4) a bibliography of all sources
both primary and secondary in MLA format and alphabetized. For the
purposes of this assignment, use must be made of at least three
secondary research sources (one of them hard copy) excluding
assigned
readings, textbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries.
A description and samples of the Term Paper Announcement are available from the course Moodle page.
^^Term
Paper:
Consists of: 1) a
descriptive paper title, and a subtitle to show focus and
specificity, 2) a full-length essay, 3) a bibliography in MLA format
and alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must be
made of at least three secondary research sources (one of them hard
copy) excluding assigned readings, textbooks, encyclopedias and
dictionaries.
N.B.: While
one research paper source must be hard copy--and there is no
substitute for physically going to a library to do research--a
downloaded article from one of the NJIT Library's databases can be
considered as a hard copy source (it is best to check with the
instructor about the suitability of such an article)
Samples of the Term Paper are available from the course Moodle page.
Week 1: Course Introduction; introduce yourself to the class in the Week 1 forum in Canvas; one-to-one meeting with instructor via WebEx. History of journalism, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism (we’ll use Wikipedia here for brevity).
Week 2: The Elements of Journalism (pp. 1-19, 22-26, 29-33, 37-41, 47-61, 65-68, 72-74, 83-87, 92-136).
Week 3: The Elements of Journalism (pp. 169-239).
Week 4: "The Double Image" and selected artworks;The Photoplay (chapters 1, 5 and 9); Battleship Potemkin.
Week 5: Introduction to The Art of Fact; articles by Hersey (“From Hiroshima”), Breslin (“It’s an Honor”), Baldwin (“Nobody Knows My Name: A Letter from the South”), and Didion (“Los Angeles Notebook”).
Week 6: Comparison of The Triumph of the Will and A Film Unfinished; articles on these films in Canvas.
Week 7: Artwork of Abstract Expressionism; poetry of the New York School poets.
Week 8: Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. In Cold Blood (the book) starting with "Acknowledgements" and going up to p. 74. Capote (the film). Reporting on the Kansas murders that are the subject of In Cold Blood.
Week 9: In Cold Blood (the book), up to p. 248. Reporting on the murders that are the subject of the book.
Week 10: In Cold Blood (the book), up to p. 343; and reporting on the murders that are the subject of the book. In Cold Blood (the film).
Week 11: Samples of artworks by Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, and Glenn Ligon; accompanying articles about them. Term Paper Announcement due.
Week 12: Samples of artwork by Gerhard Richter and Hyperrealist artists; essays on them.
Week 13: Comparison of Anvil! with This Is Spinal Tap; articles on these films.
Week 14: Oral/visual reports on term papers.
Week 15: Oral/visual reports on term papers.
Week 16: Term Paper and Final Exam, and all other assignments due (specific due dates in Canvas).
* All work must be prepared prior to class meeting.
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Final Examination: Term Paper: Term Paper Announcement: Class Participation online (initial, originating posts - graded weekly): Class Participation online (responses to classmates' posts): Follow-up Questions or Comments Portfolio of Eight Best Posts online: Group Report Individual Report Extra credit project |
30% 25% 10% 10% (5% if late) 5% (3% if late) 5% 5% 5% 5% 10% (extra credit) |
ABBREVIATIONS FOR MARKING PAPERS
Key: Abbreviation - Meaning
| A - Agr - Awk - CS - Dic - Exp - FS - RO - SF - Sp - SS - Syn - Tr - Un - Uncl - Us - V - Va - VF - VT - WF - WW - |
Article Agreement Awkward Comma Splice Diction Explain Fused Sentences Run On Sentence Sentence Fragment Spelling Sentence Structure Syntax or Word Order Transition Unclear Unclear Usage Verb Vague Verb Form Verb Tense Word Form Wrong Word |
SUGGESTED PROTOCOL FOR TEAM ORAL REPORTS
Introduction
Spokesperson for group (preferably Speaker #1 or #4) puts up first viewgraph (topic of report) and defines:
A. Topic of the group report
B. Introduces self and other members of the team (both first and last
names)--Viewgraph #2
C. Explains briefly how the topic has been broken down and what aspect
of the topic each speaker will address.
D. Introduces Speaker #1.
Speaker #1:
A. Thanks spokesperson
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #2
Speaker #2:
A. Thanks Speaker #1
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #3
Speaker #3:
A. Thanks Speaker #2
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Introduces Speaker #4
Speaker #4:
A. Thanks Speaker #3
B. Restates his/her particular topic (with viewgraph)
C. Addresses topic (with viewgraphs)
D. Asks for Questions (or reintroduces Spokesperson)
Question and Answer Period:
A. Spokesperson asks if there are questions
B. Recognizes questioner and directs question to appropriate member of
team
C. Allows any other member of team to comment
D. After last question, thanks audience.