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ASSIGNMENTS

MINI PAPERS (20%)
You are required to turn in a 1-2 page, double-spaced, typed reaction paper to 10 of the 15 films we see. These papers are due on Thursday at the start of class and must be about the film seen the previous evening. Under no circumstances will late papers be accepted. You are responsible for choosing the 10 films on which you will write papers. The content of these reaction papers should not be whether you “reacted” favorably or unfavorably, liked it or disliked it. In fact, I absolutely have no interest in how much they please you and ask you not to share that with me in these papers. Rather, these papers provide you with an opportunity to begin analyzing the films and thinking about how they related to the themes of the course.

Select one scene in the film for analysis in detail. What does the scene tell us about the social, political, and/or economic reality of the society that produced it? What visual elements underscore that (for example, think about set decoration, costuming, framing of the scene, how the characters are positioned, or how particular shots are juxtaposed)? Go beyond merely recounting a moment in the plot to analyze the meanings embedded in the words and images. Think about the conscious creative choices filmmakers make, as well as audience expectations and reception. As the semester progresses, you may also choose to think comparatively in these papers, juxtaposing a couple of films and their treatment of a particular theme. The professor may also provide more specific questions or suggestions for scenes to analyze for some, if not all of the films. Papers will be graded with checks and minuses, not letter grades.

SHORT PAPER (15%)
DUE OCTOBER 3 AT THE START OF CLASS. This assignment is designed to prepare you for the larger research paper due at the end of the semester. It is of significantly smaller scope, but gives you an opportunity to develop your analytical and writing skills. The paper must approximately 4-5 pages (double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins on all sides) in length. Think about how our readings have written about film as you are trying to develop your own analysis.

For this assignment, choose ONE of the films that we have seen in the first unit (weeks 1-4). From the attached filmography of UI Main Library holdings, choose ONE film for comparison with it. Center your paper on one of a number of possible themes central to this early period of Soviet film. Possible topics include:
Formal elements (such as montage)
Gender roles
National identity
Social mores
Otherness
Ideology
1917
a particular director (using another work from the same period)

Other topics can be developed in consultation with the professor. You must bring to bear one or more of the assigned readings, but may not use any outside readings. This assignment is restrictive by design, so as to let you just test the waters of deeper film analysis. For the final paper you will have ample opportunity to dig up all sorts of diverse sources.

Unexcused late papers will be penalized 3 points per day. It adds up quickly, so just turn it in on time and save yourself the headache! I will not accept a paper after October 24, as even an A+ paper will have received a failing grade by then.

CLASS PARTICIPATION (25%)
Your grade for class participation will be based on your contribution to discussions on Tuesdays and especially Thursdays. Participation includes: active listening, asking questions, responding to the questions of other students, and offering your own insight into and analysis of the films. Frequent absences will obviously have a direct and detrimental effect on this portion of your grade.

Questions for discussion can be accessed via this web site by going to the class schedule page and clicking the film title. That will link you to a brief synopsis and study guide. You should visit that page before you view the films on Wednesday evenings.

LEADING DISCUSSION (10%)
For the first month of class, I will provide discussion questions that will be distributed no later than the start of the week’s film on Wednesday evenings. Beginning in the second month of the semester, several students each week will be responsible for leading the Thursday discussion. Students are to work independently to come up with 3-4 thought-provoking discussion questions that they will pose directly to the class. These questions are to be typed and turned in to the professor at the start of class on Thursday. Students are strongly encouraged to view the film for which they are responsible more than once (both with the rest of the class on Wednesday evening, and in advance as well). It will be very difficult, if not impossible to provide the class with useful and probing questions designed to deepen students’ understanding of these films if you view them only once. Please use the first four discussions, with questions designed by Prof. Michaels, as a model for what is expected of you. Take note of how questions build on one another, connect the films to different themes of the course, and push students to analyze the films from various perspectives.

FINAL PAPER (30%)
In lieu of a final exam, you will produce a 10 page research paper (double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins on all sides) that is due no later than TUESDAY, DEC. 17, 9:30 a.m. (when our final exam time slot ends). You must turn the paper in to the HISTORY DEPARTMENT OFFICE, SH280, where a departmental secretary will record the time received. Do NOT slip the paper under my office door. You may, if you like, turn the paper in early, but no papers will be accepted late.

The paper will require that you compare and contrast several films, including at least one that we have seen in class, focusing on a specific topic chosen in consultation with the professor. You must draw on both assigned readings and additional published source material that you have uncovered. The filmography and bibliography of Main Library holdings appended to this syllabus is a starting point for that research.

Possible approaches included comparison of some subject (e.g., women, minorities, youth, masculinity, the party) by different filmmakers, of different works by the same filmmaker (e.g., Tarkovsky, Eisenstein, Aleksandrov, Kuleshov, Parajanov), or of the use of different formal elements (e.g., editing, music or other sound, framing, color). The topic is pretty wide open, but must shed light on some significant aspect of Soviet history, politics, cultural life, national consciousness, etc. This is not a protract critique of the film from an aesthetic perspective.

I will be available during office hours all semester long to discuss your research papers, but you must meet with me at least once no later than NOVEMBER 14 to finalize your research topic. It is your responsibility to come see me during my office hours or to schedule an appointment. The discussion of your research topic is one that will require more than a few words before or after class, so please plan accordingly.

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