Undergraduate Catalog 2024-2025

ENGL 4481 Seminar in Film

An in-depth seminar study of a selected topic in film; may include a focus on a particular director, period, or style.

Registration Name

Seminar in Film

Lecture Hours

3

Lab Hours

0

Credits

3

Prerequisite

2000-level ENGL course with a grade of "C" or better.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the following outcome-based learning skills:

Through close reading and writing, students will expand on the following goals of English 1101:

  1. Development of critical reading skills.
  2. Increased familiarity with the production of literary and non-literary texts.
  3. Awareness of the importance of cultural, social, and historical contexts in artistic production.
  4. Mastery of rhetorical modes of composition, patterns of development, and figurative language.
  5. Confidence and sophistication in writing in Standard American English according to the rules of traditional grammar, usage, and mechanics, as well as a command of syntax, word order, paragraph and sentence structure; an appreciation of standard and colloquial dialects and regionalisms; an understanding of semantics: nuances of word meaning, ambiguity, euphemism, connotation, and jargon; effective use of documentation; and a knowledge of methods of argumentation and the purposes of writing.
  6. Confidence and skill in organizing ideas through the understanding of writing as process, revision, and assessment.

By focusing on literary analysis, students will also develop the following skills:

  1. Understanding and appropriate use of literary language and terminology; appreciation of the artistic use of the English language, including imagery, symbolism, irony, allusions, and figures of speech.
  2. Familiarity with literary genres and literary devices such as plot, setting, characterization, point of view, and theme.
  3. Awareness of the historical development of literary forms.
  4. Appreciation of issues concerning translation and paraphrase.
  5. Confidence in producing original criticism based on close reading of a text.
  6. Sophistication in interpreting and evaluating secondary sources so as to enter the critical conversation.
  7. Increased self-awareness through informed, imaginative engagement with other selves.