ENGL 2793: Novels and Screens

Abstract

What happens when a novel is adapted into a screen based medium? Are some better than others? Who gets to decide what texts mean? How do novels, movies, miniseries and vlogs generate meaning? Over the course of the semester we will read a selection of novels which pose very different challenges to those who adapt them in terms of their structure and content. Each text will be considered alongside one or more screen-based adaptation, ranging from those that are “faithful,” or “straight” adaptations to those that are much “looser” in their relationship to the original. We will study the strengths and limitations of these adaptations, paying special attention to the different modes of representation they employ. What can written words do that screen-based adaptations cannot and vice versa? What are some of the historical and cultural contexts, the marketing goals and the audience’s knowledge that influence the makers and viewers of these adaptations? ¶Course Aims and Outcomes: ¶General Education Goals ➢ Practice skills in close reading and interpretation ➢ Notice similarities and differences among kinds of representations ➢ Summarize, interpret, and integrate secondary critical materials ➢ Express ideas in writing and revise your own work ➢ Conduct research in databases and the library ➢ Engage with at least one controversy connected to the topic of the course ¶English Program Goals ➢ Students will be able to analyze a variety of texts and genres. ➢ Students will be able to critically evaluate competing critical/theoretical arguments pertaining to given work(s). ➢ Students will be able to communicate their critical thinking about literature and other media to diverse audiences both orally and in writing. ➢ Students will able to take ownership over their learning experiences both in their course work and beyond. Specific Learning Goals ➢ Students learn a critical and theoretical foundation for more specialized courses in film ➢ Students practice writing a thesis-driven argument about film ➢ Students learn how meaning is produced in cinema ➢ Students learn to analyze a diverse range of filmmaking practices ➢ Students interrogate key concepts and theories of cinema as an aesthetic medium and as a social practice