University of North Texas Fall 2013
RTVF 3470.001: Film History Pre-1945
Blended course: Course content on line, screenings: Tues 9.30-11.50am, RTVF Room 184.
Instructor: Dr. G.S. Larke-Walsh, Office RTFP 272a. email: larkewalsh@unt.edu
Office Hours: Monday 1-2.30, Tuesday 11-12, and by appointment.
Teaching Assistants: Travis Barnes and Hannah Beavers
THREE Written assignments:
This activity constitutes 30% of your grade
OVERVIEW:
You are required to submit THREE short responses chosen from a list of questions provided later in this document. The responses will be graded individually. You are graded on responding to the question using examples BOTH from film[s] and from the required reading. If you only refer to film[s] then you have only completed half the assignment and your grade will reflect that.
You MUST submit your responses BEFORE the stated deadlines (I.e. you cannot hand them all in at the end of the semester). There can be no excuses, as you will have plenty of time to write these papers and plenty to choose from. No late papers will be accepted
GRADING:
Each of the submissions will receive a grade out of 100
FORMAT:
Each submission must be at least 600 words (you should aim for about 800-1000). Short submissions will be graded with a zero and there is no negotiation on this. 599 is NOT acceptable and a waste of your time and effort.
You can use Microsoft Word to create your response – and therefore, use the word count, spell check and edit feature. Please submit all assignments using the assignment drop box function.
Create a back up file of every piece of work you submit for grading. This will ensure that a computer glitch or a glitch in cyberspace won't erase your efforts.
• When files are sent attached to an email or dropbox submission, the files should be in either Microsoft Word, RTF, or PDF file formats. University level writing is expected of these responses (do NOT answer in bullet points or lists). Please write in complete sentences. The quality of your writing will be figured into the overall evaluation of the submission. Proof read and Spell-check!! Watch out for typos, run-on sentences, incorrect grammar, and awkward syntax. Avoid slang, jargon, and/or ethnocentric “asides” unless they are contextualized within the film you are discussing.
I would like to remind you that plagiarism in any form will result in an F for the course.
Plagiarism is defined as handing in somebody else’s work as your own. It can be accomplished either through deliberate cheating or shoddy citation form. Please avoid both possibilities. Committing plagiarism will result in an F for the course.
CONTENT:
Your response will be graded on content as well as format. The responses are very short, so choose your words carefully. You must answer the question to the best of your ability and provide an example, or evidence to back yourself up (from the film AND your reading).
Each essay is assessed using 4 interconnected criteria (worth 25 percentage points each).
These are THESIS, ANALYSIS, ORGANIZATION and STYLE
This sheet is meant to help you understand those criteria and how to gain the best grade in each.
THESIS: Your paper should have a point: a question, or a statement that the paper addresses. This is called a thesis statement. Without it, your paper has no structure, or point to it. These short essays are responses to questions, so your essay should open with a short response to that question - and that is your thesis statement. We not only assess the quality and placement of the thesis statement, but we also make sure that the rest of your paper matches your statement. In other words, your whole essay should refer to that thesis statement from beginning to end.
ANALYSIS: The purpose of any film essay provide an informed argument using research (what you have learned from the course notes, required reading and beyond)
