ENGLISH 345: STUDIES IN P0PULAR CULTURE
Spring 2004
CRITICAL APPROACHES TO THE FILMS OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Instructor:
Primary instructor:
Office:
Email:
Office phone:
Office hours:
Virtual office hours:
Teaching associate:
Class meets:
Dr. Liahna Armstrong
202 Hebeler Hall; L & L 403F
lotus@cwu.edu
Hebeler: 963-1858; L & L: 963-1738
Monday, 3:30-4:15 L & L 403F; Thursday, 9-10
in Hebeler 202; and by appointment
Via email asynchronous, 24/7
Debbie Olson: L&L 420; Ext. 1539; email: olsond@cwu.edu
M and W: 4:00-5:15 PM; F: 3:00-5:15 PM
Texts:
Required:
Modleski, Tania, The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory
(Routledge Press)
Samuels, Robert, Hitchcock=s Bi-Textuality: Lacan, Feminisms, and Queer Theory (St. U. of
NY Press)
Duncan, Paul, Alfred Hitchcock (Pocket Essentials)
CWU Coursepack: Studies in Popular Culture: Alfred Hitchcock
One purchased film for capstone project in VHS format
Recommended:
Hayward, Susan, Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge), available via
Amazon.com,
Half.com, or by order through the bookstore or Jerrol=s
Films:
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935)
Rebecca (1940)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Notorious (1946)
Rear Window (1954)
Vertigo (1958)
Psycho (1960)
Assorted clips from other films
Course description:
This course is designed to provide students with critical strategies for viewing and interpreting
films, using the cinematic canon of director Alfred Hitchcock as the testing ground. We will study
film as a mode of imaginative expression and a vehicle to transmit cultural ideology, in the
process coming to understand the constructedness of cinematic imagery and narrative. In
probing the works of Hitchcock, we will explore the ways in which the director=s films both
underscore and challenge mainstream cultural values and assumptions, with particular attention
to gender. Students will build a vocabulary of critical language and theoretical concepts,
developing progressively more sophisticated approaches to the film medium and to fictional
narrative, using Hitchcock=s works to test theory against practice. Students will read a range of
essays theoretical and critical, and view a number of films, both in class and independently.
Assignments and projects:
Students will engage in a series of regular written and oral exercises, designed to enhance their
familiarity with the critical vocabulary and their ability to use it to examine and articulate
meaningful insights about the films we view. In addition to reading, viewing, and discussing, the
course will entail:
# Regualr short written assignments, including responses to films viewed and precises of essays
read. Normally, response papers are due Mondays and precises are due Wednesdays.
# A mid-term exam.
# Periodic oral presentations with film clips using critical terminology and concepts, both
individually and in panels.
# A capstone project involving an analysis of a film by a director who has been influenced by
Hitchcock. Project will be presented orally to the class using clips, with an accompanying
summary essay of your key findings.
#Ongoing discussion of films we view via Blackboard discussion group format.
Learner Outcomes:
# Become familiar with film as a textual system.
# Master a critical vocabulary of cinematic theory, and be able to employ it for critical analysis.
# Develop a comprehensive overview of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and be able to define
characteristic cinematic features of the Hitchcock oeuvre.
# Be able to apply basic film concepts to Hitchcock=s work to provide critical insights and offer
cohesive interpretations of the director=s films as media of personal and cultural expression.
# Understand the ways in which films reinforce, naturallize, and challenge cultural ideas,
particularly about gender.
Evaluation Criteria:
# Attendance/participation/discussion
# Short written assignments (responses/precises)
# Oral presentations
# Midterm exam
# Capstone project
Total:
Expectations:
50 pts.
75 pts.
75 pts.
50 pts
50 pts.
300 pts.
# Regular attendance and keeping up with reading, writing assignments, online components,
and film viewing are required of everyone.
# Readings should be prepared carefully and must be completed by the day designated for
discussion.
# Thoughtful involvement in class discussions is expected. Structured presentations,
commentary, and response will be a regular part of the course format, and should assist students
in becoming adept and comfortable speaking in class. Just as participation is important, so also
is exercising good judgment about when and how long to speak--dominating class discussion at
the expense of other speakers is to be avoided. We want to encourage an open atmosphere
where issues can be explored provocatively, without making people feel pressured or silenced.
Respecting opposing views and listening to others are crucial elements of good discussion.
Since many of our discussions will be about the construction of gender in our culture, a level of
comfort and candor needs to be established.
# Written assignments may be submitted in three formats:
$
Typed/printed and double-spaced, and dark enough to be legible. You do not
need cover binders for papers.
$
Electronically, via the ADigital Drop-box@ feature of Blackboard
$
Electronically, as an email attachment in Word or Wordperfect
Electronic submissions must be sent before the class in which they are due.
# Film viewing will be done primarily in class on Fridays. You are expected to view the film in
class, but if for any reason you miss it, you are to rent the video and view the film on your own in
time for class discussion Monday. Short written response questions will be given for each film we
view; the questions will be passed out in class Fridays and also posted to the Blackboard site.
# You will need to consult the Blackboard site regularly, as announcements, assignments, and
other class materials will be posted there.
#We will use the final Friday of the quarter and a slot during finals week to hold the capstone
presentations. The scheduled final exam time is Friday, June 11 from 4 to 6 PM. With your
willingness, we will reschedule for Monday or Tuesday evening, June 7 or 8, from 5 to 7:30 PM.
Topics and Readings
Week s1 and 2: Approaching Hitchcock through film theory
Viewing: Assorted film clips
Readings in order:
Wood, APlot Formations@ (Coursepack , 3-11)
Giacci, AAllegory of Ambiguous Sexuality@ (Coursepack, 13-15)
Modleski, AHitchcock, Feminism, and the Patriarchal Unconscious@ (1-15)
Samuels, AIntroduction@ (1-10)
Duncan (5-12)
Week 3: Comic Espionage
Viewing: The Thirty-Nine Steps
Readings in order:
Duncan (29-31)
Silet, AThrough a Woman=s Eyes@ (Coursepack,19-31)
Week 4: Death and Desire
Viewing: Rebecca
Readings in order:
Duncan (40-42)
Raunaud, ARebecca@ (Coursepack, 35-40)
Modleski, ARebecca@ (43-55)
Samuels, ARebecca@ (45-47)
Week 5: Suburban Sinister
Viewing: Shadow of a Doubt
Readings in order:
Duncan (51-52)
McLaughlin, AAll in the Family@ (Coursepack, 59-65)
Michie, AUnveiling Maternal Desires@ (Coursepack, 67-79)
Week 6: Tragic Espionage
Viewing: Notorious
Readings in order:
Duncan (56-58)
Renov, AFrom Identification to Ideology@ (Coursepack, 43-51)
Note: Read only the first version of the Renov essay in the Coursepack. The second is a
duplicate.
Modleski, ANotorious@ (57-71)
Samuels, ANotorious@ (59-75)
Week 7: Looking and Longing
Viewing: Rear Window
Readings in order:
Duncan (68-70)
Allen, ALooking through Rear Window@ (Coursepack, 83-89)
Ferrara, AThough Hitchcock=s Rear Window Again@ (Coursepack, 91-100)
Street, AThe Dresses Had Told Me@ (Coursepack, 101-110)
Modleski, ARear Window@ (73-85)
Samuels, ARear Window@ (109-121)
Week 8: Death and Desire, Again
Viewing: Vertigo
Readings in order:
Duncan (76-77)
West, AThe Concept of the Fantastic in Vertigo@ (Coursepack, 113-118)
Hollinger, AThe Look, Narrativity, and The Female Spectator@ (Coursepack, 119-123)
Modleski, AVertigo@ (87-100)
Samuels, AVertigo@ (77-92)
Week 9: Freud, Mother, and Son
Viewing: Psycho
Reading:
Duncan (79-81)
Palmer, AThe Metafictional Hitchcock@ (Coursepack, 127-135)
Klinger, AThe Institutionalization of Female Sexuality@ (Coursepack, 137-140)
Samules, AEpilogue@ (135-147)
Week 10: Wrap-Up
Review
Capstone presentations