Georgetown University
ENGL 478 – Spring 2013
Capstone: American Culture – “Mass Media/Mass Culture”
Professor Brian Hochman
bh296@georgetown.edu – New North 324 (W 1:00-3:00)
This interdisciplinary course in American cultural studies explores novels, essays, and films that take
“the media” and “the masses” as points of imaginative departure. Focusing on the United States
from the 1920s to the present (but with some important trips to Germany, Canada, France, Brazil,
and the post-apocalyptic future along the way), we will consider a wide variety of texts that address
the media’s power to inform and delude, persuade and seduce, galvanize and atomize, terrify and
entertain. Films by Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford
Coppola, Sidney Lumet, and Pixar; novels by Nathanael West, Sloan Wilson, and Don DeLillo; plus
selected critical and historical readings.
Two basic questions will guide our approach throughout the semester. What constitutes
“information” in an age of proliferating cultural data? How do understandings of American
“community” change in response to increased technological connectivity? In addition to an
extended research paper, this course requires eight mandatory film screenings outside of class.
Students who are concentrators in Georgetown’s program in Film and Media Studies may be
admitted by permission of the instructor.
Required Texts (available at the GU bookstore)
Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust (New Directions)
Sloan Wilson, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (Da Capo)
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All The President's Men (Simon & Schuster, 2nd Edition)
Don DeLillo, White Noise (Penguin/Viking Critical Library)
Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage (Gingko)
selected articles/essays/etc. – available on Blackboard (marked by [*] below)
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Class Policies/Requirements
Learning Goals:
Pitched as an advanced capstone seminar for senior English majors, this course has four
main objectives. Over the course of the semester students who take this class should expect . . .
1. to survey theories and fictions of mass media culture in the twentieth and twentyfirst centuries, with a special focus on the United States;
2. to gain a broad but disciplined understanding of the major themes, debates, and
approaches that are central to the field of Literature and Media Studies in its present
configuration;
3. to improve their ability to discern how cultural texts shape, and are shaped by,
historical contexts; and
4. to produce a well-researched 12-15 page critical essay using a number of secondary
sources.
Please note: experience in the field of Film and Media Studies is not a prerequisite for this course.
However, a cursory knowledge of the basic terms and techniques of visual analysis will likely prove
helpful as we move forward. If you feel you need to brush up on the basics, I recommend
consulting the handy Yale Film Analysis Web Site (http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/), or any
edition of David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson’s Film Art: An Introduction.
Grading and Requirements:
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The majority of your grade for this course is determined by a series of assignments due at
the end of the semester: a 5-6 page abstract (15%), and a 15-20 page final research paper (50%).
The remainder of your grade hinges on a short analysis essay due in the middle of the semester
(15%) and class participation (20%). (The latter category includes regular attendance, thoughtful
contribution to class discussion, and your weekly “synthesis sentences”—more on this last
requirement below). Since this course meets just once a week, regular attendance is crucial. Missing
more than one or two sessions will seriously jeopardize your participation grade. If you miss more
than three, you should reasonably expect to fail the course.
General Expectations:
1. Turn in assignments on time. In all cases, late work is not acceptable. My policy is a
simple one: for every day an assignment is late, I will deduct 1/3 of a letter grade. I may make
exceptions in documented cases of personal or familial hardship (illnesses, family emergencies, etc.).
But please take note: the pressures of other exams, papers, or extracurricular activities are not an
acceptable excuse for lateness. Plan now to structure your time wisely—and please don’t hesitate to
take advantage of my office hours (Wednesdays 1:00-3:00, and by email appointment) to help you
work on assignments in advance of their due dates.
2. Attend all film screenings, which take place on Tuesday evenings (6:30-9:00) in the
New South Film Studies Screening Room. This is an integral part of our class. The films on our
syllabus both require and reward close attention and sustained engagement. With this in mind (and
as a courtesy to your fellow classmates), please refrain from using laptops and smartphones in the
New South theatre. I highly recommend bringing a notebook with you so that you can take notes
during the screening and jot down your reflections immediately following it. If you’d like to refresh
your memory before class, DVD copies of the films are available on reserve in the Gelardin New
Media Center. (Many are also available on Netflix Instawatch.)
3. Come to class prepared not only to address all of the week’s assigned readings (this means
printing them out and bringing them with you!), but to contribute to our conversation in thoughtful
and accountable ways. In preparation for each class you will be asked to produce a series of
“synthesis sentences”--one- or two-sentence summaries of each of the secondary readings for a
given week (listed below under “contexts” and “critique”). These should attempt to capture the
main thrust of each piece under consideration, but they cannot be longer than one or two sentences.
Remember: this is an exercise in concision. Email your sentences to me by 8:30 PM on the Monday before
our class meeting. I will then compile and distribute them for everyone to see.
Writing Assignments:
1. Critical Essay: due Monday, March 25, 4-5 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12 point font).
Your first assignment is to write a short paper that makes a substantive argument about a central
theme, symbol, image, or problem in one of the primary texts on our syllabus. You may write on
any topic that you wish.
2. Paper Abstract: due Monday, April 22, 3-4 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font).
In preparation for your final paper, you are expected to produce a 3-4 page essay abstract that clearly
outlines your topic, your thesis, and a few potential points of comparison between the two texts
you’ve chosen to consider. (For more on the final paper, see #3 below…) At the end of the
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abstract, you should also list 5-6 secondary sources that you plan to consult in preparation for the
paper. We’ll go over how to search for and use secondary sources in class; as always, though, I’m
happy to suggest potential articles or books to peruse if you need help doing so.
3. Final Paper: due Monday, May 8, 12-15 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font).
Your work for this course will culminate in an extended critical essay that examines one or two of
the texts on our syllabus. I’ll say more about the expectations for the abstract and the final paper as
the semester progresses. In short, you may write on whatever topic that you wish, and whatever
texts that you see fit—my only stipulations are that you meet with me to discuss your paper
beforehand, and that you consult 5-6 secondary sources in preparation for the writing process. I’ll
of course be available throughout the semester to help you hone your ideas, and to help you
determine the best way to go about executing them.
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty:
The Georgetown University Honor Code—which includes a detailed definition of
plagiarism—can be found on the GU website at http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/honor/
system/53377.html. In short:
Plagiarism is the act of passing off as one’s own the ideas or writings of another.
While different academic disciplines have different modes for attributing credit, all
recognize and value the contributions of individuals to the general corpus of
knowledge and expertise. Students are responsible for educating themselves as to
the proper mode of attributing credit in any course or field….[T]hree simple
conventions are presented for when you must provide a reference: 1) If you use
someone else's ideas, you should cite the source; 2) If the way in which you are using
the source is unclear, make it clear; 3) If you received specific help from someone in
writing the paper, acknowledge it….Faculty may use various methods to assess the
originality of students' work. For example, faculty may submit a student's work to
electronic search engines, including turnitin.com, a service to which the Honor
Council and the Provost subscribe. Note that plagiarism can be said to have
occurred without any affirmative showing that a student’s use of another’s work was
intentional.
I follow Georgetown’s guidelines for plagiarism. I also submit all student work to turnitin.com, an
electronic search engine that detects instances of plagiarized writing. If you have any uncertainty
about the meaning of plagiarism, please be sure to discuss it with me.
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Schedule of Readings/Screenings/Assignments
(subject to change in the course of the semester, if necessary)
Jan. 15
Course Introduction
 6:30-9:00 Screening: Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles
Jan. 22
The “Invention” of the Media
text:
Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles
context:
Harold Innis, Empire and Communications (1950), 21-31 [*]
Harold Innis, The Bias of Communication (1951), 33-60, 156-189 [*]
critique:
Raymond Williams, Keywords, 72-73, 203-204 [*]
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 1-46 [*]
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 6:30-9:00 Screening: Triumph of the Will (1935, selections), dir. Leni Reifenstahl;
The Great Dictator (1940), dir. Charles Chaplin
Jan. 29
Media, Masses, Propaganda
text:
Triumph of the Will (1935), dir. Leni Riefenstahl
The Great Dictator (1940), dir. Charles Chaplin
context:
Edward Bernays, Propaganda (1928), 1-61 [*]
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction” (1936) [*]
Lazarsfeld and Merton, “Mass Communication, Popular Taste, and Social
Action” (1948) [*]
critique:
Frank Scheide, “The Great Dictator and Chaplin’s Tramp” [*]
Feb. 5
Adventures in the Culture Industry: Hollywood (I)
text:
Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust (1939)
 6:30-9:00 Screening: Sunset Boulevard (1950), dir. Billy Wilder
Feb. 12
Adventures in the Culture Industry: Hollywood (II)
text:
Sunset Boulevard (1950), dir. Billy Wilder
context:
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry” (1944) [*]
André Bazin, “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” (1945), “The Myth
of Total Cinema” (1946) [*]
C. Wright Mills, “The Mass Society” (1956) [*]
critique:
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Morris Dickstein, “Sunset Boulevard” [*]
Feb. 19
Conformity, Consumption, and Mass Society
text:
Sloan Wilson, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955)
 6:30-9:00 Screening: The Manchurian Candidate (1962), dir. John Frankenheimer
Feb. 26
The Extensions of Man
text:
The Manchurian Candidate (1962), dir. John Frankenheimer
context:
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (1964), 3-32 [*]
Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage (1967)
Mar. 12
Watchdogs and Whistleblowers
text:
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All The President's Men (1974)
 6:30-9:00 Screening: The Conversation (1974), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Mar. 19
Sound and Sense
text:
The Conversation (1974), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
context:
R. Murray Shafer, The Soundscape (1977), 3-12, 88-99 [*]
Michel Chion, The Voice in Cinema (1982), 1-29 [*]
Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter (1986), 1-19 [*]
critique:
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Dennis Turner, “The Subject of the Conversation” [*]
 6:30-9:00 Screening: Vertigo (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Mar. 25
4-5 PAGE VISUAL ANALYSIS DUE
Mar. 26
Special Case Study: Alfred Hitchcock
text:
Vertigo (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
critique:
Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975) [*]
 Lecture (Time TBA): Laura Mulvey, “Hitchcock’s Blondes”
Apr. 2
Box Populi (I)
text:
Network (1976), dir. Sidney Lumet
context:
Raymond Williams, Television (1974), 1-25, 121-138 [*]
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation (1981), 1-42 [*]
Herman and Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent (1988), 1-86, 297-308, xi-xix [*]
Apr. 9
Box Populi (II)
text:
Don DeLillo, White Noise (1985)
 6:30-9:00 Screening: Wall-E (2008), dir. Andrew Stanton
Apr. 16
“New” Media
text:
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Wall-E (2008), dir. Andrew Stanton
context:
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation (1999), 2-40 [*]
Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media (2001), 19-61 [*]
D.N. Rodowick, The Virtual Life of Film (2007), 1-31 [*]
critique:
Vivian Sobchack, “Animation and Automation” [*]
 6:30-9:00 Screening: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011), dir. Werner Herzog
Apr. 22
3-4 PAGE ABSTRACT DUE
Apr. 23
Course Wrap-Up: Media Archaeologies
text:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011), dir. Werner Herzog
May 8
12-15 PAGE FINAL PAPER DUE