Fall 1997
Research Practicum
授課教師：白瑞梅教授 (Professor Amie Parry), National Chiao Tung University
授課班級：Juniors from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
學生人數：25
授課地點：F205
授課時間：Thursdays 9:00-12:00
聯絡電話：FR303 x31611
E-mail: aparry@cc.nctu.edu.tw
教學方針：
About the use of Cultural Studies approaches to
teaching in this course: This is an
advanced writing course in which students learn how to write research
papers in the
field of Literature; however, when I taught it in the Fall semester
of 1997, I included one paper on film.
The textbook I always use when I teach this course, A Short Guide
to Writing about Literature, 6th edition, by Sylvan Barnet (HarperCollins
1996) includes a good chapter on film interpretation, "Writing about Film"
(pp. 272-292). This chapter has a section on "Film as a Medium" and
one on "Film Techniques"; the latter includes the names and explanations
of various camera angles and some basic terminology. These two sections
help students understand that although both fiction and film tell stories,
they tell them by using very different techniques, and that these techniques
are not only formal elements but also contribute to the construction of
meaning in the film's story.
There is also a section called, "A Sample Essay on Visual Symbols:
'A Japanese Macbeth'" which provides a good model for student interpretation,
and a "checklist" which is helpful for generating interpretive ideas about
a film.
When I used this chapter, I chose the film Eat a Bowl of Tea,
which is based on an Asian American novel of the same name. This
assignment followed one on the short story "Moon" by Asian American poet
Marilyn Chin, collected in Charlie Chan is Dead, ed. Jessica Hagedorn (Penguin,
1993), which connects Asian American stereotypes to immigration histories.
This way the students had already been introduced to Asian American history
and cultural production, and could view the
film as a cultural text that responds to a specific social context.
課程簡介：
This course introduces students to the research methods involved in
writing research papers in the field of literature. It has three
primary objectives:
1) to familiarize students with the techniques of close reading, and
to sharpen students’ interpretive skills in writing a sustained analysis
of a literary text or film;
2) to teach students how to use the resources in the library to gather
information on individual texts, writers and literary movements;
3) to guide students in the proper use of the MLA format for writing
academic papers.
課程要求：
Attendance is mandatory; this is a workshop class. Up to two
unexcused absences are permitted, and a further absence will result
in a failing
grade for the class. Three tardies will be counted as one absence.
It is also
essential that students participate fully in class discussions and
group
activities. There will be in-class writing assignments as well
as homework writing
assignments; the latter will be due at the beginning of the following
class
meeting.
指定教材：
1. A Short Guide to Writing about Literature, sixth edition,
by Sylvan Barnet
2. Dictionary of Common Errors, new edition, ND Thurton
and JB Heaton
課程進度：
9-18 the writer as reader: character and setting in “Ripe Figs”;
in-class
writing
HW: Barnet 13-14, “The Story of an Hour” annotations and focused
writing
9-25 the reader as writer: character and setting in “The Story
of an Hour”;
focused free writing due
HW: Asian American poems
10-2 interpreting literature: explication, “Harlem” Barnet 37;
in-class writing
HW: group presentations on individual poems
10-9 explication, student presentations; introduction to “Moon”
HW: “Moon” with annotations
10-16 analysis: “Moon”; pre-writing exercises
HW: tentative thesis sentence and full outline for first draft
10-23 writing workshop on “Moon” outline; characteristics of good
essays
HW: first draft
10-30 writing workshop, first draft “Moon”; quotations and documentation
HW: Barnet 309-314 and 326-29; final draft
11-6 final draft due; introduction to writing about film; view Eat a
Bowl of Tea
HW: Barnet 272-280; thesis and outline for Eat a Bowl of Tea
paper
11-13 writing workshop: thesis and outline, Eat a Bowl of Tea
HW: first draft
11-20 writing workshop: first draft, Eat a Bowl of Tea
HW: final draft
11-27 Eat a Bowl of Tea final draft due; library tour; topics
for research papers
HW Barnet 315-338; find a topic; gather information
12-4 topic due; group discussion on topics; prewriting exercises
HW: thesis and outline
12-11 writing workshop: thesis and outline for research paper
HW: first draft
12-18 writing workshop: first draft
HW: final draft
12-25 no class (national holiday)
1-2 no class (national holiday)
1-8 final draft due
Research
Practicum
