Meeting Times

The course meets as a weekly seminar on Tuesdays from 9:00 am until 11:50 am in VCB 148 (the VCB Conference Room).

Information About the Instructor

• Dr. Walter Metz, Assistant Professor (but please just call me Walter!)
• Office Location: VCB 224
• Office Phone: (406) 994-6403 [with voice mail]
• Home Phone [w/ answering machine]: 522-9183 [feel free to call between 9am and 10pm]
• e-mail address: metz@montana.edu
• Web Site: http://bloopy.kusm.montana.edu/metz
• Office Hours:
  • Mondays, from Noon until 1 pm
  • Tuesdays, from Noon until 1 pm
  • Wednesdays, from 11 am until 2 pm
  • And by appointment

Course Goals

This course is intended as an advanced enquiry into the study of genre. It presumes the students’ knowledge of basic film history and aesthetics. We will begin with a crash course in genre theory. This methodology is then tested against the history of the American Western and Melodrama. The purpose of focusing on these two very different genres is to argue through the relationship between gender and genre by exploring the archetypal "woman’s film," the Melodrama, and the archetypal "man’s film," the Western. The course will conclude with case studies exploring this relationship. Students should emerge from the course with increased critical analytical skills, improved writing and speaking skills, and a greater awareness and appreciation of American film history.

Reading Material

There are five books assigned for this course:

• Barry Keith Grant, Film Genre Reader II (University of Texas Press, ISBN 029272778X)
• Jacky Bratton, Melodrama: Stage/Picture/Screen (British Film Institute, ISBN 0851704387)
• Marcia Landy, Imitations of Life (Wayne State University Press, ISBN 0814320651)
• John Cawelti, The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel (Bowling Green State University Press, ISBN 0879727861)
• Edward Buscombe, Back in the Saddle Again (British Film Institute, ISBN 0851706614)

These books are all available for purchase at the MSU bookstore.

Cheating on exams is a widespread problem at most universities. I will attempt to ensure that your exam environment discourages this breach of academic standards. Once the exam begins, you should put away your notes, refrain from talking, and keep your eyes on your own exam material. Any student caught cheating by me will not pass my course, and will be disciplined further as per university regulations.   It is presumed that all work submitted is the original work of the student whose name appears on it and that the work was prepared originally for this course. All research notes and materials gathered for your writing should be kept and must be made available to the instructor upon request. All such material will be returned following the evaluation of the writing. Plagiarism occurs in two ways. Intentional plaigarism occurs when a student willfully misrepresents the source of the work handed in. Any student caught engaging in intentional plaigarism will not pass my course and will be disciplined further as per university regulations.  More common is unintentional plaigarism, wherein a student, in the course of writing a paper, does not provide proper citation materials which indicate the source of individual ideas within the paper. In such a case, I will call a meeting with the student, and we will amicably resolve the problem by discussing proper academic citation strategies in the humanities.

Note Taking

To do well, you must take notes in this class, on discussion material and the readings. In our discussions, I'll be throwing a lot of complicated information at you, so you'll need to write it down, reflect on it, and work to understand its relevance to the "Big Picture." This is not the sort of class where if you just come and pay attention, you are guaranteed a good grade. There is a great deal of reading material, and in order to learn what is contained therein, you need to take notes on it and study it. People learn by processing material repeatedly. Reading something once without going back over it a few times (taking notes facilitates this) does not encourage remembering it later.

This is not an easy class. The readings are heavy and the information I'll be presenting and we'll be discussing is often theoretical, and thus difficult and challenging. That said, however, I want to re-assure you that I'll keep this in mind while determining grades. Don't be afraid if you're confused early on. Use our discussions, your writing, and office hours to work through this new material. That confusion is invigorating and is the fuel that will drive your education. I've attempted to structure the course so that it will be challenging, yet accessible, to students of varying levels and abilities. I will use the + and - system when assigning grades.

• Quizzes--Periodically--15%
• Midterm Exam--Tuesday, March 7--20%
• Final Paper--Tuesday, April 18--25%
• Oral Presentation--Tuesday, April 25--15%
• Final Exam--Monday, May 1--25%

Description of Quizzes

In order to make sure everyone is doing the reading, I will give several quizzes throughout the semester. They will be unannounced, will last 10 minutes, and will take place at the beginning of class. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of concepts presented in the reading material. You need not memorize the entire article, just understand the thesis and basic concepts and terms. Your final quiz grade will be curved against the rest of the class. So, if you happen to miss one quiz, your chance of getting an "A" in the course will not be automatically ruined.

Description of Exams

My exams are rather challenging. However, I grade on a curve, and most students who study hard throughout the semester will do well on them. You'll be given short format yet open-ended questions (identifications, identify and analyze a quotation, and short essay) about the material presented in class and in the readings, and its applicability to the screenings. The material for these questions will be culled from the in-class material (including clips shown in class) and the reading material. Please write down immediately the date of the exams. If you do not take an exam, you will receive a grade of F for the course (except in cases of extreme personal emergency).

Description of Final Paper and Oral Presentation

To successfully complete the course, you will produce a 10-15 page paper and a 10 minute oral presentation that 1) employs the methodologies presented in the class and/or 2) investigates the content of some portion of the class material. You will be afforded the opportunity for feedback on your work as the semester proceeds according to the following schedule. By February 1, you should hand in a typed, paragraph-length sample thesis paragraph for your paper. Your topic may mutate or completely change as the course proceeds, but I want you to begin working through this process as early as possible. By February 29, you should hand in a typed, 5 page analysis of one film that will serve as a significant case study within your final paper. By Tuesday, March 21, you should hand in a 2 page precis for the paper. A precis is a document which tells the reader what the thesis of the argument is, what sources will be used, what methodology will be used, and what the case study analyses will be. By Tuesday, April 4, you should have met with the instructor at office hours, prepared with an outline of your oral presentation, including what clip you would like to show to illustrate your main point. A draft of your final paper is due on Tuesday, April 18. You will receive written feedback and a grade on this draft. You may accept the grade given or re-write the draft for a new grade. If you choose to re-write, the last day for handing in revisions is Monday, May 1.

Attendance Policy

If you do not come to class regularly, there is no way you will pass the course. Since so much of the learning will be going on during class, you won't be able to fully understand the material by looking at someone else's notes later on. Also, there are no course notes available for this course. As a general rule, if you miss more than one class meeting (as unexcused absences, according to university definitions), expect to receive no better than a C in the course; more than three unexcused absences without explanation will result in a grade of F.

How To Do Well In This Class

1) Come to class prepared (having done the reading, having thought about the material, being prepared with questions, etc.). 2) Take good notes on every facet of the class (lectures, discussions, readings, films). This will prove invaluable in preparing for the exams. 3) Do the reading. Many students fall behind, and then complain that they're having trouble in the class. The reading gives you a second voice to help you understand difficult ideas. If you don't understand a particular essay or don't find it useful, come to talk with me about it--the discussion we have will benefit us both. Keep up with the reading. Set aside Monday nights (before our Tuesday morning class periods) to read, take notes, and ponder the significance of the readings for the class.

Course Syllabus

Note: Readings are due on the date listed below

Key

• Film Genre Reader II = FGR2
• Imitations of Life = IofL
• Back in the Saddle Again = Saddle
• The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel = 6Gun
• Melodrama: Stage/Picture/Screen = Melo

Tuesday, January 18

Introduction to the Course ("From Dark Victory to The Hanging Tree: A Case Study of the Western as Melodrama")

• Discussion:  Theories of Film Genre
• Reading:  Edward Buscombe, "The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema" (FGR2)
•                Rick Altman, "A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre" (FGR2)
•                Thomas Schatz, "The Structural Influence" (FGR2)
•                Steve Neale, "Questions of Genre" (FGR2)

Tuesday, February 1

• Discussion:  The Politics of Film Genres
• Reading:  Judith Hess Wright, "Genre Films and the Status Quo" (FGR2)
•                Jean-Loup Bourget, "Social Implications in the Hollywood Genres" (FGR2)
•                Barbara Klinger, "Cinema/Ideology/Criticism Revisited" (FGR2)

• Discussion:  Dismantling the Idea of Genre
• Reading:  Robin Wood, "Ideology, Genre, Auteur" (FGR2)
•                Linda Williams, "Gender, Genre, Excess" (FGR2)
•                John Cawelti, "Chinatown and Generic Transformation in Recent..." (FGR2)

Part Two: The History of the American Film Western

Tuesday, February 15

• Discussion:  The Western in American Silent Cinema
• Reading:  Tag Gallagher, "Shoot-Out at the Genre Corral" (FGR2)
•                Gaylyn Studlar, "Wider Horizons" (Saddle)
•                Richard Abel, "Our Country/Whose Country?" (Saddle)
•                John Cawelti, Chapters 1 and 2 (6Gun)
• Screening:  Wild and Woolly (John Emerson, 1917, 90 min)

• Discussion:  The Classical Hollywood Western
• Reading:  Steve Neale, "Vanishing Americans" (Saddle)
•                Peter Stanfield, "Dixie Cowboys and Blue Yodels" (Saddle)
•                Jean-Louis Leutrat, "John Ford and Monument Valley" (Saddle)
•                John Cawelti, Chapters 3 and 4 (6Gun)
• Screening:  Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939, 96 min)

• Discussion:  The New Hollywood Western
• Reading:  Noel Carroll, "The Professional Western" (Saddle)
•                Jane Marie Gaines, "The Fantasy of Authenticity in Western Costume" (Saddle)
•                Rick Worland, "The New Western American Historiography" (Saddle)
•                John Cawelti, Chapter 5 (6Gun)
• Screening:  High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood, 1973, 104 min)

Tuesday, March 7

• Midterm Exam
• Screening: High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)

Tuesday, March 14

• No Class (Spring Break)

• Discussion:  The Melodrama in American Silent Cinema
• Reading:  Peter Brooks, "The Melodramatic Imagination" (IofL)
•                Nicholas Vardac, "Realism and Romance" (IofL)
•                Alan Casty, "The Films of D.W. Griffith" (IofL)
•                Tom Gunning, "The Melodrama of Sensation in the Plays of de Lorde" (Melo)
•                Richard Maltby, "The Social Evil, the Moral Order, and the..." (Melo)
• Screening:  The Little American (Cecil B. DeMille, 1917, 81 min)

• Discussion:  The Classical Hollywood Melodrama
• Reading:  Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury" (FGR2)
•                Laura Mulvey, "It will be a magnificent obsession" (Melo)
•                Barbara Klinger, "Local Genres" (Melo)
•                Linda Williams, "Something Else Besides a Mother" (IofL)
•                Christopher Orr, "Closure and Containment" (IofL)
•                David Rodowick, "Madness, Authority, and Ideology in the..." (IofL)
• Screening:  Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937, 110 min)

• Discussion:  The New Hollywood Melodrama
• Reading:  Jane Shattuc, "Having a Good Cry over The Color Purple" (Melo)
•                Chuck Kleinhans, "Realist Melodrama and the African-American Family" (Melo)
•                Naomi Greene, "Coppola, Cimino: The Operatics of History" (IofL)
•                Ellen Seiter, "Men, Sex, and Money in Recent Family Melodramas" (IofL)
•                Ien Ang, "Dallas and the Melodramatic Imagination" (IofL)
• Screening:  Love Story (Arthur Hiller, 1970, 99 min)

Part Four: Gender and Genre in the Melodrama and Western of the 1950s

Tuesday, April 11

• Discussion:  1950s Westerns and Femininity
• Screening:  Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1954)

• Discussion:  1950s Melodramas and Masculinity
• Screening:  Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956)

 

Tuesday, April 25

• Student Presentations
• Course Evaluations

Monday, May 1

• Final Exam from 2:00pm until 3:50pm in VCB 148

Click Here to Return to the Homepage of Walter Metz

This page was last updated on June 17, 2001

Questions or comments?  Please phone me at (406) 994-6403 or send an e-mail to:  metz@montana.edu

Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theatre Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman