FYS 120 Syllabus: Image and Interactive Culture
Dave Jones
Office: Writing Center
Phone: ext.
Email: dj41@evansville.edu
Course Description
The course will examine how histories and fictional narratives are told and retold in texts that are graphic and/or interactive. Narratives exist in what Henry Jenkins has repeatedly defined as media convergence and within participatory cultures. We now routinely expect to encounter texts through multiple outlets, and through multiple modes of representation. The same stories are sometimes told nearly simultaneously in different modes, and different parts of stories often unfold in different narrative environments. Negotiating the various components of these narrative devices will help us develop a better understanding of an often confusing culture.
To that end, recognizing the conventions of representation in hypertexts, videogames, and graphic media (graphic novels, film, animation, etc.) is of paramount importance to developing a competent literacy in the Twenty-First Century. We will look at both fictional and historical events as they are represented in these texts, as well as examine how they represent issues of race, gender, economics, and politics. Integral to our endeavors will be examining ways in which audiences consume these texts, and what exactly “interaction” really means.
First-Year Seminar Goals
The essential learning objectives of First-year Seminars include critical reading, critical thinking, and written and oral communication. First-Year Seminar sections are different in content from each other, but each section meets these goals by encountering challenging texts and using this material as the basis for writing assignments and class discussion. Since this is a second-semester seminar, we will build on your experiences from the fall semester, and the expectations for reading, writing, and in-class discussions will be somewhat higher than those in your seminar last semester.
You must keep up with the reading. Our texts will challenge your comprehension and analytical skills, but hopefully much of it will be interesting as you experience (sometimes familiar) texts in new ways. I want you to learn critical perspectives for media with which you are probably familiar.
The writing goals of World Cultures and First-year Seminars include at least twenty pages of formal written work, at least half of which is revised. In addition to shorter writing assignments, you will complete a research paper that involves critical analysis of material from the class reading list as well as several outside sources. The research paper will include the opportunity for formal draft and revision. The shorter papers may not include a formal revision process, but you are encouraged to discuss drafts with me before the final version is handed in. Detailed information on writing assignments will be presented in class, and we will spend several class sessions working on writing skills.
Required Texts
Texts you need to purchase:
- Watchmen, Alan Moore et. al.
- The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller et. al.
- Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
- Generation Kill, Evan Wright
- Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins
- Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook
Texts I will provide in class:
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Medal of Honor: Airborne
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Band of Brothers, “Day of Days”
- Generation Kill, TBA
- Persepolis, Film Adaptation
Other handouts will be given in class, as well as links to online materials.
Assignments and Grades
- Two Research Papers (6-7 pages) 2 @ 100 Points
- Four Response Papers (2-3 Pages) 4 @ 50 Points
- Small Group Presentation 100 Points
- In-Class Writing/Homework/Quizzes 200 Points total
- Mid-Term Exam 150 Points
- Final Exam 150 Points
1000 Points Total
Handouts with detailed descriptions and expectations will be provided for writing and presentation assignments.
Papers
Each paper will receive a handout and a rubric describing the assignment and expectations. All papers will need to conform to MLA format and documentation standards, including citing both primary and secondary sources. Research Papers will demand library based research relevant to the texts in our class. Response Papers are shorter and do not demand secondary research, but will demand much sharper focus on a primary text. In any paper, your task will be to study one of our texts, analyze it, and argue a thesis describing a way to best understand that text.
Small Group Presentation
The Presentation will take a topic of interest from our readings and develop a ten minute multi-modal presentation (that incorporates different kinds of visuals, audio, and text). You should present information you believe we need to know or better understand, focusing on examples of difficult concepts or themes.
In-Class Writing/Homework/Quizzes
These will include short responses to in-class writing prompts, homework assignments to find and read library materials or supplemental materials, and potential short quizzes over reading, viewing, playing, or terminology.
Exams
The Mid-Term and Final Exams will cover material from the respective portion of the semester.
Attendance/Preparation/Participation
Come to class. Read the assigned material. And contribute to our construction of knowledge. It’s that simple. I will occasionally use pop quizzes to ensure your reading. And speak up! We’re not a math class. Thus, I’m not always looking for you to give me the “right” answer. We are constructing knowledge of these texts-we are developing as a community some way to understand their stories and meanings.
You have two absences at your disposal. Any more than that will drop a letter from your final grade. Any more than four absences and we will need to conference concerning your absenteeism.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
“I understand that any work which I submit for course credit will imply that I have adhered to this Academic Honor Code: I will neither give nor receive unauthorized aid nor will I tolerate an environment which condones the use of unauthorized aid.”
Above is the Honor Code. Violating it by plagiarizing any portion of a writing assignment, or by receiving unauthorized aid, will be met with severe penalties. You will at least fail the assignment and the instance will be documented with the Academic Dean.
Plagiarism is defined as follows: [a] Please note that the unattributed use of another person’s work – including another student – constitutes plagiarism, which is cheating. If you are using another person’s words, they must be placed in quotation marks. If you are paraphrasing another person’s ideas, your source must be cited. Whether deliberate or not (due, perhaps, to inadequate note-taking), plagiarism is an extremely serious violation of the Honor Code. It is also a violation for any student to act as an accessory to the plagiarism. [b] Cutting and pasting material off the Internet without acknowledgement constitutes plagiarism. It is of course no less serious to steal ideas and words from this source than from any other, and such a violation of the Honor Code will be treated accordingly. [c] The use of a paper provided by an Internet term-paper site constitutes plagiarism.
Unauthorized Aid is defined as follows: The above applies to unauthorized aid also. In this class it would include but not be limited to the following: allowing another student to copy your work, the unauthorized use of a previous semester’s papers, the use of work done for another class without the written permission of both instructors, the use of textbooks in examinations without permission, and the use of notes in examinations without permission. If there is any doubt in your mind, ask. Ignorance will not be accepted as an excuse.
Tentative Schedule. Subject to change, pending notification of the class.
Week 1: Basic Terminology: Convergence, Participation, Interactivity, Realism, Analysis
- Read Convergence Culture
- Read articles in handouts
- Establishing a (very fuzzy) understanding of Postmodernism
Week 2: Traditional Books and Their Friends
- Read Harry Potter…
- Clips from the Film Adaptation
- Writing about primary sources: HH
Week 3: More Books
- Writing about primary texts, continued.
- Short Response 1 Due
- Read Generation Kill
- Clip from the TV series
- The Internet and Participation. Online responses to the War in Iraq and Generation Kill
Week 4: Going Interactive: Warfare, History, and Telling the Story
- Comparing Generation Kill to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Playing vs. Viewing vs. Reading: What it means to be an Audience
- What is an “Interface”?
- Read article(s) in handout
Week 5: Going Interactive, cont’d
- Researching for Secondary Material: HH
- View Band of Brothers
- Read article(s) in handout
- A little history of D-Day
- Short Response 2 Due
Week 6: Couch Potatoes Save the World
- Comparison to a level from Medal of Honor: Airborne
- Introduction of First Research Paper
- Research and the necessity of Secondary Sources
- Time in the library
Week 7: Meaning in a Popular Game: Grand Theft Auto IV as a Casestudy
- Read article(s) from handout
- Satire and its purpose.
- Samples of GTA IV
Week 8: The Internet and Gaming: How Gamers Help/pwn Each Other
- First Research Paper Draft Due
- Wikis and Collective Intelligence
- Sharing your abilities
- Discussing the Mid-Term
- A discussion of Ethos: HH
- Mid-Term Exam
Week 9: Spring Break
Week 10: Graphic Novels: Pictures Take the Place of Thousands of Words
- Read The Dark Knight Returns
- Clip from The Dark Knight
- Various versions of Batman and the changes in the character
- Understanding the elements of graphic storytelling. What is a superhero?
- Writing analysis: HH
- First Research Paper Due
Week 11: The Internet and Comics
- More Participatory Culture
- Heroes and the “Web-Comic”
- Female characters and problems of gender construction
- Short Response 3 Due
Week 12: POW! How a J Changed Superheroes (and our beliefs about real heroes)
- Read Watchmen
- Read article in handout
- What is “deconstruction”?
- Introduction of Second Research Paper
Week 13: Comics Really Can be Serious
- Read Persepolis
- View clip from film adaptation
- Comparing a “real” character to superheroes. What is being represented here?
- Short Response 4 Due
Week 14:
- Workshop/Draft of Second Research Paper
Week 15:
- Small Group Presentations
Week 16:
· Final Exams
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