FACULTY RESOURCES - ENGLISH:
Course Outline - ENG 272
| COURSE TITLE: | Film Genre: Comedy | COURSE HOURS PER WEEK: | |
| COURSE NUMBER: | ENG 272 | Lecture: | |
| COURSE CREDITS: | 4 | Lec/Lab: | |
| COURSE PREREQUISITES: | WR 121 or its equivalent | Lab: |
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will focus on film comedy, a loosely defined genre that spans the silent era to the present. Starting with silent films, the course will focus on film comedy across the decades, and may include the following sub-genres: slapstick, screwball comedy, farce, romantic comedy, black comedy, parody/satire, and/or gross-out comedy. Students will be introduced to various theories of the genre as well as historical, political, and social issues including gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, and nationality, as they ate to representative texts. Weekly screenings are required and clips of films are used for close analysis of aural and visual elements.
GENERAL COURSE OUTCOMES:
| Upon completion of this course, the successful student will be able to: | These outcomes will be verified by the following assessments: |
| A. Understand and apply one or more of the various theories of genre we study during the term | Quizzes, exams, analytical essays, film segments and/or shot lists, group work, in-class discussions, archival research, and presentations. |
| B. Explain the larger social-historical and generic context from which the chosen films emerge and which helps to shape them | Same as above |
| C. Explain the ideological implications of comedy films in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, nation, and class | Same as above |
| D. Use a framework and formal vocabulary for thinking and talking about films | Same as above |
| E. Recognize and be able to describe narrative and stylistic conventions of various comedic subgenres | Same as above |
| F. Identify and evaluate significant examples of film comedy | Same as above |
| G. Write meaningfully about the formal and ideological issues of the films studied during the quarter | Academic essay(s) and/or exams |
Course outline by major topic: (See course calendars for other examples)
- An Introduction to social, political, and psychological theories of humor/comedy
- Representative Subgenres: Slapstick & Silent Comedy: Buster Keaton & Harold Lloyd Screwball Comedy
- Romantic Comedy
- Parody
- "Black" Comedy
- Gross-out Comedy
- Action Comedy
- Farce