ENG 1131, Writing Through Media:
Writing Through Adaptation

Instructor: Katherine Shaeffer
Email: penchanter@ufl.edu

Course: ENG1131
Section: 1788
Class location: CSE E211A; Weil 412
Class times: MWF 5; T E1-E3 

Office Location: Rolf 501
Office Hours: Monday period 6
Departmental Phone #: (352) 392-6650
Course Website: http://plaza.ufl.edu/penchanter/eng1131.html

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This Writing Through Media section will be built around adaptation in its various forms. We will look at the multiple incarnations of different texts across different media, and decide, as a class, what works, what doesn't, and what different forms of presentation and representation can do to a story, poem, film, comic, etc.

Assignments in this course will include a Review Essay, regular Blog Posts and online discussion, a regularly updated Serial Online Journal (to be presented on your original website), a Small Group Project, a Comics and Adaptation Project, a Grade Portfolio and a Final Project. The Small Group Project and Final Project are both fundamentally “open topic,” though you are expected to design them in consultation with the instructor. See the “Assignments” and “Assignment Descriptions” sections of this syllabus for more details.

Most of your writing assignments in this course will be on individual adaptations of older, more established works. Each time you discuss an adaptation (whether in your Blog Posts or your major Projects) you are expected to explore not only what that adaptation does (how closely or loosely it follows the plot of the original, etc.) but also how that adaptation functions. A basic “compare and contrast” essay will never be sufficient in this course. How does (or does) the adaptation change your understanding of the 'original' text? Do the changes in the text say something about the environment, culture, etc. in which the adaptation was produced?

STATEMENT OF GOALS

Through discussion (both in-class and online), group projects, writing and research, students will learn to produce and elucidate their own analytical theories on "literature" in different media. 

The student learning outcomes for this course are as detailed in the Undergraduate Catalog at http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/advisinggened.html#requirements.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Batschelet, Margaret W. XHTML/CSS Basics for Web Writers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice 	Hall, 2006.
Desmond, John and Peter Hawkes. Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature. New York: 
McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Madden, Matt. 99 Ways to Tell a Story. New York: Chamberlain Brothers, 2005.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1994.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. New York: Grove Press, 1967.

(The above books can be purchased at the University bookstore.)

Queneau, Raymond. Exercises in Style. Trans. Barbara Wright. New York: New Directions, 	1981.  
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, any edition (as long as it has Act, scene and line numbers). Full-text available online at: http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/

This Course and University Requirements
This course can satisfy the UF General Education requirement for Composition or Humanities. For more information, see:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/advisinggened.html

This course can satisfy the UF requirement for Writing. For more information, see: 
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/advisinggordon.html

While this course satisfies the 6,000 words writing requirement, students will be writing significantly more than 6,000 words.

Disability Services
The Disability Resource Center in the Dean of Students Office provides students and faculty with information and support regarding accommodations for students with disabilities in the classroom. For more information, see:
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/

Harassment
UF provides an educational and working environment for its students, faculty, and staff that is free from sex discrimination and sexual harassment. For more about UF policies regarding harassment, see:
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/studentguide/studentconductcode.php#s4041

Academic Honesty
All students are required to abide by the Student Honor Code. For more information about academic honesty, including definitions of plagiarism and unauthorized collaboration, see: 
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/honorcodes/honorcode.php

Grade Point Equivalencies
UF has recently instituted minus grades. As a result, letter grades now have different grade point equivalencies. For more information, see:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html

ASSIGNMENTS

0%: Review Essay
10%: Participation
15%: Blog Posts / Online Discussion
15%: Website / Serial Journal
15%: Small Group Project
20%: Comics and Adaptation Essay
20%: Final Project
5%: Grade Portfolio

Total: 100%

SCHEDULE

Please note: The syllabus may be subject to change throughout the course at the instructor's discretion.

Week 1: Intro, Web Design (Wed Jan 6 – Fri Jan 8)

Wednesday
Syllabus Overview & Introduction to the Course
Blog Post #1: Personal Blog Post
Reading Assignment: "The Core Rules of Netiquette"
Reading Assignment: from Adaptation textbook: Introduction, Chapters 1-2
 
Friday
Discussion
Essay #1 Assigned: The Review
Blog Post #2: Web Design
(You will post your Review to your wiki page.)
Reading Assignment TBA: Review Examples

Week 2: The Review (Jan 11 - Jan 15)

Monday
Review topic due.
"The Editing Room" read-along (www.the-editing-room.com/ )
Reading Assignment: from Adaptation textbook: Chapters 3-4

Tuesday: Adaptation 

Wednesday
Review rough draft due
In-class Workshop

Friday
Discussion
Review Blog Post due
(hard copy due in class)
Reading Assignment: Orpheus and Eyrydice poems (“Online Readings”) 

Week 3: Poetry (Jan 18 - Jan 22)

Monday 
MLK HOLIDAY
NO CLASS

Tuesday: Video TBA 

Wednesday
Lecture & Discussion
Review Blog comments due

Friday
Discussion

Week 4: Folk & Fairy Tales (Jan 25 – Jan 29)

Monday
Reading Assignment: “Beauty and the Beast” variants

Tuesday: La belle et la bête (1946). Dir. Jean Cocteau

Wednesday
Discussion
Small Group Research / Creative Project assigned

Friday
Reading Assignment: Fables or another TBA

Week 5: Folk & Fairy Tales Continued (Feb 1 – Feb 5)

Monday
Small Group Project proposals due
In-class viewing: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Hush"

Tuesday: Into the Woods

Wednesday
Discussion
Blog Post responses due

Friday
Group Work

Week 6: Workshops and Conferences (Feb 8 - Feb 12) 

Monday
Group Work and Conferences

Wednesday
Group Work and Conferences

Friday
Group Work and Conferences

Week 7: Intro to HTML (Feb 15 – Feb 19)

Monday
Small Group Project due
In-class HTML Intro: web page basics
HTML Reading Assignment (from textbook)

Wednesday
HTML Reading Assignment (from textbook)

Friday
Intro to CSS
CSS Reading Assignment (from textbook)

Week 8: Film-to-Animation Adaptation (Feb 22 – Feb 26)

Monday
Page Building Review
Reading Assignment: from Adaptation textbook: Chapter 9

Tuesday: Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai

Wednesday
In-class viewing: Samurai 7
Individual Websites due (submit through email)

Friday
Serial Online Journal assigned

Week 9: Film-to-Film Adaptation; Intro to Comics and Adaptation (Mar 1 – Mar 5)

Monday: In-class exercise: the story “core”

Tuesday: The Magnificent Seven

Wednesday
Discussion of Seven Samurai & its ‘descendants’
Blog post reactions (to films and/or animation) due

Friday
Blog post comments (on others' posts) due
Reading Assignment: Spider-Man comics, Understanding Comics
Serial Journal Post #1 Due

SPRING BREAK (Mar 8 – Mar 12)

Week 10: Comics & Webcomics (Mar 15 – Mar 19)

Monday
Comics & Adaptation Essay assigned
Reading Assignment: Exercises in Style, Understanding Comics

Introduction to Webcomics
Webcomic Blog Post assigned

Tuesday: Spider-Man 2

Wednesday
Intro to Comics and Adaptation Asssignment

Friday
Discussion of video, Spider-Man comics, 99 Ways to Tell a Story
Introduction to Webcomics
In-class exercise: the 100th Way

Week 11: Comics Continued (Mar 22 – Mar 26)

Monday
Serial Journal Post #2 due [deadline extended from Friday]
Webcomic Selection due [deadline extended from Friday]
Comics & Adaptation topic due [no deadline change]
Discussion of Exercises in Style 

Wednesday
Finish Understanding Comics

Friday
Conferences
Webcomic Blog Posts due
Reading Assignment: Hamlet

Week 12: Shakespeare in Adaptation (Mar 29 – Apr 2)

Monday
Final Project Assigned

Tuesday: Hamlet 2000

Wednesday
Discussion

Friday
Lecture & Discussion
Comics & Adaptation Project due
Final Project topic due
Presentation Sign-Up

Week 13: Shakespeare in Adaptation (Apr 5 – Apr 9)

Monday
Reading Assignment: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Tuesday: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead or Hamlet adaptation TBA

Wednesday
Discussion

Friday
Discussion
Serial Journal Post #3 Due

Week 14: In-class Presentations (Apr 12 – Apr 16)

Monday
Presentations

Wednesday
Presentations
Grade Portfolio due

Friday
Presentations
Serial Journal Post #4 Due

Week 15: Course Wrap Up (Apr 19 – Apr 21)
Monday
Presentations
Final Project Due

Wednesday
LAST DAY OF CLASS

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS

0%: Review Essay (points possible: 0, length: 3 pages)
Your first major writing assignment in this course will be a "Review Essay." Taking the reviews that we look at in class as examples, write your own review and post it to your PB Works page. You may critique anything you choose (a movie, book, newspaper, restaurant, apartment complex, etc.) as long as it meets with approval by the instructor. While the essay itself will be used primarily as a diagnostic tool to help me familiarize myself with your writing styles and abilities, the essay is mandatory and not completing the essay will negatively affect your participation score.

10%: Participation (points possible: 10)
10 % of your score will be based on in-class and online participation. You are expected to complete all assignments and to come to class prepared, having read or viewed all of the required materials for that day. You should consistently bring paper, pen or pencil and an accessible copy of any reading assignments due that day into class with you. "Accessible" in this instance means a hard copy OR a copy that you can look at on either your own computer or one of the classroom computers. Your participation score can easily make a full letter grade's difference in this course.

15%: Blog Posts / Online Discussion (points possible: 15, length: from 5-8 pages )
Part 1: Introduction Post
Sign up for your PB Works account using the instructions provided. As your first "blog" post, introduce yourself to the class.

Part 2: Web Design Post
STEP 1
Find three websites that you like. Link to these sites from your "blog" or "wiki" page, along with brief descriptions (3-5 sentences) explaining what you like about their website designs. These websites can be on any subject you choose, provided that they remain school-appropriate (i.e. no pornographic and/or virus-riddled sites). The focus of your analysis should be on the page of the site that you link to directly (which does not need to be the home page), but you are welcome to also discuss the site design as a whole, should you choose a site with multiple pages.

SOME HINTS:
    * Think about color, text size, font and page layout.
    * Think about the use and placement of images.
    * Does the web page have a noticeable border? Is the border distracting or does it help guide 	the eye?
    * What are the most noticeable features of the page?
    * Click on a few links. How long does it take you to find the information that you want?

STEP 2
Browse through some of the links your classmates have posted. On a minimum of four of our class "blogs," post ratings for the websites your colleagues have chosen. Use a scale of 1 to 5 "stars" (5 being exquisitely well-designed and 1 being an assault upon your optic nerves). Include a brief description (1-2 sentences) with each rating, explaining why each site received the score that it did. As you comment on your fellow students' posts, remember that our goal here is to make sure that everyone in the class receives feedback on their selections, so try to comment on the "blogs" that have the fewest comments first.

STEP 3
Once you have received at least two "comments" on your blog post, examine your website selections once again. Did your classmates' comments offer you any new insights? Come to class on Friday prepared to discuss your choices from the standpoint of website design. 

Part 3: Webcomic Blogging Posts
For this assignment, you will blog about three webcomics. I will give you a short list of links as jumping-off points, but only 1 of the 3 webcomics you discuss in your blog post can be from my list; you must "discover" the others on your own.

Treat this assignment like the Website Design Blog Post assignment. After you have posted, comment on the posts of your classmates.
 
15%: Website / Serial Journal (8-12 pages)
Part 1: Website
Create your personal web space. We will be going over website creation in class.

Part 2: Journal
Choose something that has a serial format. (a TV series, long-running comic, series of books, etc.). As you read through (or watch through) this series, keep a running journal of your reactions to it. Post this journal to your website. The journal, when complete, will consist of at least 4 entries, each 2-3 pages long. While some informality is acceptable, you should think of each journal entry as a short essay, with a beginning, middle and end.

15%: Small Group Project (points possible: 15)
Part 1: Individual Proposal (length: 2 pages)
Each group member must submit a project proposal that outlines both the project itself and his or her personal responsibilities within the project. This proposal must be written individually.

Part 2: Project (length: varies)
In small groups, students will select, propose, design and complete projects related to the Folk and Fairy Tales unit of the course. These projects can be creative or analytical in nature, but must be met with instructor approval. 

20%: Comics and Adaptation Essay (points: 20, length: 8-10 pages)
Find an "adaptation" in comic form. This adaptation can be of a story, fairy tale, historical event, movie, TV show, poem, ballad, video game, etc. Now find the "original" upon which the comic is based. Give an analysis of the comic with an eye towards how it functions as an adaptation. Keep our in-class discussions of comics and visual rhetoric in mind. While you are encouraged to look at the similarities a nd differences between the adaptation and the original, your essay needs to be an analysis of the new form, and therefore must transcend the limitations of the compare/contrast essay. 

OR

Find a film based on a comic and do the same thing. Find the comic (or comics) on which the movie is based and write an analysis of the film with a focus on how that film functions as an adaptation of the comic (or comics). Keep the "forms" of both the film and the original comic in mind as you write.

20%: Final Project (length: 6-10 pages)
In consultation with the instructor, you will design a final project that relates to the course material. At least 50% of this project must be theory and/or analysis, but it may include a creative component.

5%: Grade Portfolio (points possible: 5)
In this course, you will be graded on your ability to keep track of your own grades throughout the course. Your "grade portfolio" must be well-organized and well-designed. It must have clearly labeled spaces for all major grades, including "participation" and "blog posts" (use the Assignments list on this syllabus as a guide). You are required to use this grade portfolio to keep a running tally of your score in this class; however, I will not be grading the grade portfolio until you turn in the final version at the end of class. 

GRADING CRITERIA

This class is based on a 100 point system, so a large portion of your grade will be determined by percentage. However, there are other requirements that must be met in order to receive a good score in this course. Assignments are graded for completeness, correctness and overall quality.

To get an "A" in this course, you must:
Complete all course assignments in a timely manner.
Submit assignments with few to no grammatical and spelling errors.
Consistently participate in online and in-class discussions.
Be courteous to the other participants in the class.
Produce high-quality work throughout the course.
Have no more than 3 unexcused absences for the term.

"A-" work will meet most, but not all, of the requirements for getting an "A."

To get a "B" in this course, you must:
Complete all course assignments in a timely manner.
Submit assignments with few grammatical and spelling errors.
Participate in most online and in-class discussions.
Be courteous to the other participants in the class.
Produce satisfactory work throughout the course.
Have no more than 4 unexcused absences for the term.

"B-" work will meet most, but not all, of the requirements for getting a "B."

To get a "C" in this course, you must:
Complete most course assignments in a timely manner.
Participate in some online and in-class discussions.
Be courteous to the other participants in the class.
Produce satisfactory work throughout the course.
Have no more than 5 unexcused absences for the term.

"C-" work will meet most, but not all, of the requirements for getting a "C."

To get a "D" in this course, you must:
Follow the UF Student Honor Code (i.e. not plagiarize)
Have no more than 6 unexcused absences for the term.
Participate in some online and in-class discussions.
Be civil to the other participants in the class.
Earn enough "points" in your coursework to avoid an "E" score.

A	92-100	
A-	90-91	
B+	88-89	
B	82-87	
B-	80-81	
C+	78-79	
C	72-77	
C-	70-71	
D+	68-69	
D	62-67	
D-	60-61	
E	59 or less	

ABSENCES AND TARDIES
Absences
Absences on account of school-sponsored events (performances and athletic events) will be considered "excused absences" for those students involved in the event (theater members, band members, athletes, etc.). However, work must be made up for any absence, excused or unexcused. If you know that you are going to be absent on a particular day, you must notify me ahead of time and in writing. Absences on account of medical conditions and family emergencies will also be considered "excused."

You get three "free" unexcused absences. After your third unexcused absence, your final grade will go down one full letter grade for each unexcused absence you accrue.

Tardies
You will be considered officially "tardy" whenever you are 15 or more minutes late to class. Three tardies will be considered equivalent to one unexcused absence. Being consistently late to class (by any amount of time) will negatively affect your final grade.

FINAL GRADE APPEALS
In 1000- level courses, students may appeal a final grade by filling out a form available from Carla Blount, Program Assistant.