Syllabi | Writing About Screen Media

TEACHING WITH WRITING ABOUT SCREEN MEDIA

Chapter 1, "Introduction," presents a series of fifteen units that readers may use to navigate the book: writing style, research, history, access, form and design, digital media, paratexts, authorship, industries, ethnography, audiences, exhibition, representation, national and transnational media, and comparative case studies. Instructors may opt to use these units as syllabus modules.

In Chapter 1, you will find an overview of each unit, listing the chapters that might comprise the unit's reading list. For example, the passage below describes the proposed "Writing style" unit and cites the following chapters:

34. Confessions of an academic blogger

Henry Jenkins

37. Review, edit, repeat: Writing and editing book reviews

Alice Leppert

39. The sharp, short, sweet art of blurb writing

Leah Shafer

40. Bridging the gaps between scholarly essays and mass-market film writing

Nick Davis

41. Writing across the page without a line

Holly Willis

Writing style

In her book Stylish Academic Writing, Helen Sword argues that “stylish academic writers achieve abstract ends such as engagement, pleasure, and elegance not through mystical displays of brilliance and eloquence [. . .] but by deploying some very concrete, specific, and transferable techniques” (8). Sword urges writers to follow the lead of stylish writers by using “first-person anecdotes,” “numerous examples,” and “visual illustrations,” among other techniques (8). Each chapter in Part II models stylish writing, but several chapters directly discuss writing style. Henry Jenkins focuses on the best writing style to adopt for blogs, and Leah Shafer presents the 4 Cs of writing an engaging blurb. Nick Davis reflects on the differences between writing for scholarly and popular publications. Jenkins, Shafer, and Davis consider the issue of writing style in relation to length as does Alice Leppert in her discussion of the challenges of writing book reviews. Finally, Holly Willis explores “creative critical writing” and the importance of focusing on questions of form and style in our writing across formats and platforms rather than focusing only on the critical arguments we present.

Most of the chapters in Writing About Screen Media pair well with multiple units, so instructors may choose to reassign chapters over the course of the semester or to select one or a few chapters to assign for each unit rather than the entire set.

COURSE ACTIVITIES

The chapters in Part I of Writing About Screen Media include "In Practice" exercises that instructors may pair not only with their respective chapters but also with chapters in Part II. The chapters in Part II also include within each chapter suggestions for applying the ideas and strategies the writers introduce.

SAMPLE SYLLABUS: WRITING ABOUT MEDIA

Professor Monika Mehta (Department of English, University of Binghamton, State University of New York) teaches a course called "Writing About Media." One of the contributors to Writing About Screen Media, she has generously published an abbreviated version of her syllabus for the course here. Please note that the syllabus cites the first edition of Writing About Screen Media. All of the chapters from the first edition also appear in the second edition.

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WRITING ABOUT MEDIA

Professor: Monika Mehta, Binghamton University, State University of New York

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to critical frameworks and formats for writing about media. Students learn how to attend to and analyze formal and structural features (e.g., photography, editing, sound) of diverse media forms such as film, television, trailers, music videos, to name a few. In addition to learning about formal and structural features of media forms, the course familiarizes students with analytical lenses such as transnational, race, or gender for examining media objects. The course gives students an opportunity to experiment with and explore a variety of writing formats.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Develop familiarity with theoretical frameworks for studying media.

2. Analyze clips attending to formal features such as editing, camera-work, sound, lighting, and props.

3. Learn how to write in different formats such as blurbs, scholarly essays etc.

4. Learn how to analyze various media objects such as film, music videos, websites etc.

This course satisfies the following General Education requirements which are reflected in the student learning outcomes:

H - Humanities

T - Critical Thinking

C – Composition

CONTACT HOURS

This course is a 4-credit course, which means that in addition to the scheduled lectures/discussions, students are expected to do at least 9.5 hours of course-related work each week during the semester. This includes completing assigned readings, viewing media texts, preparing assignments, doing library and online research, and other tasks that must be completed to earn credit in this course

PREREQUISITES

None

ASSIGNMENTS

Short Assignments

We will be doing short writing assignments in this course. Regular prompts for these assignments will be given during the semester.

Long Assignments

You will do three long assignments for this course. Information about these assignments will be provided later in the course.

Media Viewing

You are expected to view all media texts. These texts can be accessed online on platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Eros Entertainment etc. Please take notes while you are viewing media texts. Note-taking will help you in analyzing media texts and help you in contributing to class discussion. You will be expected to answer short class queries; to participate in class discussions; and to complete sequence analyses related to these texts. This viewing impacts both your assignment and participation grades.

Participation

Your participation is vital for the class and will impact your grade. I strongly encourage you to attend class on time and actively listen to the lectures, your peers and contribute to class discussion as well as collaborative work.

COURSE MATERIALS

Books

Michael Kackman and Mary Celeste Kearney, eds., The Craft of Criticism, (New York & London: Routledge, 2018).

Lisa Patti, Writing About Screen Media, ed., (New York & London: Routledge, 2019).

Media Texts

Available on online platforms.

Supplies

Please bring a 3-ring spiral notebook or loose-leaf paper as well as pen or pencil to class. You will use these to take notes and to do class assignments. I will collect in-class assignments.

COURSE SCHEDLE

(Note: All readings and film viewings should be completed before the scheduled class session. Please bring the readings to the class session)

I. WRITING & STYLE

Day 1

Introduction to class

Day 2

Holly Willis, “Writing Across the Page Without a Line,” in Writing About Screen Media (WASM)

Lisa Patti, “The big picture: Strategies for writing about screen media” in WASM

VIEW: Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om (2007) Trailer

Day 3

Nick Davis, “Bridging the gaps between scholarly essays and mass-market film writing,” in WASM

READ/VIEW: Reviews of Om Shanti Om

Day 4

Leah Shafer, “The short, sweet art of blurb writing” in WASM

READ: Blurbs on Om Shanti Om

II. FORMAL ANALYSIS

Day 1

Philip Lutgendorf, Om Shanti Om, https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/om-shanti-om

Suzanne Leonard and Diane Negra, “Stardom and Celebrity” in TCOC

VIEW: Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om (2007). Available on Netflix and other online venues.

Day 2

Jeremy G. Butler, “Visual Style” in TCOC

Jason Mittell, “Narrative” in The Craft of Criticism (TCOC)

In-Class Sequence Analysis workshop

Day 3

Lisa Patti, “From screen aesthetics to site design: Analyzing form across screen media” in WASM

Lisa Patti, “Entering the conversation: How and where to develop a critical argument” in WASM

Day 4

Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, “How sound helps tell a story: Sound, music, and narrative in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara” in WASM

VIEW: Song Sequences, Romantic Hindi Songs Playlist, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn6VafZBRrc&list=PLKSISaHkwMdNejxDQHS0Lrt8J-BdEh9qr

Day 5

Carol Vernallis, “Writing about music video: Tracing the ephemeral” in WASM

S. Hejin Lee, “Writing across divides: Locating power in K-pop music videos” in WASM

VIEW: Music Videos, K-pop Playlist, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMp-09BHa0&list=PLKSISaHkwMdO1BLmNcb31mfpeilIN21oK

III. TRANS/NATIONAL MEDIA & REPRESENTATION

Day 1

Mandatory Writing Workshop. Rough Draft of Sequence Analysis Due.

Day 2

Shanti Kumar, “National/Transnational/Global” in TCOC

Gavin Mueller, “This is Everywhere, ”https://popula.com/2018/07/29/this-is-everywhere/

VIEW: Childish Gambino, This Is America Music Video and Its Remakes Playlist, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKSISaHkwMdN2h5EiCCsqjxIZTYCvodzE

Day 3

Final Draft of Sequence Analysis Due

Day 4

Olivia Khoo, “Writing About Transnational Cinema” in WASM

VIEW: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

(Available on Kanopy via Binghamton Library Website)

Day 5

Mary Beltran, “Representation” in TCOC

Fan Yang, “Writing about transnational media: From representation to materiality” in WASM

Day 6

Jeffrey Middents, “The research and the remix: Video essays as creative criticism in WASM

Tijana Mamula, “The need for translation: Difference, footnotes, hyperlinks” in WASM

VIEW: video essays on Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

IV. EXHIBITION & ETHNOGRAPHY

Day 1

Kristin Stevens, “Writing about film festivals as events” in WASM

Ramon Lobato, “Writing about streaming portals: The drama of distribution” in WASM

Day 2

Mandatory Writing Workshop. Draft of Music Video Essay Due.

Day 3

Jessa Lingel and Mary L. Gray, “Ethnography” in TCOC

Matt Hill, “Audiences” in TCOC

Day 4

Final Draft of Music Video Essay Due

Day 5

Jasmine Nadua Trice, “Writing outside the text: A cultural approach to exhibition and moviegoing” in WASM

Tejaswini Ganti, “The value of surprise: Ethnography of media industries” in WASM

Day 6

Video Essay Workshop

Day 7

Alice Kozma, “Listen up!: Interviewing as method” in WASM

Lauren Berliner, “When it all clicks: Writing about participatory media” in WASM

Julie Wilson and Emily Chivers Yochim, “Feeling out social media” in WASM

V. Authorship and Paratexts

Day 1

Cynthia Chris, “Authorship and Auteurism” in TCOC

Jonathan Gray, “Intertexts and Paratexts” in TCOC

Day 2

Monika Mehta, “Analyzing and writing about credit sequences” in WASM

VIEW: Pariah (2011) directed by Dee Rees

Day 3

Draft of Video Essay Due

Day 4

Lauren McLeod Cramer, “A Very Black Project”: A method for digital visual culture” in WASM

Jasmine Mitchell, “Expressing race in Brazilian telenovelas” in WASM

VIEW: Instagram Reels (TBA); When They See Us (2019), directed by Ava DuVernay (Episodes 1 and 2)

VI: Media Industries

Day 1

Bill Kirkpatrick, “Media Policy” in TCOC

Bronwyn Coate and Deb Verhoeven, “Show me the data!: Uncovering the evidence in screen media industry research” in WASM

Day 2

Timothy Havens, “Production” in TCOC

Derek Johnson, “Researching and writing across media industries” in WASM

VIEW: Nollywood: Film Business African Style (2020), directed by Johannes Preuss