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Spring 2007
English 98/198
2 Unit(s)

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About the Course:

• The class meets in 180 Tan Thur. 5-7pm

LATEST UDPATE:

You still can sign up for the course. Please email baobui@berkeley.edu for the CCN.

COURSE SCHEDULE:

Week 3 – February 1 Chapters 9-14 M. Casey Diana’s “Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility as Gateway” Basics of film terminology (selected readings) Film screening: Sense and Sensibility (2nd half)

Week 4 – February 8 Emma, volume 1 “Slang from Clueless” Lecture: The Medieval Roots of Modern Romance Film screening: Clueless – 1st half

Week 5 – February 15 volume 2, chapters 1-8 American Film Institute’s interview with Amy Heckerling Film screening: Clueless – 2nd half

Week 6 – February 22 volume 2, chapters 9-18 Readings on social/political history of Regency England (TBD) Film screening: Emma – 1st half

Week 7 – March 1 volume 3 Deborah Kaplan’s “Mass Marketing Jane Austen” Film screening: Emma – 2nd half

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course has two objectives: 1) to instill a literary and critical appreciation for the novels of Jane Austen, and 2) to explore the literary and cinematic implications of translating Austen’s prose into film.

We will examine how prose fiction and cinema differ; how mass commercial audiences require changes to script and character; and how continually remade films evoke memories of earlier productions. Students will be acquainted with aspects of English literature, British social and political history, women’s and gender studies, and film theory and terminology.

This course is meant for the sentimentalists who are drawn to Jane Austen out of impulses emanating from both the head and the heart. If you did not cry during “E.T.” or when Tom Hanks got killed in “Saving Private Ryan,” you are in the wrong class.

Students will be required to read four of the Jane Austen novels, screen their film adaptations, read the critical literature, acquire a basic vocabulary of film terminology and usage, attend class regularly, actively participate in discussions, and write a 3-page paper analyzing a scene from the screen adaptation of their choice.

You will need to get a copy of these books:
Emma
Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion
Sense and Sensibility

Required film screenings:
Emma (1996)
Clueless (1995)
Pride & Prejudice (1940)
Pride & Prejudice (1996)
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Persuasion (1995)
Sense & Sensibility (1996)