- - - Film & Literature - - -
Short Works
COM 372

Fall 2009

 Hugh McCarney
B 018
837-8254
Email: mccarneyh@wcsu.edu

Texts:

Cahir, L. (2006). Literature into film: Theory and practical approaches. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland& Company.

Harrison, S. (2005). Adaptations: From short story to big screen: 35 great stories that have inspired great films. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Sample papers

Useful Links:

Films based on literature (Google "Literature to Film")
  • Based on the Book http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies/movie.cfm
  • OCLC 2005 Books into Film http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/film.htm
  • Teenreads.com Books into Movies http://www.teenreads.com/features/books2movies.asp

    • Literature on line:
  • Classic Bookshelf http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/
  • american literature.com http://www.americanliterature.com/ARCHIVES/ARCHIVES.HTML
  • Online Books Page, UPenn http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
  • Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org
  • Irish Literature Texts http://www.ireland-information.com/irishliterature.htm#free
  • The eText Archive http://www.etext.org/index.shtml
  • Read Print http://www.readprint.com/

    • APA Style (Documentation) APA Form (Paper layout and conventions) Library Card Catalog WestConduit OpenCLose Google

    SCHEDULE

    Date
    		 Read Text version View Film

    		 Work Due
    9/1-3
    		 "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
    Text from ReadPrint.com    		 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
    PN1995.75 .A73 1906
    9/8-10
    		 Cahir, Chapter I, "The Nature of Film Translation:
    Literal, Traditional, and Radical"
    "Jerry and Molly and Sam"
    Text, p. 15
    		Short Cuts
    Not in Library
    9/15-17
    		 Cahir, Chapter II, "The Language of Film and
    its Relation to the Language of Literature"
    Rear Window
    Text, p. 67
    		 Rear Window
    PN1997 .R31 1998
    		 Paper 1 on 9/17
    9/22-24
    		 Cahir, Chapter VI, "Short Stories into Film"
    "Stage to Lordsburg"
    Text, p. 218    		 Stagecoach
    PS3515.A9327S75 1985
    9/29-10/1 Cahir, Chapter IV, "Novels and Novellas into
    Film and an Aesthetic Rubric . . ."
    "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
    Text, p.244
    		 Smoke Signals
    PN1997 .S617 1998
    10/6-8
    		 Cahir, Chapter VII, "Writing About Film"
    "The Harvey Pekar Name Story"
    Text, p. 261    		 American Splendor
    Not in Library
    		Paper 2 on 10/8
    10/13-15
    		 "Ghost World - Chapter 5: "Hubba Hubba""
    Text, p. 265    		 Ghost World
    Not in Library
    10/20-22 "The Wisdom of Eve"
    Text, p. 284
    		 All About Eve
    PN1997.A4 1988
    10/27-29 "Mr. Blandings Builds his Castle"
    Text, p. 309    		 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
    PN1997 .M58 1978
    		Paper 3 on 10/29
    11/3-5 "Tomorrow"
    Text, p. 347    		 Tomorrow
    Not in Library
    11/10-12 "Bringing up Baby"
    Text, p. 370    		 Bringing Up Baby
    PN1997 .B75 2005
    11/17-19
    		 "Memento mori "
    Text, p. 451    		 Memento
    PN1997 .M451 2002
    11/24-Holiday
    		 "Red Ryder Nails the Hammond Kid"
    Text, p. 473
    		 Christmas Story
    Not in Library
    12/1-3
    		 "Auggie Wren's Christmas story"
    Text, p. 578    		 Smoke
    Not in Library
    		Paper 4 on 12/1
    12/8-10 The Front Page
    Selections from Samuel French
    The whole text is available from Samuel French for about $7.50.    		 His Girl Friday
    PN1997 .H58 2000 (DVD)

    COURSE OBJECTIVE: Our objective in examining works presented in two different media is to gain insight and understanding into the workings of those media, including their biases and their strengths.

    WRITTEN WORK: You are asked to write four papers, each on a different pair of works. The 15 films shown in class are not available, but the remaining 20 stories in the text are available. Links at the top of the syllabus may provide other works for analysis. The films must be narratives, regardless of the literary form they come from. The works considered in class are based on short stories and one play, but the papers may consider works of any length.

    Each discussion should begin with an identification of the type of translation that identifies the relationship between the works, and then to identify the variations between the works, and discuss the importance of these variations.

    GRADES: The Midterm grade is based on the first two papers . The final grade will be the average of the best three grades.







    Course page