Writing 3020-068: The Documentary: Rhetorics of Witnessing and Representation Fall 2008 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-9:15 a.m. Education 132

Instructor: Jennifer Armstrong E-mail: [email protected] Office: ENVD 1B62C, Cubicle B Office Phone: (303) 735-3734 Office Hours: T, R 9:15-10:45 a.m., and by appointment

Course Description How many ways can we define the word “documentary”? Which works belong to this genre and why? What are the genre’s most salient features? How vital are acts of witnessing, both for a work’s creator and its reader/viewer/listener? Does an act of witnessing imply social or moral responsibility? Are observing and witnessing the same act? And, as ethnographer John Van Maanen has asked, “How do we get from observations to representations?” These questions will serve as catalysts for an exploration of documentaries in several forms—film, photography, poetry, prose—and will lead us to generate our own theories of seeing, witnessing, and representation. Moreover, we’ll consider what kinds of witnesses we become by undertaking an intensive study of this genre. Also central to our project will be the concepts of memory, place, and history and the ways in which these become intertwined in documentary work.

The class format will consist of mini-lectures, discussions, group work, and peer-review workshops. During discussions, you will develop your critical thinking and reading skills by examining the various rhetorical strategies operating in the works you read, see, and hear. You will expand upon the insights gained during discussions by writing three substantial essays: a brief close reading; an analytical paper; and a researched, argumentative essay. These assignments will require that you understand your audience and purpose and that you attend to grammar, structure, and documentation. The writing assignments will be process-oriented rather than product-oriented, meaning that there will be an emphasis upon improving your writing through multiple drafts, in-class workshops, revision, and individual conferences. In addition to formal writing assignments, you will cultivate the habit of writing—and thinking through writing —by composing frequent informal responses, both in and outside of class.

Required Texts Caldwell, Erskine, and Margaret Bourke-White. You Have Seen Their Faces. 1937. Rukeyser, Muriel. “The Book of the Dead.” 1938. (E-reserve) Wright, Richard. 12 Million Black Voices. 1941. Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. 1966. Brief, secondary readings on E-reserve Note: You are responsible for accessing, printing, and bringing E-reserve readings to class. Also required: a notebook for note-taking that you will bring to each class meeting and a pocket folder in which to keep all drafts of papers and workshop materials Recommended: a good dictionary and writing handbook Course Policies Attendance Attendance is crucial to your success in this small, discussion-based and workshop-intensive class. You should, therefore, use your excused absences wisely and come prepared to contribute to each class meeting. You may miss two classes, for any reason, without penalty. Reasons may include, but are not limited to, illness, weather, and recreational activities. After these absences, each additional absence will result in your final grade being lowered by one increment, e.g., from an A to and A-, from an A- to a B+, and so on. If you miss more than four classes, you will fail the course. It is your responsibility to contact a classmate in order to find out what you missed in class. Thus, I recommend that you obtain the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of at least two reliable classmates. In addition to being in class, I expect you to be on time. If you come to class more than fifteen minutes late, or if you leave early, I will count you absent for that day’s class. Finally, three tardy arrivals will equal one absence.

Administrative Drop Policy Any student who misses the first two days of class will be administratively dropped from the course in order to make room for waitlisted students.

Participation I expect you to come prepared to contribute respectfully and insightfully to discussions and to participate meaningfully and constructively in writing workshops.

Workshops You will have at least two workshops for each formal essay. Sometimes a workshop will take up an entire class period; other times, it will last about half of that time. You are responsible for bringing drafts and any other required materials. (I will make announcements regarding these materials, either in class or over e-mail). If you fail to bring a rough draft on a workshop day, you will lose five points from your final, i.e., graded draft.

Cell phones and laptops I do not allow you to use these, or any other electronic devices, in class. If you answer calls or send text messages during class, I will ask you to leave and will count you absent for that day’s class.

Contacting me The best way to contact me is through e-mail, but be aware that I may not always be able to respond immediately. Generally, you can expect to receive a response within 24 hours. You may also leave messages on my office phone. My mailbox is located in the lobby of the Program for Writing and Rhetoric office in the Environmental Design Building.

Due dates and penalties for late work All assignments are due at the beginning of class. I will not accept late work unless you’ve made arrangements with me beforehand. For each day that an assignment is late, you will lose five points from that assignment’s grade. Note: I will not accept e-mailed drafts of your work, either before or after it is due. If you would like to discuss an assignment, either before it is due or after it has been graded, please come talk to me during office hours. Grades of I.F. are given only under exceptional circumstances.

Paper Format All formal written work that you hand in must be typed in a 12-point font, double-spaced, set with one-inch margins on all sides, printed on only one side of the page, and stapled. You must spell-check and proofread all written work and make sure that print-outs of your work are readable. You also need to save and/or make extra copies of all assignments.

Writing Center The Program for Writing and Rhetoric’s Writing Center is located in Norlin Library. You may make a 50-minute appointment with a trained consultant at any stage of the writing process. I encourage you to visit the Writing Center when working on major papers for this class. The W.C. is open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Fridays, and from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Plagiarism Plagiarism is the use of another’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgment. Examples of plagiarism include failing to use quotation marks when directly quoting from a source; fabricating or inventing a source; turning in someone else’s work as your own; and copying information and papers from computer-based services, i.e., the Internet. In this class, if you hand in a plagiarized assignment, you will receive a failing grade on that assignment, and the F will be factored into your final course grade. If plagiarism is a recurring problem, you will be reported to the Honor Code Council, and you may fail the course. Please read (below) the university’s policy on academic integrity.

Assignments – guidelines to be distributed One 2-3-page close reading 10% One 4-5-page analytical paper 20% One 6-8-page researched, argumentative paper 30% Participation—includes discussion, workshop 20% participation, and in-class and out-of-class informal writing Presentation—your ideal documentary 20%

Daily Schedule Each reading, writing, and workshop assignment is due on the day it is listed on the daily schedule. Note, however, that due dates and reading assignments are subject to change. I will inform you of changes to the syllabus as far in advance as possible.

Week One 8/26 Course introduction 8/28 Screen Dziga Vertov’s The Man with the Movie Camera; discuss film

Week Two 9/2 Discuss Vertov’s film and the concept of kino-pravda, as well as Robert Coles reading 9/4 Susan Sontag’s “In Plato’s Cave”; bring in photographs by Lange, Bourke-White, Hine, Evans, Riis, Arbus, etc., for discussion

Week Three 9/9 You Have Seen Their Faces 9/11 Faces; reflect on 9/11 documentaries

Week Four 9/16 “The Book of the Dead,” pp.10-20 9/18 “Book,” pp.20-31; workshop

Week Five 9/23 “Book,” p.31-40; workshop 9/25 Screen The River; Close reading due

Week Six 9/30 12 Million Black Voices 10/2 Voices

Week Seven 10/7 In Cold Blood 10/9 In Cold Blood; workshop

Week Eight 10/14 In Cold Blood 10/16 In Cold Blood; workshop

Week Nine 10/21 In Cold Blood; The Thin Blue Line 10/23 In Cold Blood; The Thin Blue Line; workshop

Week Ten 10/28 Primary 10/30 Primary; Analytical essay due

Week Eleven 11/4 Documenting ourselves; Vote! 11/6 Documenting ourselves

Week Twelve 11/11 Documenting ourselves 11/13 Documenting ourselves; Draft of argumentative paper due

Week Thirteen 11/18 Conferences 11/20 Conferences

Week Fourteen 11/25 Fall Break 11/27 Thanksgiving Break

Week Fifteen 12/2 Presentations; workshop 12/4 Presentations; workshop

Week Sixteen 12/9 Presentations; workshop 12/11 Presentations; workshop 12/12 Argumentative essay due

Final Exam Period: Wednesday, December 17th, 7:30-10:00 a.m

University Policies Students with Disabilities If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, and http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices.

Religious Observances Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, I require that you notify me two weeks in advance of an absence for a religious observance in order to get an excused absence. If you do not notify me in advance, your absence will count as a regular absence. See full details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html.

Classroom Behavior Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/juducialaffairs/code.html#student_code.

Discrimination and Sexual Harassment The University of Colorado at Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment, the University of Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment, and the University of Colorado policy on Amorous Relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303- 492-5550. Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh.

Honor Code All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council ([email protected]; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy may be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/acadmics/honorcode/.

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