ENGH 201
Section 16, Spring 2012
TR 10:30-11:45am Innovation 318
Course Syllabus

Dr. Kenneth C. Thompson
Office: Robinson A 353G
Office Phone: 703-993-1160
Office Hours: TR 3:00-4:00pm and by appointment
Email: kthomps4 gmu.edu
201-14-s14 Syllabus:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/201-16-s12/index.html
202-s11 Blog:
http://20116s12.wordpress.com/
WRITING TUTORING: The Transition Resource Center, University Life, and the Writing Center at GMU are sponsoring Living Learning Community tutoring especially for students in this and other LLC 1st year classes. Our tutors--Brian and Dylan--have been specially trained to help you with your writing as well as to work with you on peer review. You will need to bring back a signed form for all face-to-face tutoring visits and hand it in with your paper to receive credit for your visit. Each student should attend at least one tutoring session this semester. See below for more details.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

WEB SITES AND RESOURCES:

COURSE FRAMEWORK: ENGH201 sections 14/16 are part of the Engineering, Business and Economics Living Learning Communities (LLCs).   In this course, we will study key examples of the portrayal of science, technology and business in literature, film and history.  We will also examine the influence of technology and the law on the development of modern commercial entertainment and the relationship between business consolidation and innovation, whether artistic, commercial, or technical.  We will begin with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  We will read the 1818 edition of the novel and study film adaptations from 1910, the 1930s, and 1994.  We will pay particular attention to the processes and choices involved in visual and cinematic adaptations of the story.  We will also use a later loose adaptation of the story, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), to extend our discussion of Shelley's attitude toward early 19th century science to more recent developments in bio-technology.  We will then move from horror and science fiction to detection and explore the role that literature and popular entertainment have played in popularizing scientific method and in questioning the ethics of large technology-based enterprises.  We will focus on the figure of the detective, read several Sherlock Holmes stories, and watch Roman Polanski’s film Chinatown. We will then read key sections of Tim Wu's study of innovation and consolidation in information industries, The Master Switch, and study the oscillation between open and closed organization in telephony, film and the internet.  We will end the course by studying possible parallels between AT&T in the 20th century and companies like Google and Apple today and address the question Wu asks--is the internet different?

COURSE BLOG: Over the course of the semester, you will regularly post short writing assignments on the class Blog. These posts will include responses to readings and films as well as preliminary ideas for papers. There are instructions on the blog you should follow carefully when you first start posting. If you have problems, please contact me. The blog is at: http://20116s12.wordpress.com/ (note no dashes in the URL)

WRITING TUTORS: Our LLC tutors, Brian and Dylan, have excellent writing skills and have been trained as peer tutors by the Writing Center. They will be available at specified times to help you with your papers. They will have hours in an office in the reference room of Fenwick Library. For their hours click here. You will sign up in class for LCC appointments   Make sure to bring a print copy of your assignment, paper/draft and other materials you want to work on with you when you visit Brian or Dylan.  (Note:  tutors are also available at The Writing Center Robinson Hall A, room 114 (703) 993-1200. Make regular (not LLC)  tutor appointments at http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/ You will have to register as clients in the system and then go the drop-down menu to schedule your appointments.) 

REQUIREMENTS: 1) Regular attendance. Participation in all class activities including workshops, group projects, and individual presentations. 2) Completion of all assigned reading. 3) On-time completion of all written work including paper editing sheets, quizzes, papers, bibliographies, blog postings, and proposals. After three late assignments, each succeeding late project will be lowered half a grade. I will accept no assignments that are over one week late. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day indicated on the syllabus.

FILM SCREENINGS: There will be three required Cinema and Supper showings with free pizza and soda at 7pm and a film at 7:30pm. The films are scheduled as follows:

NOTE ON PLAGIARISM: The English Department defines plagiarism as "using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another source without giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and websites is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting." I will not tolerate plagiarism in my classes and will report incidents to the Honor Committee. See http://honorcode.gmu.edu/ for more detailed information.

The English Department statement on plagiarism goes on to note that "student writers are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include factual information which can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writer's own insights or findings from their own field research, and what has been termed common knowledge."

DISABILITIES: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Resources at 703.993.2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.

ENROLLMENT: Students are responsible for verifying their enrollment in this class. Schedule adjustments should be made by the deadlines published in the Schedule of Classes. Schedule adjustments should be made by the deadlines published in the Schedule of Classes. Last day to add is Jan 31st; last day to drop is Feb 24th. After the last day to drop, withdrawing from this class requires the approval of the Dean and is only allowed for nonacademic reasons. Undergraduate students may choose to exercise a selective withdrawal. See the Schedule of Classes for selective withdrawal procedures.

GRADING:
PAPERS: 66% (3 papers worth 22% each)
PARTICIPATION (BLOG, IN-CLASS DISCUSSION, & GROUP WORK): 33% 

SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO REVISION)

Date Assignments
Tue Jan 24 Introduction to the class. Before our next meeting, print a copy of the Information Sheet and fill it out. I will collect them Thurs. Also set up mail forwarding if you do not check your GMU email several times a week. I can also help you add my email addresses to your safe list if you were not in my class last semester so messages about the class will not be blocked by GMU's spam filter.  

During or after our meeting today, introduce yourself to the class on the blog following page/prompt 3 at http://20116s12.wordpress.com/ The first time you go to the site you will need to register on Wordpress.com--unless you already have an account.  (Note: because many of you were in my class last term, you will have already registered on Wordpress. I still need to give you write permissions on this semester's blog but in theory that should go quickly. The only complication may come from George Mason's migration to Mason Live. If you registered using your old email address and messages are no longer being forwarded to your new account, you may need to re-register using your Mason Live address.)

For those who were not in my fall class (or can no longer access the email account you used to register on Wordpress), click on Get started here on the upper left of the Wordpress page.  DO NOT SIGN UP FOR A BLOG BUT JUST A USER NAME (see the signup for just a user name to the right of the blog address box). Use your GMU user name and email address; write down your password (or use one you will remember). If your user name is already taken on Wordpress, add letters or numbers to your GMU user name. DO NOT click on Sign up for a blog, too. Agree to the terms of service and click Sign up. How you fill in your profile on the next page is up to you. Click submit and then go to your GMU email account and open the message from Wordpress and click on the verification link.

Once you have registered on Wordpress, I will use your GMU email address to invite you to join the class blog.  At that point, Wordpress will send you an email (your second if you are registering on Wordpress as well as the class blog).  Open the email and click on the blue box to activate your write privileges on the class blog.  If this takes a while, you may want to begin your writing using an HTML editor or Word (saving Word files as filtered web pages before you copy and paste).

Once you are fully registered and logged onto the class blog, you should see 201-14 Course Blog on the top left of the home page.  Hover over the box and you will see links to your dashboard as well as New and then Post. Give your post a title (see below) and enter the text of your post in the box under the tool buttons. Once I have given you authorship privileges on the blog and added your first name and last initial to the category list, you should see a check box with your name under People at the right side of the posting page (its one of the "categories"). Also check Introduction (under Assignments) before you click on Publish. For this and all subsequent posts, title the post with the assignment number/name (in this case 03-Intro) and your first name/last initial. (Note: you can edit your published posts by clicking on the edit button underneath the post.) Before next class respond to at least one of your fellow students' intros using the Leave a Comment or #Comments link under the post.

Thur Jan 26

Introduction to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and its mythic status in debates about the potential dangers of science and technology. In the weeks to come, we will explore two separate but related issues in conjunction with our discussion of Shelley's novel and later film adaptations: 1) the extent to which it is either possible or desirable to create a human being through science and engineering; 2) the extent to which computers and other machines could advance to the point where we would have increasing difficulty distinguishing them from human beings. As we shall see, the replicants of Blade Runner are quite different from both Dr. Frankenstein's creature and the more modern idea of cyborgs. But both are presented as having consciousness and potentially make claims on our moral imagination.

We will begin exploring these issues by watching Ridley Scott and others discuss Shelley and modern science in the Prophets of Science Fiction series.  The video is available from Amazon at  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0065K6PJO  If we have any difficulty accessing the video, we will watch the historian of science Susan Lederer on the Frankenstein myth and modern science (assigned for next Tues). An abridged version of the talk is available from the University of Maryland; the complete video is at http://video.whyy.org/video/1475831010    

(NOTE: Since so many of you were in my f11 LLC ENGH101s, you might want to review Alan Turing famous thought experiment and The Machine That Changed the World Part I (43:40-54:30). A more recent exploration of some of these issues is available in a presentation of Milo, the virtual boy, by Peter Molyneux, the head of Microsoft's European games division. Also see the interview with the philosopher Daniel Dennett on The Turing Test. For background, you may also want to look at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on The Turing Test.)    

Before class today you should have your introduction up on the blog (page/prompt 03); by the end of the week, you should have commented on at least two of your fellow students' posts, picking up on what interests you in their intro posts and responding in a friendly way.  Also make sure to print and fill in the Information Sheet.   

Tue Jan 31 Before class, read Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, pp. 7-17 (Walton and his meeting with Victor). BRING THE NORTON CRITICAL EDITION OF THE NOVEL TO CLASS. In class, we will begin our section on Frankenstein by listening to Mary Shelley's novel using an audible.com recording of the opening and compare it to the openings of Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994). The film is available in video-on-demand (VOD) format on Amazon and for DVD rental from Netflix.  Today we will discuss Walton's encounter with Victor Frankenstein; Thursday we will begin Victor Frankenstein's own narrative, and Victor's early interest in alchemy and later scientific education at Ingolstadt.

Also before class, watch the historian of science Susan Lederer on the Frankenstein myth and modern science. An abridged version of the talk is available from the University of Maryland; you should watch the complete video is at http://video.whyy.org/video/1475831010  

Jan 31--Last Day to Add Classes;  Last Day to Drop No Tuition Penalty
Thur Feb 2

Before class, read Frankenstein, pp. 17-33 (Victor's account of his life through his idea of creation). We will begin watching the 1931 Universal Studios film adaptation of Frankenstein (70 min) in class. The film was directed by James Whale with Boris Karloff as the Monster.

The 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein is on reserve in the JC library.   It is also currently available in 7 parts on You Tube, as is its sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein in 8 parts (1935).  Such online availability is often quite unreliable, however, so its worth noting that the 1931 film is also available for DVD rental through Netflix and in VOD format on Amazon.   By Thurs Feb 16th you should have watched the entire 1931 film on your own.   

There will be a blog posting due by Sun at 11:59 (page/prompt 4a/4b) on the differences in the versions of the story we have read/seen. There will be two questions--one on Walton's role and character and the other on Victor, the origins and shifts in his interest in science, and his plans and ideas about creating a living being.  You will post on one question and comment on a at least two of your fellow students posts on the other question.  Your posting will be due Sun by 11:59 and your comments before class next Tues.  

Tue Feb 7

Before class read Frankenstein, pp. 34-67 (Victor creates, abandons and talks to his creature). We will continue watching Frankenstein (1931) in class today.

Also before class today, read the Introduction and all seven sections from the Birth of Frankenstein section of the NLM-NIH Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature website (see the navigation box on the left).  Note the short discussion of Galvani's work, a moment in the history of electricity we covered in ENGH101 last semester along with Volta and the uses of electricity in popular entertainment.      

Thur Feb 9

Before class, read Frankenstein, pp. 68-97 (monster's story through killing of William). During class we will continue to talk about the differences in the portrayal of the monster's point of view in the two versions of the story and conclude with a comparison of the De Lacey cottage scenes in the novel (pp. 74-93) and  the blind man scene in the Bride of Frankenstein (DVD chap 10, 35min-). 

There will be a blog posting due by Sun at 11:59 (page/prompt 5) on Victor's creation of the "monster" and its aftermath. There will be two questions--one on the creation itself and the other on the monster's story.  Both will include comparisons between Shelley's novel and the 1931 film.  You will post on one question and comment on a at least two of your fellow students posts on the other question.  Your posting will be due Sun by 11:59 and your comments before class next Tues.     

Tue Feb 14

Before class, read Frankenstein, pp. 98-139 (creating a mate and creature's revenge). During class will begin by going over some specific differences between the 1931 film and Mary Shelley’s novel (Monster seeing his reflection, Little Maria scene, wedding night, crowd scenes and happy ending). Then we will discuss the ‘make me a mate’ sequences in the novel (98-99, 114-115) and if there is time, compare them to the bride plot in the 1935 sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein.

Feb 14th--Last Day to drop with a 33% tuition penalty

Thur Feb 16

Before class, read Frankenstein, pp. 140-156 (wandering and revenge, Walton's narrative again) . We will go over the assigned reading, focusing in particular on the chase, the debate about returning home, and Walton's meeting with the creature.

In class today, we will also explore the more recent idea of genetic and biological engineering and the psychological and moral issues it raises through a brief introduction to Blade Runner (1982).  Today I will focus on replicants and the Voight-Kampff test in Blade Runner. We will look at the following scenes which we will explore in greater detail later:  

f you are interested in doing more with the 1994 Branagh film/DeNiro film (we saw the opening on 1-31), you can post on it for extra-credit.  Look carefully at DVD chapters 19 (Victor and monster in cave); chap 20-23 (making the bride, refusal to continue, marriage and murder); chap 24-25 (the bride's creation and suicide), and chap 26-28 (the return to Walton, meeting with monster and return of ship). Think about how the Bride motif from the novel (and the 1935 film if we get to it) is transformed in the 1994 adaptation as well as discuss changes in Walton's role.  You can post an entry for extra credit by March  1st (page/prompt 07b) covering the complete Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Check the category Branagh and extra credit if you do this assignment. The Branagh/DeNiro film is available for from Amazon in VOD format; it is also in the JC library and for DVD rental from Netflix 

If you are interested in doing more with James Whale's 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein, you can also post on it for extra-credit by March 1st.  We watched a brief selection in class on Thurs Feb 9th (DVD chap 10). The Monster’s meeting with the blind old man is one of the great examples of comic horror in film history and translates the pathos of the Delacey cottage scenes in Mary Shelley into over-the-top slapstick humor. Bride is on the same two DVD set, Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection ( PN1997 .F73 2004), as James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931). It’s also available online (see the 8 numbered clips in reverse order). See page/prompt 07a for details of the assignment.   

Fri Feb 17 Cinema and Supper showing of Blade Runner (1982) at the Eisenhower multimedia Theatre. Pizza at 7pm; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm. Blog post 07 is due by Sun at midnight.

If you have to miss the scheduled film showing, you are responsible for watching the film and posting your response to prompt 08 by the same time. Your supplementary assignment is to the review the talk by John Whitehead on Blade Runner we watched in class on Feb 16th, summarize his argument, and then indicate whether you agree with his view of the film’s importance.

If you attend the showing, you can do this supplementary assignment for extra credit. But remember to check extra credit as well as Blade Runner and your name in the category boxes.
Tue Feb 21

In preparation for paper #1, we will review:

  1. the fact that the 1931 film frames the ethics of what Frankenstein did more in terms of divine prohibitions and Mary Shelley more in terms of family responsibility
  2. the criminal brain motif in the 1931 film vs. the creatures openness to experience in Shelley's novel
  3. the suggestion that Frankenstein doesn't pay attention to details (i.e. the criminal brain) like he should in the 1931 film
  4. Boris Karloff's use of mime to suggest some of the positive qualities we see in Shelley's version
  5. the extent to which Roy Batty and Pris' relation to one another and Roy's death scene with Deckard suggest replicants have human qualities and cannot be dismissed as machines needing "retirement."
  6. Whether the Tyrell Corporation is a sinister organization that has brought Mary Shelley's implicit critique of Victor's irresponsibility to a new and heightened level.

You will then have time to work on your papers while I talk to you about your plans. 

Thur Feb 23

Before class, write a 1-2 page draft of paper #1 on the ethics of Frankenstein's creation of the creature/monster (and the Tyrell Corporation's creation and "retirement" of replicants if you write on Blade Runner). Begin the paper with a detailed description and analysis of how the issue is presented in the novel and at least one of the film(s) and then take a position of your own on the ethics of what Dr. Frankenstein, Tyrell, and/or Deckard did.  Provide detailed examples--and at least two quotes--to back up your claims about the novel/film(s) and fully explain the reasoning behind your own position. In addition to reading Mary Shelley's novel, you watched the complete 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein and we watched selections from Whale's 1935 sequel and Branagh's 1994 film in class. We used these films to explore popular attitudes toward science and technology. As we saw, Blade Runner explores some of the same issues as Frankenstein but places the creation in a corporate rather than individual context.

Bring a typed 1-2 page draft (typed and double spaced) to class and have an electronic version available (either in your email account or on a flash drive). You will read your papers to one another and use an editing sheet to guide your discussion and make suggestions for improving the paper. If you bring your drafts to one of the LLC tutors in Fenwick, the revised version of your paper will be due on Thurs March 8th in class or Fri March 9th in my English Dept box (on the 4th floor of Robinson Hall A). Otherwise, the paper is due on Tues Feb 28th at the beginning of class.

BEGIN SIGN-UP AND TUTORING APPOINTMENTS today. See the schedule at http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/201-16-s12/tutor-sched-s12.docx  I WILL HAND OUT A SIGN UP SHEET IN CLASS TODAY SO CHECK YOUR SCHEDULE AHEAD OF TIME.  Note that any paper handed in after the beginning of class on March 1st without a fully documented tutoring session and a substantial revision will be lowered one full letter grade. I will also average in a zero to your class participation grade if you miss a tutoring appointment. If you do miss an appointment, to avoid having a zero averaged into your class participation grade you will need to have an extra tutoring session over the course of the semester. If you are unable to attend an appointment, please cancel prior to the start time of your appointment by contacting me at kthomps4 at gmu.edu. Two tutoring appointments will be required for all students this semester. 

Feb 24th--Last day to drop classes with 67% tuition penalty; last day to drop classes  

Tue Feb 28

Revised paper #1 (3-4 pages, typed and double-spaced) on the ethics of Frankenstein's creation of the creature/monster (and the Tyrell Corporation's creation and "retirement" of replicants if you write on Blade Runner) unless you see a LLC tutor at Fenwick Library or online; in that case you can hand in the paper at the beginning of class on Thurs March 8th  or in my box in the English Dept on the 4th floor of Robinson Hall A by Fri March 9th at 5pm.  See the schedule at http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/201-16-s12/tutor-sched-s12.docx  Begin the paper with a detailed description and analysis of how the issue is presented in the novel and at least one of the film(s) and then take a position of your own on the ethics of what Dr. Frankenstein, Tyrell, and/or Deckard did. Provide detailed examples--and at least two quotes--to back up your claims about the novel/film(s) and fully explain the reasoning behind your own position.  

Introduction to Sherlock Holmes. We will watch the first half of the Granada Television adaptation of The Sign of Four (1987, 103 min) in class.  The adaptation is available for rental on Netflix and in VOD format on Amazon. It is also on reserve in the JC library.  You should read the text of the novel in the Bantam edition over spring break (pp. 123-236). 

Feb 27-Mar 30--Selective Withdrawal Period (undergraduate students only)     

Thur Mar 1

We will watch the rest of the Granada TV adaptation of The Sign of Four in class. The adaptation is available for rental on Netflix and in VOD format on Amazon. It is also on reserve in the JC library.

Tue Mar 6

Group discussion of the Granada Television adaptation of The Sign of Four (1987, 103 min).  Talk about what you liked and didn't like in the film and consider the following questions.  You will draw on this discussion in your group post (page/prompt 09) due before our second class after spring break (March 22nd). 

  1. What do you think of Holmes? Is he an eccentric and/or unusual person? How so? Is Jeremy Brett's interpretation of his character different from what you expected?
  2. What is Watson's role in the story? How does he interact with Holmes? Is his presence essential?
  3. What is Holmes' method? What techniques does he employ in solving the case? Be specific and list as many elements as you can.
  4. What is Holmes' relationship to the police? Does he respect them? What do they think of his methods? How do the Baker Street Irregulars and Toby contribute to his work?
  5. What is the impact of Jonathan Small's narrative on your view of the case? What is Holmes' reaction to Small's story?
  6. How are foreigners portrayed? Discuss both Tonga and the Indians.

During class, begin reading the first two chapters of A Study in Scarlet (Mr. Sherlock Holmes and The Science of Deduction)  from A Study in Scarlet, pp. 3-18,  in the Bantam Classic edition, Volume 1.  In a individual post due at the end of our last class before spring break (March 8th) you will post to the blog your thoughts on whether Holmes' methods are scientific in these two chapters from A Study in Scarlet.  Make sure to define what you mean by science and analyze in detail at least one example each from Mr. Sherlock Holmes and The Science of Deduction. End your post by discussing an example of Holmes’ methodology that you do not consider scientific (if any) and your sense of the mix of scientific and non-scientific components in Holmes’ methods in A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four (page/prompt 08)

Thur Mar 8

Paper #1 is due either in class today or in my box in the English Dept on the 4th floor of Robinson Hall A by Fri at 5pm if you went over a draft with one of the LLC tutors by Thurs March 8th and substantially revised your first effort.  If you take advantage of this extension, when you hand in your paper include a form signed by the tutor. All papers must also be accompanied by your original draft, the editing sheet done by a fellow student, a statement of what you changed as you worked on the paper, and citations to the play, films, and other sources you consulted. You can use in-text cites and an MLA Works Cited page or APA in-text cites and List of References; you can also use Chicago style footnotes. See http://dianahacker.com/resdoc/ for details on citation formats. Include the exact title and date of the films and performances you analyze.  Put the revised paper on top and secure the portfolio with a clip or folder.

Note that any paper handed in after the beginning of class on March 1st without a fully documented tutoring session and a substantial revision will be lowered one full letter grade. I will also average in a zero to your class participation grade if you miss a tutoring appointment. If you do miss an appointment, to avoid having a zero averaged into your class participation grade you will need to have an extra tutoring session over the course of the next two papers. If you are unable to attend an appointment, please cancel prior to the start time of your appointment. Note that two tutoring appointments will be required this semester for all students in the class.   

During class, finish reading the first two chapters of A Study in Scarlet (Mr. Sherlock Holmes and The Science of Deduction)  from A Study in Scarlet, pp. 3-18,  in the Bantam Classic edition, Volume 1.  By the end of class, post to the blog your individual thoughts on whether Holmes' methods are scientific in these two chapters from A Study in Scarlet. Make sure to define what you mean by science and analyze in detail at least one example each from Mr. Sherlock Holmes and The Science of Deduction. End your post by discussing an example of Holmes’ methodology that you do not consider scientific (if any) and your sense of the mix of scientific and non-scientific components in Holmes’ methods in A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four (page/prompt 08).  Remember to check your name (under People) and Holmes' Method (under Assignments) in the category boxes when you post.       
Tue Mar 13 NO CLASS-SPRING BREAK MARCH 12TH-18TH
Thur Mar 15 NO CLASS-SPRING BREAK MARCH 12TH-18TH
Tue Mar 20

Read The Sign of Four, pp. 123-236 in the Bantam Sherlock Holmes vol. 1. A free audio book version of the story is available on the Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org/details/shsof  You should use the assigned Bantam edition of the stories so we can refer to the same passages in class but an e-text is available at The University of Adelaide site.  Before class on Thurs, a group post is due with answers to the following questions.  You should divide up the labor and assign questions to different group members.   Cover the following (some were part of your group discussion before break): 

  1. What do you think of Holmes? Is he an eccentric and/or unusual person? How so? Is Jeremy Brett's interpretation of his character different from your reading of The Sign of Four?  
  2. What is Watson's role in The Sign of Four? How does he interact with Holmes? Is his presence essential? What do you think of the Granada TV Watson (Edward Hardwicke)? 
  3. What is Holmes' method  in The Sign of Four? What techniques does he employ in solving the case? Be specific and list as many elements as you can.  Begin by discussing the kind of problem Mary Morstan brings to Watson and Holmes in chapter 2 and then discuss the introduction to Holmes' method in chapter 1 of the story.  Note that in our study of Sherlock Holmes, I have been arguing  that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle popularized the idea that ordinary problems could be resolved by consulting a scientific professional.  
  4. What is Holmes' relationship to the police? Does he respect them? What do they think of his methods? How do the Baker Street Irregulars and Toby contribute to his work?
  5. What is the impact of Jonathan Small's narrative on your view of the case? What is Holmes' reaction to Small's story?
  6. How are foreigners portrayed? Discuss both Tonga and the Indians.

Make sure to check your names and Holmes' Group in the category boxes to the right of the posting area.  Also put your group members' names at the top of the post and indicate who did which question. 

Thur Mar 22

Workshop on Paper #2 on Holmes methods.  Group blog post (page/prompt 09) due before class.   

March 23rd-Midterm grading period ends

Fri Mar 23 Cinema and Supper showing of The Study in Pink, Episode 1 of Series 1 of Sherlock (BBC 2010) at the Eisenhower multimedia Theatre. Pizza at 7pm; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm. Blog post 10 is due by Sun at midnight. Briefly discuss what you liked about the film and how it compares with the Conan Doyle stories you have read.  Check A Study in Pink and your name in the category boxes.

If you have to miss the scheduled film showing, you are responsible for watching the film and posting your response to prompt 10 by the same time. Your supplementary assignment is to discuss the use of modern technologies of communication in A Study in Pink.  If you attend the showing, you can do this supplementary assignment for extra credit. But remember to check extra credit as well as A Study in Pink and your name in the category boxes.

An extra-credit post comparing A Study in Pink and A Study in Scarlet will be due by Friday April 20th.  You need to read the complete Study in Scarlet to do this assignment so you can focus on how Sherlock manages to cut the Utah sections of the novella.  For this second extra credit assignment, you will check extra credit as well as Scarlet-Pink and your name in the category boxes.    
Tue Mar 27

Paper #2 on Sherlock Holmes (3+ pages, typed and double spaced) is due at the beginning of class.  During class, you will use a paragraph structure sheet to do a reverse outline of your paper. This is a required component of the assignment.  You can also exchange papers and do a reverse outline of each others papers if you want.   

You can revise this paper (and paper #1) if you see a tutor.  Revisions of paper #1 and paper #2 are due Friday April 27th.  Note that two tutoring appointments will be required this semester for all students in the class.  The tutors will also be available to help you with paper #3 on Tim Wu. 

See the tutoring schedule for the rest of the semester at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/201-16-s12/tutor-sched-s12C.docx  
You will make appointments using the tutoring sign-up sheet in class. 

At the end of class, I will introduce Tim Wu's The Master Switch and play the first 10-12 minutes of the audio book version from Audible.com  If you finish your paragraph outline before other students in the class, read the first entry of Tim Wu's The Great Information Emperors at Slate Magazine on Theodore Vail.  Also see the entries on Adolph Zukor, Steve Ross, Ted Turner, and Steve Jobs.   

Thur Mar 29 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 3-14 (Introduction).  We will discuss the reading and you will begin your blog post while I talk to you about midterm grading. 

Blog post due by Sun at 11:59pm on what you consider to be the most interesting idea(s) in the intro (page/prompt 11).  Remember to cite specific pages and explain Wu's point(s) so someone who had not read the book could understand what you are talking about. 

At the end of class, I will set up next week's reading by playing the beginning of the audio book version of chap 1 of The Master Switch. 

March 30th--Incomplete work from f11 due to instructor
Tue April 3 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 17-32 (The Disruptive Founder). 

Also before class, watch the video lecture by Tim Wu, How Tinkerers Invented the Information Age.  The talk is also available at the New America Foundation.  Then review The Master Switch, pp. 18-22 on outsiders and "being at the right remove from the prevailing currents of thought about the problem at hand" (p. 19, bottom).  We will begin class by discussing how Bell was (or was not) "at the right remove" and why that was important for the development of the telephone.  You will write on this issue in blog post 12.       

Remember that blog post 11 on what you consider the most interesting idea(s) in the introduction to Wu's book was due by Sun April 1st at 11:59pm.  Post on what you consider to be the most interesting idea(s) in the intro (page/prompt 11) and cite specific pages.  Explain Wu's point(s) so someone who had not read the book could understand what you are talking about. 

During class, we will watch selections from Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone (2006), particularly the sections where Bernard Carlson and Mike Gorman of UVa's Science, Technology and Society program discuss the process of discovery.   
Thur April 5 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 45-60 (Mr. Vail is a Big Man). 

Blog post 12 on Bell, Vail and the cycle in telephony will be due by Sun April 8th at 11:59pm. 

April 6th--Incomplete grade changes from f11 due Registrar
Tue April 10 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 101-114 (The Foreign Attachment). 

During class, we will watch Tim Wu's lecture at Harvard on The Master Switch, available on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVZLl4EKQis 
Thur April 12 Read all six sections of the Library of Congress History of Edison Motion Pictures before class.  Also see Overview of Edison Motion Pictures by Genre. 

During class, we will go over the reading from the LOC site and watch selections (DVD Intro, chapters 2, 9, 15, 16, 21, 23, 40, 57, 58, 61, 67) from Edison:  The Invention of the Movies (2005) so you can see some of the shorter films mentioned in the LOC history.   

At the end of class, we will watch The Great Train Robbery (1903) from the Edison:  The Invention of the Movies DVD.  A poor quality version of the film is available on Google Videos at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7949193416885414135#  After class, watch the 1910 Edison film of Frankenstein (12 min).  I have a DVD copy of the film but its also available on  YouTube in several locations, including here.

We will also go over the beginning of the reading for next Tues.  By Sun at 11:59 do blog post 13 on whether and how Edison's role in the development of the motion picture industry is an example of what Wu calls The Cycle. 
Tue April 17 Before class, read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 61-73 (The Time Is Not Right For Feature Films) and 86-98 (The Paramount Ideal). 

Blog post 13 due by Sun at 11:59pm.  Before class today, comment on at least two of your fellow students' posts on Edison and the Cycle.  Indicate whether you agree with each post's points about Edison and The Cycle and whether there is anything your fellow students have left out.  Include what you have learned from reading Wu, pp. 61-73. 

During class we will discuss pp. 61-73 and then you will update your post in a paragraph marked UPDATE. Discuss what you have learned about the conflict between the Edison Patents Trust and the Independents.

We will then go on to discuss pp. 86-98 on Adolph Zukor’s subsequent battle with the Independents in preparation for your next post, which will also cover the reading for next Tues April 24th, pp. 217-237 (Mass Production of the Spirit). 
Thur April 19 Before class, read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 115-124 (The Legion of Decency). 

During class, We will watch the documentary Hollywood Censored (1999, 60 min) from the PBS Culture Shock Series.  If the VHS for Culture Shock does not play, we will watch Thou Shalt Not:  Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood, a documentary on censorship in the 1930s that is part of the Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 2 DVD from TCM Archives. Both of these sources are on reserve in the JC library. If there is time you will write in class on David Denby's distinction between representational complexity and teaching unambiguous moral lessons from the Hollywood Censored documentary.
Fri April 20 Cinema and Supper showing of Sherlock Holmes (2009) at the Eisenhower multimedia Theatre. Pizza at 7pm; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm. Blog post 14 is due by Sun at midnight. Briefly discuss what you liked about the film and any criticisms you may have of the adaptation. Conclude by discussing how it compares with the Conan Doyle stories we read and the other Sherlock Holmes films we watched (The Study in Pink and the Granada TV adaptation of A Sign of Four).

If you have to miss the scheduled film showing, you are responsible for watching the film on your own and posting your response to prompt 14 by the same time (4-22). Your supplementary assignment is to discuss in detail at least two of the following issues in detail:
  1. The visualization of London in the Guy Ritchie film. Describe in detail how London is presented in the film and then say what you think of Ritchie’s approach. (Note: I would call it historical reconstruction filtered through a graphic novel/gaming lens).
  2. The action sequences. Describe Ritchie’s approach to action and take a position on their importance to the film and whether they depart from Doyle’s stories.
  3. Irene Adler’s character. Describe her role in the film and her relation to Holmes. Compare their relationship to what Holmes says about Mary Morstan (to Watson) after she presents her case for the first time.
  4. The Watson Holmes relationship. Describe in detail how Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law interact in the film and if their relationship is different than in the Conan Doyle stories you read.
  5. The addition of super villains like Lord Blackwood or Professor Moriarty not present in the Doyle stories. (Note: Professor Moriarty only appears in one of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, which, for the most part, are concerned with more mundane crimes and criminals.) 

If you attend the showing, you can do this supplementary assignment for extra credit. The supplementary assignment is due by Sun April 29th at 11:59pm. It should be 250-500 words.

An earlier extra-credit post comparing A Study in Pink and A Study in Scarlet will also be due on Sun April 29th at 11:59pm. You need to read the complete Study in Scarlet to do this assignment so you can focus on how Sherlock manages to cut the Utah sections of the novella while retaining at least some of the key elements in the story. See the bottom of page/prompt 14 for details. 

Tue April 24 Before class, read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 217-237 (Mass Production of the Spirit).  We will discuss the reading in class after going over a section I did not assign, pp. 160-167 (Audible I, 7:07:38-7:29:30). 

You will then work on blog post 15 in groups.  Review Tim Wu, pp. 219-232, on risk management strategies in the entertainment industry starting with Steven Ross' transformation of Warner Brothers in the 1970s.  By Sun April 29th at 11:59pm  a group post is due with answers to the following questions. You should divide up the labor and assign questions to different group members.  But make sure the parts of your post fit together.  Put your group members' names at the top, check risk management and your names in the category boxes, and indicate who wrote which section.   
  1. Why was the failure of Heaven's Gate an important event in the history of independent film in America? 
  2. Why is the entertainment industry especially prone to risk and how did the Edison Patent's Trust and the Hollywood Studios seek to minimize this risk? 
  3. What new strategy of risk management was developed to minimize the uncertainties of the film business starting with Steven Ross' creation of Warner Communications?  What does Wu see as the advantages and disadvantages of conglomeratization? 
  4. What is the complementary strategy of risk management Wu calls intellectual property development?  Why do 21st  century studios look for "properties ripe for redevelopment"? 
  5. To what degree do these strategies of risk management apply to the 2009 Warner Brother film Sherlock Holmes?   
Thur April 26 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 168-175 (The Radicalism of the Internet Revolution) and 196-216 (Esperanto for Machines).  Before we go over the reading, we will discuss the final paper assignment on the question "is the internet different."   

Revisions of paper #1 and/or #2 are now due Mon April 30th.  You must see one of the LLC tutors, document your visit, and substantially revise your first effort.  To receive credit for your revision, you must include the draft with your revision paper as well as a typed statement on what you went over in your session and what you changed based on the feedback you received. Put your revision on top and either staple/clip the packet together or put it in a folder with your name on the cover. Put the paper in my  box in the English Department (Robinson A 487).  I will be in my office most of the afternoon; either email me or stop by to make sure I have received your paper. 

Blog post 15 is due by Sun April 29th at 11:59pm as is the supplementary component of blog post 14 (make-up or extra credit).   
Tue May 1 Read Tim Wu, The Master Switch, pp. 269-299 (Father and Son).  Also read pp. 255-6 (The Internet Against Everyone).  After going over Wu's take on the iPhone announcement of 2007 and its significance for relations between Apple, Google, and AT&T, we will pay particular attention to Wu's account of the history of Apple (pp. 274-280) and Google (pp. 280-284).  If there is time, we will also discuss AT&T CEO Whitacre's "fast lane" proposal (pp. 284-289).    

We will also watch the interview with Tim Wu on Charlie Rose from January 6th, 2011. 

Blog post 15 is due by Sun April 29th at 11:59pm as is the supplementary component of blog post 14 (make-up or extra credit).  
Thur May 3 We will review for  paper #3 on Tim Wu's argument about "the cycle" and your view of whether the internet is different and why by talking about a key point in Wu's analysis of recent developments:  whether and how Apple and Google themselves may threaten internet openness (pp. 289-299).   

It's very important that you come to class on time so you can do course evaluations. 

By Thurs May 3rd, you are responsible for writing in specific terms about what your learned from each of your fellow group members’ posts on Risk Management in the entertainment industries (page/prompt 15) by leaving a comment on your own group’s post. If you answered all the questions on your own, leave a comment on another group's post about what you learned from their effort; note that you are not in that group. Note that if you missed the classes where we set up group work, you are responsible for doing all 5 questions on your own.  Post 15 is the last post of the semester. 
 
Last Day of Classes Sat May 5th; Final Exams May 9th-16th.
Tue
May 15

Paper #3, on whether the internet is different from earlier information technologies and therefore exempt from what Tim Wu calls the cycle--and why this might matter--is due on Tues May 15th.  You can hand the paper in either at the end of section 201-14's scheduled exam time in our regular classroom (9-10am in Innovation 318) or in my English Department box (Robinson A 487) by 5pm that day. If you take the later option, make sure to stop by my office (Robinson A 353G) or email me to make sure I have received your paper.  Your paper should be 3 pages, typed and double spaced, and include in-text citations (MLA or APA) and a Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) page or Chicago style footnotes/endnotes. You can see sample papers and check your citations by studying the companion website to your ENGH101 writing handbook. For my students last semester, that would be Diana Hacker's Research and Documentation Online. 

Begin the paper with a brief account of what Wu means by the cycle and how it may or may not apply to the Internet.  Then make an argument, drawing on Wu's account--and other sources, if you would like to add to what he says--for why the Internet will be subject to the same forces as information industries like telecommunications and entertainment, or will escape consolidation and central control and remain open.  Your paper should have detailed explanations and at least two quotes from Wu.  You should also cite where you found any other ideas.  You should at least mention technical points like packet vs. centralized switching and/or TCP/IP (pp. 172-4 & 197-199) but can emphasize business issues more than technical explanations if you feel better equipped to work on that level.  See the end of his Harvard talk (before he takes questions) for a fuller account of the business side of the issue. 

See the Paper #3 Assignment Sheet for more details.