Introduce yourself to the class on the blog at  http://302h31s08.wordpress.com/  The first time you go to the site you will need to register on WordPress unless you already have an account.  Use the Sign Up Now Button at the top of the wordpress.com page.   Enter your GMU user name and email address and write down your password (or use one you will remember).  Leave Gimme a blog unchecked. I will use your GMU email address to give you write privileges on the blog.  Because this may take a while, you may want to begin your writing using an HTML editor or Word (saving the file as a web page ).  Once you are fully have registered, you should see a New Post link at the top of the page (if you don't see it try using Firefox rather than IE).  Give your post a title like "Introduction," and enter the text of your post in the box under Post.  Once I have given you authorship privileges on the blog, you should see a check box with your name under People at the top right of the Write page (its one of the "categories."  Also check Introductions before you click on Publish.   

If you finish your introduction before other students, read the first page on Scarface at filmsite.org site, up to the plot summary, section 1.  Also familiarize yourself with the Internet Movie Database by looking up Scarface (1932; directed by Howard Hawks, 93 minutes) at http://imdb.com/.  You should also study the text added at the behest of the Hays' Office (the film industry censorship group) at:   http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/stills/scarface/scar-text.htm.  (In the future, if you forget the user name and password required to view such files, email me). 

If there is time, we will begin work on the initial project in the class, a guided research paper on film censorship and the production history of Scarface (1932; directed by Howard Hawks, 93 minutes), by watching the beginning of the film in class. We will continue the film next class, at which time you will post your reactions to the film on the class blog. 

We will watch about 25 min of Scarface in class. Before class, study the text added at the behest of the Hays' Office, available at:   http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/stills/scarface/scar-text.htm.  We will discuss what the text adds to the film.  If you have forgotten the user name and password required to view the files, email me.  

After class, study the list of the film's characters on the Internet Movie Database.  Go to http://imdb.com/ and look up Scarface (1932) and then Post to the Blog a 250 words response detailing your reactions to the film.  Include your view Tony Camonte's character and your thoughts on whether the film glorifies violence and gangsters.   Also read the first page on Scarface at filmsite.org site, up to the plot summary, section 1.  

Before class, write a 2-4 page paper (typed and double spaced).   Describe and analyze of two or more changes made in the movie at the behest of the Hay's Office.  Make sure your review Black, pp. 125-132, before writing your account.  You will exchange papers in class and fill out a paper editing sheet.  

After we have watched the alternate endings of the film in class, you will post to the blog several paragraphs on the three endings of Scarface (the script, the 'coward' runs, and the hanging).  Take a position on:  1) whether the ending in the original script, which was never filmed, glorified Camonte; and 2) whether it makes a difference for our view of Camonte and the government whether he is killed as he runs from his hideout (the first ending filmed and the one we see today) or is tried and punished by government officials.  You can review part of Scarface's 3rd ending at:  http://classweb.gmu.edu/kthomps4/video/scar-sm.mov.  This is the version most viewers saw at the time but is only available now in a DVD the library doesn't own, so its crucial you not miss class on Feb 5th.  If you don't have time to post your entry to the blog in class, do so before we meet Thurs.  

Feb 6th--Last day to drop with no tuition liability and last day to add classes

Before class, read Amendment I of the Bill of Rights and Section 12 of The Virginia Declaration of Rights (the Declaration was written by George Mason).  During class, you will post to the blog at least two paragraphs on: 1) what you learned from the reading in Black about why gangster movies upset critics and citizen groups; and 2) Whether you think censorship of the kind we see in the production history of Scarface is consistent with democratic principles.  If you don't have time to post your entry to the blog in class, do so by Friday at midnight.    

If you finish the in-class writing early, read Diana Hacker on pronoun reference, pp. 39-40, and start working through the exercises on pronoun reference (12-4 through 12-6) at
http://dianahacker.com/pocket/gm_menu.asp  

After the quiz, I will divide the class into four or five groups.  Each group will read one section of the Lord-Quigley code and summarize its larger and subsidiary points in a group report on the blog after first posting individual responses.  In your groups, discuss you individual responses and postings on particular components of the assignment.  Include in group report any disagreements you had on the value of the code and any thoughts you had on its application to Scarface.  This exercise requires you to place Lord and Quigley's individual points in larger structure or set of assumptions you distill from the details of the code.  You can use bullets or an outline for the subsidiary points.  I will divide up the class as follows:     

• Group I, assumptions about film and entertainment, pp. 302-4
• Group II, general principles, p. 305
• Group III, general principles, p. 305
• Group IV, particular applications, pp. 306-8
• Group V, particular applications, pp. 306-8

Group reports and individual responses, continued.  Discuss your group's response to the proposal including any disagreements you had on the value of the code and any thoughts you had on its application to Scarface.  This exercise requires you to place Lord and Quigley's individual points in larger structure or set of assumptions you distill from the details of the code.  You can use bullets or an outline for the subsidiary points.  Both individual responses and group reports should be complete and posted on the blog by Saturday at midnight if you don't finish your work in class.  I will divide up the class as follows:     

• Group I, assumptions about film and entertainment, pp. 302-4
• Group II, general principles, p. 305
• Group III, general principles, p. 305
• Group IV, particular applications, pp. 306-8
• Group V, particular applications, pp. 306-8

After you complete your group reports, finish the exercises on pronoun reference (12-4 through 12-6) at http://dianahacker.com/pocket/gm_menu.asp  

Review of group presentations on the Lord and Quigley code.  Everyone should carefully read the other blogs on the Lord and Quigley draft of the code as well as your own.  Then talk with the other members in your group about the other sites.  Go over: 

1. The strength's and weaknesses of the way information is presented on each group's report
2. The coverage of the Code on each report and any questions you have about the summary
3. Your reaction to what each group says about the application of their section of the Code to the production history of Scarface and its potential applicability today.     

After you have looked at each group's report and discussed the points above, post at least one comment on each group report with your questions and comments.  You can divide up the work but make sure you cover the points above in comments on each blog.  In your comments, make sure to include your group number and the names of those who participated.   

Review of MLA, APA, and Chicago  documentation styles, particularly how to use the drop-down menus on Hacker's online site. If there is time, you will work on the paper due next Wed and I will talk with you individually about your plans.   

Review of MLA, APA, and Chicago  documentation styles, particularly how to use the drop-down menus on Hacker's online site. If there is time, you will work on the paper due Feb 28th and I will talk with you individually about your plans. 

Feb 23rd--Last day to drop classes

You will exchange papers in class and fill out the following paper editing sheet:  http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/p-edit_scar2.doc.  Those who miss class will have to exchange their papers with someone in the class before I can evaluate it. 

If there is time, we will watch more of the documentary Hollywood Censored.   

You will work on a plan and a new/revised introductory paragraph for the revised guided research paper due March 18th.  You will use the following sheet today (Tue) to guide group discussion of your plans:  http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/pap3-plan.doc 

Also see the intro paragraph for the paper on the class blog (10-Scarface sample paper).  Read the first few paragraphs and leave a comment on how effective you think the intro is.  (If the blog is offline, see the intro paragraphs at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/intros-scarface.htm)

Since several of you may have written abstractly--rather than in specific terms--about who did what, when, and why in your recent papers on censoring Scarface, we will do grammar and style exercises on wordiness & active and passive verbs from Diana Hacker's site at http://dianahacker.com/pocket/ 

We will watch D.W. Griffith's 1912 film, The Musketeers of Pig Alley, (18 min.) often considered the first gangster feature.  We may also look at a photograph from 1888 by Jacob Riis, Bandit's Roost (Scan courtesy of Masters of Photography).  See the Masters of Photography site for images and commentary on Riis, whose work is often seen as a precursor of the approach Griffith took to visualizing the world of gangsters. 

1. Revise and extend the paper you wrote before break, following the question from that assignment--was Scarface a dangerous movie. If you chose this question, most of you will need to add some new material developing and supporting your thesis but can stick with the question/position you already developed and revise/extend your earlier paper.
    
2. Incorporate parts of the 4-6 page paper you’ve written in a paper with revised question—a more specific focus on the danger to children or the danger of the new technology of film, for example, or some other issue that interests you.  If you take this option, first clear the idea with me.  

See the longer paper assignment sheet at:  http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/paper3.htm  You will exchange papers in class and fill out the following paper editing sheet:  http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/p-edit-scarwest3.htm. 

If there is time, we will begin our in-class viewing and discussion of the PBS documentary on children's television, Does TV Kill, and go over the listing of research sources and writing guides put together by GMU's specialist librarians at:  http://library.gmu.edu/resources/web.html.  During the next few classes, I will demonstrate how to use the  CQ Researcher for topic searches and the LexisNexis database for newspapers and periodicals.  At that point, we will do the following exercises:  1) Use LexisNexis to find the text of the 1909 Illinois Supreme Court decision in Block v. Chicago; 2) Use CQ Researcher to find an overview article on Children's Television from Aug 15th, 1997; and 3) find articles and books by at least four of the researchers mentioned in Does TV Kill, trying out each of the databases we have covered as well as others you think might be useful based on your study of the research sources and writing guides put together by GMU's specialist librarians at:  http://library.gmu.edu/resources/web.html.     

We selections from the Frontline documentary, Does TV Kill.  A transcript is available at:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/1307.html.  If there is time, we will review the LexisNexis and CQ Researcher databases, go over ProQuest and Expanded Academic ASAP.  At that point, you will practice using them by looking up the researchers cited in the Frontline documentary.   Remember to save your list of the research covered in the documentary.   

March  21st Midterm grades due; incomplete work from the fall due to instructor; last day to withdraw

As part of our continuing exploration of writing and audience, we will listen to part of Minow's address to the National Association of Broadcasters in 1961.   If there is time, we will study the Parent's Television Council and Morality in Media sites, look up these organizations in the Associations Unlimited database, study Diana Hacker on choppy sentences (pp. 16-17), and do some exercises on her website at http://dianahacker.com/pocket/   

Mar 31--Incomplete grade changes fall 04 due to Registrar

If there is time, we will watch more of the Frontline documentary, Does TV Kill.  A transcript is available at:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/1307.html.  If you are considering writing on the censorship of more recent technologies of art, entertainment and communication, look at the Sex, Laws and Cyberspace web page, available at:  http://www.spectacle.org/freespch/.   

In-class review of LexisNexis, CQ Researcher, ProQuest, and Expanded Academic ASAP databases.  You can find all the library databases at http://furbo.gmu.edu/dbwiz/SPT--BrowseResources.php (scroll to the bottom of the page for an alphabetical list).  Then find three full text peer reviewed scholarly articles on one of the following subjects: film censorship in the 1930, children's television and the 1st Amendment, regulating cyberspace, or another of the topics for the final research paper. If you want, post information about any articles you have found that might be relevant to your final paper on the blog. 

We will watch about an hour of a documentary on film censorship in the 30's titled Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood. It’s from the Forbidden Hollywood Collection DVD vol. 2. The library only has vol 1, not this volume, but it is shown on Turner Classic Movies from time to time.

We will discuss the introductory paragraphs at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H10-s08/intros-scarface.htm

We will do exercises in class on misplaced and dangling modifiers from the Diana Hacker site for A Pocket Style Manual at http://dianahacker.com/pocket/  Before class, read Hacker on misplaced modifiers (pp. 13-15); variety (pp. 16-18); and commas after intro word groups (pp. 64-5). See http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/intro-scar4.doc for introductory paragraphs we will go over in class if there is time. 

Before class, read Hacker on finding a voice (pp. 18-22).  Her glossary of usage (pp. 210-220) will be a useful resource as you revise your paper.  We will go over Hacker on fragments and run-on sentences (pp. 48-55) and do some of the exercises from the Diana Hacker site for A Pocket Style Manual at http://dianahacker.com/pocket/   We will also go over the sections in Hacker's handbook on restrictive and non-restrictive clauses (p. 66) and her Checklist for Global Revisions (p. 248).  If there is time, we will go over the sentences found at http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/302-H31-s08/sentences2.htm  

May 5th--Last day of classes; exam period--May 8th-16th