Appendix E:

Developed Materials and Activities

I have developed and used the following mateirals and activities in different classes. They give a general idea of the type of questions and answers I expect of my students, and how I assess my student’s progress in class. Any text at the beginning of each sub-section in italics includes some notes of orientation that I have added for the purposes of this Teaching Portfolio.

Contents of Appendix E

i. SPAN 130: Daily Paragraphs

07 Octubre 2010

Escoja un trailer de una película que les gusta en Youtube. Escriba qué ocurre en la película y por qué le gusta.

20 Octubre 2010

Escoja un familiar (family member) y escriban 5-7 frases sobre esta persona usando los adjetivos de la clase hoy, y ser y estar. No se olviden de escribir por qué esta persona es así. Mañana, traiga una foto de esta persona para presentársela a los compañeros. Si quieren, pueden subir (upload) la foto aquí en su comentario.

03 Noviembre 2010

Ayer, usted no fue a su clase de español. Escriba un párrafo explicándome por qué no fue a clase: se le olvidó la tarea? Se le perdieron las llaves? Se le quemó el desayuno? Después, explíqueme qué ha hecho hoy para llegar a clase: se ha levantado a tiempo? Ha desayunado bien? Ha estudiado?

Utilicen las formas correctas de expresar acciones accidentales y del presente perfecto. NO SE LES OLVIDE LA CONCORDANCIA VERBAL EN SUS RESPUESTAS.

11 Noviembre 2010

Su mejor amigo tiene un problema grave. Invente el problema que tiene, y ofrézcale recomendaciones, sugerencias, ayuda, etc. para que su amigo solucione su problema. *Que no se les olvide usar el subjuntivo*

Ejemplo:

Problema: Mi mejor amigo no sacó una buena nota en su examen parcial de matemáticas.

Consejo: Yo le recomiendo a mi amigo que no salga tanto de fiesta. Es necesario que estudie más ... etc.

18 Noviembre 2010

¿Cómo ve a la sociedad norteamericana, como un crisol, un mosaico o una ensalada? ¿Crees que a largo plazo los latinos van a mantener una identidad distinta o van a asimilarse completamente a la cultura general?

19 Noviembre 2010

Busquen una receta de una comida hispana. Pónganla en el Tablero de discusión. Después, piensen en 2 preguntas que pueden hacerles a sus compañeros (del contenido del capítulo, o preguntas de comida, cultura, opiniones, etc.)

ii. CINE 388: Essay #1 Prompt

[Click here for a pdf copy of this assignment]

CINE 388: The Great Illusion

Spring 2011

Course Logo

Short Essay #1

Due: Monday, February 14, at 5:00pm

Topic

Write a 1000–1500 word essay on a topic of your choice that is pertinent to our course. You should base your analysis on an aspect of the films from class that you find particularly interesting and relevant. I encourage you to use specific clips and/or still images from the “Clip Archive” and “Still Image Archive” on The Great Illusion Course Site. The topic you choose must be approved by me beforehand: email me a 2–3 sentence explanation before writing your essay. Feel free to suggest alternative or creative approaches.

When writing your essay, do not simply repeat the ideas that we have discussed in class. Instead, consider how you can add something new to the themes and conversations from class through your own experience with the films/texts. Bear in mind the limited scope of a 1000–1500 word essay: be clear and concise when writing, and choose a realistic approach that will allow you to reasonably argue your ideas without exceeding the length and time constraints, and without simply summarizing the films or readings. Therefore, you should use any secondary sources wisely and limitedly (either from the readings from class, or readings and films that you find elsewhere).

If you prefer, you may use one of the following three prompts as models for your essay:

Tom Gunning’s notion of a “cinema of attractions” has gained wide acceptance among film scholars, and has been a key factor in re-thinking the “primitive” tag often tied to early cinematic productions. In what ways does Segundo de Chomón contest the notion that early cinema was “primitive?” How do his films demonstrate a cinema of attractions, and how do they prefigure future tendencies of cinema? How does Chomón stand apart from other contemporary filmmakers, such as Georges Méliès or the Lumière Brothers?
As we saw in our first week of classes, both “nation” and “identity” are very slippery signifiers that can be exploited through different modes of interested construction and appropriation. Choose a pair of clips to compare and contrast the ways that they assume a natural association with a static idea of “nation” or “Spanishness”, and simultaneously accept certain inconsistencies. How do the clips you chose promote or re-evaluate “Spanishness?”
Spanish “Neorealism,” in many ways, is a misnomer considering its conflicting and tangential connection with its supposed model, Italian Neorealism. What are some distinguishing characteristics of Spanish Neorealism as seen in Death of a Cyclist? How does this film paradoxically embrace and contest hegemonic ideas of the Francoist nation? If Italian Neorealism set out not only to “record the social problems but to express them in an entirely new way” (Ratner), in what way does Bardem approach social concerns?

Feature Films

Feel free to incorporate other films in your analysis, but remember that your essay should ultimately speak about one (or more) of the following films:

El espíritu de la colmena / The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973)
Tierra sin pan (or Las Hurdes) / Land without Bread (Luis Buñuel,1933)
Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, 1929)
Short films by Segundo de Chomón
Cinema during Francoist Spain
Muerte de un ciclista / Death of a cyclist (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955)

General Guidelines

Your short essay should be between 1000–1500 words. Use the standard Times New Roman, size 12, double-spaced, left-aligned, with 1-inch margins on all sides.
Your essay should be about your own ideas and interpretations. While secondary bibliography may be useful, please do not cite external sources excessively or depend on others’ ideas.
If you do use secondary sources, cite them correctly and include a bibliography. I prefer that you use MLA style, but you may use any style you prefer as long as you are consistent throughout your paper. For examples and more information about MLA style, see the Purdue Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Adhere to all university policies and procedures regarding academic integrity (cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, etc.). The work you submit in this class is expected to be your own. If you submit work that has been copied without attribution from any published or unpublished source including the Internet, or that has been prepared by someone other than you, or that in any way attributes somebody else’s work as your own, you may face discipline by the university’s Office of Student Conduct. For more information consult http://www.upenn.edu/academicintegrity/
A key objective to have in mind when approaching any analysis is to say as much as possible with the fewest of well-chosen words. As such, preparing short essays demands particular attention to revision and selection. You should not begin writing the night before the due date.
Make sure that your approach is reasonable given the length of this essay. Argue your thesis strongly, and be careful not to try to take on too many ideas. If you want help organizing your ideas, please feel free to contact me.
All papers must be turned in to me via an email attachment by Monday, February 14, at 5:00pm. Exceptions will be made only in extenuating circumstances assuming the student has contacted me before the deadline. Late papers will receive a half letter deduction (A to A–, A– to B+, etc.) for every 24 hours they are late.

iii. CINE 388: Essay #2 Prompt

[Click here for a pdf copy of this assignment]

CINE 388: The Great Illusion

Spring 2011

Course Logo

Short Essay #2

Due: Friday, March 4, at 5:00pm

Topic

Choose four of the following prompts from the previous two films, and respond to each in approximately 500 words. You should focus on coming up with an original and creative response, and therefore do not need to use secondary sources (if you do, however, remember to use appropriate citations).

Keep in mind that your responses should be organized, well thought, and relevant to the corresponding prompt. Since these questions merit much more detailed discussions than the scope of this essay, be specific in your responses. You may find it useful to use an image or clip from the course web site.

Far from the Trees (Jacinto Esteva, 1970)

Choose any sequence from the film, and relate it to an overall theme that the film presents, or discuss its relevance to New Spanish Cinema. Be sure to defend your ideas with a concrete discussion of the sequence you choose, and specifically identify the sequence at the beginning of your response.
Discuss the uses of sound in Far from the Trees. You may focus on the diegetic or non-diegetic sounds, including the voice-overs, and their relation to the images shown on the screen. How does the manipulation of sound impact the viewing experience?

Law of Desire (Pedro Almodóvar, 1985)

Examine the way Almodóvar constructs a “punk” aesthetic through his unique mise-en-scène. How does the film recycle elements to create an effect of bricolage that reinscribes elements typically found in different situations?
Memory is a central factor in the diegesis of Law of Desire, and is uniquely linked to the cultural situation of Spain in the 1980s (and, as we have seen, even before). Choose one sequence that speaks about “memory” and how the discussion reflects a view on Spanish culture or Spanishness.
Almodóvar’s films consist of a radical break with the social and cultural conventions during the Francoist dictatorship. How does Law of Desire reevaluate traditional topics, such as the family, sexuality, the church, etc.? Analyze one specific instance.

iv. CINE 388: Essay #3 Screenplay Prompt

[Click here for a pdf copy of this assignment]

The general idea for this assignment was created in collaboration with professor Solomon and the other TAs for SPAN 388. I had to modify the assignment to ac-count for advanced English-speaking students from the cinema studies major, who had already taken semester-long classes on screenwriting as part of the ma-jor prerequisites (which was not the case in the Spanish-sections). At the end, I have included the Grading Rubric that I created for this assignment and distrib-uted with the prompt to give students an idea of what I expected.

CINE 388: The Great Illusion

Spring 2011

Course Logo

Short Essay #3

Due: Monday, March 28, at 5:00pm

This assignment has three parts: (1) a treatment (a brief description of an idea for a film); (2) a 4–6 page screenplay of a scene or sequence of scenes that would appear in your film; and (3) a storyboard to provide more information for each shot that your screenplay calls for.
THEME: Spanish Mothers

Create an idea for a short or feature-length film using one of the paradigms below:

The Mother in Early and Francoist Spanish Cinema—The Virgin/Whore paradigm. The dominating paradigm in this cinema is the representation of the saintly, virtuous, long-suffering “good” mother in opposition to the careless, self-serving, inattentive, and lascivious, “bad” mother.
The Mother in New Spanish Cinema—The Phallic Mother. The phallic mother—authoritative, domineering and controlling—infantilizes her offspring and in the absence of the father stands as the authoritative law. Such mothers often lead to matricide.
The Movida Mommy—Punk Reinscription of Motherhood. What is the emblematic mother from La movida madrileña? Almodóvar has given us some examples of this type of mother (Tina in Law of Desire), but there are certainly more possibilities. A spiked green hair, piercing laden, guitar wielding phallic mother? Use your imagination.
The Mother of 1990 Timid Realism. In Flores de otro mundo, Iciar Bollaín gave us a great example of a more nuanced view of Spanish motherhood. Unlike Furtivos, where the mother kills the son’s wife and then the son kills his incestuous mother, in the 1990’s we find a more reconciliatory approach to conflicting desires. What other kinds of maternal representation could you develop in the spirit of 1990 Spanish “timid realism”?
The Future of the Mother in Spanish Cinema. How will Spanish filmmakers represent the mother in the next few decades? Will old paradigms continue to persist as reactionary forces prevail or will motherhood evolve into something different?
Torrente’s Mommy. Use your imagination here.

Assignment

Provide a treatment or brief paragraph in which you describe your idea for a film about Spanish mothers (use the “Text” style in Celtx for this paragraph, and place it at the very beginning of the document). Identify which of the five paradigms above will serve as the basis for your film and contextualize (if necessary) the scene that you will provide.
Using the official screenwriting format, write a 4–6 page (not including the title page) scene, or series of scenes if necessary, that would appear in the film described in your treatment.
Submit a corresponding storyboard to indicate (at least) the following information for each shot that your screenplay calls for:
1. A sketch or image of what is happening in the shot (you will not be “graded” on your artistic performance)
2. The type of shot (especially if it involves movements)
3. Any other type of information that calls attention to what’s going on in the shot (for example, arrows, parts of dialogue, descriptors, etc.)

Due Date

Monday, March 28, at 5:00 pm.

Turn your screenplay in as a pdf attachment (using Celtx to typeset and create the pdf) to an email. Don’t forget to fill out the “Title Page” tab on Celtx before creating the pdf file.

You should turn in your storyboard to me in lecture on Tuesday, March 29.

Resources

Celtx screening software. Download it here: www.celtx.com

Short Essay #3: Screenplay

Grading Rubric

Treatment (20 points)
- Identifies the Spanish mother paradigm used (10 points)
- Describes a general picture of the rest of the film (5 points)
- Contextualizes this scene within the rest of the film (5 points)
Screenplay (50 points)

Official Formatting (Courier New, appropriate margins, etc.) (10 points)
Dialogue is appropriate and convincing (ping-pong effect, ≈4 lines of dialogue at most at a time, shot reverse-shot, etc.) (15 points)
(Stage, Camera, Lighting, Sound, …) Directions provide adequate descriptions to explain what is happening (15 points)
Manipulates the chosen Spanish mother paradigm creatively and sufficiently (10 points)

Storyboard (30 points)

Includes an image of what is happening, the type of shot, and any other information that is relevant (10 points)
Establishes a visual dialogue in the scene (10 points)
Demonstrates thoughtful manipulation of cinematic methods to enhance the scene’s (or sequence’s) message(s) (10 points)

v. CINE 388: Final Exam

I wrote and designed this interactive take-home final exam for my CINE 388 section. It was made available through the CINE 388 Course Site, and contains several images and clips to provide meaningful assessment for a cinema studies course, which cannot be reproduced here. I have included the basic instructions for the exam, which is accessible in its entirety via the Course Site (Appendix 1.A, p. 27), or at the following link (the audiovisual materials and readings are only available to users with special permissions):

https://sites.google.com/site/cine388thegreatillusion/final-exam

Instructions

The exam consists of the following 3 sections:

Short Response Questions (10 points each): Choose any 4 of the 8 prompts, and respond in approximately 150–300 words (around half a page). Due to the length restrictions, you should answer as directly and concisely as possible. You will be graded on the first four responses that you turn in.
Long Response Questions (20 points each): Respond to the 2 prompts in approximately 400–600 words (about 1–2 pages). As with the first section, since you have limited space and time, the best responses will be direct and concise, and will use explicit examples from films to support the claims made.
Multiple-Choice Questions (5 points each): Respond with the most appropriate answer to the 4 multiple-choice questions.

You should write your responses in a separate document, clearly identifying the corresponding section (short response, long response, or multiple choice) and question numbers. Return your completed exams to me by email anytime before Friday, May 6, at 11:00am.

Remember to adhere to the University of Pennsylvania’s Code of Academic Integrity (http://www.upenn.edu/academicintegrity). Your answers are expected to be your own. While you are not necessarily expected to do so for this exam, if you directly quote outside sources, you must cite them with the corresponding page number. You do not need to include an official bibliography if you are using sources from our course (just use the last name and page number).

Good luck!

vi. CINE 388: Medium Specificity Activity

This activity, as with the Final Exam for CINE 388, was published and made available on the course site that I designed and maintained (Appendix 1.A, p. 27). This technology allowed me to efficiently and effectively integrate clips, stills, readings, links, and so on, into an interactive worksheet more appropriate for the moving images and sound that characterize film. I have included the basic prompt below, but the actual interactive worksheet can be found at the following link:

https://sites.google.com/site/cine388thegreatillusion/medium-questions

Skim through all of the following cultural/artistic productions which are grouped into three general categories depending on their medium: written texts, music (with lyrics and without; the videos are just there for the music), and visual representations. Each example exploits certain aspects of the given medium and its forms that allow the artist to explore new ways to view and perceive the world subverting traditional forms, narrative, chronology, etc., which also complicates traditional modes of interpretation and experiences for the spectator (reader, listener, viewer, ...). You won’t find a concrete answer or method for understanding these texts in a definitive way, like you may with other artistic forms or traditional literature, but that may be precisely one of their common points: to produce new sensations and ideas through unconventional uses of forms, thus de-privileging narrative content.

While looking through the examples, try to imagine how you could “adapt” them to cinema using the specificity of the cinematic medium to convey similar sensations or perspectives that do not depend on traditional narrative or coherent plots. Then, consider two specific examples (each from a different original medium). In an email, write a few sentences explaining some general ideas of how you would “adapt” or convert them into a cinematic production without relying on a coherent and continuous narrative. How can cinema represent abstract or “absurdist” art? The goal of the activity is not to produce a brilliant written response, but to actually take some time to look through the examples and reflect on the question.

The artistic works that students could chose to adapt to film were the following:

Written Texts:

William Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury, p. 72
Jack Keruoac, The Portable Jack Kerouac, p. 466

Music:

Phillip Glass, “The Hours”
John Cage, “Dream” (1948) (Re-interpreted)
The Grateful Dead, “Box of Rain”

Visual representations:

Aidez, L'Espagne (Joan Miró, 1937)
La Vie (Pablo Picasso, 1903)
The Persistence of Memory (Salvador Dalí, 1931)

Go back to Appendix D: Video Clips	Continue to Appendix F: CINE 388 Course Site
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