English 488: Hitchcock
	M: 4-7:30 Willard OO4 Professor Stuart Barnett 316 Willard Hall 832-2758 barnetts@ccsu.edu

Texts:

Donald Spoto, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock
Donald Spoto, The Dark Side of Genius
François Truffaut, Hitchcock
Deutelbaum/Poague, A Hitchcock Reader
Robin Wood, Hitchcock's Films Revisited
Tania Modleski, The Women Who Knew Too Much
Sigmund Freud, Sexuality and the Psychology of Love

Internet sites
Hitchcock films on reserve
Hitchcock obituaries
Hitchcock filmography

Jan 28

Introduction

Theory: Context and Background

Sigmund Freud, "’Civilized’ Sexuality and Modern Nervousness"
"’A Child is Being Beaten’"
"The Infantile Genital Organization of the Libido"
"Some Pychological Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction Between the Sexes"
"Female Sexuality"
"Medusa’s Head"
"Fetishism" [all Freud essays in assigned text]

Murder! (1930)

Spoto, Art, "The Early Films"
Tania Modleski, "Male Hysteria and the 'Order of Things'"
DP, "Alfred Hitchcock's Murder!: Theater, Authorship, and the  Presence of the Camera"
Maurice Yacowar, "Murder!" [reserve]
Spoto, The Dark Side, "1928-1934"
Hitchcock, Lecture at MOMA

Feb 25

The 39 Steps (1935)

Spoto, Art, "The 39 Steps"
Maurice Yacowar, "The 39 Steps" [reserve]
Robin Wood, "Norms and Variations"
Spoto, The Dark Side, "1934-1936"
FT, 89-104
DP, "Through a Woman's Eyes"
Debord, The Society of the Spectacle [selections]

Sabotage (1936)

Spoto, Art, "Sabotage"
Maurice Yacowar, "Sabotage"
FT, 105-126

March 11

Young and Innocent (1937)

Spoto, Art, "Young and Innocent"
Maurice Yacowar, "Young and Innocent" [reserve]
Spoto, The Dark Side, 1937-1939

Rebecca (1940)

Spoto, Art, "Rebecca"
Tania Modleski, "Women and the Labyrinth: Rebecca"
 -- "Introduction: Hitchcock, Feminism, and the Patriarchal Unconscious"
Spoto, The Dark Side, 1939-1940
FT, 127-144
MIDTERM

April 1

Shadow of a Doubt(1943)

Spoto, Art, "Shadow of a Doubt"
FT, 145-162
Spoto, The Dark Side,1941-1943
DP, "All in the Family: Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt"
Wood, "Ideology, Genre, Auteur: Shadow of a Doubt"

Strangers on a Train (1951)

FT, 193-208
Spoto, Art, "Strangers on a Train"
Robert Corber, "Reconstructing Homosexuality: Hitchcock and the Homoerotics of Spectatorial Pleasure"
Spoto, The Dark Side,1950-1955
Wood, "Strangers on a Train"
     -- "The Murderous Gays: Hitchcock's Homophobia"
Harold Beaver, "Homosexual Signs" [reserve]
Interview with Farley Granger and Pat Hitchcock

April 15

Rear Window (1954)

Spoto, Art, "Rear Window"
Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" [reserve]
Tania Modleski, "The Master's Dollhouse: Rear Window"
FT, 209-234
DP, "Hitchcock's Rear Window: Reflexivity and the Critique of Voyeurism"
Wood, "Rear Window"
PAPER DUE

April 22

Vertigo (1958)

Spoto, Art, "Vertigo"
FT, 235-258
Freud, "Contributions to the Psychology of Love"
Stephanie Waldrop, "A Heroine is Being Beaten"

April 29

North By Northwest (1959)

Spoto, Art, "North By Northwest"
DP, "North By Northwest"
Wood, "North By Northwest"

May 6

Psycho (1960)

TF 259-284
Spoto, Art, "Psycho"
Janet Leigh, "June 1960: The Release" [reserve]
DP, "Hitchcock and Film Theory: A Psycho Dossier"
Stephen Rebello, "The Care and Handling of Psycho" [reserve]
     -- "The World Goes Psycho" [reserve]
FT, 259-284
Spoto, The Dark Side, 1960-1964
Wood, "Psycho"
Merrick, "Psycho"

May 13

Final Exam

This is a course devoted to the study of the films of Alfred Hitchcock.  While clearly a broad grasp and understanding of Hitchcock's films are the major objectives of the course, its ultimate ambition is to develop a sense of the theoretical issues involved in the study of culture as well as an ability to "read" films as complex sign systems.  You should change from being a passive consumer of culture to an active interpreter of culture.

This class is unusually long because we have screening time and discussion time in one class meeting.  We will take a break after the screening of the film; this will allow tourists to leave and us to stretch our legs.  As this course goes right through dinner time, feel free to bring food with you to eat during the film.  I ask, however, that you dispense with all noise-making activities before the start of the film.  Open your soda cans, unwrap whatever you have beforehand.  It's really annoying to have to listen to that during a film.

Your final grade will break down as follows:

Midterm:       30%
Paper:           30%
Final:             30%
Oral Report: 10%

Undergraduates will write a ten-page paper.  Graduate students will write a twenty-page paper with a substantial research component.  The paper will be a focused analysis of a film.  Do not relate the film to your life.  Do not talk about characters as if they were real people.  Provide an analysis.  Have a thesis and an argument.  Do a little research.

Papers are to be typed and stapled.  Do not use a cover of any kind.  One and a half inch margin on the left hand side; one inch everywhere else.  Do not attempt to fool me with pathetic efforts to stretch your paper out.  I have seen them all--three inch margins, triple spacing, 14 point type, etc.  I take a letter grade off for every calendar day a paper is late.

Feel free to discuss your idea for your paper with me during my office hours.  You can leave messages for me in my mailbox across the hall from my office.  Be aware that I am usually only in my office on the days I teach, so that I will probably get your message right before I see you.  Your best bet is to speak to me in my office hours or right before or after class.

Cheating.  Plagiarism is a serious offense.  It covers everything from a copied paper to using sources without citing them.  It also includes pretending to paraphrase when you are in fact quoting.  If you plagiarize, I will fail you for the course.  Also, I will file an Academic Misconduct Report with the Chair, Dean and the Academic Judicial Officer, who may determine that futher disciplinary action is required.  You should inform yourself about the consequences of academic misconduct.

Your oral report should be about 10 minutes long and either on a film or a critical reading.  It should be a focused analysis and argument, not a loose collection of your impressionistic responses.