TV as Cultural Touchstone (FYS)
WRCT 136F
Fall 2022
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01
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Why do we watch TV? What makes a good show good? What does television do for us? This writing course focuses on television as a sociocultural phenomenon. We will scan TV history, from its precursors and twentieth-century origins through the present moment. Areas of focus will include the game show, the MTV music video, the soap opera, the half-hour sitcom, the late-night show, the hour-long drama, and reality TV (Real Housewives, RuPaul's Drag Race). We'll read some accompanying cultural and anthropological writing as well as story theory and TV criticism. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA WRCT |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings will include essays, reviews, and articles by Jeremy Butler, Susan Sontag, H.L. Mencken, Plato, Roxane Gay, James Baldwin, New York Times critics, and others. Required texts include Strunk & White¿s Elements of Style and Graff & Birkenstein¿s They Say / I Say. We will do plenty of viewing outside of class.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Assignments include: Four short response papers (2-3 pp. each), one TV show review (2-3 pp.), and two longer papers (5-6 pp. each). Because this course centers the practice of writing, students can expect to write, revise, and comment on classmates' writing regularly.
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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| Instructor(s): Gershman,Charles Times: .M.W... 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: DWNY100; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 15 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 5 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 3 |
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