UCCI Course Description

Literary Analysis Essay:

Students write a 3-4 page paper that analyzes how an author develops a theme about identity through plot, imagery, diction, rhetorical devices, and/or figurative language. Students may choose from among the various texts they read and discussed in class, including The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz, The Hurricane, and any of the monologues or short stories from which to cite evidence. This assignment prepares students to consider how they might apply these literary tools to write a biographical narrative and create a visual monologue.

Biographical Interview:

Students learn how to conduct and record an interview with someone who has unique perspective, identity, and experience. This interview is used in a biographical narrative in the next assignment. By first viewing archived interviews online, students learn what makes an interview successful--how to prepare questions, set up an interview, establish good rapport, elicit interesting details and anecdotes, listen for ideas that need clarification or more detail, and end an interview. Prior to interviewing, they also learn how to use technology (audio or video recording devices) to record their interview. If using video, students use rules of composition for appropriate framing and techniques for obtaining quality audio.

Students identify and transcribe key points that illustrate the interviewee’s unique perspective. After organizing these excerpts from the interview, students insert notes to determine historical, socio-economic, and/or political information needed for context.  The finished 1-2 page edited interview demonstrates students’ ability to use technology (audio recorder/player and computer or tablet) in editing and organizing interview excerpts in order to illustrate a character’s perspective and develop a theme about identity.

Biographical Narrative:

Students write a 3-5 page biographical narrative that incorporates research, including digital or recorded interviews, and historical information to contextualize the narrative and clearly establish the subject’s POV. Analyzing published biographies, such as The Greatest: Muhammad Ali and Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz, helps students to understand how to structure a biographical narrative and develop a theme about identity. Students research at least three sources for information, such as historical timeframes, socio-economic conditions, and/or political contexts and images such as maps, photographs, and artifacts that help to contextualize their biographical interviews. Next, students integrate interview excerpts with contextual information. Identifying relevant images helps them to generate ideas for designing a cover page that illustrates a theme that is developed in their biographical narrative.

Social Location “Map”:

Students create a conceptual social “map” of their perceived identities and statuses that include an abstract or representational photograph or work of art, utilizing design concepts such as color, shape, and texture. To do this, students consider all the aspects that inform who they are--race, family, gender, religion, ethnicity, education, social class, attitudes, interests, passions, responsibilities, beliefs, and concerns. The map reflects the students’ present lives. The photograph or work of art is incorporated into the visual monologue assignment. The map helps students to prepare the context for their autobiographical monologues and demonstrates their ability to analyze the relationship between the individual and society.

Autobiographical Monologue with Readings:

Drawing from the social location map, students write a 1-page autobiographical monologue that articulates a unique perspective of their personal identity through the use of figurative language and social context. Through writing the monologue, students develop voice, style, mood, and tone and  improve their speaking and listening. By analyzing written and spoken (recorded) monologues from a variety of artists, students learn how figurative language and rhetorical devices are used to express a unique perspective and establish identity. This builds on their understanding of how to portray identity through theme and response to social location or status. The assignment also challenges students to consider how identity is affected by social status and how they respond to and view their power relative to others.

Visual Monologue:

Students create a 3-minute media presentation that applies the artistic composition skills and technical vocabulary they learn in class, including storyboarding, framing/angle, color, lighting, setting, costume, and staging to establish mood and tone. The presentation also incorporates their monologue and elements from their social location maps to illustrate key themes, concepts, or conflicts explored in the autobiographical monologue and reflect students’ identities, feelings, and points of view. The visuals can be produced by drawing a poster, photographing, and/or videotaping to carefully design a poster, shot, or series of shots. The drawings or shots can be presented using PowerPoint, GooglePresentation, Animoto.com, iPhoto, or Prezi. At least one image must be produced by the student to demonstrate their artistic composition skills, but it may be used along with borrowed images. All borrowed images are properly cited using MLA conventions. Students present their monologue with their visual presentation.

In this unit, students continue to build upon the skills acquired in Unit 1 with an emphasis on moving from analysis of the self to an analysis of power and freedom by looking at the broader concept of community and continuing the exploration of the pre-production process through research, storyboarding, and industry standard script formatting. Students practice and refine research skills in order to textually and visually explore the key concepts and propaganda techniques used within George Orwell’s satirical novel, Animal Farm. In addition, students research, analyze and respond to a variety of artistic and historical materials including the William Ernest Henley poem, Invictus.

In their analyses, students focus on the ways in which the author uses figurative language to develop Henley’s theme of resistance to tyranny. Students also deconstruct Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail as a means to consider and debate Dr. King’s practice of nonviolence as a form of resistance to social injustice. Students respond to the works of Orwell, Henley and King through a satirical, poetic and historical lens. The resulting material is used for the pre-production storyboard and script projects outlined in key assignments. Students’ responses include essays, informal writings, group discussions, as well as use of industry applications, which may include video/sound editing, script formatting, presentation or animation computer software. By exploring roles associated with film and video production, students develop collaboration skills and an understanding of the pre-production process. Students interpret the novel through visual form via flow charts identifying changes in the novel’s social structure, posters utilizing propaganda techniques, comic strips, and storyboards.

Analytic Research Paper:

Students use the Internet and films, including Triumph of the Will (Nazi), Birth of a Nation (Ku Klux Klan), and current commercials (fast food, military, political, etc.) to define various techniques of propaganda. Students then apply their research in a 4-6 page paper analyzing the effects of propaganda in the novel, Animal Farm.

Essay Focus for Research Paper (above):

• Identify the various techniques of propaganda and the ways in which this propaganda affects character choices.
• Identify the various techniques of propaganda and the ways in which it uses persuasion to create inequality within the novel.
• Identify the various techniques of propaganda and analyze the ways in which the propaganda inhibits freedom and allows for tyranny within the novel.

Poetry Analysis - Invictus:

Focusing on the themes of tyranny and freedom and how those things impact one’s place in society, students individually analyze and examine the poem using tools such as SOAPStone or TP-CASTT or the questions, What is the poem about? Who is the speaker and to whom is he speaking? Where does this poem take place? What event or situation is described? What is the major idea this poem brings to mind? What message, or theme, does it communicate? Students then work in small groups (3-4) to collaboratively create a multimedia presentation based on their poem analysis. Using PowerPoint or Prezi, students visually present their examination of the poem. This presentation is an analysis incorporating a combination of figurative language and symbolic visuals which creatively interprets the meaning of the poem. Students self-assess using a literary-based rubric and a performance-based rubric. After the presentations, the instructor reviews each rubric and makes changes accordingly.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr:

Working in groups, students use a tool such as a SOAPStone or Dialectic/Double Entry Journal to analyze Dr. King’s text for meaning and purpose with a focus on his argument for the necessity of maintaining nonviolent opposition. Students use this analysis to write and/or create an informal response through a blog journal (blog is created by teacher prior to beginning the unit) and a 2-3 minute podcast. The podcast provides an opportunity to begin an introduction to working with microphones and audio editing with computer software such as GarageBand, iMovie or Audacity. Informal responses may include debate on the effectiveness of nonviolence, the responsibility/possibility of the average citizen to oppose tyranny, or the personal/societal cost for acquiring freedom. Both of the texts are dealing with the personal commentary of the oppressed individual and address the protest against  tyranny and tyrannical use of propaganda. By reading and responding to those texts students are realizing that propaganda can be overcome through the power of textual and visual techniques, like poetry, writing personal statements, as well as visual imagery; posters and multimedia.

Pre-Production - Flowcharts, Propaganda Posters, Storyboard, Script, Presentation:

Part I:

Student Production Teams  create flowcharts identifying changes in the novel’s social structure, flowcharts will serve as graphic organizers to create a series of propaganda posters (3-4) depicting Napoleon’s changing objectives throughout  Animal Farm.

Part II:

Each Production Teams then selects one poster from the group’s series to serve as a key image/message for a storyboard and script to produce a documentary project  exploring and interpreting the central ideas of tyranny and freedom. Students choose the genre of the project to be scripted.

1. Animated satirical cartoon
2. Poetic/Symbolic: a poem supported with visual images
3. Documentary with the use of the newsreels/historical video footage, (3 minutes)

Within the group, each student is assigned a different pre-production role (Director, Writer, Producer, Storyboard Artist) Students will use discussion and performance based rubrics for peer to peer assessment. Instructor will also use a performance based rubric based on the responsibilities of each role.

Part III:

Student Production Teams prepare a Visual Presentation (PowerPoint, Poster Board, Film/Video, Prezi.com) sharing each storyboard and script. In addition, students must be able to define and share the key personnel functions in pre-production process.  Using a performance based rubric, the instructor will assess students on the quality of the presentation and their knowledge of the role they performed. Student audience will assess each presentation using a simple five point grading system. Criteria for each grade will be defined and discussed prior to presentations.

Through rigorous examination of audience, message, medium, and source in such texts as Lord of the Flies, students learn that credibility is at the forefront of effective communication. These texts show that an author’s use of context and language let the reader determine if if a character is behaving in an ethical manner.  Characters also earn credibility in this way. Students build on their communication and research skills by developing arguments supported by logos, ethos, and pathos, including creating a one-minute political campaign video for a character in Lord of the Flies. In producing the campaign video, students expand their understanding of the pre-production and production process, through developing the idea, writing the script, producing the video, and presenting the campaign video. Additionally, students research and write about controversial topics, defend their claims in speeches, and analyze the effects of propaganda and rhetorical devices.

Analysis of Persuasive Techniques:

In 1-2 pages, students identify and analyze the propaganda techniques/rhetorical devices used in a television commercial. This written analysis focuses on the elements of persuasive language, composition, camera and editing techniques, symbols, and audio design and how these elements contribute to the successful communication of the message. This assignment is a scaffold for Lord of the Flies political commercial. This assignment also prepares students to employ rhetorical devices in their writing, speeches, and video production.

Argumentative Research Paper:

Students write a 5-6 page argumentative research paper on a controversial industry topic. News bias, the FCC, and the Fairness Doctrine are possible topics. This assignment serves as a premise for the documentary on an influential community member and ultimately as a scaffold for the capstone project in Unit 5.

Argumentative Speech:

In preparation for the culminating assignment in this unit, students prepare a 2-3 minute oral presentation based upon their argumentative research paper. Students propose change, gather information, give source attributions, construct arguments, and anticipate opposing viewpoints. Students present clearly, concisely, and logically.

Documentary Prep I:

Students write a proposal for a 5-minute documentary on an influential community member. The 2-3 page proposal includes why the student thinks this person is an influential community member, additional interview subjects, possible questions for each interview, and a list of supplementary B-Roll footage. This prepares students for the documentary project in Unit 5.

Lord of the Flies Political Commercial:

Students write a script that must incorporate Aristotle’s Persuasive Appeals. Students then collaborate to produce a 1-3 minute political commercial arguing why their character is the best choice to lead the island. Students are required to include a 10-20 second counterargument in the commercial explaining why another group’s character would be a poor leader.

Influenced by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Edward Said, in his book Orientalism, articulated the concept of the “Other” through his examination of false representations of non-European groups and colonialism. This unit presents students with opportunities to deepen their understanding of earlier concepts from Units 2 & 3, particularly pre-production processes leading to the construction of the final media product. Students consider themes such as identity, power (tyranny and freedom), community membership, and truth and ethics by analyzing both literature and media. Students are challenged to view the human experience, including cultural values and beliefs, from alternative perspectives in multiple texts, including:

• An excerpt from Horace Miner’s ethnography, “Body Rituals of the Nacirema” which presents an “Other’s” interpretation of American cultural practices.

• Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, written in response to Western portrayals of Africans such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

• The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, which tells the true story of two men with the same name but very different fates. One grows up to be a Rhodes Scholar, dec­o­rated com­bat vet­eran, White House Fel­low, and busi­ness leader and the other is serving a life sentence in federal prison for felony murder.

• The House I Live In, a PBS Frontline video by Eugene Jarecki, that addresses America’s war on drugs and how it has resulted in more than 45 million arrests and $1 trillion dollars in government spending.

Through small group discussions, Socratic Seminar, regular blog reflections, literary analysis, and a DBQ (document-based questions), students analyze the author’s style and intent, techniques used to express mood and tone, and ways in which each text reflects a specific cultural perspective and bias. Students also learn how to critique the representation of a people by recognizing stereotypes and analyzing an author’s (and reader’s) cultural misunderstandings and assumptions. To do this, students research an issue of representation and discrimination such as bullying, the three strikes law, or deportation of immigrants, and produce a 30-60 second public service announcement (PSA) that uses visual metaphors and demonstrates skills in storyboarding, scriptwriting, designing artistic compositions, and editing. This PSA project introduces students to a new and common genre in video production. When students write a culminating 3-5 page essay that responds to a Document-Based Question about representations of the “Other,” they synthesize their learning throughout the unit to demonstrate their understanding and analyze the implications of these representations in terms of identity, socioeconomic status, and ethical beliefs.

Literary Analysis Essay:

Students write a 5-6 page essay that analyzes “Body Rituals of the Nacirema,” Things Fall Apart, and/or The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. An excerpt from Edward Said’s book, Orientalism, helps students to understand issues of representation of the “Other.” Students and/or the teacher can choose to analyze a variety of aspects of “Other-ism.” By deconstructing these texts, students also develop an understanding of how they might address contemporary issues of representation in the next assignment.

PSA Script:

Synthesizing research from at least five different sources, students write a 3-page script for a public service announcement that addresses misunderstandings and stereotypical representations of the “Other” in the media. Students may choose any group of people that they think are misrepresented in the media. Research must look at how media portrays the misrepresented groups, such as teenagers, immigrants, or racial groups, and it must find alternative perspectives that counter the stereotypes. Students use examples of media portrayals and research to prepare their PSA scripts for the next assignment.

PSA Video:

Students use their script to create and present a 1-3 minute video public service announcement encompassing a topic of the “Other,” such as bullying, incarceration, or deportation of immigrants. The video must include at least three visual metaphors or examples of figurative language. Students write a treatment and create a storyboard for the 3-page script in the previous assignment. This video builds on the technical skills learned earlier, including shot composition, conducting video interviews, storyboarding, scripting, editing, and creating post-production graphics such as kinetic typography, title composition, and Photoshop techniques. It also challenges students to think of creative ways to use visual or textual examples of figurative language. Teacher and peer feedback supports students in revising their edited videos.

Document Based Question (DBQ) Essay:

Students synthesize what they have learned about the concept of the “Other” from numerous texts (print and media) by writing a 5-page DBQ essay that asks students to agree, disagree, or qualify quotes by Edward Said and other primary and secondary sources.

In this culminating unit, students explore the idea of heroes and what defines a heroic act. Students also examine why certain societies value particular heroic qualities and how those same qualities reflect the values of the larger community.  Using an excerpt from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, students learn the classic hero cycle and its influence on storytelling and filmmaking and determine why texts can be cultural artifacts. Students analyze both literary and visual texts, such as Cry, the Beloved Country and “Star Wars: A New Hope,” to understand how heroes and antiheroes represent, contribute to, and comment on the values of society. Students write a 4-5 page literary analysis paper focusing on the hero’s journey of the protagonist in Cry, the Beloved Country, including citations from any previous reading that make the connection between individual and community. Students then collaborate to produce and present a 5-minute video documentary on an influential community member who embodies heroic qualities. By careful consideration of POV, post-production techniques, and editing, students demonstrate how a producer creates powerful messages and the illusion of objectivity by making explicit content choices.  Students discover their ethical choices reflected in the final documentary film.

Pop-culture Hero’s Journey Narrative Paper:

Students write a 2-3 page hero’s journey narrative featuring a character depicted in film. Students consider the elements used to depict heroic themes in the film, including the use of color, light, and composition. Also, students incorporate at least seven stages of the hero’s journey and explain how a single individual can embody all of a culture’s heroic ideals.

Cry, the Beloved Country Hero’s Journey Expository Paper:

Students write a 4-5 page literary analysis essay on the hero’s journey in Cry, the Beloved Country. Students must use MLA format, apply appropriate tone and writing conventions, and cite examples from the text. Students may also cite other examples of heroes, including those from films viewed in this unit to explicate the theme of the classic hero cycle. Also use previous readings to cite examples of the role of an individual’s responsibility to his or her community.

Documentary Prep II:

To prepare for the documentary project, students revise their Unit 3 proposal based on feedback from community/industry partners, given what they have learned about the qualities of a hero and the hero’s journey.

Production Blog:

Students use their blog to write a production journal that details their journey as they work on their documentary. Weekly posts focused on their experiences, challenges, and successes move through the production process. Provide rationale for what is included or left out based on the point of view they are constructing: why is this an ethical choice?

Documentary:

As a culminating project, students work in teams to produce a 5-minute video documentary, using the video production techniques developed over the duration of the course. The subject of the documentary is an influential community member.