Welcome to Understanding English and American Pop Cultures, Spring 2010!
Welcome! I’m looking forward to this class. Please be sure to download a copy of the syllabus. Remember, the weekly plan is tentative — I may change it somewhat — but it gives you a rough idea of what we’ll be looking at.
The homework I assigned for next time is to bring a passport-sized photo of yourself in which you are (a) alone and (b) recognizable. We’ll use it to fill out an information sheet, so please also bring some glue with you to Thursday’s class.
As for next week’s homework, I asked you to do one of two things:
- IF you HAVE NOT seen the film King Kong, please watch it and think about what we discussed. I am not referring to the recent (2005) Peter Jackson remake, but the original 1933 production. You can find the video online for free in several places, like here, but if you want to watch it with subtitles, you may have to pick up a copy of the DVD. Most good DVD shops can sell you a copy for not much money.
- IF you HAVE seen King Kong and are familiar with it, then please watch the original Japanese film Gojira (in English, Godzilla) from 1954, and think about the “close reading” I offered you regarding King Kong. If you carefully try to read the metaphors in Godzilla, what do you see?
See you soon!