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Writing Seminar: The Culture of Violence Course Description A common criticism of the popular media -- especially television, film, and video game -- is that they are obsessed with violence. This criticism has become even more acute in the wake of various high-school shootings and other outbursts of "random violence" in recent years, many of which have been tied to media violence. In this course, we will consider that criticism as we focus on violence as a theme in a range of contemporary films. Our discussions of the films will center around a number of related questions: first, what is the "mythical" role of violence? How is violence related to our idea of justice? What role does violence play in creating the myth of "America"? What role does it play in defining masculinity and femininity? Where and why do we draw the line between "serious" and "gratuitous" depictions of violence? And, finally, what is the effect of screen violence on its audience? Is seeing violence on screen bad for us? Good for us? The primary texts for the course will be films, many of which have been considered "pornographically violent" by at least part of their audience: Shane, Raging Bull, Once Were Warriors, Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, A Clockwork Orange, Natural Born Killers, Kill Bill, The Matrix and others. We will watch all these films and others, we will talk about them a lot, and we will supplement those conversations with secondary reading in fcriticism and theory. And, of course, as in any writing seminar, there will be lots of writing and talk of writing. Expect to write 3 short (5-6 pages) papers and a longer research paper as well, along with drafts and in-class writing work. Discussions of the films will alternate with writing workshops, work on structure and style, and writing conferences with the instructor.
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